Results Of British Virgin Islands Photo Competition 2012

Wow I am in cloud nine! A few weeks ago, I did a post about a photo competition being held by the BVI Tourist Board to which I submitted four of my photos - one for each Amateur category. The Amateur photographer categories were Landscape, Culture, Historical and Miscellaneous. Well I am proud to say that my submission to the Historical category was awarded the first prize and the for the Landscape Category got Third Place! The others were given Special Mention.

The official opening of the exhibition was held on November 12, 2012, for the photos that were short listed and won prizes in their particular category. I invited a few of my family and friends. It was a very special moment for me.

Category Historical: St. Philips Anglican Church

Category landscape:  Replanting of Mangrove Trees

Photos Submitted to Photo Competition

Photos Submitted to Photo Competition

I finally submitted my photos for the BVI Photo Competition after alot of debate.  There are three categories:  Landscape, Historical and Culture.  The application form states that four photos can be submitted, the fourth one can be of any other category of the photographer's choice. 

The photos to submitted with the application must be of a particular size.  If chosen they must be re submitted in high resolution.  This is one lesson that I learned from this competition - take my photos in high resolution so in the event I may want to use one of my old photos in a photo competition, it would not be a problem.

There are three photos that I choose to submit that were high resolution (and they were taken at random not for this photo competition) and I did not realize this until I decided to check the size of the photos to submit for the competition.  The photos that were taken in the size that I want, were taken with my point and shoot Pentax camera!  Wow!  I have subsequently set my Nikon D60 camera so my photos will be at their largest size.

I was spending alot of time trying to think of the best photo that I could take and submit to the competition and I have come to the conclusion, it is best to take pictures at random and keep as stock photos.  When the opportunity arises, I will be ready.

My submission to the Other Category:  This photo was taken on my walk to Josiah's Bay and I eventually did an article that I submitted to our local newspaper about a situation that deeply concerned me.

My submission to the Culture category:  This one was taken while I was at the car wash having my vehicle washed.  These are the limbs that are used by stick walkers aka Moko Jumbies.  These 'limbs' were left here after the 2012 BVI Festival at East End, Tortola.

November 7, 2012

A few days ago I received an email informing me that my four photos that I submitted to the photo competition were short listed!!!  The Photo Exhibition will be held on Monday November 12, 2012 at the Lower Estate Sugar Works Museum and the photos will be displayed.  Apparently there will be a prize giving ceremony etc.  I am very excited.  Maybe I should prepare a speech or something in case .....?????

Fluffy, The Dog, My New Friend

This is Fluffy my new friend.  He belongs to my neighbor and most times when he hears activities upstairs (his home is in the downstairs apartment), he will come upstairs and look for me.  Initially, he stayed away from me until I made friends with him.  I allowed him to come close to me and get my scent.  I was then able to pat his head and massage him a bit under his neck.  He likes that!  Is fur feels very course.

Most times he would approach me with his head bowed down and I would raise his head so I can look him in the eyes.  Now when he sees me he will give out a little cry and run towards me - I can tell he is happy to see me - makes me feel real special!  He is so funny, there a few wild chickens around our home and he enjoys running after the chickens.  Of course this will scare them but he means no harm.  I think this is his form of daily exercise.

The bad thing about this new friendship though is every time I make friends with my neighbor's dog, eventually I miss them and when I inquire about them, I would be told that the dog died.  I had planned to stay from Fluffy but ...  I love dogs.

November 1, 2012

After my early morning walk yesterday, I realized that I did not see my friend for a few days so I decided to go look for him.  I saw him lying in an open area close to his home.  Some how he noticed me and began to approach with uncertainty but he kept on coming closer until he was at my feet.  Well I can't express how I felt.  I never experienced this before - I am not the owner of this dog, I never fed him but I think he likes my friendship.  He left where he was and came towards me - remember he was a good distance from me.  Wow it was a special moment for me, this is a really special animal.

March 3, 2013

My friend Fluffy died today!  It is a sad day for his family and me as well.  He was well cherished and loved.  I really don't know what happened - maybe he was ate something that was not good for him.  I was hoping that he would  have time to been seen by a vet today. But I guess it was too late.  Good bye my friend!!!!

