The greatest compliment I can ever receive
...has to be the fact that people want to use my works in their own projects. However, that doesn't give anyone the right to just take my work because I still own the copyright to it and i do have certain requirements that need to be met before permission for use will be granted.
Usually, I like to know how and where my work will be used because I like to be able to look at it in use for myself from time to time and I never agree to anyone else using my work for commercial reasons. I'll offer enough chances for people to get their hands on my work in time and I don't require any help to do that.
I don't mind going out of my way to offer one off, custom works either - and I have done that when asked to before... though these are often done on a personal use only basis due to the nature of them. They are something that, usually, even I am unable to use for anything other than to demonstrate my ability to write personal pieces that are unique to the customer who has requested it.
I have already had the joy of seeing my work used elsewhere online when I entered a contest to have some of my work converted and used as Digital stamps to adorn some of the millions of letters written and sent every day. I entered around 15 pictures of my own... and of them, 12 were chosen and used as stamps.
As things stand right now, I'm unsure if I will enter any more of my work into this contest again in the future. The reason for that has nothing to do with the process or anything like that and more to do with my beliefs that I've had my turn, now it's time for me to step aside and let someone else have a chance at the success I've experienced.
Usually, I like to know how and where my work will be used because I like to be able to look at it in use for myself from time to time and I never agree to anyone else using my work for commercial reasons. I'll offer enough chances for people to get their hands on my work in time and I don't require any help to do that.
I don't mind going out of my way to offer one off, custom works either - and I have done that when asked to before... though these are often done on a personal use only basis due to the nature of them. They are something that, usually, even I am unable to use for anything other than to demonstrate my ability to write personal pieces that are unique to the customer who has requested it.
I have already had the joy of seeing my work used elsewhere online when I entered a contest to have some of my work converted and used as Digital stamps to adorn some of the millions of letters written and sent every day. I entered around 15 pictures of my own... and of them, 12 were chosen and used as stamps.
As things stand right now, I'm unsure if I will enter any more of my work into this contest again in the future. The reason for that has nothing to do with the process or anything like that and more to do with my beliefs that I've had my turn, now it's time for me to step aside and let someone else have a chance at the success I've experienced.
The water lily and the chocolate
The water lily started out as the perfect opportunity at what I thought would be an easy shot... unfortunately, I soon learned just how wrong I was!
Standing on the bridge in front of the pond, I happily hit my shutter button a couple of times before i realised that i was in the wrong place entirely - I needed to be closer to my subject than I was. Given the temperature, I wasn't about to go for a paddle, so I made the best use of my surroundings as I could and lay across the low wall of the bridge to get me closer and give my arms a little extra reach.
Snapping away, quite happily, I didn't notice until afterwards that the moss covered wall also had some chocolate on it... chocolate that I was now wearing.
Even that fashion issue wasn't enough to dampen my joy of being able to get the shot though because this water lily is still one of my all time favourites of my own works.
Standing on the bridge in front of the pond, I happily hit my shutter button a couple of times before i realised that i was in the wrong place entirely - I needed to be closer to my subject than I was. Given the temperature, I wasn't about to go for a paddle, so I made the best use of my surroundings as I could and lay across the low wall of the bridge to get me closer and give my arms a little extra reach.
Snapping away, quite happily, I didn't notice until afterwards that the moss covered wall also had some chocolate on it... chocolate that I was now wearing.
Even that fashion issue wasn't enough to dampen my joy of being able to get the shot though because this water lily is still one of my all time favourites of my own works.
Poppin' Poppies
These poppies are a plant that I have easy access to, since they grow on my mum's garden. I like to admire how vibrant the colour of the flowers are.
What made this shot even more remarkable for me is the fact that the area where these poppies grow is actually a wild garden and, if you look closely, between the flower and the seed pod - you can see a cheeky little weed that wanted in on the action, too.
Rather than detracting from the overall image, I think that it adds a little extra charm and beauty to the finished picture and these are the type of pictures that I like to capture most of all.
What made this shot even more remarkable for me is the fact that the area where these poppies grow is actually a wild garden and, if you look closely, between the flower and the seed pod - you can see a cheeky little weed that wanted in on the action, too.
Rather than detracting from the overall image, I think that it adds a little extra charm and beauty to the finished picture and these are the type of pictures that I like to capture most of all.
A prickly problem
The thistle is a bothersome weed to many people - but, for me, it has a specific memory that comes to mind each time that I see it.
It all started when I was a little girl. My aunt and uncle used to take us on vacation with them and there was a walk of a couple of miles or so out of town to a place that they used to visit. For children, that walk beside a busy road might as well have been fifty miles.
Bored children aren't the easiest thing to motivate when you really want to get from Point A to Point B.
Unfortunately for us, my uncle spotted some thistles by the roadside and picked some. From then on, it became a game where whichever child slowed down would be threatened with the thistles.
It brightened up the dreary walk and the children didn't dally about so much because they didn't know if uncle really would touch them with the thistles either.
It all started when I was a little girl. My aunt and uncle used to take us on vacation with them and there was a walk of a couple of miles or so out of town to a place that they used to visit. For children, that walk beside a busy road might as well have been fifty miles.
Bored children aren't the easiest thing to motivate when you really want to get from Point A to Point B.
Unfortunately for us, my uncle spotted some thistles by the roadside and picked some. From then on, it became a game where whichever child slowed down would be threatened with the thistles.
