Milestone

Just 2 weeks over 5 years after joining Shutterstock, I sold $6,000 worth of photography on 4,822 sales.  Considering 3 years ago I didn't even shoot video cause I wasn't a videographer, videos make up about 30% of my sales on Shutterstock.  I'm not the best or worst photog/videographer out there but it's kinda nice that people buy my stuff.  Just need another $4,000 to get another pay raise from Shutterstock.  You can see the links on my website to my various portfolios by clicking here. 

Actually spent a day...

...doing some photography.  The day began at a local service listening to our church guy talking about the gospel.  I am non religious but the girlfriend is into it.  Then spent about 2 hours at a local coffee shop just talking about stuff.  After the 2 hour talk, the girlfriend and I took a drive up to the Ottawa valley to visit her parents grave site.  Then the rest of the afternoon was spent at Calabogie lake taking a timelapse using the Sony a7ii with the Sony f3.5-6.3 24-200MM lens.  Then dinner at Big Bone BBQ in Kanata.  Love them wings and ribs.  Then filled up the car with car and then home.  Now I have the Sony a7ii setup on the balcony doing a time-lapse of the sunset.  I think I will sleep well tonight.  Pictures to follow.

Clickety click...

...on the ads.  Daddy needs a new Sony A7R III body and battery grip.  Or send a donation via the Paypal link here

Can’t wait till mid June

Mid June.  That is when I will start getting some nice pay cheques from work finally.  Till then, I’m still surviving on photography money. Patience is key here.  I want to go do a lot of photography on weekends this summer.  The weather has to co-operate as well.  We’ve only had three nice days in the last fifty two days.  It was either raining, snowing, high winds, cloudy in the last two months or so.

I am so ready for summer.  I’m planning on doing a lot of travel on weekends this summer.  Up to Algonquin Park, down to Sandbanks Provincial Park.  I want to go visit the radio observatory again up in Algonquin.  I want to do a lot this summer.  Thanks God, I got a really nice contract that pays well.  I’ll be able to pay off credit cards and finally enjoy life.  I think it will start the first weekend in June.  Till then, keep the head down and keep on working.

May 16, 2014

May 16, 2014.  That was the first day I got accepted at Shutterstock to sell my photos.  Today I had my 4800th sale.  I sold my first photo a few hours after my photos were accepted.  It was an exciting time for me.  I had 7 photos that were accepted.  This is my first photo sold.  This is my 4800th download that a buyer bought.

As of 16:36 EST, I have 14,462 photos accepted and 1,527 clips accepted at Shutterstock.  I cant believe it's been five years already.  I only now post to Shutterstock, Pond5 and Storyblocks.  I really, really enjoy photography and videography.  It's so much fun.  Please support me by buying from either my microstock portfolios or my website.

My favourite photo from the last 2 years

I can’t believe how time flies.  2 years ago, I was in Calgary, Alberta ready to come home.  Not knowing I was to be extended for another month on my contract for another month and I wouldn’t be in Ottawa until July 2017.  My girlfriend was going to fly out from Ottawa to Calgary and we were going to drive back to Ottawa together.  We were gonna go through the northern states and see some of the National Parks in Montana, Oregon, South Dakota etc. That didn’t happens as I got extended by a month.  Honestly I really miss Calgary and being in the mountains.  I remember getting a smile on my face every time I headed out to the Rockies from Calgary.  It was only about a 45 minute drive.

I took the gondola up the mountains when I was in Banff, Alberta one weekend.  I remember the wind was howling up at the peak of the mountains.  The light wasn’t good as well.  The sun was to my left casting a shadow over the centre mountain.  It had blown out the sky and clouds.  I didn’t think much of the shot at all.  Certainly not one of my favourites at the time.  I decided to turn it into a black and white and throw it up onto Shutterstock thinking it would be rejected.  If it was accepted, it would never be bought.  It would just get lost in the millions and millions of photos.  As it turns out, I sell it once every 2-3 days on average and it’s turned out to be one of my very photos.  I’ve been told by acquaintances that it’s their favourite photo of mine.  You can purchase it here here from my Shutterstock portfolio or here to hang on your wall.  I would really appreciate your support.

My girlfriend and I have pretty much decided that next spring, probably in April, that we will be moving to Alberta permanently as neither of us speak the French language and it’s virtually impossible for us to get permanent government jobs here in Ottawa, ON Canada.  With everything that’s going on with federal politics, and if the current guy in charge federally, we believe, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta will eventually separate from eastern Canada as the two are so different from each other.  But that’s another story.  