Amazing Photos With Camera On Phone

Do not under estimate the great photos that can be taken with your phone's camera.  I had breakfast at the coffee shop (Island Roots) last Saturday and I took the first two photos with my iphone.  The photos are great!  Which goes to show that you don't really have to get an expensive camera to get impressive photographs. 

Below - Photo on the left:  This was taken at my work place - Surfsong Villa Resort and this is one of the villas (named Beach House) that is available for short term rentals.  The beach is just behind me where I stood to take this photo.

Below - Photo on the right: This area is a few steps away from the Beach House.  That wooden gate was installed last month to give the area a 'facelift'.  I really like the mixture of colours in this photo.

So remember if you are into photography and for some reason you do not have your expensive camera with you but you have one on your phone, don't let a photo opportunity pass by, use the camera on your phone, you will be amazed a the results you can get.

How To Take Great Pictures With Your Cell Phone

My New Garden - Spanish Thyme And Aloe

This is my new pride and joy.  I have always wanted a thyme plant, now I have two plants.  One was given to me by my son and I got the other one from a friend.  Initially I had them in my patio - a spot I hardly frequent - I even got some tomato and cucumber seeds but those quickly died.  I had to remember to water my plants.  I have since relocated them to an area (outside my apartment where I park my vehicle) where I can see them everyday so I would not have cause to forget to water them. 

On Saturday I went to the landscaping store and purchased some pots, top soil/fertilizer and a few mini landscaping tools.  It so happened that the store was offering a 20% discount.  As soon as I got home, I transplanted the plants from the pots that I got them in to the new pots. 

Every morning when I return from my early morning walks, I water my plants.  I have made it a routine and it is working great.  I am now seeing deep vivid green colour in the new leaves on the thyme plants whereas before the leaves were a pale green colour.  This thyme is known by the following names:  broad leaf thyme, big leaf thyme, cuban oregano, spanish thyme

I recently added some more plants to my 'garden' - The Aloe plant.  The landscapers at my work place were doing their monthly maintenance and I observed that they had planted some new plants.  On closer observation, I realized that they plants were Aloes.  I asked for a few plants and I got three!  Aloes is a great plant to have in the yard.

I have made many attempts to grow different herbs but they all died.  I eventually resigned myself to thinking that I do not have a 'green thumb'.  My mother has a green thumb, everything she plants grows well.

My husband has planted and harvested some dasheen bush in our back yard.  He had a large banana crop in St. Vincent so he is familiar with these sort of things.


Photo taken with Nikon D60 DSLR Camera

BVI Tourist Board Photo Competition

BVI Tourist Board is hosting a photo competition from August 9th to September 30th!  There would be two categories, one for professionals and the other for amateurs.  I would most definitely be entering this competition. 

The theme of the competition is for viewers to see the British Virgin Islands from the photographer's point of view.

Today as I was taking my daily walk I pondered, for quite some time, about what I should take a photograph of.  As I was taking a shower after I had finished my walk, I got an idea.  I was bathing in an inside/outside bathroom in a villa owned by Surfsong Villa Resort.  You have to enter the villa to get access to the bathroom which has no roof and is enclosed by some beautiful rocks.  When I first saw this inside/outside bathroom I was blown away, it is an ingenious idea!

As I was taking my shower in this inside/outside bathroom, I was inspired for my photo for the photo competition!!!!  I want to do something different, averagely people will take pictures of sunsets, the beautiful beaches but I wanted to do something original and to the core of the beauty of the BVI!  Wish me luck!!!

My New Pretty Photo Gallery

My current photo gallery is hosted by Zenfolio but to be honest I am not pleased with the amount of traffic the site is getting.  Why pay $50.00 per annum for bassically no traffic. 

I know what Site Build It can and has done thus far for my website (traffic and it increases every month) so I found a way to have SBI host my poto gallery - at no extra cost.

Ever heard about Pretty Photo?  The PrettyPhoto plugin ("pp") is what's commonly called a 'lightbox".  It's really more like a gallery but it's not just for photos. 

You can embed videos, text or literally anything else you want to display on your page using a little javascript and a little HTML.
Why I did not use Pretty Photo before going to Zenfolio?  SBI templates did not really fall in line for what I wanted.  It is only recently in one of SBI newletters, there was an article about creating a photo gallery using PrettyPhoto - BOOM!  
So here is my new New Photo Gallery  I am really pleased with results.

