Taking art/photography/writing further
Apr. 6th, 2007 08:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
destabeeMany of you on my friend's list are creative and/or artistic types who actually send your work out into the world via more than flickr, LJ, or similar means. How did you get started doing that? More specifically, how do you find people to help you keep improving your craft? (I have struck out in finding photography clubs in NW Indiana and the art guilds don't seem to include much photography around here.)
How did you find information on places/ways to make your work visible to a larger audience? (There are a few gardening or birding magazines I read that have room for reader photo submissions. A few of the garden catalogs I get have photo contests. In most cases they don't pay but I assume that simply having things printed in a national magazine still helps build a resume.)
How did you do this without losing the joy/fun/magic of the craft itself?
I think I have reached a point where at least a small percentage (though none of the most recent work) of my nature photos are worthy of being "used" in some way. (So far a couple of non-profits are using some photos online.) For example, when I look through field guides, I know that some of my photos are better than some of those included in the guide. I think that moving from a high end point and shoot level camera (Canon Powershot S2) to a SLR camera would increase that percentage a bit. There is room for me to grow my own technical skills on my own. In addition, I have signed up for a couple more classes in hopes of improving those and possibly meeting others with similar interests and possibly those who can connect me to information networks.
Specifically for those of you with photography interest do you know anything about the North American Nature Photography Association or similar groups? In particular, I wonder if there are such groups that would do more than laugh at someone without a more serious camera. I can find lots of books to help me learn more technical skills, a few about improving the artistic quality of photos, but none so far about developing myself as a photographer, dealing with issues of copyright, putting together submissions for juried shows or contests, and such. Any suggestions? Suggestions for the most useful photography magazines for someone at this level? Suggestions for best quality/price combinations for having digital photographs printed? Advice on putting together portfolios (digital or hardcopy)? Other thoughts?
I should note that I don't want to make photography a career but I would like to keep improving. I would happily donate the use of photos to non-profits doing work I support; this is one of my goals for photography. Occasionally receiving recognition or selling a photo and putting the money toward additional classes or equipment would be a plus. I am also thinking about ways to use photography in doing ethnographic research. Eventually, I would like to submit stories and/or photos to local newspapers and a couple of regional magazines on an infrequent but regular basis. I just seem stumped on figuring out how to get keep moving forward from where I am now and to reaching any of those goals.
How did you find information on places/ways to make your work visible to a larger audience? (There are a few gardening or birding magazines I read that have room for reader photo submissions. A few of the garden catalogs I get have photo contests. In most cases they don't pay but I assume that simply having things printed in a national magazine still helps build a resume.)
How did you do this without losing the joy/fun/magic of the craft itself?
I think I have reached a point where at least a small percentage (though none of the most recent work) of my nature photos are worthy of being "used" in some way. (So far a couple of non-profits are using some photos online.) For example, when I look through field guides, I know that some of my photos are better than some of those included in the guide. I think that moving from a high end point and shoot level camera (Canon Powershot S2) to a SLR camera would increase that percentage a bit. There is room for me to grow my own technical skills on my own. In addition, I have signed up for a couple more classes in hopes of improving those and possibly meeting others with similar interests and possibly those who can connect me to information networks.
Specifically for those of you with photography interest do you know anything about the North American Nature Photography Association or similar groups? In particular, I wonder if there are such groups that would do more than laugh at someone without a more serious camera. I can find lots of books to help me learn more technical skills, a few about improving the artistic quality of photos, but none so far about developing myself as a photographer, dealing with issues of copyright, putting together submissions for juried shows or contests, and such. Any suggestions? Suggestions for the most useful photography magazines for someone at this level? Suggestions for best quality/price combinations for having digital photographs printed? Advice on putting together portfolios (digital or hardcopy)? Other thoughts?
I should note that I don't want to make photography a career but I would like to keep improving. I would happily donate the use of photos to non-profits doing work I support; this is one of my goals for photography. Occasionally receiving recognition or selling a photo and putting the money toward additional classes or equipment would be a plus. I am also thinking about ways to use photography in doing ethnographic research. Eventually, I would like to submit stories and/or photos to local newspapers and a couple of regional magazines on an infrequent but regular basis. I just seem stumped on figuring out how to get keep moving forward from where I am now and to reaching any of those goals.
