Bartering Hummingbirds (pics)

Uncle Frank · Sep 9, 2003

I haven't made much money from photography yet... hell, it's cost me an arm and a leg. Just ask my wife :- . But things are looking up. My dentist has become a fan, and when I showed him some of my latest shots*, he offered to trade my 6 month cleaning for a couple of framed hummingbird prints. The best part is he hangs them in his office, and hands out my cards, so maybe I'll pick up some orders.

You gotta start somewhere. These 2 shots, printed as 5X7s and matted into 8X10 frames were worth one dental visit:

I picked up a small album that holds 5X7s (instead of the normal 4X6s), and have it loaded with my favorites for show & tell or orders.

--
Warm regards,
Uncle Frank, FCAS Charter Member, Hummingbird Hunter
Coolpix fifty seven hundred and nine ninety five
http://www.pbase.com/unclefrank/coolpix&page=all

Mike Wright · Sep 9, 2003

Uncle Frank said:
I haven't made much money from photography yet... hell, it's cost
me an arm and a leg. Just ask my wife :- . But things are looking
up. My dentist has become a fan, and when I showed him some of my
latest shots*, he offered to trade my 6 month cleaning for a couple
of framed hummingbird prints. The best part is he hangs them in
his office, and hands out my cards, so maybe I'll pick up some
orders.

You gotta start somewhere. These 2 shots, printed as 5X7s and
matted into 8X10 frames were worth one dental visit:

[...]

Gotta take my wife in to the dentist for a cleaning tomorrow. Darn...no time to create an album. If I had a laptop, I'd take it along and try to strike a deal. Oh well, maybe next time.

--
Mike Wright
Nikon CP4500, TC-E2, TC-E3ED - FCAS Member
http://www.coastalfog.net/digicams/dc_main.html

David Chin · Sep 10, 2003

Hopefully I'll get to enjoy the "side" benefits of photography one day too (I'll need to get really good first, though

)

--
Rgds,
David, C P 4 5 0 0 (see profile for more info)

isshinryu_mom · Sep 10, 2003

I would be so excited if that happened to me. Where'd you find a 5x7 album?

--
Ann
CP 5700
My tiny little pbase gallery http://www.pbase.com/isshinryu_mom

Jennifer515 · Sep 10, 2003

Wow Frank , great pix !!

I'm struggling !! I have a CP4500 ...and tons of hummingbirds at my feeders ...photo ops galore !! I can't seem to come up with the right settings combo to capture him the way I want to ?? Can you help ?? I'm totally a novice here ! Seems like HIS motion messes everything up ...HE ends up a blur , the flowers and feeder come out clear. Any advice would sure be appreciated !
Jenn* Central Iowa

Steven S · Sep 10, 2003

I know what those cleanings run

I like your idea of creating a 5x7 sampler album. That size is just big enough to show good detail. Way to go!
--
Steve S
http://www.pbase.com/sshyone/root&view=tree

Janet Zinn · Sep 10, 2003

a trip to the dentist hardly seems like a treat ;-) I'd barter anything NOT to go to the dentist, LOL! Maybe you should try bartering them for something more fun!

Great shots, of course, and everyone who sees them will leave with their mouth hanging open! (sorry couldn't resist that!)
--
Janet
C P 5 7 0 0
http://www.jczinn.com

Uncle Frank · Sep 10, 2003

isshinryu_mom said:
Where'd you find a 5x7 album?

I stumbled across it at Aaron Brothers, an art supply store. It holds 20 pictures, and you can even buy refills. It's made by Pioneer Photo Albums, Inc., and is Style No. MB-57DF. Pioneer has a web page. You can't order through it, but I'll bet they'll direct you to a local retailer:

http://www.pioneerphotoalbums.com/

--
Warm regards,
Uncle Frank, FCAS Charter Member, Hummingbird Hunter
Coolpix fifty seven hundred and nine ninety five
http://www.pbase.com/unclefrank/coolpix&page=all

Uncle Frank · Sep 10, 2003

Jennifer515 said:
I'm struggling !! I have a CP4500 ...and tons of hummingbirds at
my feeders ...photo ops galore !! I can't seem to come up with the
right settings combo to capture him the way I want to ??

