I know I promised some of you guys a post regarding the “it’s all about how you raise the dog” subject, but I’ve had to push that back, it will probably be the post after this.
A possibly stray cat that was hanging out at my aunt’s house, he was extremely happy and didn’t stop purring the entire time he was there. Poor baby was so hungry that when a single piece of food fell down a crack in the deck, he was trying to paw and bite at it to get it out. My aunt gave him more food, we’ll see if he sticks around. I wish I could have taken him home!
As many of you know from my first post, I started out in photography by using the Nikon D50 that my mother owned but never used. After the kit lens broke, I got the Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-s VR…I can’t remember if it’s version 1 or 2. I love this lens, it’s damn near perfect for what I usually do – photographing dogs, other animals, and sometimes people.
The D50 has been a great camera for me to learn with, but I am so beyond ready to upgrade. I feel so limited with this camera, especially considering the fact that I often work with moving subjects and need to use an ISO higher than 200. I won’t go too much into the technical crap, I don’t want to bore you guys! But I will say the D50 does a horrible job of handling high ISOs. Pictures taken at 400 are pretty noisy, anything above that is very rarely useable. I hate noisy pictures – I know it doesn’t bother some people so much, but it drives me CRAZY!
I’m currently in Utah to visit family. My aunt here is also a hobby photographer, and she’s very good. From what I’ve seen on Facebook, she mostly takes pictures of bugs. I never thought bugs could be so interesting until I saw her pictures!
While I was at her house, she let me use her camera and macro lens with extension tubes. I don’t remember what camera/lens/tubes I was using, but I do know that it was awesome. I was out in her garden for hours just taking pictures of different kinds of bugs. Some of the pictures are included in this post. I’d like to think I did at least an okay job, considering this was my first time ever photographing bugs!
The camera is just so amazing in comparison to what I use. It has many AF points(mine only has 5), the autofocus is extremely fast, and it very quickly shoots burst shots – not sure how many FPS. It’s easy to use and I love that the pictures are much bigger than the 6MP ones my camera takes.
And now I’m sad, because after using her camera, I feel like mine sucks. I mean, my camera is ten years old. It will be a long time before I can afford a new camera, and now that I’m in love with bug photography, I also have to face the fact that I won’t be able to get a good macro lens until after I get a new camera. My current camera just will not work well for it.
I’m a student that can’t get a job due to chronic illness, which is why it’s going to take me so long to be able to afford a new camera (then macro lens). I’ve lost so many things that I care about lately, photography is one of the few things that really keeps me going. But right now I’m just feeling extremely limited and discouraged in the photography department. I want to continue to improve and expand what I can do, but I feel so stuck with this camera.
I hate waiting & not having money!
Sigh. /end rant.
Foster and Photograph 
My dear, you’ve got oodles of talent, a good eye, a strong sense of perspective – lots of things to keep you going. Not to be seen as an optimist or anything, but I do believe that we benefit from positive thinking. I wish you all the best, truly.
Thank you very much. I try to stay positive, I just get a bit frustrated sometimes.
Thanks for liking my post :), don’t feel discouraged I think your bug pictures are amazing! I’ve only recently picked up my camera and was out in my garden taking photos of bugs too! They are interesting to see up close what they really look like.
I agree, they look so different when magnified on a screen than they do normally!
Just from looking at the photos in your last two post, why people aren’t lining up to throw money at you to photograph their dogs is beyond me. A $20-$30-$40 sitting fee, prints or x-number of finished images on a disk on top of that, and you’re on your way to a new camera. Start hanging out at the local agility meets, dog parks, wherever people and their dogs hang out. Hand out some business cards.
I’m not willing to photograph something just for the money. I photograph what I love and hope someone else will love it enough to buy a print of it. You too are photographing something you love, exceedingly well I might add. The difference, people will gladly pay a professional to photograph their pets. Hell, long before I ever picked up a camera my wife and I paid someone to photograph our dogs.
If you promote yourself, they will come!
Thank you!
I wish it was that easy for me, but unfortunately it’s not. My chronic illnesses are very unpredictable, I can be fine one day and horrible the next. Because of that, I don’t like to make appointments(including booking photoshoots) with people because I would have to cancel so often.
No, it may not be that simple, but I think with your obvious talent, if you’re up front with potential clients that there may be scheduling issues, they will be very understanding. Just remember to add that you want to create the most beautiful and memorable portrait of their furry one, and that you need to feel your best in order for the magic to happen.
One way to impress the clients is to not take any money up front in case there is a scheduling issue. I know when I’ve done commissioned pieces before, the client was very impressed that I wouldn’t take a penny until I had some photos they might like. Now when and if you ever turn this into a full time thing, that business model won’t work too well, but as a young lady just starting out, it should go over quite well. Of course there will be clients that will have problems with it, but those are the clients you don’t want anyway.
However, you’re the one who knows how often your health problems show up, so only you can realistically tell how well this could work out.
Thank you for the advice. 🙂 I am planning on seeing a new doctor regarding the most restricting problems that I have, so hopefully that will also help. But who knows!
Fingers crossed!