ShutterQueen Ink

Rejuvenate Your Inner Photographer's Spirit

I was in my photo lab, Richmond Camera, the other day and overheard Mike from behind the counter making these first three suggestions to another customer. Thought is was worth passing on so I elaborated:

10 Ways To Generate New Photography Ideas

1. Join a local photo club
Associating with like-minded people and seeing the world through their eyes can give you the creative boost you need to get snapping.

2. Visit the library or bookstores
Travel, food, photography books – all kinds of ideas to motivate you and your camera into action.

3. Buy a map
Especially if you’re new to the area, go out and explore, camera in hand. Make sure you keep good notes so you can revisit your favorite spots.

4. Visit photography websites
Whether it’s portrait, landscape, architectural, or food there’s a website out there marketing it.

5. Stroll through the mall
Many of them display portraiture from local artists.

6. Check out social media sites such as Facebook and Flickr
These sites are growing by the thousands daily. Not only can you borrow posing and location ideas but also once you have your own collection you’ll have a place to post them.

7. Take a class at a community college
Nothing like a homework assignment to encourage you to see things in pictures.

8. Be observant
Restaurants, doctors offices, accountants, attorneys. . .most every office is decorated, many with photographs. Open your eyes and look around as you navigate through your day.

9. Art Gallery
Sometimes being in a colorful environment surrounded by unique masterpieces sparks a renewed energy to venture out and create your own.

10. Be Quiet
Find a serene and tranquil setting. The ocean, waterfall, beach, or the forest. Close your eyes, practice some deep breathing exercises, and release the noise and stress. When you eliminate the mind clutter, your imagination comes to life with amazing results.

Treat your mind like you do your computer. Delete unnecessary files and replace them with useful, positive data. Inspiration can be found in unusual places at the most unexpected times.

Please let me know if you try these suggestions and find them beneficial.

How do you re-energize your inner shutterbug? If you would like to offer additional ideas please post your comments here!

My Last 29 Rolls

I received disturbing news from my photo lab last week. Kodak has stopped making my favorite film, Portra 160 NC. I know, those of you that have made the transition to digital are not phased by this and probably wondering why I am still shooting film anyway?

I happen to love the medium contrast results from Portra and the warm tones. For portraits and events, anything involving photographing people, I do not believe that digital can beat the results I achieve with that film. In fact I am the proud owner of pretty much every roll in the state of Virginia, at least everyone that 15 Richmond Camera Stores possessed. The manager was most helpful in tracking down every roll and shipping them to me. He called and said this film is like cocaine to you isn’t it? “Yes, gimme my fix!” I said.

I introduce and use the latest in online video technology on a daily basis so I am no stranger to the technological changes and am all for these modern advances. . .except when it comes to giving up my Portra.

In preparation may I ask of my fellow Canon consumers, which camera do you like the best? Which lenses and flash? Has anyone switched from Portra to digital? Any suggestions from those feeling my pain? And to all you digital fans out there. . .what changes did you experience when switching?

Obviously there are instant gratification returns, such as, being able to see your photos right away and show excited subjects the crazy pose you captured them in. You can load your pictures directly into the computer, bypassing the scanning step. But I still enjoy delivering the customized album and watching my customer relive their special event, a story told through personalized finished prints that were shot, developed, and pro-printed in the traditional 100 plus year way. Wow, do I sound old and set in my ways, or what?

So I figure I have 29 rolls to decide, do I roll kicking and screaming into the digital realm or dig my heels in and hang on for a little while longer using the blue-green Fuji tinted film? That is until they too travel down the same futuristic path as Kodak.

Chance To Change Perspective

If service is the rent you pay for your existence on this earth, are you behind in your rent?
Robert G Allen
Philanthropy - The effort or inclination to increase the well being of humankind, as by charitable aid or donations.

One week ago at The Virginia Beach Oceanfront Hilton hotel 300 people gathered for the 6th annual Party In Paradise Event in a united effort to battle for a cure to end Diabetes. Pictured here are some of the devoted volunteers and attendees that band together each year to make this fundraiser a smashing success.

Sometimes I find myself fretting and stressing out over life’s daily occurrences? An alleged fifteen minutes commute according to mapping services on the computer, turns into an hour. I long to be living in 2055, like Nora Robert’s characters do in her JD Robb series, where they press a button on their cars and glide over traffic. Hint hint to auto makers. . .

Need to zip off a crucial email for an impending deadline? But your Internet has decided to take five.

Are these life-altering events? When you’re pulling your hair out and may feel like doing the same to the person or people sending your day into a tailspin you may be tempted to shout YES! But try spending time in an environment with a wife who lost her husband, from a diabetic induced heart attack, or with a parent who spends several times a month in a hospital while doctors try to regulate her blood sugar to a safe level. Where on life’s scale would those daily struggles be if you met a six year old that had to give herself insulin shots? Are your problems looking smaller yet? If not, go volunteer.

Stop complaining about dealing with challenging personalities, the contract you didn’t win, or the dreadful fear of picking up the telephone (for the salespeople reading this). Be appreciative at meeting new people, happy that you will, as sure as any of us can be, wake up and be able to seize another opportunity, and be glad that you have a hand able to grip a phone.

Makes you think, all those things that upset us so are really unimportant in the proverbial big picture.

What are you doing to revamp your perspective? When you map out those business and personal goals make sure you add in community service. How do you decide whom to devote your time to? For me diabetes runs in my family. Personal experiences are quite often what drives someone to a particular organization.

Whichever ones you choose, realize they could not succeed without the help of volunteers. Giving is not always in the form of dollar bills. Perhaps you have an expertise they could benefit from. If you have two hands or even one, there is a task you can perform, a place for you in the accomplishment of the ultimate cure-discovering mission.