I like to catch them flying, and "freeze" their wings, so I use a very fast shutter 1/2000th second), and since that means there won't be enough light, illuminate them with the flash. I get real close to the feeder, maybe 6 feet, and use full zoom. The other trick is to manually focus on the edge of the feeder, because the camera won't have time to autofocus.

Hope that helps.

--
Warm regards,
Uncle Frank, FCAS Charter Member, Hummingbird Hunter
Coolpix fifty seven hundred and nine ninety five
http://www.pbase.com/unclefrank/coolpix&page=all

bkuhl · Sep 10, 2003

Uncle Frank said:
I haven't made much money from photography yet... hell, it's cost
me an arm and a leg. Just ask my wife :- .

Uncle Frank I can totally relate to your above statement, as can MY wife.

I have a question, I hope you might be willing to answer, if not here on the forum then by e-mail. I had someone ask for copy of some of my recent work, and before I realized what I had done, I basically offered to give it away. Can you give me a rough idea of how much I should ask for over and above the printing costs if I were to sell a photo?

Thanks in advance.

Bill
--
Mighty CP Five Seven Zero Zero
Pbase Supporter
Proud New FCAS Member!
Hummer Hunter in Training
http://www.pbase.com/billneve

Uncle Frank · Sep 10, 2003

bkuhl said:
I had someone ask for copy of
some of my recent work, and before I realized what I had done, I
basically offered to give it away. Can you give me a rough idea of
how much I should ask for over and above the printing costs if I
were to sell a photo?

I hope someone else answers that question. If the request is from a friend, I usually give them the picture for free, and frame it so it will look good. The better my pictures get, the poorer I get :- .

--
Warm regards,
Uncle Frank, FCAS Charter Member, Hummingbird Hunter
Coolpix fifty seven hundred and nine ninety five
http://www.pbase.com/unclefrank/coolpix&page=all

shudderbug2 · Sep 10, 2003

Based on what I've seen you deserve to be as successful in selling your portraits as you have been in taking them.

Congrats!

Kind Regards,

David Anderson

Uncle Frank said:
I haven't made much money from photography yet... hell, it's cost
me an arm and a leg. Just ask my wife :- . But things are looking
up. My dentist has become a fan, and when I showed him some of my
latest shots*, he offered to trade my 6 month cleaning for a couple
of framed hummingbird prints. The best part is he hangs them in
his office, and hands out my cards, so maybe I'll pick up some
orders.

You gotta start somewhere. These 2 shots, printed as 5X7s and
matted into 8X10 frames were worth one dental visit:

I picked up a small album that holds 5X7s (instead of the normal

4X6s), and have it loaded with my favorites for show & tell or
orders.

--
Warm regards,
Uncle Frank, FCAS Charter Member, Hummingbird Hunter
Coolpix fifty seven hundred and nine ninety five
http://www.pbase.com/unclefrank/coolpix&page=all

Roland Aubin · Sep 10, 2003

Uncle Frank said:
I like to catch them flying, and "freeze" their wings, so I use a
very fast shutter 1/2000th second), and since that means there
won't be enough light, illuminate them with the flash. I get real
close to the feeder, maybe 6 feet, and use full zoom. The other
trick is to manually focus on the edge of the feeder, because the
camera won't have time to autofocus.

I joined this list recently after buying a 5700.
I had to to check your pictures and they are

impressives. Could you tell me what did you do to have your background out of focus? Is it because you are shooting at

high speed with a flash that not much details has time to be recorded? What flash do you use? Any particular setting
+- ev setting for the flash? Thanks for your time.

Uncle Frank · Sep 10, 2003

Roland Aubin said:
Could you tell me what did you do to have your
background out of focus? Is it because you are shooting at
high speed with a flash that not much details has time to be
recorded?

The background is out of focus because I'm using full zoom from a distance of 6 feet. There isn't very much depth of field at 280mm, and the background is about 25 feet away from the point on which I'm focusing.

Roland Aubin said:
What flash do you use? Any particular setting
+- ev setting for the flash? Thanks for your time.

Some of the shots were taken using the internal flash, and others were taken using the sb-22s external speedlight. I've experimented with adjusting the flash, but since the target (hummer) is a small part of the frame, it doesn't seem to make a difference.

