By MacNessa, on December 20th, 2008%
So I just upgraded to the new 2.7 WordPress, and frankly I’m impressed.
It’s far more streamlined. Very Web 2.0-ish.
Cleaner.
Tidier.
But not so ‘new’ that I don’t know where to find stuff. Geeky though I may be, I’m still a chick.
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So with all the great weather we’ve been having, I’ve been taking ludicrous amounts of photographs of the kids in the water.
Heck, yesterday I got *into* the water *with* my camera (I know, shudder, gasp, how could I) but Reebok* (my eldest *not his real name) was under strict instructions not to splash, and Nike* (the youngest *not his real name) was doing a great job of kicking under the water anyway.
One of the new tricks I’ve been trying is ‘blueing’ the water of the pool. While the OPU (other parental unit aka my husband) has been doing a sterling job of keeping it clean and sparkly, on occasion it does tend to lean towards the greener side of ‘aqua’ and it’s probably exacerbated by all the foliage that overhangs it, the light etc anyway. So I had to find a way to blue the water, without making the kids look blue!
Meet my new best friend…the Magnetic Lasso tool in Adobe Photoshop (I’m running CS). Simply drag that baby around your happily swimming child (the bits above the water anyway) click on >Select >Inverse (to deselect your cherub, and re-select all the water around them) then run the ‘Cooler’ Action from The Pioneer Woman’s awesome SECOND free set of Photoshop Actions, and voila – beautiful blue sparkly water now with half the chemicals!  FYI I also ran her ‘Sharpen THIS’ action from the same set, and just painted on where I wanted to sharpen the waters’ splashy bits, to make it a bit more sparkly.
Go forth and be creative folks!
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Also, given that at this time of year, one is prone to expect many family and friends, or general guests, if you are in need of temporary sleeping arrangements be sure to check out sleep number bed that link, for an affordable range of air beds and mattresses etc.
By MacNessa, on December 17th, 2008%
Today I was asked (tongue in cheek) by a friend living overseas if I didn’t mind, just popping over quickly and taking some photographs of her kids, because she really liked my work.
Well that’s a really nice thought, and I thanked her for her compliments, and then proceeded to indulge myself in a good quality, highly realistic, full colour daydream of how nice it would be if I could just hop on a plane, dash over and do the assignment and come home again.
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Then I got to thinking… What exactly would it take, for that type of business to become ordinary for me?
What sort of rates would I have to charge in order to make that kind of dream, a reality in my work?
Most importantly I suppose, would be, how to source clientele of such great means to justify those rates?
Given the current (horrific) exchange rate, I reckon I could do that kind of work for about $3500 (USD). That would get the client, me (!), for say 3 days of undivided attention, being able to shoot, edit and produce all the photos they could want, while I’m there. I came up with some bullet points of what I would need to do to prepare for such an assignment (come on this is fun, indulge me!).
- Source reasonable airfare using One World Alliance Partner Airline (I’m a member), and so far the cheapest fare I’ve found is about $1500 with BA. Although, flying with them, I’d have to repeatedly take the best diet pill possible, in order to squeeze into the economy class seats, clearly designed for emaciated models.
- Source local supplier, able to produce good quality prints within the correct time frame so that final delivery could take place before I leave.
- Obtain the necessary visa
- Declare my camera equipment, trusty Macbook and graphics tablet at customs so that they don’t charge me import duty on them. I’d only need to take my Canon 30D, 50mm F1.8, 18-55mm F4-5.6, and tripod.
- Provided my costs in-country don’t run to more than say $1000 for print production, accomodation (remember I’m only there 3 nights) and the odd bit of internal transport, I’d still turn a profit of $1000 which in our local currency is R10207.00, and ample for 3 days work (plus 3 days travel time there and back).
Okay, now I have the ‘how’. Any takers? Anybody want a great portrait session, or have a wedding planned? If I’m there for 3 days I’d be happy to see 2 or 3 clients for portrait sessions if they wanted to book together.
Cough…eh hem…I really am that good, plus I never get jet-lag, so I could hit the ground running… Let’s not think about ecology for now, and what my carbon footprint would be if I kept jetting overseas okay. Let’s not think about that.
By MacNessa, on December 14th, 2008%
Everybody needs to diversify their business in this day and age.
I’m a photographer, who does image manipulation, moonlights as a graphic designer now and then, and who writes copious amounts of marketing material for various suppliers, as well as writing across a broad range of subjects on the web.
A local example of a business that took a look at itself a decade ago and today is a thriving diverse empire is Spier.
They started out as a wine estate.
They’re now a wine estate, with several award winning restaurants, they have a theatre, boutique hotel, thriving deli and picnic area attached and even a livery yard, and riding school. Aside from that they have a falconry, and a Cheetah conservation centre.