ON1 Photo Raw 19.5 is updated

Newly updated today.  Well, I updated ON1 Photo Raw 19.5 today.  They finally updated the profile for the Sony RX100 Mark VI thankfully.  It used to fringe on all four corners but that's been finally corrected.   With what's going on with Adobe, suing everyone, I am glad I don't subscribe  to Adobe CC anymore.  Affinity Photo and ON1 Photo Raw 19.5 is fantastic.  You should consider getting it if you're sick of paying a fee every month.

Podcasts

Spring is finally here in Ottawa.  Doesn't feel like it today with a windy, cold day.  Had to run around and get stuff done today.  I start a new contract on this coming Monday.  It's a long one.  Till March 31, 2020 with the possibility of two one year contract extensions.  I don't think I have to worry about a job looking for a job anytime soon.  Which is a good thing.  I need this.  It pays well too.  Above sixty five thousand dollars a year which is fantastic.  I'll be able to pay off some credit card debt and maybe go on a vacation or two.

To help out, I am thinking of creating some podcasts and doing photo reviews as a YouTube channel to earn some other money on the side.  I of course am not getting any support from family or the girlfriend.  They do not support my photography career.  But luckily I am not here to make everybody else happy.  I have to do what I enjoy doing.  And that is spending time with the camera.  

The good thing working in downtown Ottawa is I can bring my Sony RX100 Mark VI with me.  If you've read any of my previous posts, this is by far THE best pocket camera out there.  So after work, I can go walk around downtown Ottawa and take photos incognito with the Sony RX100 Mark VI and no one will notice.  During the summers, every Wednesday, there a lot of people doing yoga on Parliament Hill.  A few years back, I was on the hill with my Canon EOS 6D and a Canon f2.8 16-35mm lens.  I of course got stopped by the RCMP and told to show them what pictures I had taken because there were complaints about photographers "peeping" women with the spandex pants on.  I showed the RCMP my shots which were all wide angle shots of people on Parliament Hill.  With the Sony RX100 Mark VI, I can take those peeper shots and put the camera in my jean pocket and no one will be the wiser.  Except for me of course.  Now, I upload pretty much all my shots to Shutterstock, Pond5 and Storyblocks, so those peeper shots won't make it onto those sites.  This would of course make an excellent podcast about peeper photographers and the RCMP.

No social media

So I basically shuttered all my social media accounts a few months back.  Not that I was ever on Instagram, Twitter for long.  I was on Facebook for a long time but about two months ago, I closed my Facebook account for good.  Of all the “friends” I had on there, only two noticed.  Only two besides my girlfriend and her sister.  No one else noticed except for a photography friend and one guy that I worked with and remained friends with since 2014.  But people I’ve known since high school and college did not notice.  I don’t think any of them cared.  We didn’t talk daily, weekly or even once a month.  A few I’d talk to maybe a few times every couple of months but other than that.  No phone calls, no texts, no emails.

I’ve also noticed that since I’ve shuttered my Facebook account, I’m getting less and less job offers for photography and my full time IT job.  My day job as a matter of fact.  The red tape in government now, especially in Canada is amazingly bad.  A decision that could take half an hour now takes weeks, if not months.  As an example, I was notified a month ago that a company submitted my resume for a position that I’m extremely capable of doing.  My resume has wast on someones desk in Procurement for a month now.  The company cannot get a hold of the person in procurement for a status update.  Apparently my resume has been under review for that month.  Now, my resume is about 4 pages long.  I can read 4 pages in a few minutes.  This should take about 10-15 minutes for review.  Maybe half an hour to an hour max.  But four plus weeks.  I tell you, when people tell you government is inept, believe them.  Ninety five percent of the people working for government do not live in the real world where results matter.  When I have a client, I communicate daily with them.  If I run into any trouble, I let them know and most people understand.  Governments are just inept and they will fall under their own crushing weight and mismanagement.  

New place

Street corner at dusk

So, it only took 3 weeks to fully move in and get everything setup.  Finally pulled out the Sony A7ii camera with the 24-200MM lens.  We live on the night floor facing north ward towards the Gatineau Hills.  We had a really nice sunset tonight.  I wanted to do some long exposures tonight of the cars passing by.  This is probably the best shot I got tonight.  I really miss using the camera.