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There were 90 cats in the shelter yesterday. Vacancies all over the place. Someone asked the lady at the front desk if there were any kittens, ya know, like 8 weeks old? She seemed really disappointed when we told her that it would be about 8 weeks before the kittens show up. There’ll be a whole lot of them, though. I hope she comes back.
Check out I’m too sexy for my kitty. He was dancing for the camera so much that two volunteers came in from the hallway to watch me take pictures of him.
I pass by Taughannock Falls a couple times a year and take a picture on most trips. I’ve gotten some good pictures and some bad pictures. After several trips to the park, the bad shots don’t bother me so much. I like looking at the falls through the lens. It’s a great way to focus on the water. when I just look at them, the falls are beautiful, but watching the water fall through a long lens is mesmerizing to me. Beyond the pleasant ionizing effect, falling water looks very cool up close. when I go to Niagara Falls, I always spend some time standing close to the edge watching the water go into the abyss. The constant nature of the energy at that point is interesting to me.
I only took 27 pictures today, and 5 or 6 of them were just for me. The kitten on the right just got fixed. Just about every pet that’s adopted from Lollypop has been fixed. Leaving a dog or cat unaltered will most likely lead to another trip to the shelter to drop off a litter.
I had 5 pictures to take in the small animal room. After I was done with the hamsters, I played with some ferrets that the volunteers let run around the room. Now that I smelled like prey, I headed off to cat holding.
When I open a cage to take a picture, a lot of the cats immediately want to check out their neighbor. Since the cat next door isn’t expecting a strange cat in it’s face, the encounters usually end in a double hissy fit. This time, Orange and Gray just looked at each other, so I took a picture instead of keeping Orange in his own space.
I saw a couple job ads on a site for photographers the other day. I’ve been a computer and network guy for almost twenty years, so getting a job as a photographer would be a big change for me. The ads asked for a portfolio of work. Whether or not I apply, I’ve started thinking about which photographs would make up my portfolio. It’s not easy to choose. What are the criteria? What kind of things would other people look for in my photographs to see what kind of photographer I am? I have 9,000 online pictures to choose from… and another few hundred wasting away as negatives on a shelf.
I’m tempted to put my favorite pictures into a portfolio, but that would probably be the wrong thing to do. Seems to me that a portfolio should represent my ability to take different kinds of pictures, not just show off pictures that I like. I don’t take a lot of pictures of people, but that’s how one makes money as a photographer. weddings and portraits are the meat and potatoes. The candids and landscapes that I favor only make up a small part of a career. Unless you’re Galen Rowell, Ansel Adams, or Clyde Butcher.
I submitted this picture to National Geographic’s website, but they didn’t take it. I’m photographing a friend’s wedding this summer… that will be my second wedding. I’m starting to think that most photographers stumble into a career instead of purposefully trying to do it.
