So instead of whittling down my list, I’ve added 2 things to my list today!!

1. Capture a birth.

I’ve done newborns and there’s only so much of a story to be had in a newborn shoot, and you know I’m all about the story.  Earlier today I read a blog post by an Australian photographer who captured a birth last week.  And that’s what I want to do this year… just one.  I think it would be an amazing experience.

2.  Do a photo project capturing suburbs of South Africa.

I’ve been completely inspired by another Australian photographer who is travelling the world this year taking photos of 52 suburbs around the world.  She happens to be missing Africa, which I think is a travesty… but anyhoo, now that’s something I’d love to do.  Go around the country and take photos of real South African life and textures and views.

I’ve got itchy feet.  Serious itchy feet.

I’ve already signed up for 2 photography workshops in January.  One is a boudoir workshop for one day by Yvette (Innovate Photo), and the other is an online 1 month long course on expanding my mind for lifestyle photography, run by a US photographer.  I’m thinking I need to be pushed again… I feel like I’m getting stale.

And now I saw this course… and oh wow I’m so tempted!

This five week online class complete with inspiring lessons, real life stories, secret missions, audio interviews and hands-on activities will help you take your dreams from the realm of wishing into everyday motion.

Something has to change… and I think this time I need help… just got to figure out how… maybe something like this course?

It’s actually all about pushing my boundaries and trying to be brave I think…

Bwhahaha!! This is brilliant.  I’m sure my husband can relate to many of these… and I just have to share it… I got this from here:  50 Reasons not to Date a Photographer

1. They rather hold their bulky camera, than hold hands with you.
2. On a romantic date, you’ll watch the sun go down and think “Wow this is gorgeous” and they’ll go “mirror lock, tripod, and stop down f/8 at 1/125.”
3. You’ll never be able to enjoy tv, movies, or magazines because they’ll point out all the visual flaws.
4. They like to sit in obscure coffee shop and voyeuristically watch people for great lengths of time.
5. If you’re taking a walk outside and you come across some “interesting light” they will make you sit/stand/pose in public so that they can take a photo.
6. You’ll never get to enjoy freshly cooked meals because they’ll spend 15 minutes taking 20 variations of the same dish with their iPhone.
7. They get angry when your friends go up to them and say “I am interested in photography, can you recommend a good camera for me?  Nothing professional I just want to take pretty pictures.”
8. You’ll wait longer for them to finish analyzing art in a museum than you’ll wait at the dmv
9. Same goes with old used bookstores.
10. When you think they’re giving you their undivided attention, they’re really wondering how they could fix you with a little Clone Tool and Patch Tool.
11. Or they are actually using you to not look so creepy as they people watch everything going on around you.
12. They rather drop $1,000+ on new glass than a purse for you.
13. You can’t take a photo with them without taking at least five more.
14. If you ask them if you look fat, they’ll say “don’t worry I can photoshop you later.”
15. They’ll never photoshop something simple for you if the content is not up to their “standards.”
16. That photo they randomly took of you yesterday?  Good luck getting them to send it to you.
17. They spend all their time on the computer (and not for porn.)
18. They can’t have a normal conversation with throwing acronyms and random numbers.
19. They still use film cameras.
20. They spend a lot of time with people cooler than you i.e. models, actors, musicians, successful rich people.
21. They’ll be fussy over the position of a common household object, like a coffee cup.
22. They won’t return your calls or text messages, but you can bet they’re still posting pics on Instagram.
23. They like watching old films that you’ve never heard or will ever understand.
24. They like looking at weird things in general.
25. Instead of having penis-envy, they have camera-gear-envy.
26. If there’s a natural disaster in a far away land, they’re already on a plane going over there.
27. Everything is watermarked.
28. They think everyone else’s photos suck.
29. They want to color correct a lot of scenes from Twilight and Jersey Shore.
30. They hate rainbows, especially ones spinning in a circle.
31. Whenever you’re in a group talking and the conversation goes deep, they’re taking notes in some form of Moleskine.
32. They use over priced Moleskine notebooks.
33. They like trespassing into old abandoned buildings filled with health hazards.
34. They always want to show a new photo they took, but don’t really care if you like it or not.
35. They hate your n00bie friend’s new artsy profile picture.
36. Bright, sunny days make them sad, but cloudy, overcast days are apparently great!
37. They’ll take you into places that have “culture” as well a high chance of getting mugged.
38. Your birthday present will be a portrait that they’ve taken of you.
39. You can’t go anywhere new without them stopping to take a photo of everything and anything.
40. They will always bug you to be a test subject.
41. Nothing can ever be naturally pretty, everything must be fixed in Photoshop.
42. Bringing their camera means, bringing 50lbs of equipment.
43. If you break any of their things on accident, you’ll owe them thousands of dollars.
44. You can’t get them a birthday/Christmas present without spending at least $500
45. They are natural hoarders, collecting and keeping piles of old newspapers, packaging, magazines, and other things that “inspire” them.
46. They are weird and geeky.
47. They have hard drives of photos, but probably have printed 10 images.
48. They are always secretly judging your creativity.
49. If you’re ever in auto mode, they laugh at you.
50. They orgasm every time they learn a new lighting technique.

