I’ve just added several photographs to my portfolio at iStockphoto.com.  Some of the photographs are from a recent trip to Mexico, and some are from my back yard during a recent frosty morning.  To view my portfolio, click this link:

iStock Portfolio

Some of you have asked about the  process at iStockphoto.com, and I thought I’d take some time to explain the process a little bit.

iStockphoto.com selects only the best of the best.  All photographs are heavily inspected and rejected for the smallest of flaws.   That was one of the deciding factors for me when I was deciding to use iStockphoto to sell my work.

There are a lot of not-so-professional Stock Photography sites out there, and frankly – it shows!

Here is some free advice for you.  After you upload your own photographs to your computer, and look at them on your monitor, in whatever software you are using, you should have the ability to view a photograph file at “100% Pixels” or “Full Size”.  Doing so will show you the full size view of your photo, and it is there that you will see any flaws in all their glory.  You may have a photograph that you feel is absolutely perfect, but when viewed at 100% Pixels you may realize your photo is actually quite grainy, or a number of other problems.  Viewing a photograph file at 100% Pixels (full size) is important in order to know what your photograph is going to look like printed, and to better judge whether or not it would make a good enlargement.  When you purchase one of my photographs at iStockphoto.com, you can rest assured that all of my images have passed such a test (in addition to others) to ensure the utmost quality.

Have you ever thought about purchasing one of my photographs from iStockphoto.com but don’t really understand the process?  First of all I want to stress that although Designers are typically the majority of clients of Stock Photography, anyone can (and do) purchase stock photography, and it’s a lot easier than you might think.  You basically have two options:  You can purchase the digital file of a photograph, which you would download to your own personal computer, or you can purchase a print of the photograph and have it mailed directly to you.

Digital Downloads 

When you download a file from iStockphoto.com, you have the following 6 sizes at two different *DPI’s available to you:

XSmall (4″ x 5.5″ @ 72 DPI)

Small, (8″ x 11″ @ 72 DPI)

Medium, (4″ x 5″ @ 300 DPI)

Large, (6.4″ x 8.5″ @ 300 DPI)

XLarge, (9.33″ x 14″ @ 300 DPI)

XXLarge, (11″ x 16.33″ @ 300 DPI)

*DPI stands for Dots Per sq. Inch

Prints 

When purchasing a print, you can chose from Matte, Glossy, Canvas, or Watercolor paper/finishes, and have the following size options:

8.5” x 11”

9”  x 12”

11”  x 14”

12”  x 18”

16 x 20”

16”  x 24”

20”  x 24”

20”  x 30”

Copyright 

When you purchase a print or a download, you do not own the rights to the photograph.  I remain the sole owner of my work.  To understand more about Licensing, please read the following:

http://www.istockphoto.com/license.php

To learn more about how to purchase any of my work from iStockphoto.com, please read the following link.  After reading the introduction page, click on the download link at the bottom of the page to learn more.

http://www.istockphoto.com/introduction.php

Here are a couple online photo credits I have out there.  Both of these organizations purchased limited rights from me via iStockphoto.com, where I sell stock photography.

This first one is from Mente e Cerebro, a Portuguese website.  They are featuring a photo I took of our Dog Jasper. The second one is from Our Ohio on-line where they are featuring one of my photographs of a Moonflower.  Click on an image below to be taken to their websites.

If anyone comes across any of my photographs on-line, or elsewhere please let me know! 

Wow, I have a blog!

First let me say, it’s hard to come up with a name for a blog!  I did a lot of research into the naming of a blog and it’s one of those deep holes of never ending information.  I spent way too much time coming up with two simple words:  In Focus.  I do believe that simple is good and striving toward it is worth the effort.

     “It’s very difficult to be simple enough to be good”     Emerson

I chose “In Focus” because I want this blog to be about so many things:  Healthy, sustainable organic living, environmentally friendly (”Green”) topics, photography, web design, design in general, technology, the arts, nature, politics, news, and about life in general.  It definitely was harder than I thought it would be to come up with a name that would encompass everything I wanted to blog about while leaving it somewhat open to allow for freedom to change along the way.

I’m both excited about beginning to blog and to be honest, a little anxious too.  On one hand I picture myself posting here quite frequently while enjoying the experience and learning a lot while hopefully helping others learn a lot, but on the other hand I could picture myself feeling guilty that I’ve not had time to post to the blog.  Ultimately I hope to fall somewhere in the middle.

As with everything in one’s life, it should enhance it and not merely add more stress to it.

So, welcome!  I’m glad you’ve come to check things out - visit often and feel free to register and share your thoughts and ideas.