Expecting A Baby Brother?

On July 23, 2012 (a very significant day for me) I went to the hospital in St. Thomas - you see my first grandchild - a boy - was about to be born that day.  As I entered the waiting room I saw four young ladies (sisters) and they were all dressed very similar - short jeans skirt, jeans west coat.  The jerseys were different, they even wore the same design slippers!  They looked so cute.  To me this meant that they all had a good relationship. 

For some reason they attracted my attention.  They were waiting with their father for the arrival of their new baby brother???  There were well behaved. 

I was able to visit my daughter-in-law while she was in labour and when I was leaving her room, I saw another mother in labour as well and right away I knew that this lady was the girls mother.  They resembled her!

 

After a while these two fell asleep and I sneaked a photo of them.  This is the first time I am downloading the photos that I took from my new iPhone.  When I first viewed them (before downloading them) they looked out of focus - I almost deleted them.  I eventually downloaded them to my computer and they look great!

BTW my grandson, K'lam Marcus Vialva, was born at about 5:00pm but I had to leave about 3:00pm to get the ferry to return home (Tortola BVI).

Moko Jumbie Sticks British Virgin Islands

Ever seen the sticks that the Moko Jumbies walk on?  Well here they are.  I saw them at the car wash in Greenland, Tortola while I was having my vehicle washed yesterday.  These sticks were used at the August Festival in East End, Tortola August 8, 2012.  I think that the people who choose to learn to walk on these are very brave and talented.

The second photo reminds of a shoe display at a show store!

Here are a group of Moko Jumbies aka Stick Walkers waiting to do their thing at the East End (Tortola BVI) parade on Wednesday August 8,2012

Photos taken with Nikon D60 DSLR Camera

Make Your Own Passport Photos At Home

We pay so much for passports photos annually so as a photographer  I thought why not take my own passport photo.  You see in the British Virgin Islands many of us residents have to get work permits every year to be legally employed in the territory.  Nationals of Jamaica, Guyana and Santo Domingo are required to have visas in addition to the work permits and these visas require passport photos as well.

We are required to take new photos every year - the photos that were used the previous years cannot be reused.  Therefore many of us have extra passport photos lying around out homes.  Here is more detailed information on How to Make Your Passport Photos At Home

Now I Forgot My Memory Card

I did a post before about making sure that your camera battery is fully charged before going on a photo session.  Now a few days a go I went into town and took my camera bag with me - ready for any thing.  It so happened that when I was relaxing at the cruise ship dock, Road Town Tortola, I heard some music playing and realized that there was a parade for the Queen's birthday (it was a public holiday).  I took out my camera and attempted to take a few shots in preparation for takings pictures of the parade.

I realized that nothing was happening.  On checking my camera, I remembered that I did not return the memory card from my computer to the camera!

Previously I would download my photos by connecting the camera to my computer with the USB. Now I just remove the memory card and insert into my computer. Downloading my photos this way, I find I forget to put back the memory card into the camera if I do not do it right after I have completed downloading the photos.

New Profile Photo

I had this photo (and others) professional taken on May 2, 2012 for an article I submitted to a local magazine.  It was my intention to have my son take a set of photos for me.  But as we were preparing for the photo session, I realized that my son did not have a camera so he could not take pictures of me holding my camera (how could I forget that)!

 

I had my hair styled for the photo session so I did not want to waste a lovely hairstyle.  So I called a local professional photographer and he was able to fit me into his schedule that same day.

By the time I arrived at the photo studio, I was a bit sweaty and did not bother to apply any eyeshadow on my eyelids and lip gloss on my lips.  He did a great job, I am pleased.  The one above, I did not really like the pose because I see alot of websites and blogs with the model posing like this.  I wanted something different.  But as it turned out, I am happy with the results.  This next one is a pose that I specifically requested.

He charged me $75.00 for the session and he emailed me the photos right away as I requested.  I did not want any physical pictures as I knew I was only going to be using them online.  I used the first photo for my article and the second one on my photography website as well as my Facebook Photography Page.  I also used two others in my hair blog to show off the length of my hair!

