A Touch of Tablet

There is nothing better in the world than a supportive family.

My family has always been supportive of my endeavor to become a professional photographer particularly my wife and my in-laws. My mother-in-law believed in me so much, she got me an Epson Stylus Photo R1800 professional-quality printer a few years ago and I've created many wonderful prints with it - including two that were accepted into the Orange County Fair.

My wife has no problem whenever I say I'm interested in buying books, joining professional organizations, or taking classes on photography. She believes in me 100% and wants me to really go for it. Now that is a great woman.

Continuing this trend, my in-laws got me another wonderful gift for my birthday this year to help support my photography dream - a Wacom Intuos 3 tablet.

For any of you who are not familiar with this device, it's like a raised pressure sensitive mouse pad. With the pad you use a pen - not a pen with ink, but a pen with a plastic nub - kind of like a large stylus that you would use for a PDA.

When you press this pen to the pressure-sensitive mousepad, it lets you make very fine selections in Photoshop or create effects that look like paintings or drawings because anything you can draw with a pen or pencil, you can draw using this device.

Tablets are used by virtually all professional graphic designers and photographers because it gives you much more control over what you're doing on the screen than a regular mouse. And now I have one thanks to my in-laws (who were told by my wife what I wanted).

It's kind of weird to use at first because I've used a mouse all my life. I'm starting to get used to it, however, and I can already tell I'm going to be able to further improve my photography with it. Yet another small step forward on my way to the top!

Stock Photography

I've been working on a deal with Photospin.com to purchase some of my photos for a little while now. Unlike other stock photo agencies, they pay you in advance for your photos, regardless of how many times they are downloaded. The good news is I can submit the same images to any other agency I want. I signed the contract and uploaded the pictures to the Photospin server, but I didn't know if they were accepted. Well after finding this check in the mail (I only found it the other day trapped in some junk mail) - I guess that means they accepted what I uploaded.

For the record, I do have some photos up on iStockphoto.com as well, but, as mentioned before, they give you a percentage of what people pay for your photos when they download them. So far nobody has downloaded any of the images I've submitted to them. So the honor of making me a true professional photographer beyond any doubt goes to Photospin.com.

Yes, it's another minor victory, but it keeps the momentum going. I'm also submitting more photos to iStockphoto.com (they are in review) so I'm hoping people will start downloading my work from there as well.

On another note, I picked up the photographs I submitted to the Orange County Fair yesterday. The woman who helped me get them from the "gallery" congratulated me for getting in - apparently a lot of people who submit photos get rejected. That felt kind of nice. I also got a nifty ribbon for being accepted.

She asked if I was getting ready for next year, and of course I told her I was. I've already got a couple of images in mind...

A Fair to Remember

So my family and I went to the Orange County Fair yesterday evening. For many years I promised myself I would one day enter some photographs into the competition - and this was my first year. I entered three photographs - one of the San Clemente Pier at sunset, one of the World War II monument in Washington DC, and one of Manhattan after sunset as seen from Brooklyn.

I didn't win anything, but I wasn't terribly surprised. It is my first year, and I just wanted to get the feel of entering into the contest. I was, however, hoping to get a little bit of exposure and perhaps make a sale. I entered the Professional division because you are allowed to sell your prints. I also consider myself a professional, and it would be silly to enter the amature division and then want people to hire you or buy your stuff.

The good news is this is a juried competition, and if your material isn't any good at all, they won't accept it. So at least I know I have a certain level of quality to get in. Some of the winners I saw yesterday I could understand why they won awards. Others, I wasn't so sure about. Perhaps the judges see things that I can't? I do think that my images could have used some more pop to make them really stand out, and thanks to a book I picked up by Scott Kelby I have discovered some techniques to do just that.

While I was at the fair I also took some new pictures. I focused primarily on the Zipper contraption, which I found interesting because of a photo Scott Kelby did on the cover of the book I bought from him (imitation is the most sincere form of flattery). The image I captured isn't as strong as his, but if I can make it look somewhat similar to what he did, I'll be pleased. I also got some shots of the ferris wheel. Usually I wait until dark and do long exposures, but I thought I would try doing some daytime things just to be different for me. I also saw some interesting things that make me want to go back and try getting pictures of when I have some more light to work with. We'll see what happens.

Entering the fair was a good experience and met one of my personal goals. Next year I'll be back, and this time I'm shooting for a ribbon.