Looking For Opinions...

[JerryK]

Just looking for opinions...one of the things I can see myself doing in the future is

professional photography.

My office at work is filled with images like this. The images in this album are 640 x 480 pixels....so they are not full resolution, but I would really appreciate your thoughts.

Open Original Shared Link

[jerseyangel]

OMG Jerry--my thoughts are that you have a definate gift for taking pictures. Really, one was more breathtaking than the next

I have no doubt that you'd be good at this professionaly.

[JerryK]

OMG Jerry--my thoughts are that you have a definate gift for taking pictures. Really, one was more breathtaking than the next

I have no doubt that you'd be good at this professionaly.

Thanks, of course these are out of my favorite shots bin....my friends at work tell me I could and

should be selling my images, but I wanted some more subjective opinions;)

[JerryK]

Thanks, of course these are out of my favorite shots bin....my friends at work tell me I could and

should be selling my images, but I wanted some more subjective opinions;)

And if anyone ever wondered what Oregon looks like...there you go...most of those were taken

here in Oregon.

[Ursa Major]

Jerry, those are beautiful! You definitely have a gift there, and I am sure you could sell your photography.

And of course those are just some of your favourites. Do you realize that for every one of those beautiful pictures in National Geographic the photographer took about 1000 pictures? That's right, one thousand pictures to get that one perfect one.

My second youngest daughter studied photography, and that is what the professor told them, so they don't expect for every shot to be perfect and to be an award winning picture.

[tiredofdoctors]

Jerry --

Those pictures are outstanding! Seriously. The nature pics are breathtaking -- and the manner in which you staged them are obviously done meticulously and with thought. (A very "artsy" talent!)

The portraits also are pretty incredible. You captured emotions vs. pictures. You can almost tell what the kids are telling you in the pictures! That is the hallmark of an excellent photographer

I'm not a professional photographer, by any means, but I am a consumer. I think you definitely would have a promising career in photography.

Good luck to you! Keep us posted as to your decisions!!

[dlp252]

Wow!!! Very nice! Rivals most professional photos I've seen!

[JerryK]

Do you realize that for every one of those beautiful pictures in National Geographic the photographer took about 1000 pictures? That's right, one thousand pictures to get that one perfect one.

Ursa, thank you. I sort of figured this out on my own, that the best technique was to take as many shots as possible and then delete those that aren't perfect:) I wouldn't have guessed 1000-1 tho...

but I bet I keep only 1 out of 100 shots.

Tiredof, Thank you also. I love taking portraits of my nieces and daughters, and in fact anything that

is pretty. Nature however...staged the pictures...I was just there at the right time

I CAN leave my job and take early retirement in 23 days, at the ripe old age of 47. Not saying that I will, but this is what I will do with my time when I do.

j

[darlindeb25]

They are beautiful Jerry, you do good work. I have a beautiful pic of an angel trumpet, I would love to put it in here, but do not know how. I have a great pic of my granddaughter Harley and me too. Got some great pics while on vacation last week. I love taking pics too.

[GeoffCJ]

Jerry,

I've sold a few pictures, and write a regular article for a magazine which normally contains several pictures.

Your photos are really good, but I will warn you that it's a VERY crowded marketplace. If you want to make money taking pictures, learn to shoot weddings or sporting events, or both, and do that. Selling landscapes is super tough.

There are some cool sites that allow you to sell stock photos. That is, you can upload pictures, tag them with keywords, and sell them for publishers and advertising folks. It's not a lot of money, but it's pretty easy to do. I've got a friend who's doing this, and he makes a bucks a month. But he shoots a lot of stuff for that purpose, so he'll find objects that are interesting (an antique baseball glove, for example) and shoot it in a lighbox, and has lot's of popular action shots of climbers. Landscapes are tough because so many people do it.

I know you run, do you race? Sporting events are popular on the stock photography sites, but might be a hassle, since you have to have model release forms signed....

Check out - they outline the programs and show you your competition:

Open Original Shared Link

Here is my buddies site, with explanations and his portfolio, for comparison.

Open Original Shared Link

Good luck!

Geoff

[JerryK]

Jerry,

I've sold a few pictures, and write a regular article for a magazine which normally contains several pictures.

Your photos are really good, but I will warn you that it's a VERY crowded marketplace. If you want to make money taking pictures, learn to shoot weddings or sporting events, or both, and do that. Selling landscapes is super tough.

Oh yeah....I forgot to mention I would never expect to get rich off of it:) It would always mainly be a hobby and if I sold anything...cool. I love to just plain give them away and if my friends ask for one, I'll usually even frame if for them and give it to 'em for free. It just makes me feel good that someone liked one of mine.

But having looked around...with the understanding that the pictures I've taken were just taken and processed in the half-hour I had free that day, I believe I've got a bit of talent.

But yeah, you do raise a good point....lots of competition. But I'm getting to the point where I can work for enjoyment at something that I want to do..

I've thought that when I quit my day job in Corporate America, I would find a pro to mentor me and

teach me how to shoot weddings...and such.

Thanks for the advice.

j

[elye]

Beautiful stuff, Jerry. I'm an artist (mostly portrait work, and murals), and I love your spatial organization--you have great compositional sense!

[tarnalberry]

You've got the right approach - take a hundred shots in the hopes of getting that one. (Thank goodness digital makes that so much cheaper these days!)