Insure Your Camera Gear

I purchased some more camera accessories and they arrived a few days ago.  I got an extra memory card for my Nikon D60 camera and a larger one for my Kodak Easyshare picture frame.  I also got some extra memory card cases, a UV filter to put on my other camera lens and an air duster to clean my laptop.  Many people think that UV filter are unnecessary and they definitely would not put a cheap UV filter on their camera equipment.  I basically use them as protection for glass of my camera lens.  It is really all a matter of choice.

Even though the size of majority of the items (that I purchased) were quite small the duty was a bit high, almost more than the cost of the items themselves.  I had to query the cost of the duty with my agent and she verified that the charges were correct.

After I received this shipment (my last shipment was a camera bag), I realized that I am spending quite a bit of money on my passion - photography and it dawned on me that I really need to think about securing my investment.  Insure my camera gear.  I am presently doing my researching by getting some quotes from a few of my local insurance companies.

Camera Battery Not Charged AGAIN!!!

I did it again!!!  I went on a hike/photo shoot on Monday and when I arrived at my destination Sage Mountain National Park, I checked the contents of my new camera bag only to realized that the camera battery needed charging!!!!  There was not even charge to take a few pictures.  I was determined to do the photo walk that day because I had been planning it for a few days well.

I returned home, had some thing to eat while the battery charged. I returned to Sage Mountain National Park and did my photo walk/hike.  The area is forested and very shaded so even though it was day light, my flash came on every time I took a picture.  With the pictures, the background was very dark and I was not very pleased with the results.

In this photo below, my focus was on the moss on the trunk of this very old tree.  As you can see the background is very dark.

My next camera gear purchase will be an external flash.  I will have to do a search in Amazon, and add it to my Wish List and start External Flash savings.

I am expecting to collect a payment from Infolinks (one of my passive incomes) so this will be the start of my external flash savings!

I can display my pictures on my jump drive on my Kodak Picture Frame!

The size of the memory card on my Kodak Easyshare picture frame is 16MB.  This card came with the picture frame.  I purchased another memory card from my local computer store, with more capacity but the picture frame did not recognize the card.  I eventually returned the card and was granted a refund.

I decided to purchase a 4 gig memory card from Amazon, I was very careful in selecting one that should work with my picture frame.  Eventually the card arrived but unfortunately this one did not work either.  I was very disappointed - I was so excited to add a set of pictures of my trips to St. Vincent and Trinidad.

This morning - April 29 - I woke up with the idea to try a jump drive, I really did not remember that there is a USB port at the side of the picture frame.  With only one attempt, the picture frame was able to read my jump drive!!!  SUCCESS!!!!

I have downloaded some photo and am now enjoying our memories from our 2010 and 2011 trips.  I think I will get another Picture Frame so I can display my photography.

My First Trip On Speedy's Ferry To Virgin Gorda British Virgin Islands

I finally took a trip on Speedy's ferry to Virgin Gorda on Friday.  Ever since this ferry began its service, I dreamed about travelling on this catamaran.  I have since gone on three private sailing trips on different catamarans that my son captained and I have traveled to St. Thomas on the Road Town Fast Ferry which are also catamaran.

There was no difference in my trip on Speedy's catamaran but I just wanted to be able to say that I had the experience of travelling on this boat.

My New Lowepro Slingshot 202Aw

I received my Lowepro Slingshot 202 AW camera bag last night.  It is beautiful!  Of course I purchase my camera bag from Amazon.  Again I must emphasise that Amazon has great service! 

I am so excited to put my bag in action.  Right away I packed all my camera gear in my new Lowepro Slingshot 202AW camera bag and I threw away my other bags.  I must highlight one thing about the bag that caught my attention, it has a built in cover for the bag so when it is raining for example, you can pull out this cover and wrap it around the bag so all the gear will be protected.  This is a really cool and thoughtful feature.

I took these photos this morning to do this post.  I placed my packed Lowepro Slingshot 202AW on my ironing board which has a very colourful cover.  I thought that the photos had too much colour that distracted from the focus of the bag.  So I decided to do some photo editing - selective greyscale and I went to my regular online photo editor PhotoBucket.  To my great surprise, Photobucket has done quite a bit of changes to the application and I could not find their selective greyscale feature!  I panicked!

