I am having a wee bit of an identity crisis, trying to find my roots and where I belong in the world of pro photography.
My problem, is I have so many loves, and I can't really pinpoint one particular love of photography to focus on.
Something that has never sat right with me, is charging for my passion. When I started becoming interested in the world of portraiture, I grew tired of paying $1,000s for photos and I didn't even get original digital images or the rights to my photos that I had just paid someone to take!
I started my own business, so that I could offer affordable photography to everyone. So that everyone and anyone could have beautiful photos that would last generations to come. Why should you pay $1,000s? I know my equipment is expensive, and I spend 10hrs per shoot probably, perfecting each image and delivering around 360 photos to each client per shoot! But it is a labor of love.
The hardest question is how to define what my time is worth, how do you put a price on a memory that will outlive you? Maybe even outlive your children, or grandchildren? I see photos of my dads parents, and their grandparents! And when you, god forbid, lose a loved one, those precious photos continue on.
I've been fighting with myself, some say too expensive, some say too cheap! Those that see my prices before my portfolio frown and turn away assuming that cheap is always nasty, when if they took the time to look at my portfolio first, they would see this isn't the case with me....
So where do I go? What do I do when I can't settle on a price? The thought has crossed my mind, of putting that power in the clients hands. Oh what a revolution I could start, if I instead of telling people what to pay me, instead placed a 'donation' button on my website, and after clients receive their photos, can make a donation in a sum that they feel I was worth?
Beloved readers, your feedback on this would be much obliged, so please, comment or if you feel uncomfortable talking aloud, send me an e-mail, jody_k_smith@hotmail.com
Newmans weather can be unpredictable at the best of times. We care currently in the wet season. Cyclones bring in rains, soaking the earth so the rivers can run. Cyclone Heidi has brought a lot of weather and with it, issues. Cars are abandoned at flooded roads near mining sites. Trucks cannot get in or out of Newman, and many of the ladies here have washing coming out the wazoo!
The last few days have been pretty dry. I hang out my washing in clear blue skies, head out and notice an ominous mass of angry black cloud heading our way. That would be right! I've just hung out my washing for the first time in over a week!
I do my grocery shopping child free (what bliss it is to sometimes just be totally alone!). I get chatting with a friend as you do, and we are cut short by an almighty bang and flash of white light. The shop lights spark. Everyone freezes. Then we all pile outside to look. We are right in the centre of a lighting cell!
Lighting has hit the shopping centre, folks saying their teeth were 'buzzing'. The rain starts to get heavy. My logic at the time, with a full trolley of groceries, was that the rain was only going to get worse, and can last for hours, days here!
I brave the rains and lighting, running out to the car with a bit of a panic in my eye, thumbling to get the back door of the 4WD open. No sooner do I get it open, but not far from me, another lighting strike hits the building near me!
I have never been this close to lighting. At the time, adrenaline hit me, so hard, I think I could have picked up the trolley unassisted and thrown the whole thing in the back of the 4WD!!!! I throw bags into the back thinking to myself about how I'd rather not die by lightening today! Not caring for my trolley, I put it in an empty space, and then thumble with my hard to open 4WD door, jump in, looking like a drowned rat.
Now that the scary experience is over, and I've calmed down at just how close I was to the strikes, I can marvel and feel almost privledged that I got to see lightening that close. It is beautiful. I can't put into words what it looked like, but it was amazing!
My day continued with a tour of the town for a newbie, followed by our 4WD overheating and almost dying! Whilst my partner was working on fixing the 4WD, I thought it would be a good time to have a little hunt for some photographic gems.
The mushroom above is one of them. Under the trampoline, are lots of big mushrooms sprouting up. It's hard to grasp their size from the photo, but today I am sharing a mushroom!
I hope tomorrow is a little clamer.
It starts to rain, and with a numb bum, I decide to venture into the dark and see what is there to take a photo of.
First up a spider, I stand under it, and the dogs run under the web. Said web is broken, and my subject matter ends up in my hair.
It is a good thing I don't mind spiders and the spider didn't like my hair!
Next up are the dogs, but they won't stay still and keep vanishing into the dark depths of the scary back yard!
Well, that was a dismal fail, and since I haven't had my porch light on, no exciting insects are out apart from the hopeful and now homeless spider (sorry!).
So.... in the end, I settled for a photo of Flipper the Oscar fish. He is so named as since we bought him, he has a habit of leaping through the air for food. He has a wicked little tough guy personality. He and the freshwater crayfish don't get along very well. The crayfish finds the best hunting spot, and then Flipper decides it is a good spot and fights him for it. The crayfish always wins.
