Not exactly a Bald Eagle
I read today in The Guardian on-line an article to decide on a good "national bird" for the UK. Well, there is a stack of criteria to weigh up, and you can actually vote! Whichever you choose it needs to reflect a strong positive image for the UK, but I really think that the good 'ole US has the concept of a national bird sewn-up fairly well, with the brilliant Bald Eagle on everything from a flag to a mug.
It has to be said, that most of the shortlisted choices are really good - strong on a sort of "British" image, or are cute, with a good range from the Wren to the Red Kite. I am not sure a Puffin (lives in a hole in the ground) does it for me though, and the Red Kite is not prolific enough (although there are a good few around here).
I think being an island nation we deserve a sea-bird. Also, I happen to have a shot of an Arctic Tern.
Handy...
Shooting for stock
I am a fair newbie to the idea of stock photography. The hardest part is initially understanding what the stock libraries want (and what they don't) and then getting my rejection rate down from 70% of submissions without my sanity slipping. I have slowly grasped the concept that stock shots are like no other - it's not so much what you want to shoot, but what is likely to sell. Repeatedly.
I now have around 500 images on line - many salvaged from the cutting room floor especially for the purpose, and some of my best sellers are (in my view) very ordinary snaps I snatched with a sandwich in one hand, a can of coke in the other, and a labrador tugging at the lead wrapped around my ankle. How they came out reasonably focused and pointing in the right direction is beyond me - but somebody likes them.
My most downloaded image is Belfast Titanic museum, sold 5 times now, so someone likes it. Closely followed by this one of Bradford.
Both totally different types of image to most I like to use on my website.
Contrast my meagre offering to other photographers with 30,000+ images on stock sites. I ain't going to get rich, and to be frank, I have better things to do, so I'll just plug away from time to time, when I get a mo.
More later.
all is revealed
In Robson Green's "Tales from Northumberland" he tries his hand at Cumberland and Westmorland wrestling. The episode screens on Monday 23rd February 2015, which answers my "when" question lurking in my mind ever since I shot this on location last year at the Powburn Show.
If you have been to Northumberland you need to follow this series. If you have not been to Northumberland you need to follow this series. As I was born and raised there I have something of an affinity with the local agricultural shows, they are all in my diary, and attend as many as I can across the county. I think my favourite is the Hethpool Show (very small and local, great atmosphere, stunning location), the Alwinton Show (a bit bigger and last in the season) and of course the Powburn Show (I had family living in the village for many years). I look forward to watching the rest of this insightful series. http://on.fb.me/1CSPJIS
where in the world....
When you submit images to a photo stock library you tend to wonder where they end up when they are bought.
This one just ended up in Holland on a Dutch tourism website which promotes the UK as a destination.
Nice of the owner to let me know.
hummed and harred about the Peace Wall submission
Snag is, once you have gone down a certain route with your photos, you forget about some of your others. Came across this one the other day which would have made a decent enough alternative to the Peace Wall (belfast) theme/ The jury's out.