So I decided to check out Picasa Web Albums to see what photo editor features they offer and I got another surprise!  I was able to apply selective greyscale AND add a watermark to my photos.  I am a super happy camper!!!!

On my next day off which should be over the weekend or maybe early next week, I will be going a photo walk at Sage Mountain Natural Park Trust.  I can't wait to see what awesome photos I can get there.  Last time  went there I did not take my camera with me because I did not have the appropriate bag to put my gear in.  NOW I DO!!!

Adding Watermarks To Your Photos

I saw this beauty outside my office today.  It has quite unique colors. 

I want to discuss today about copyrighting your photos by inserting watermarks on them.  The technique I used before to add copyright information on my photos was to simply open my photos in Paint and insert a line with my text data.  I would press the alt, and the numbers 0, 1, 6, 9 simultaneously to get the copyright code ©.  I could not put the text in the center of my photo because the text was not transparent and it would have blocked that particular area of my photo.  So most times I would put the text at the bottom right of my photos.

I was working on my Zenfolio photo gallery and realized that Zenfolio has a feature that allows you to easily insert watermarks on your photos and in batches.  But in order for me to have access to this feature, I have to upgrade my account.  I decided against doing that as I am not getting much traffic to this site at the moment and watermarking them would not increase traffic to the site.  So I decided to find a free way to insert watermarks on my photos.

I found this application waterMark V2 - it is free to download and it is very simple to use.  The watermarks can be saved (this feature allows me to create different watermarks for my different websites and blogs) and  you can easily watermark more than one photo at a time. 

Why I watermark photos?  Well it is a good way to identify myself as the photographer of my photos and it is also a way for deterring other people from stealing my photos.  Now before I would insert my information at the bottom of my photos but a photo can be easily cropped to remove that information and the cropped photo can then be used by someone else as their own.  To eliminate that problem, I decided to insert my information in the center of my photos and information has to be as light as possible.

I have been able to achieve this using this free software waterMark V2.  In my photo above you will notice my watermark in center of my photo.   



Zenfolio Webinar

I received a Zenfolio newsletter a few days ago and I realized that there are some instructional videos on the website.  So I visited the website and watched the videos. Basically what I knew but it is good to know that these videos exist.

There is also a webinar that I looked at which was approximately one hour long but it took me about four hours to complete.  Reason being, as I saw a feature that I liked, I paused the webinar and implemented it on my website.  Some steps took some time because it had to be done to each category.  I did things like change the colors of header and footer text, increase the size of photos on the slide show (I also added some more great photos to the slide show) which is located on the home page.  I also changed the layout of the category pages.

The step that I did for the first time was to create a page. I had a welcome message on the home page but I removed it and decided to create a page with the welcome message.  So on the home page, there is a link to this welcome message.

There is also a feature where my visitors could purchase prints of my photos, mouse pads, cups, t-shirts etc with my photos on these items.  I will personally purchase an item to test the service and the end product.  The currency for the products were listed in Euros, I changed that to USD.

In my spare time, I will have to watch the other webinar, I want to learn about keywords and SEO (Search Engine Optimization).  This is my zenfolio website - Photographer's Art

Lenspen Lens Cleaning System

I purchased a Lenspen lens Cleaning System from Amazon on March 1 and received it on the 8th.

I was very anxious to use this device.  It was simple and easy to use.

You use the bush end to remove any debris from the lens, and the pad end to remove fingerprints and the like.

The bush is retractable and soft enough not to damage lenses.

The pad is treated (coated) in such a way as to remove fingerprints without leaving smudges.

The pen can easily slip into a pocket so there is no reason to forget to take it with you when you are going on a photography trip.

Unique Plant

I found this unique and beautiful flower when I went on a visit to the Stamp Room at the Old Government House Museum in Road Town, Tortola.  I am happy that I took this photo, I am really pleased with the results. 

High Up In The Sky

St. Philips Anglican Church

This is St. Philips Church, located at Kingston Tortola British Virgin Islands. I am using this photo to highlight a virgin island stamp about this church.  See the page here.