So, this blog post is a little belated, and if you follow me on Twitter and Facebook and my other photography blog you would know that I’ve ticked off another item on my bucket list… to take photos of the city from a helicopter.

It was luck more than anything else… I was planning doing an elephant ride for this month, but Suren phoned me a few weeks ago telling me that he’d organised a surprise helicopter ride on his wedding day, and that because the aim was to fly somewhere to do the creative shoot, I was going to go with them. It was a surprise for the bride, and because they both follow me on Twitter and Facebook I couldn’t exactly blog about it

Of course I said yes so the helicopter picked us up (much to the surprise of the bride), and we flew to a mountain top in the Magaliesburg (just on the other side of Harties).  I took photos of the couple for 20 minutes before it was time to zoot off again… this time to Sandton.  And that’s when I got to quickly take some city shots… I wasn’t able to ask the pilots to circle or anything because we running late for the bride’s next hair appointment.

You’re probably wondering if I enjoyed it… I loved it!! I also loved when the pilots decided to boast a little and swoop down over Gerotek where we spotted a few people on the skid pans. I did get a little queasy by the end… but that’s because it was so very hot on Saturday.  But all in all it was an amazing experience,and is most worthwhile doing.

I have to add what happened when we landed. The only place close to Sandton that allows helicopters, is Inanda club, and we duly landed next to the polo fields.
Nedbank was having their year end function at Inanda that day, so the place was jam packed. So our driver from the hotel pulls up to the helicopter in a big black Merc with tinted windows and off we go.
As we pass the crowds it was so funny seeing everyone trying to see through the windows to see who these celebs were that arrived in such style. LOL!

I swear, with the excitement I’m feeling about the iPhoneography exhibition tomorrow night, you’d swear it was a big thing.  LOL, to me it is huge!

I’ve always been extremely critical of my work.  And my views about my photography are no different.  This view of my work wasn’t enhanced at all by the camera club in Sandton that I used to go to, because they destroyed my ego every month.  And apart from my blog, I don’t really show my own personal work… and that’s not the same as the photography I do for clients.

I get a huge thrill when I see people using my images.

I love it when someone is using my photos as profile photos on Facebook and Twitter and other social sites. And there’s nothing better than walking through someone’s house and seeing some portraits that I’ve done blown up on huge canvases.  I will never forget the staircases in my one client’s house, which are lined with images from her maternity shoot (the only one I’ve never been able to show you and the one that was my best ever)… and mixed in with my images are the ones she did in New York with a photographer that I recommended for her newborn photos (and the most incredible photographer to boot).  I love that the quality of my images on the wall equal the quality of the ones done overseas. And that she’s hopefully got more of them now that her daughter is older and we’ve done another shoot (and yet again I can’t show you, but they were the best photos of a 1 year old that I’ve ever taken).

So, when this iPhoneography exhibition came around, I decided to enter some images.  And I was hoping that I got to display at least one of them, so I entered about 7.  And none of them had people in them… apart from passersby… and I’m not really known for non-portrait photography. And I’m absolutely thrilled that 5 of them were chosen… and was very disappointed when one of them was an instagram image that I couldn’t blow up onto canvas.

So, I’ve had 4 of them printed onto canvas for the exhibition.  Two of them in A2 (one of them is the image in the blog post), one as an A4 and the last was a 30X30.  I think they look good.

And tomorrow I get to see them next to the other iPhone photogs images.  Part of me is praying that mine will stand up against the others.  But I can honestly say that I’m so very curious to see what everyone else’s turned out like, and how they framed them, and how big they managed to blow them up.  Because in fact, that’s why the one image is only an A4… I didn’t think that it would be able to be enlarged, but after seeing the A4, I know that it would have looked magnificent as a larger canvas.

Because it’s an iPhone exhibition I feel that it’s a more even playing field, because everyone used the same equipment… the only difference is really the editing app that they used… and their eyes and composition etc.  And because of that fact, I think this is a more interesting exhibition than a normal photographers showcasing.

So anyway after this long ramble, I’ve also decided that I’m going to sell the canvases.   And all the profits from the sale will be going to Team JP (You know the guy with cancer whose photos I took a few weeks ago) to help pay for his cancer treatment.

My next dream though, is to get a few of my DSLR images displayed somewhere in a gallery.  So, even though this exhibition effectively ticks off the item from my bucket list, I need more now.  I really want to be able to sell my images as art now… and not just as commissioned photoshoots.