It brightened up the dreary walk and the children didn't dally about so much because they didn't know if uncle really would touch them with the thistles either.
orange you pretty?
The poppy has always been a favourite of mine because of it's lovely bright colours. Up until a few years ago, I used to have some of these poppies growing in my garden - though the flower in this shot actually belonged to my mother who would have been the supplier of the seeds that enabled me to have some orange poppies, too.
Pretty in pink
This was taken in my own garden. If I'm honest, at the time I shot the image, I had no idea of how well it had turned out until afterwards.
The reason that I chose to enter it to be used as a stamp is because of the crispness of the lines within the flower and that cheeky poppy seed pod up in the left corner of the picture - it seems that it didn't want to feel left out.
The reason that I chose to enter it to be used as a stamp is because of the crispness of the lines within the flower and that cheeky poppy seed pod up in the left corner of the picture - it seems that it didn't want to feel left out.
Mix it up a bit
This colour blast is a small sample of my mother's wild garden. Though my mother wouldn't describe herself as having a green thumb, there has always been something growing in her "garden" for as long as I can remember.
Of course, the garden itself has changed many times over the years. Sometimes, it's been as small as a kitchen trash can filled with potatoes but at other times, it's been larger.
As it reached a point where she was less able to do the gardening because of her disabilities, it became a wild garden in which it is left to do as it pleases through most of the year, though it will be pruned back over the Fall months.
Of course, the garden itself has changed many times over the years. Sometimes, it's been as small as a kitchen trash can filled with potatoes but at other times, it's been larger.
As it reached a point where she was less able to do the gardening because of her disabilities, it became a wild garden in which it is left to do as it pleases through most of the year, though it will be pruned back over the Fall months.
taking a hike
These blossoms were right by a path that I was walking along... of course, I didn't want these blossoms, I wanted those blossoms - unfortunately for me, the "those" blossoms I refer to weren't actually by the path and I'd have to go off the beaten path to get the shot that I wanted since I couldn't get the angle I wanted from the path because of other plants between me and them
i got these blossoms, though!
So, there I was walking through some ornamental gardens when these blossoms caught my eye. This was too good a shot for me to go home without getting and I could see the angle I wanted to get without causing any damage to the plants around my tree - so I went off the beaten path and managed to get this shot.
Not long afterwards, I decided to follow a small trail under the tree and I walked as far as I could along that trail... which wasn't far since I was essentially on an island that was on an island. At the end of my route was a couple of ducks preening themselves by a lake... which was another picture that I couldn't resist adding to my collection.
Not long afterwards, I decided to follow a small trail under the tree and I walked as far as I could along that trail... which wasn't far since I was essentially on an island that was on an island. At the end of my route was a couple of ducks preening themselves by a lake... which was another picture that I couldn't resist adding to my collection.
i'll huff... and i'll puff
This dandelion started its life as a challenge that I set myself, to try shooting images from angles that I wouldn't usually have used. At the time that I shot it, I strongly suspected that it was going to be another shot that I'd end up simply deleting at some stage because I believed that the blue of the sky was so bright that it would cancel out the fineness of the seeds on the dandelion... but, when I got home and looked at my picture on a bigger screen, I found that it had come out better than I thought it would - with the only fault being that I had a few whips of my hair off in one corner of the picture... not that you can see it in this version of the picture.
Come, rest a while
After all that hiking, one finds oneself in need of a rest... and for me, there's no better place than by this stream with the water trickling gently out of a crevice between the rocks around the corner - just out of your sight.
You are my sunshine...
These flowers were spotted at a time when I was going through one of my depressive stages. I'd not been doing so well for a few months, yet looking at these seemed to make me feel a little better - happier... so I took a picture of them.
At the time, they weren't intended to ever be shared. They were shot with the intention that they would be a little eye candy for me to use to get through the sort of day where I feel like I've had as much as I can take, so I didn't put a whole lot of thought into capturing them in as creative a way as i could - I just took the picture since I don't think I'd have been able to have gone to all the effort of thinking with my creative mind at the time because I'd lost interest in almost everything that had once occupied me for hours of my day.
When I entered them into the contest, I did so believing that they were a few that I thought wouldn't make the cut... but I wanted to give others the chance to admire the beautiful flowers. When I read the letter that informed us that over 100 new stamps had been added to the library as a result of the contest, I headed on over to that section of the website expecting to see loads of work that was so much better than anything that I could do.
When I got there and saw how much of my work had made the cut, you could have easily knocked me over with a feather - especially when I saw that they had also taken some snippets of my poetry to use as "quotes" to accompany the stamps as well.
At the time, they weren't intended to ever be shared. They were shot with the intention that they would be a little eye candy for me to use to get through the sort of day where I feel like I've had as much as I can take, so I didn't put a whole lot of thought into capturing them in as creative a way as i could - I just took the picture since I don't think I'd have been able to have gone to all the effort of thinking with my creative mind at the time because I'd lost interest in almost everything that had once occupied me for hours of my day.
When I entered them into the contest, I did so believing that they were a few that I thought wouldn't make the cut... but I wanted to give others the chance to admire the beautiful flowers. When I read the letter that informed us that over 100 new stamps had been added to the library as a result of the contest, I headed on over to that section of the website expecting to see loads of work that was so much better than anything that I could do.
When I got there and saw how much of my work had made the cut, you could have easily knocked me over with a feather - especially when I saw that they had also taken some snippets of my poetry to use as "quotes" to accompany the stamps as well.