About St. Philips Church
Following the abolition of the slave trade in 1807 the British Navy liberated Africans from slaving vessels sailing in British waters.Some were brought to Tortola and provided with land plots that were sponsored by the British Government in 1831.They joined the Kingstown community of freed Africans which grew to almost 300 within the first year and St.Philips Anglican Church and School was constructed to serve some of their needs.

Nothing remains of the many homes that were originally built at Kingstown and the hurricane of 1916 destroyed the Masters House and caused severe damaged to the Church itself.The Church walls,the Altar and Graveyard still make for an interesting visit though. The red bricks that show through the plaster are a clear reminder of the plantation era they were brought as ballast in the holds of the ships that carried the sugar and other produce from the islands back to England. Ultimate BVI

Here is a great site that with alot more in depth history about this great historical structure.

Underwater Photo

I took this photo with my Pentax water proof camera the first time I got it.  When I first downloaded the photos, I was not pleased with the results.  Now that I am using Pho.to I catsn enhance my photos so I am review all my old photos to get bests.  Normally I would have deleted the photos already.  Now I see alot of hope for my photos that did not look satisfactory initially.

 

Breakfast From The Coffee Shop At Trellis Bay, Beef Islands, British Virgin Islands

I bought this egg sandwich for breakfast a few mornings ago at the D' Best Cup Coffee Shop Trellis Bay, Beef Island.  I like getting my cappuccino there and occasionally I get this sandwich.  It consists of eggs, bacon, sausage, lettuce and tomatoes on a mini baguette. The mistake I made the last time I had this sandwich was to have the sausage. It is those mini sausages that I really do not like because they are very oily.

The cost of these sandwiches are $8.50.  I have been buying them without really thinking about the price.  Then it struck me one day that these sandwiches are too expensive.  I don't really buy them that often but look at this, I can get a chicken roti for $7.00 from the grocery store that is two buildings away from the coffee shop.  The ladies at the Coffee Shop are quite friendly and helpful.

Black and White Photography

I like to try different techniques I decided to try my hand at Black and White Photography.  My first attempt was to try and change a color photo to black and white.  My first attempt was with Photobucket because I know that they have a greyscale feature.  But when I applied the feature to one of my photo, I thought that it looked flat - had no depth.

So after some more research, I learnt that a color photo can be simply changed to black and white by pressing a button on certain digital cameras.  Cool!  I tried doing this with some of my photos that were on my camera but from what I saw on my camera monitor I was not pleased.

I recently found this online photo editor, Pho.to, and it has some really great features.  Changing a color photo to black and white is one of the features available!  I did my text with the photo below.  First I used the Quick Enhancement feature to sharpen the colours and THEN I clicked on the Black and White option. 

I spent quite some time trying these steps out until I got a result that I was satisfied with.

Now you may be probably wondering why would someone choose to go back to black and white photos.  Well some photographers actually prefer digital black and white photos and there is a particular type of art in these types of photos.  

Pho.to A Great Free Online Photo Editor

I recently had a 13th beach birthday party photography job and after the event I had to  edit some of the photos because some of the photos had a sort of a white wash even though it was a beautiful, bright sunny day.  Also some of the people wore white clothing and I noticed that in some of the photos, the background was a bit white so it clashed with the white clothing.

I thought about doing some color enhancement and did a search on the internet, Google of course!  I found this online photo editor - Pho.to.

Pho.to is just awesome.  In this post I want to show you an example of how I used this application. 

I did not have to register to use the application and it is free.  My email address was not required either.

This first photo is quite pale (a kind of white wash) so I uploaded it to Pho.to and simply clicked the Quick Enhancement button.

I waited a few seconds and this is the result!  I can now see the beauty in the photo.  The rocks have come alive - such great color.  I am very pleased with the results.

As a matter of fact, at my meeting with my client who hired me to do the photography at her daughter's 13th birthday party, she indicated which one of the photos that she really liked and it was one of the photos that I enhanced using this Pho.to!!!

Photos taken with my Nikon D60 DSLR camera

Report On Photography Job

My photography (beach birthday party for a 13 year old) job went great!  To be honest I enjoyed taking candid shots the most.  Having my to instruct the kids to pose was quite boring - to me that is.  I took about 1000 pictures! 

Initially the day started with a bit of rain but eventually the weather was great, the kids had a blast of a time!