Photography isn't photography anymore. It has now become more about how good you are at programs like photoshop, than how good you are at taking a photo.
Everything is superimposed these days. The modelling industry is a fantastic example of faking it through photography, and I do green screening where I place people in places they were never actually in!
When you first saw the butterfly on this babies foot, did you think it was real or placed there by a program?
Almost 100% of clients have thought this photo to be 'fake', to be manipulated using a program. The truth of the matter is though, this photo is 100% real!
I used special synthetic butterflies, manipulated the wings, and placed it on a very patient baby. I've searched and searched, I haven't found any other photos like the ones I do. I have called it "Butterfly Baby", but offer it to adults too.
January seems to be the month for animals in photos! I'm adding to my portfolio with a snake sitting this coming Friday, something new and exciting! Many thanks will be going to my volunteer model and of course, the volunteer snake!
On the weather front here, it cleared up for a little, things started to dry up a little... and then it started all over earlier this afternoon! So now I must continue to wait for things to dry out before I can attempt any portraiture outside.
Anyone who knows the Pilbara, will know red dirt is unforgiving at the best of times. Get it wet, and you're asking for trouble!
I saw some photos of baby Macaws today, the brothers and sisters of my macaw to be. Just beautiful. I can't wait to meet Pluto, October could not come fast enough!
My decision to adopt a Macaw has been a long thought out one. I had a cockatiel for 12 years, and he was my companion. He went through high school, university and all manner of adventures with me. Sadly, he was lost 2 years ago.
A macaw is a companion bird. They need to be with you all the time, and they are with you for life. Macaws live for around 60 years, which means I'll be 86 before he's even close to passing on!
It is exciting for me, I'm nervous, anxious and impatient much like a new mother. So come on October, hurry up so I can introduce Pluto to the world!!!
I thought it was time I started a blog. To share my stories, and so you could get to know me a bit better.
I'm hoping to share my stories, photographic achievements and lots and lots of photos and even some photographic tips.
In the past, I shared my tips on my facebook page. These days, I haven't shared much at all in the way of tips. That is something that needs to change!
So lets get to know me hey? I am a mum (who each passing year seems to become more and more like my own mum!?!), living in a small mining town in WA, trying to balance work/life. I'm passionate about a lot of things in my life, so it isn't a surprise when I say I don't have much spare time on my hands. I'm passionate about my family. I love photography so that is a core part of my life and primarily what this blog will be about. I also am passionate about animal welfare (in particular birds), aquaponics, cross stitching, science and investment. I have a few businesses. My core business is my photography, Jody Ellis Photography. Second to that and my eldest business are my cross-stitch designs (sold to the US). My green business is Modern Cloth Nappies. I will dedicate an entire post to these down the track I am sure!
It has done nothing but rain here with cyclone Heidi, and to be honest, it hasn't inspired the camera to surface. I've been more interested in lounging in the hammock seat. Having said that, tonight I am trapped indoors thanks to the army of flying ants.
I spent a bit of time last night out with the ants catching them for my fish. The find a mate, shed their wings, and then the male follows the female with his face on her bum! Seems a strange dance to me.
Flipper the Oscar fish appreciated my catching efforts. As it turns out, my freshwater crayfish was never trying to escape. He was hunting! He climbs up the plants, sits at the surface, and using his feelers waits until he can feel something and then waves his cumbersome claws around hoping to grab something.
Feeling sorry for the crayfish, I helped him catch some food and watched, fixed to the glass. I'm a sucker for watching animals behaviors (just ask my mum about my snail experiment). He held his food in his main claws, passing it to his feet and then his mouth, and ate an entire female flying ant in probably around 1-2 minutes. Was amazing to watch.
I wonder if I'm actually avoiding photography at the moment, I feel the need for a creative surge, and it hasn't come at me yet. I was hoping to do a 'tattoo' themed project, but I haven't found the right tattoo yet with the right feel. I want to do an animal project, but haven't been able to organise the animals yet.
In fact, I'm feeling just a little bit invisible! I have some fantastic competitions on, and an amazing special on some products, but no one has comments or anything! I guess it is time to do a sing and dance. Get the good vibes going out.
I suppose this should really be enough for my first post. Thanks for reading, keep it real, and please comment so I know I'm not alone out here!
I am having a wee bit of an identity crisis, trying to find my roots and where I belong in the world of pro photography.
