Back at it Again
It has been a few years since I last updated my blog.
It has been a few years since I last updated my blog. Mostly because I had a full time job which didn’t allow for much freelance work, which was the focus of this blog, and the freelance work I was taking admittedly wasn’t all that interesting. Unfortunately, earlier this year, due to the struggling retail market, I was laid off from work. I decided to take the summer off to re-evaluate my career goals. Do I want to continue with jewelry photography elsewhere? Should I go after the wedding market? Or should I carve out my own niche somewhere else?
With Winter quickly approaching I haven’t really answered any of those questions. The freelance world has changed since 2016, perhaps this means I should change too?
It’s also Gnomevember again, which I am not participating in. I attempted last year but I ran out of steam pretty quickly. Here is one of my favorite pictures from last year. As I look at it again maybe I should partner with local bars for their social media accounts? I quite like how the beer looks!
70mm 1/25 sec f/5.0 ISO 1250
What Does Instagram Like?
I decided last year I should push my exposure on social media. Instagram seemed like the obvious choice - I'm a photographer and Instagram is photo based. I had been using Instagram for a while but mostly as just a way to see pictures of my friends. I never really used hashtags, unless I was posting pictures of board games, in which case I'd use hashtags like #boardgamegeek or something like that. But then I realized I could post pictures that I take with my camera and use Instagram as a platform for exposure, so I started to post using every photography related hashtag I could think of. Some of my posts would get maybe 15-20 likes. Sometimes they'd get upwards of 70. I could't tell what people on Instagram liked and didn't like. It seemed like my taste and the general taste of Instagram users were pretty different. I did non scientific experiment with 4 pictures. Two I really liked, and two I thought were pretty cool but pretty cliche. Here are my findings.
1/2000 sec f/8.0 ISO 800
I love this picture. I was so proud of it when I was finished, I was certain I'd blow up my Instagram with this single image. To me, it looks like something I'd find in National Geographic. You can see detail in the eye, through the wings, it's an almost perfect profile shot, time is frozen but you can still see movement, especially in the angle of how the bird is flying. I have a hard time believing I took this picture and not someone else. I didn't go crazy with editing on this one either. I brushed the background so it would be blue again, but that's pretty much it as far as fancy tricks go. Pretty happy with it!
1/8000 f/7.1 ISO 100
This picture is kinda boring to me. I mean, it looks cool I guess, but there's not a lot going on. I didn't think about this one too much much when I shot it. I saw a flock of pigeons flying horizontally in front of me, about to cross the sun, so I quickly put my camera in to almost random settings and began firing, hoping something would be in focus. Then when I put it in my computer it looked like garbage. So I did what I always do when a picture I take isn't what I want it to be - I made it black and white. I cranked up contrast and clarity almost all the way up and brought the highlights almost all the way down so you could see the shape of the sun. In hindsight, I kinda wish I had kept the sun just a big bright wash in the middle, rather than bringing the highlights down so you could see the circle of the sun.
Picture 1 got 35 likes. Pretty respectable for my account. The black and white one got almost double that with 66 likes. I did a test with a similar set of images, both posted around the same time.
1/2000 sec f/8.0 ISO 800
This is actually the same bird from the first picture, so the settings are the same. Again, I love this because it's sharp, you can see loads of detail in the bird, it shows motion but it's not blurry. I think it's great.
1/8000 f/7.1 ISO 100
This is one of the test shots I did before the flock of pigeons came by. Same settings on my camera, almost same editing done here. The only difference is I didn't bother taking out that little splotch just to the right of my watermark!
Again, picture 1 got a respectable 41 likes. But picture two got 56 likes! From what I can tell, my most successful pictures are insanely high contrast black and white photos. Also, if I ever post an HDR image, I can guarantee at least 50 likes on that. My favorite shots of animals barely break 25/35.
Getting Instagram likes and followers isn't incredibly important to me. I just noticed a trend in how my images are responded to. What do you think of these pictures? Do you prefer the black and white or the color images?
Onderdonk House
Bushwick, Brooklyn and Ridgewood, Queens have a long history of border disputes, which have resulted in the zig-zag pattern of the border today. But there's one building Bushwick can't claim, and that's the Onderdonk House of Ridgewood, Queens.
The neighborhood where I live is a hotly contested spot. Sometimes it belongs to Queens, sometimes it belongs to Brooklyn. As of right now, the border forms a zig-zag pattern down one street. So when you walk down the street you can say "I'm in Brooklyn. Now I'm in Queens! Now I'm back in Brooklyn!" without leaving that same street. But there's one building in Ridgewood, Queens that Brooklyn can't lay its hands on, and that's the Onderdonk House.
The land was acquired by Hendrick Barents Smidt as a grant from Peter Stuyvesant in 1661. At that time, Stuyvesant was the Director-General of the Dutch Colony New Amsterdam. Which, of course, was renamed New York in 1667 after a trade with the English.
In 1709 Paulus Vander Ende purchased the land from Hendrick Barents Smidt and built the stone house that currently sits on the land, just next to the foundation of Smidt's house. "Onderdonk House" is the shortened version of the full name, which is Vander Ende-Onderdonk House. Smidt's name is not included because techincally, the house that currently stands, isn't the one that Smidt built. The Onderdonk family adds their name later.
1769 is when the border disputes between Newtown, Queens and Bushwick, Kings (Brooklyn) which resulted in the zig-zag pattern we have today. Although the zig-zag has changed a few times over the years as the dispute rages on. Some buildings even begin in Brooklyn and end in Queens.
1820 saw renovations under new ownership. Adrian Onderdonk extended the house to include the foundation of the Smidt's original structure. The house has seen little changes since then, despite a fire in 1975 which destroyed large portions of the house. After years of pulling together funds and getting crews to work, the house opened again to the public in 1982.
You can visit the house on Saturdays between 1 and 5pm with a suggested donation of $3.00. A small price to pay to see New York's oldest Dutch Colonial house. A piece of history few get to see, or even know exists. I'm sure there are people in this neighborhood where I live who have no idea the rich history that is just down the road. Along with tours there are all kinds of events that take place. From live music to various holiday specials, it's a place of rich history that every New Yorker should experience.
What is this?
I am a freelance photographer and this blog is about my life as such. Sometimes I just need to vent. Sometimes I need to write down my thoughts to remind myself how I should be working. Other times I might just want to write about how I love my dog.
Why is this?
I believe it's important to get your thoughts out of your head sometimes. Some people write a journal for their own safe keeping. Other see therapists. I'm going to share my thoughts with the public. Feel free to communicate with me!