The next step was to edit the photos, that took me quite a while.  Quite a few people wore white clothing and there are some occasions, the white clothing conflicted with the background.  I did not observe this until I downloaded the pictures. 

I found a new online application and allows me to easily intensify my subjects in the photos.  There were quite a few that was a bit dull and I used this application to enhance the colors.  I am so happy that I found this application.  If I had not done, I would have discarded these photos.

I also got a few great shots for my portfolio.

Last night I used my Hotmail account to create an album to send the photos to my client.  I sent two emails.  It took quite some time to upload these photos.  My initial intention was to give my client a CD with the photos on it.  This is much easier and less time consuming.  I will do that tonight.

To be professional, I will also do a contact sheet, invoice (attach a business card onto the invoice).  I also have to remember to get permission to use the photos on my website.

Photography Job For Friends Daughter Birthday

A friend of mine called me a few minutes ago and informed me that she is having a birthday party for her daughter on Saturday January 21, 2012 and she would like me to be the photographer for the event.  I have a Facebook page for my photography and I am always uploading my photos to the Facebook page.  My friend has commented a few times that she really likes my work.  She highlighted this fact again today.

So I decided that now is the time for me to do this project the correct way.   I am going to create an electronic file (maybe keep a ‘hard copy’ as well) with my client’s basic information such as:  name, address, email address, phone number etc.  My friend asked me how much I would charge her and I told her that I would have to think about it and get back to her.  Of course I Googled the topic and wrote this article about it.

The next formal thing is to set up a meeting so the event can be discussed thoroughly with the client.  Information needed is location and time of the event and most importantly, fee.  As the information is being acquired, it should be noted.  It is also a good idea to discuss with the client exactly what is required.  This is an important note especially if the event is a wedding.  Remember that these events cannot be recaptured so it is so important to prepare yourself for any unforeseen circumstances.

The opportunity should be taken to request for permission to use some of the photos for your portfolio.  In my case, my website.

Prior to the event, make a trip to the location and see where everything is located and mentally identify spots where great pictures can be taken. 

The day before the event, check your equipment.  Ensure that the battery for your camera is fully charged.  If you have an extra battery, pack it in your camera bag.  It is always good to have a back-up plan.  My memory card can hold quite a lot of pictures but it also advisable to have a spare one in your camera bag.  Clean your camera lens.  I have a 55-200mm lens, so I will be taking this with me as well.  Presently I am experiencing problems with my night photos so I will also be taking my Pentax point and shoot camera.  It has a feature for night photos, so I plant to take it with me to test how good it is. 

As a matter of fact I will do a test prior to the effect so I know the type of results I am going to get.  At the event is not the time to be doing any testing.

Now your camera bag is all packed and ready so on the day of the event, all you have to do is to grab your bag and go.

After the event the photos will have to be downloaded onto your computer and review and edited.  The ones that are not satisfactory should be deleted or just not given to the client.  Printing the photos are quite expensive so the best solution for both parties involved is to copy the photos on a CD for the client, that they can print the photos of their choice.  In addition to the CD, a contact sheet can be printed and given to the client.  This information has to be relayed to the client.

My New Photography Website

I have created a new photography website with lots and lots of content.  This website is created with Site Build It (SBI).  I have already created two websites with the company so I know that I will get traffic to my website.  I am not satisfied with the amount of traffic my photo gallery is getting - not much.  So what I did is , create links to my photo gallery from this new photography website.

I cannot upload very large images to SBI server and it is proven that content brings traffic to any website.
This is my new photography website. Dis Photographer Sees Art

Power Boat Ride On Ispeed

My son invited me to brunch at Frenchman's Villas, Frenchman Cay, Tortola BVI.  It was a beautiful Sunday morning.  I was so happy I was not working that day.  Our group consisted of my son's girlfriend, her mother, her nephew, my son and I. 

 

After we had our meal, he took us for a short ride on a power boat named ISpeed, owned by Voyage Charters - the company that he works for.  He wanted to test the boat as they were having some mechanical problems with it.  These are some pictures that I took as we went on our short ride.

This is my son at the controls giving instructions to one of the workers.  I call him Captain Krys.

This is the Ispeed power boat.

Photo taken with Nikon D60 DSLR Camera