It's been a while

Sometime, life gets in the way.  I've been doing a lot of photography but haven't been posting to the blog.  I wish I could post daily but I've been uploading my fall photos to Shutterstock, Bigstock etc.  Just trying to get more money.  I recently booked a vacation to Arizona.  I'm going to the Grand Canyon, the horse shoe bend near Bend and Monument Valley.  

The above picture is from Mud Lake located here in Ottawa.  I've been there a lot this fall doing video work.  I was able to get a juvenile egret up close which is awesome.  

Photo & Video

Lately, I've been doing shooting a lot of video as I have had plenty of photos on the various micro stock agencies.  I'm just trying to build up my video portfolio.  It's time consuming doing both but I do love doing both.  Video clips sell for a much higher price but they are far and between what I typically sell.  I do still sell a lot of photography.  Not as much during the summer as most people are on vacations.  I'm hoping sales of both video and photos pick up again in September.

There is just something about this place

There is just something about Algonquin Park located in Central Ontario.  You get a real sense of the wilderness.  Even with this 46 metre telescope, you just feel the size of the park and it's natural beauty.  Especially on a bright sunny day with large, puffy clouds making their way across the sky.

On my way out of the park, right before exiting the radio telescope location I did encounter a female moose which was a perfect ending to a perfect weekend.  Well, almost perfect as I left two or three pints of blood as I was eaten alive by the mosquitoes and black flies.

My experience with micro stock agencies

For the most part, my experience has been rock solid dealing with micro stock agencies such as Shutterstock, Bigstockphoto, Fotolia, Alamy, Pond5 and Videoblocks.  There are agencies that I will not work with again such as Dreamstime, Canstockphoto and 123RF.  While having portfolios on those last three agencies, the work is just not worth the return.  In 2+ years of having portfolios on those agencies, I've gotten one payout between the three of them totalling $51.00USD.  Uploading, keywording and submitting your photos or videos is just not worth the time and effort.

By far, Shutterstock is where the action is.  That's where I have my biggest portfolio and that's where I make the majority of my sales.  I've just start shooting video in the past 9 months and have had a great success with it on Shutterstock, Fotolia, Pond5 and Videoblocks.  I suggest doing both video and photo work.  Doing video as well gives clients potential options as well.  

As you can see on my blog I have links to my various portfolios.  If you want to sign up, please use the necessary links provided and sign up that way.  I spend about an hour or two a week just uploading to the various websites including editing, keywording and uploading.  It's a great return on investment and time.