Hope that helps.
--
Warm regards,
Uncle Frank, FCAS Charter Member, Hummingbird Hunter
Coolpix fifty seven hundred and nine ninety five
http://www.pbase.com/unclefrank/coolpix&page=all

bkuhl · Sep 10, 2003

Uncle Frank Et al...,

I also give away prints to friends, and do it gladly. But in the future, I would be more than willing to sell a print if the occasion arose. I would like to know a range of what would be considered acceptable for an unknown amateur photographer's work. Any Help from the Forum would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in Advance

Bill

Uncle Frank said:
bkuhl said:

I had someone ask for copy of
some of my recent work, and before I realized what I had done, I
basically offered to give it away. Can you give me a rough idea of
how much I should ask for over and above the printing costs if I
were to sell a photo?

Click to expand...

I hope someone else answers that question. If the request is from
a friend, I usually give them the picture for free, and frame it so
it will look good. The better my pictures get, the poorer I get
:- .

--
Warm regards,
Uncle Frank, FCAS Charter Member, Hummingbird Hunter
Coolpix fifty seven hundred and nine ninety five
http://www.pbase.com/unclefrank/coolpix&page=all

--
Mighty CP Five Seven Zero Zero
Pbase Supporter
Proud New FCAS Member!
Hummer Hunter in Training
http://www.pbase.com/billneve

Jim Roof · Sep 10, 2003

Great news Uncle Frank. you do some wonderful work that would sell anytime. Good to see you are getting some out in public. I start my fall pottery shows in another week and I have about half of them that are lenient enough That I am going to sneak in some of my prints and offer them. My goal is to stick away all the profits from them separately and have enough to move to the D100 for my christmas shots. No investment on my part so why not give it a shot.

--
Jim
Pbase Supporter - FCAS Member
http://www.pbase.com/jimroof
Coolpix Fifty Seven Hundred

Uncle Frank · Sep 10, 2003

bkuhl said:
I would be more than willing to sell a print if the
occasion arose. I would like to know a range of what would be
considered acceptable for an unknown amateur photographer's work.

It's more a matter of what you're willing to sell your work/time for. I wouldn't do an 8X10 for less than $25 plus shipping, and would want at least $50 for a framed and matted version. I know how long it takes to do the job properly, and it's just not worth it to me for any less than that.

--
Warm regards,
Uncle Frank, FCAS Charter Member, Hummingbird Hunter
Coolpix fifty seven hundred and nine ninety five
http://www.pbase.com/unclefrank/coolpix&page=all

Uncle Frank · Sep 10, 2003

shudderbug2 said:
Based on what I've seen you deserve to be as successful in selling
your portraits as you have been in taking them.

Hey, thanks, David. That's very kind of you to say.

--
Warm regards,
Uncle Frank, FCAS Charter Member, Hummingbird Hunter
Coolpix fifty seven hundred and nine ninety five
http://www.pbase.com/unclefrank/coolpix&page=all

Cory P. · Sep 10, 2003

Uncle Frank said:
Some of the shots were taken using the internal flash, and others
were taken using the sb-22s external speedlight. I've experimented
with adjusting the flash, but since the target (hummer) is a small
part of the frame, it doesn't seem to make a difference.

Have you tried taking the flash sensor "out of play"? In my experience, if you tape a small piece of black electrical tape over the sensor, the flash will fire consistently at maximum power. Then, you can lower the power to what you want by using minus values under flash compensation. Alternatively, if you attach a small piece of reflective tape with the end bent over and creased so that it forms a raised surface a few mm in front of the sensor, the flash will fire consistently with a power below it's normal range (an alternative to the "finger over the sensor" technique). Then, you can increase the power to what you want by using plus values under flash compensation.

I hope this will be of help.

Great shots of the hummers!

Best wishes,

Cory

Peter Ferguson · Sep 10, 2003

Sorry to butt into this thread but as a longtime lurker I thought I might offer my method of selling prints - I get 5x7's for 50cents at Walmart, I cut my own 8x10 mats at a cost of just under 60 cents each ( the mat cutter cost me $75). I take matted prints and some framed ones (for display purposes) to various arts and crafts show and sell the matted prints for $15 each or 2 for $25. I really can't complain about the profit margin and I sell enough to make it wothwhile.

Unfortunately our walmart has upped the price of 5x7's so I may need to re-think this all when my current supply runs out.

peter

cp995 c750 c2100
--
Images of Algonquin
http://www.vaxxine.com/csg

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