PS.  If you want to find out more about the iPhoneography exhibition, the information is on the FB event page

You may, or may not have noticed that I haven’t blogged about my bucket list this month, and it’s already the 30th. Well, it’s a bit of a #fail but I haven’t been able to swing it this month… partly because of our trip and then partly because of the weather on Sunday which didn’t play along with my plans.

So, here’s the revised plan:
1. July – Tattoo
2. August – Take part in a Photography Exhibition – which is actually taking place on 1 September… but I got the photos printed and organised this month… so I’m calling it done  And PS… if you’re in Sandton on Thursday evening, pop over to the iStore on Sandton Drive where 5 of my images will be on display in the first South African iPhoneography exhibition.  I’m VERY excited!!
3. September – King Swing… just need to finalise the date
4. October – Boudoir shoot… which is now booked with a photographer who will be in JHB for a while (she’s based in Cape Town).   I’m now planning my outfits

So… all you iPhone addicts like me… have you entered your iPhone images into the iPhoneography exhibition that will be taking place on 1 September in the iStore in Sandton?

Details are here… http://marcforrest.com/iPhoneography/home/

I have  it took me forever to choose, but once I got started, I had trouble cutting the list down!! LOL!! I’m hoping that one or two of my images will be chosen… then I would have another item done on my bucket list (have a photographic exhibition)!!

Thankfully, I’ve been keeping all my images, and I’ve been editing them in non-Instagram software even though they’re only posted on the web via Instagram. So it was quite easy for me to submit them.  It’ll be interesting to see whether the judges like what I really like.

PS. hurry cos your entries have to be in my Friday

You know that photo workshop I ran yesterday… well the guys that attended were not the only people that learnt something.

I learnt something too.

That I have learnt a lot about photography over the last few years, and I do actually have a skill I can teach someone.

You may think that’s a funny statement to make… but after reading and participating in so many online forums and camera clubs over the years… you do doubt some days whether you actually do know what you’re talking about.

I don’t think people realise how much their glib statements affect you… but eventually you doubt whether you know stuff.

And it turns out I do.

The only problem I had yesterday really, was navigating around Kerry’s Nikon… I need to play a bit with one because the menus are so vastly different to the Canon… but seriously, that’s all.

I can actually do this.  And I think I’ve found a niche… I keep getting more requests for more workshops.

Onwards and upwards…

Yes, I have been running my photography business without proper equipment insurance until now.  Yes, I know that’s stupid.  But it takes time and effort which I just haven’t had!

I actually got insurance on my camera and lenses on my household insurance ages ago, but realised a while ago (not that the insurance company told me) that the household insurance wouldn’t pay out if something happened because I use to generate part of my income.  So I’ve had to get business insurance instead.

Anyhoo, it’s done, but the experience did make me smile and I had to blog about it.

I contacted Outsurance for a quote, after reading a lot on photography forums etc about the pitfalls of the various local insurance companies, and I felt happy that they would understand what I needed.

I contacted them through their website.  I completed the short form with my details and submitted the query.  Seriously, literally 2 minutes later, I had a consultant phone me to get the quote sorted out!! I was seriously impressed!

I did laugh at the guy however, it was clear that it was the first photography quote he’d done.  He exclaimed after hearing the price of the first camera body that he thought that was a lot of money.

And then when I was rattling off the lenses (which I had to ensure him that it would be best to list seperately and not together), he whistled! LOL!! He said that he’d had no idea how much photography cost!

LOL!!

And to think that I need more lenses anyway!! My next new toy NEEDS to be a 16-35mm lens and then I want a 100mm f2.8 Macro lens… etc etc )

I’m just glad that I’m properly covered now!

I’ve been thinking a lot about what to do with my photography and other stuff.  I’m getting asked constantly at work and by friends why I’m not doing photography full time yet.

Thing is, I’m not getting any younger, and as I’ve mentioned before, the fact that I’m close to 40 scares the living daylights out of me when I think about even maybe doing photography full time.

The reason, which may be irrational, or may not be irrational… is that I haven’t seen any successful female photographers have a very very long career, and still make a lot of money as they get older.  Male photographers are different.

And to give up my day job which is providing for my pension is very very scary… considering my age and I have 2 kids in Private school.  If I was 10 years younger, I would have stopped working already.

So, apart from deciding that I’ll make a call at the end of winter and see… that’s as far as my definite plans go.  I may want to reduce my hours and still do both… but I haven’t quite decided yet.

Or, I may decide to reduce my photography, and only do weddings, and 1 or 2 family shoots a month… and carry on with my day career.

But whichever way I decide in the end… I can’t carry on doing what I’m doing now.  It’s too much.  It’s not sustainable.