So, with a little more excitement, I start to think more about my craft.

What’s next? Well, DLWS is next in just about 45 days. After that? Well, Moose has a mentor program that has a ton of appeal. Three months of training, assignments and critiques done by internet, one-on-one lessons and critiques from Moose, a DLWS appearance, and a weekend one-on-one shoot. Very, very cool.

Now that’s the next level of my photography!

$2.899

Unexpectedly, my little photography venture today first turned a buck.

A few weeks ago, Cousin Mark approached me for some shots of the Arch, and other sights around it. He had a customer who was looking for some images from downtown to apply as large decals for some soda machines on the Arch grounds. I didn’t think too much of it at the time, but was happy to help Mark out.

A week or two later, he told me that his customer loved the shots, and was going to use them. So Mark asked how much I wanted as payment for my images. Now, I’ve been dreaming about turning this little endeavor into a moneymaker since someone first shone a smile upon a piece of my work, but this floored me and I wasn’t ready for the question. I started looking at what “real” photographers were charging for their work used in a similar fashion, and gave that to Mark.

Frankly, I’d kinda forgotten about it, and then in the mail today came a check from Hope Press. A check with my name on it, and for work I produced. That’s cool!

Tonight, one of my tennis crew had an artist’s reception at a local Starbucks. Lenny shoots very well, and makes some incredibly detailed images. Primarily, he shoots flowers and plants, teasing every detail of them he can.

The event was well-attended, with a cross section of folks from work, as well as other folks Lenny interacts with. And, of course, his work was prominently displayed on all the walls of the seating area, along with stacks of prints for sale.

It was really a lot of fun, and makes me think even more about getting more serious about my work. I think I’ve just been dallying about with my photography site and business. It’s time to get serious! (Betcha’ve heard that one before, eh?!)

Lenny is always encouraging me to get out there and start publishing my work. He likes it, and says I have an good eye and technique. He’s right about one thing — I’ve gotta get out there and start getting my work on the streets. The first step to get there is printing some of my favorites, getting them matted, and being ready for an opportunity when it arrives. A little investment could go a long way!

$3.099

Today, I made a tough choice. I have given up my big drive to Yosemite in November. I’m still going to DLWS, but I’ll be flying instead.

So why would I give up the journey? Well, the cost of fuel has doubled since I first cooked up this trip, and that’s the biggest reason. With gas prices where they are now, the fuel alone would run over $1000 for the round trip. After finding out that the cost of a roundtrip flight to Sacramento is about $300, with a rental car being another $200, it starts to make a whole lot more sense to fly.

So, I’ll be flying to Sacramento on Saturday, 12 November, and returning late on Thursday, 17 November. It’s not as legendary a trip now, but the key is that I’m still attended DLWS, and I’m really stoked about that. Honing my craft is the point of this trip, and that I will still do!

$2.079

Tonight, I have gotten the site for Colin Wright Photography up and running. There’s still some work to be done, but the page is there, and listening.

I’m really excited about this. I don’t expect to have to fight off the folks trying to buy my work — I’m realistic enough to realize that. However, it is the first small step toward getting my name out there, and starting to realize a little success with my photographic endeavours.

Drinks all around! 🙂

Beck and I just got back from chasing the sunset. It was beautiful tonight, with gigantic sunrays filtering from behind some tall clouds.

As we looked at it from the house, I decided that there must be a better place to shoot sunsets somewhere nearby, as we don’t have a view to the horizon. We grabbed the 20D, jumped in the truck, and headed toward Steak and Shake, which was the closest, most open view we could think of. We stood there for a few minutes, taking it in, and shooting, when another truck ground to halt next to my truck. A woman got out wailing, “I wish I had my camera!” She’d seen the beauty of the sunset and it began, and was desparately calling her husband to shoot it. As it ends up, she couldn’t reach him, and she was relegated to shooting this gorgeous sunset with her cameraphone. Probably not the best way to pull that off!

The fact that someone would be that passionate about that kind of shot, that kind of view, enough so that she was obviously moved by it, hammered home to me the notion that I need to get my little enterprise going, and start putting my work in the hands of folks that would appreciate it. I know that they’re out there — I just met one tonight!

$1.929

Yesterday would’ve been a terrific day for shooting infrared shots — lots of dramatic sun and big bold storm clouds. Today though, we have a wintry sky, with not much definition. Nonetheless, I decided to play.

I’ve enjoyed shooting with my IR filters on the 10D, although I was always put out by the pink or red cast (depending on which IR filter I owned at the time) that all the shots had. In fact, I had both a Hoya R72 and a B+W 093, but found I couldn’t autofocus with the B+W, so I sold it off.

Enter the 20D, and a new black and white mode that got me to thinking. What if I shot using the black and white mode, and the IR filter?

I only have one IR filter — a 58mm Hoya R72 — so that kinda limits what lenses I can use. Only my 50/1.4 and my 105/2.8 macro sport 58mm threads, so I loaded up the 50/1.4, and shot test shots without the filter in black and white mode, with the filter in black and white mode and with the filter in color mode…. with very interesting results.

Infrared Black and White	Black and White	Infrared

I kinda expected both black and white shots to be close to identical — I’d just not seen that many differences when shooting with the IR filters. However, what I discovered was that the IR/BW photo showed trees and ivy with bright white colors, rather than their darker colors. In particular, note the small pine tree and the ivy near the center of the frame. This is a bit of a revalation, and has whetted my appetite to try this experiment again, with more difference in the sky, and with many more trees and shrubs.

I guess I have more experimenting to do!

Off from work today, so I took a little time to run down to Schillers for some horse-trading on lenses.

I had a Canon 50/1.4 and a Canon 16-35/2.8L to trade in, and was planning to walk away with a 10-22/3.5-4.5 and either a 35/1.4L or 24-70/2.8L. I wanted the extra-wide for shooting landscapes, and I wanted something to fill in the hole in my lens coverage for day-to-day “normal” shooting.

While the folks there were evaluating my two trades (and they were really clean — I take good care of my gear!), I played with the 35/1.4L and the 24-70/2.8L. Truthfully, I couldn’t tell much difference between the two. There was an orange sheet of paper with bold black print on the counter, and I shot it with both lenses. They both showed a lot of purple fringing on the edges of the letters. I’m surprised that they both did that, so my suspicion is that both of them were reacting as they should, given the sharp, odd contrast between the black and purple. Of course, I was using the “house” 20D, so who knows how that box was set up!

Once they came back with the trade in values, the salesperson sorta apologized for the low trade-in values, and suggested I’d do better selling them to a private individual. Darn tootin’! I was amazed at how low the trade-in values were ($185 on the 50/1.4 and $850 on the 16-35/2.8L — I would guess that their resale would be $250 on the former, and maybe $1100 on the latter), and decided to walk out with my lenses….

…Along with the 10-22mm. This is the widest lens (non-fisheye) available for the Canon line, and is specific to the EF-S bodies (Digital Rebel, Digital Rebel XT and 20D). And, some might question my selling the 16-35 for the 10-22, giving up the L glass. However, the only thing I use the 16-35 for is shooting landscapes, and that is exactly what I want with the 10mm end of the new lens. So, it’s a pretty easy move for me. I mean, you can feel the difference in the two lenses — the L lens is way heavier, much nicer built, and includes a lens pouch and hood — but I want the super wide angle!

So, how wide is wide? Well, here’s the low and high end of both the 10-22 and the 16-35, centered on a pine tree, all shot at f/8, ISO 200, on an icky, cloudy day:

10mm	16mm	22mm	35mm

To my eye, quite a bit of difference on the low end. I can’t wait to shoot sunsets and lightning with it!