- Hide menu

Blog

No Going Back

No Going Back
Walking West on Carling Ave, Ottawa, ON

I read on Twitter yesterday a great idea by Jim Goldstein, aimed mostly at photographers, but I apply it to anyone, about buying prints from your favourite photographers/photobloggers. Take the time to read Jim’s article, at least up to “what you can do…” to get the gist – go ahead, I’ll wait.

Done? Okay – so what he’s saying is find someone, who takes pictures you like, and pay them for it. There are a few of you who read this blog who have purchased prints from me – I can honestly tell you that it’s a giddy experience every time. Someone likes a photo enough, not just to look at it, not just to pay for it, but to take valuable space on their wall and put it up there. Truly humbling.

But as someone who takes photos, and tries to sell prints, I don’t really spend a lot of time paying for other people’s work. Kind of a double-standard I hope to soon fix.

So I’m going to take Jim up on his project – I’m going to contact three different photographers whose work I admire and ask to purchase a print. Now keep in mind, not everyone states that they offer them openly; so wouldn’t it be a great gift to them for you to offer to purchase a piece of their work? I’d be giddy.

Buy what you can afford though – you don’t have to spend a fortune, in the spirit of this thing I’ll also cut my prices by 25% (shipping not included), til the end of next week – the 18th of December, just to give everyone a good baseline of what prices can be:

  • 8×12, 8×10, 10×10 (square) no frame = $40 $30
  • 8×12, 8×10, 10×10 (square) with frame = $100 $75


  • 12×18, 10×20 (wide) no frame = $60 $45
  • 12×18, 10×20 (wide) with frame = $200 $150


  • 16×24, 12×24 (wide) no frame = $80 $60
  • 16×24, 12×24 (wide) with frame = $300 $225


    • I’m not looking for any follow-up from this, just passing along what I think is both an opportunity and a good idea. If you’re cruising the Internet for art, consider supporting one of those artists this year.

    Thanks to Eugene, who I heard this from, who also writes about it on his blog.

    Dec 09, 2009 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments »

    Calm

    Calm
    Sometimes, even cold days, can be good days.

    Dec 05, 2009 | Categories: Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

    Back in Black

    Back in Black
    I’ve only been in Ottawa a few years now, but I have come to closely associate myself with the Hintonburg community I live in. I’m not an activist or anything, but I’ve been fascinated in where the neighbourhood’s come from, and where it’s going.

    From a real-estate point of view, the area’s “up and coming” setting a new direction and some, seemingly random new title “Wellington West,” avoiding the less desirable associations of Mechanicsville and the burg.
    Historically, it’s a dilapidated section of Ottawa’s main street, and an example of urban decay from the severing of a vital, traffic based, artery. That’s in a nutshell, obviously, there are those out there who know more about it than I, and I encourage you to leave a comment to point us in a slightly better direction.

    For the most part my neighbours have been friendly and helpful, if not often drunk, but you can see a lot of young families moving into the area, since the homes are old and full of character, and the rooming houses can’t hold out with increasing property values forever. It (Hintonburg, not the rooming house next door) also seemed to be the source of most of the party-goers at the Spacing Ottawa party I went to a few weeks back, though I have yet to run into any of the number of bearded gentleman – or the strikingly pretty women – who attended, again. There must be a clubhouse around here I haven’t found yet.

    Dec 03, 2009 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , | 1 Comment »

    By any other name

    By any other name
    What’s in a name? Or furthermore, a title? There’s been a lot of chatter over this at PixelatedImage and the need to dispel these meanings we attribute to words, titles, and even appearances that just aren’t true.

    When I walk around with my main camera, the 1DMKII, I get a lot of stares and a lot of “nice camera” or “good camera” and while they’re right, and I thank them for the compliment, I’m cynical enough to immediately think that the camera doesn’t matter, they don’t know; the photo that eventually comes out of it is what matters.

    I am not a professional photographer.
    Or am I? Am I a photographer at all? I take photographs, I take photos for money, I take photos for fun. I’m a fundraiser, I fundraise as a job, I fundraise as a volunteer. I’m a father – this I do for no money, and just for the love.

    What I’m trying to allude to, albeit vaguely, is that it doesn’t MATTER if I’m a photographer, just if you like my photos. And it doesn’t MATTER if I’m a fundraiser, just that I do my job well enough that I can help facilitate donations into services, research and cancer patients who need them.

    To that end, it doesn’t matter what my camera is, I have a pro-level body… that’s 5 years too old in a world that likes the latest shiny things. But I’m going to rock it until it’s broken, and if I show up for a shoot with my G11 I’m only going to do so because that’s the best tool for the job [note: it probably isn’t, but it can DO the job]. Appearances and labels mean very little to the final product, but often you need both to just to get the opportunity. It’s the politic of appearance.

    Dec 03, 2009 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments »

    Byward

    Byward
    I’m sorry to say that when things get busy, and I mean busy all around, one of the first things to drop is this blog. I’m thankful for things like Twitter and RSS feeds that mean people don’t have to be proactive in visiting the site and seeing if I’ve posted something. It’s passive and most often I will come to you.

    I’ve been running around with my G11 a lot lately and I really like it, I mean as a tool it’s very functional and I’ve said things about this before so I won’t run on, but you’ve got to have a camera on you at all times; one that you’ll use. If you don’t use it you’re not envisioning your shots, and if you’re not looking at everything and how you’ll make it more interesting in your frame, well, then you’re not really passionate about this stuff are ya?

    My parents came to town this past weekend and I was finally able to show them a bit of Ottawa, aside from Hintonburg, for once. We went downtown to the Byward Market and into the main building where this was shot. My mom’s goal for the trip was to buy maple sugar, which is apparently a commodity in Toronto, and when she found some she ended up buying two kilo’s. Now I’m no Stringer Bell, but the businessman inside me says you can probably cut that with some brown or yellow sugar, maybe even as much as 50%. There’s money to be made in this economy, to be sure, you just have to know where to look – for better or worse, my current tastes still lay in gravy train that is portraiture.

    Nov 30, 2009 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | 3 Comments »