I have got really into photography in the last 9 months or so since buying my GF1. I now do some photography work in house as part of my job, but I have been thinking about trying to get some private sales/commissions too but haven’t done a lot about it apart from start making a website.
But completely out of the blue, I got an email from someone from English Lakes Hotels on flickr saying they had seen my picture, and would like to use it in the new brochure for the Midland Hotel in Morecambe.
They offered me a stay in one of their hotels in lieu of payment, which I was quite happy with – so me and my girlfriend are getting a luxury lake view room with dinner, bed and breakfast etc at the rather fancy Storrs Hall near Bowness. Sweet!
They have also said they will bear me in mind for future photography work. Suffice to say I am rather chuffed. 😀
I had a look at how much it would cost them to buy a similar image for what they wanted on Alamy and it was about £280, so I was a little cheeky – they originally offered me a room, but I asked for a luxury room plus dinner for me and my gf. It would actually cost about £300 (though of course it won’t cost them that much) but I probably would be too stingy to splash out on something like that so it’s quite nice really.
It remains to be seen whether anyone will pay me actual money for my pictures, but a few more nice treats won’t go amiss either. 🙂
It seems like the decent bread and butter money is in weddings/cheesy studio portraits but I’m not sure I am up for that really.
I had this one published in this year’s Montane catalogue which earned me a t-shirt. Livin’ the dream!
Montane seem to be rather good at this. I got a free Pertex wind-jacket for this one a couple of years back.. 2006-10-15 12-12-35 by druidh_dubh, on Flickr
As for the Glen Affric photo, it was taken on a lovely spring evening, using Fuji Velvia 50. The slide was scanned, but I’ve tried to keep the colour as accurate as possible.
Thanks grum I will take a look as in the market for a new camera either long zoom compact or g1 form factor camera just something smaller than a full dslr, and again great pictures all round in this thread
Don’t wish to detract from Grum’s fantastic result, and they are great pics.
BUT
I have to say, this is one of the loveliest pics I have ever seen on this forum.
Seriously. That’s stunning. I know photography/art is a very subjective thing, but rarely have I been moved as much by a photo on here (and there have been tens of thousands, if not more). It’s almost like a painting. Simply gorgeous.
Well done Onion. You deserve to be really proud of that one.
No I’m sorry Grum; your stuff is fantastic, and you are genuinely talented. But there’s just something about Onion’s pic, that elevates it above most others, imo. I think you’ll agree; credit where it’s due.
In fact I’ve just remembered I’ve got a bottle of Innes + Gunn Original in’t fridge, that I’m going to open in honour of that pic.
You deserve some luck with the last year being a bit yucky.
My nephew is now a professional photographer at the age of 22. He started out with some pictures of a local band, who got quite well known. Then another well known band spotted his talent and then he got signed to do some work for NME. He’s just had to move to London to keep up with demand. It’s mostly advertising work now, for example ‘Top Shop’. But he’s met and shot quite a few famous people. It’s well paid, but he knows it may stop tomorrow.
So keep at it grum, you never know where it may lead.
The second one isn’t mine btw – that’s just of where I’m going to be staying I pinched off their site. Will try and get some better pics of the hotel and flog them to English Lakes as well. 😛
Thanks Bunnyhop – that’s good to hear about your nephew – I have to say I was getting a little discouraged recently especially with losing my camera but this has given me a nice boost.
druid, did you do the loop counter clockwise from chisolms bridge to get to that point?Did you do it on a bike? I took some pics from that exact spot and they too came out like paintings. its just the area thats so nice. i love the view at the top of that track above the lodge.
hate to agree with the dwarfy chippy mockney, but thats a great photo there druidh.
EDIT: thats being unfair, its a stunning image. Maybe there’s something in the slide scan that does it. Ive had great results taking photographs of photographs taken with Ektar 1000.
reminds me of the film Excalibur.
and grum thats a top shot too, dont feel churlish over the value of the payment in kind, for them a room costs very little compared to the list price.
Wow Grum and Druid some great photos, Grum yours has great commercial value, let us know when your websites loaded I’d love to take a look. Druids photo would make a great watercolour.
martinxyz – I’ll post what I just emailed to Elfin…
It was taken on my last ever trip with a (pre-digital) SLR. It had been a very long day out munro-bagging (Sgurr na Lapaich, Mam Sodhail, Beinn Fionnlaidh and Carn Eige and all the Tops out to Tom a Choinnich) and we were just descending to the car. We’d already got some good shots in the morning as we walked up through the cloud layer and all you could see were the very peaks sticking out of the cloud. By the time it came to the walk out, I was pretty done in. However, I looked along Loch Affric and the sun was just setting, casting some lovely shadows on the hillsides opposite. I took a couple of shots at different positions while the sun was “just right” and thought that this one was the best. I think the trees just to the right of centre fill that area quite well. The shrubs and grasses really are that colour in the spring as they have all died back under the snows and they are only just beginning to come alive again. If I’m disappointed in anything, it’s that the sky is a bit “blown out”, but I’ve resisted tampering with it in order to best record it exactly as I saw it.
Grum; I’m really sorry. I din’t meant to hijack your thread, which was meant to relay your happiness to others. I feel bad now. 🙁
I can’t help it though. I can’t even explain why I like that pic so much. I just do.
And look; it’s got me and Stoner in mutual appreciation of something. All we need now is for Ernie and Woppit to come along, and then maybe Peace can reign on Earth after all…. 🙂
The purpose of art is to provoke an emotional reaction, surely? That pic’s done it for me.
is that supposed to be a compliment?
if somebody said that about one of my photographs i would have to ask why they think it needs to be copied by somebody who uses watercolours to elevate it’s worth?
Nice on grum. 🙂
When my brother got into this photography lark I half expected it to be another fad, but he seems to be making a go of this one.
I’m sure he’s had a few published now.
I do like this one:-