I'm no pro, but I've done a few weddings as back-up and learned from a few of the pros there and in classes over the past 18 years (yes, since I was 10).

You've got great potential, and your images are good, but don't yet quite have that pop. I think you could get there, but you've got a little more to do. If you haven't worked with any pros, that's probably all you need. Or perhaps some more focused practice and feedback. I know the pro business is quite competitive, and it can be difficult to earn a living if you don't create your niche (and market it well).

Please don't take this to mean that I don't think your photos are good. They are *very good*. But the expectations of a pro who's going to make a living off of this are very high. And I'll caveat it further by saying I tend to put up very high expectations as well.

Keep working on it! You've got a lot of good work (that you can probably market in the right places right now) and great potential.

...

Ha! I just read the hobby bit. No reason not to start as a pro-amateur hobbiest now. You do have the talent.

[Belinda Meeker]

J

U r very very "outstanding" with this haven't seen someone capture things of such beauty before, u have taken it beyond wht words can say..........

[jkmunchkin]

GORGEOUS!!! I think I might move to Oregon; these are breathtaking.

I'm not crazy about the ones with people, but all the others are truly amazing.

[JerryK]

You've got great potential, and your images are good, but don't yet quite have that pop. I think you could get there, but you've got a little more to do.

Actually I take no offense at all to what you're saying, because I think it's right on. If I wanted to take this to the next level, I think I have the talent, but I have not, so far, had the time to really devote to

my photo's. I think I could get there, especially if I could find a pro to mentor with.

I also need a bit better equipment. A nice full frame digital SLR is currently on my "want" list.

I don't have any full frame sensor's right now....

I take pictures that make me feel something. Someone I care about...something that strikes me as

beautiful, that I want to remember....

I like to share my pictures too. I bet lots of you just thought Oregon was a soggy mudhole:) We try to

keep that paradigm going, so that more people don't move here. (Actually it sucks here about 5-6 months out of the year)

Thanks for all your comments Jerry

[Nantzie]

Wow Jerry. A man of many talents.

I used to do photography a little bit. My favorite thing to do was when there was a party outside, to walk a long way off, use my huge-mongous zoom lens and just shoot pictures of people. They completely forget you're there and the expressions and conversations you can capture are so genuine. It completely blows away anything that a "say cheese" picture can ever get.

My favorites of your's are Coast Range Sunset #2, Dahlia and Golden Sunset. I really like Dahlia a lot. There's something more to it than just a bee on a flower. A sense of something. Very nice.

Nancy

[JerryK]

just shoot pictures of people. They completely forget you're there and the expressions and conversations you can capture are so genuine. It completely blows away anything that a "say cheese" picture can ever get.

Did I mention I don't like the say cheese type smiles:) ? I try to NOT take those pictures if I can help it. Totally agree with you.

[Nantzie]

My husband and I went to Europe several years ago (his mom still has family there). He had just gotten a new camera and was very "remote control" about it. He refused to take ONE picture that didn't have people, mostly me, in front of it. Nancy in front of Heidelberg Castle. Nancy in front of the Louvre. Nancy in front of Notre Dame. Beautiful pictures of amazing architecture, art and history ruined by an irritated tourist (me again) standing in front of them.

His theory was how do people know that you took the picture if there's not someone in the picture? Um... You write a caption like normal people.

Next time I'm bringing my own dang camera.

Nancy

[JerryK]

He refused to take ONE picture that didn't have people, mostly me, in front of it. Nancy in front of Heidelberg Castle. Nancy in front of the Louvre. Nancy in front of Notre Dame. Beautiful pictures of amazing architecture, art and history ruined by an irritated tourist (me again) standing in front of them.

We've went on loads of vacations, where apparently I didn't go, because there are no pictures of me.

My wife and kids had a great time, but apparently I didn't:) It's really kind of silly when only one of you

is a photographer:)j

[UR Groovy]

Edited - oops I have to say ... these are some of the best amateur photos I've seen. I used to work as an admin. asst. for a professional photographer. I saw him go from $100 portraits to $18,000 weddings - oops-typo - $8,000. He's now one of the best in San Diego. We used to sort through hundreds of photos to get just a few that had the Wow Factor like yours do.

Your composition is amazing. You have a great eye for this. Have fun with this - you have the ability (not so many people do) to capture the beauty of life. They're quite fantastic.

[UR Groovy]

Wanted to mention - this is a tough game - photography. I just checked into his gig again - looks like the pricing structure has changed - he's more reasonable as far as pricing goes than he was before.

We did a lot of starving back in the day. There's so much more to making your photos work for you than just taking a picture - but you know that already.

Have fun

[JerryK]

Edited - oops I have to say ... these are some of the best amateur photos I've seen. I used to work as an admin. asst. for a professional photographer. I saw him go from $100 portraits to $18,000 weddings - oops-typo - $8,000. He's now one of the best in San Diego. We used to sort through hundreds of photos to get just a few that had the Wow Factor like yours do.

Your composition is amazing. You have a great eye for this. Have fun with this - you have the ability (not so many people do) to capture the beauty of life. They're quite fantastic.

Wow, thanks for the Monday morning boost:) Didn't get out to take any this weekend, just exciting home maintenance:) Thanks for the compliment. j