Why Do I Take Photographs?

It has been a few weeks since my last post, christmas was the main culprit which kept me otherwise occupied; not to mention the weather, which has been cold and wet. You may have read about the flooding in some parts of the UK this January. But by and large I have not been out and about with my camera. I have taken this opportunity to think about what I want to do with my photographs, am I an artist or a photographer; or maybe both?

Certainly until recently and the aquistion of a digital camera, my photographs were limited to family snaps and holiday snaps. However, over the past couple of years I have been thinking of myself as a phtographer, what does that mean?

I started a challenge on another (writing) site to post a photograph-a-day, and write about it. The photograph was incidental and only served to act as a focus for the short article. Otherwise, the photos which I post on this blog are of days out or my garden or sunsets, is this what being a photographer means. I have used photographs as references for my paintings, I have played around with them and edited them in photoshop, etc but rarely have I used them for their own sake. Except in the few instances where I have used them on Zazzle products, mostly greeting cards and postcards. I even asked the question at one stage, "Is All Photography Art?" I was never sure that I received an answer from any of the readers of from myself.

I am now wondering what this blog should be about. Where do I want to take it? Should I let it lead me? I am simply not sure. One thing is certain, I have far too much to do with the projects I have set myself on the internet and personally. I want this blog to mean something, not just a record of whatever I have happened to click the shutter on. I did not know the answer whwen I started writing and still don't. So I have a lot of searching and thinking to do before I can make a decision.

In the meantime, here are three photos which I posted at the start of that photo-a-day project (which is now defunct as I have left the site - Bubblews - in disgust at the behaviour of the site towards its contributors).

A local pub, quite a large andbusy one, this photo was taken early one morning

A shot in the rain, of the road in which I live

A gift which flowered in our kitchen window

Three very different photographs, nothing spectacular but each one gave me a subject for short article. I cannot yet say, but I may well try to restart this project on this blog. So that rather than the photograph being the game, it is used merely as a thought starter. And that reminds me of a TV program which aired when I was a young boy called, PinPoint. Each program started with a view of Cleopatra's Needle on the Embankment in London. The whole program was built around how thoughts could jump from one item to another and it ended up following these various thoughts from one object to another. 

Perhaps explaining the way it worked properly could be the next post, we'll see ...

Using The Camera's Timer For Self Portraits

Bought myself a couple of tee-shirts from my Zazzle store and decided to photograph myself wearing them. An opportunity to earn a little extra in a competition run by Zazzle. Also another chance to use the camera's timer. Something which I don't often think about. Once or twice on holiday I use it to take photos of my wife and I, just to prove we were there together.

On most modern cameras it is simplicity itself to use, and can be very useful to take shots you could not get without third party help. The only issue is composing the shot. When taking my wife and I, it is simple to arrange the camera to frame her and then after pressing the shutter I have the usual 10 seconds to join in the pose. However, taking my own picture as here, I needed several shots to get one which didn't cut off my head.

If you have never used this facility, you need to press the button which sets up the timer (with an expensive model you may need to set the time) and when the shot is ready press the exposure button. Then quickly put yourself into the shot. View the result and decide if it is what you wanted. If not then repeat - as many times as necessary!

The images shave been cropped here to show off the tee-shirts. The text on the images is what you can't see on the shirts below the respective images. Perhaps a little help with taking the shots and composing them would have been useful with these.

Putting my "fun" photos to work

As you will have seen in my last post, I have a Zazzle store ( a print-on-demand site) which I had started to use to try and sell my art work. In fact there are at present three stores, which are catering for different ranges of products.

But I thought, "hang on! Why don't I use some of the many photographs to create products and put these onto products." So I have been doing just that. Sure, I take photos for fun, but there is no reason I can think of not to use these to try and make a quick buck. So why not. Here are a couple of examples:-

Standing Stones by ArtyfaxProducts
See other Standing Posters
This is a printed canvas, which would look good on any wall

have a big hug by ArtyfaxCards
A greeting card which you can personalise
or make one of your own on zazzle

Fruity by artyfax
Join Zazzle.com's clothing affiliate program
Lots of styles and colours that you can select with this image.

Ok that's enough advertising for now but I can't promise not to  mention Zazzle again especially if it starts to become profitable. You can read about my early experiences on Zazzle on my Squidoo web page (lens), My First Steps With Zazzle. I also have a new blog which is devoted to this new hobby, making money, LOL.