 African Cheetah Which is where I snapped this duzy of a photograph, right through the fence. It helps when you have a 300mm lens which can focus straight past the safety bars! Now of course these guys don’t have to hunt for their food, and can’t get up to full speed in their current enclosures, but they still maintain healthy weight without the need for diet pills
So in all they’re a good example of why diversification can take your business to knew heights, allow you to reach more clients, or keep your existing clients coming back for more of the same – or something new.
By MacNessa, on December 11th, 2008%
Today I’m focussing on testing out several new platforms.
My official photography site needs a major overhaul. One thing I hate is those photography sites that use flash so much, that you open the browser and it shows you ‘loading 10%’. I immediately click away, and don’t wait for it to finish. It’s *SO* annoying.
So what I’m testing today are various gallery/portfolio managing softwares, and how they can be integrated with various shopping cart software. Then I’m trying to integrate all my payment options into that as well, i.e. Paypal, AlertPay etc.
It’s a big deal, so I’d better give it my full attention.
Oh, and FYI BarackObama is now following me on Twitter!
By MacNessa, on December 9th, 2008%
I try to be as unpolitical as possible on this blog, unless you want to talk about the disaster that is Zimbabwe.
However this little snippet is a little closer to home, and someone emailed this to me just a few minutes ago, and while it was in Afrikaans, I’ve translated it for the rest of y’all. I actually burst out laughing when I got to the end. It’s a poignant reminder of all that’s changing around us.
Maths Exams Through the Years
Maths Exam Question in 1980:
A farmer sells a bakkie (pickup/ute) load of firewood for R100.
His production costs are 4/5ths of this.
How much is his profit?
Maths Exam Question in 1985:
A farmer sells a bakkie load of firewood for R100.
His expenditure is 4/5ths of this, or R80.
How much is his profit?
Maths Exam Question in 1990:
A farmer sells a bakkie load of firewood for R100.
His expenses are R80.
Has he made a profit?
Maths Exam Question in 2000:
A farmer sells a bakkie load of firewood for R100.
His expenses are R80.
His profit is R20.
Underline the number 20.
Maths Exam Question in 2008:
A farmer chops down a tree so that he can make a profit of R20.
Before he can actually sell it, he gets shot, and his bakkie stolen.
The thief sells the firewood for R50 and the bakkie for R800.
He therefor makes a profit of R850.
Assignment: Explain how this is apartheids fault?
BUWAHAHAHAHAHA.
By MacNessa, on December 6th, 2008%
I did mention this briefly yesterday on another blog, but I’m so enamoured with it, that I’m going to mention it here too.
What you’re looking at there, is a screen dump (clickable to take you to the site) of a color palette generator. It’s a totally free tool on this awesome site (with a bunch of other cool tools too). All you have to do, is insert the image URL and it will automatically generate a set of vivid and dull color matches for your photograph. Wouldn’t this be ideal if you’re going scrapbook paper shopping and you know which photos you are using? You can just print out your screen dump and voila.
As a designer this tool is just as useful if you’re looking to design around a particular theme etc.
Go forth and be creative!
By MacNessa, on December 2nd, 2008%
Did you know that Zazzle now accept Paypal! Hooray! Click the image above to purchase your own “Clean Energy” Mousepad and the proceeds will go towards our dogs quarantine costs. Thanks Guys!
By MacNessa, on December 2nd, 2008%
Did anyone else notice the extremely interesting spectacle last night, of the moon, flanked by two seemingly bright stars? Apparently those were Venus and Jupiter ! If you want to see some great photos of it go to Supermoms post about it here.
Does anyone else remember a sci-fi movie, or it might have been an episode of the Twilight zone or something where this guy gets magically transported (somehow) into a parallel dimension, where he’s on another “Earth” which looks just like this one, and where the people on it are all (no I’m talking talking about the Jet Li movie either, think really early 80′s) basically identical to people on earth, but their inter-relationships are different. For example, this guy basically wakes up in this place, and can’t understand why he doesn’t live in ‘his house’ and no one whom he ‘thinks’ he knows, knows him.
He’s totally thrown, and thinks he’s lost his mind, and then one night he’s standing in a phone booth (the details are sketchy I think I must have been about 6 when I saw this) and looks up into the sky and he suddenly realizes what’s happened to him, when he sees three moons in the sky instead of just the usual one.
Please can someone out there help me remember what that movie/tv-series was? I’ve been trying to remember for decades now! Hello! Tap tap, this thing on?
Last night when I saw the moon with those two planets so close it brought back the scene in that film piece SO vividly. Amazing what sticks in our brains isn’t it. Pity my matric history couldn’t have had the same effect during my exam.
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Click here if you’re in the market for any used cisco or used HP.
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As many of you know we are emigrating within the next 12 months. We are desperately trying to raise funds to bring our two furry children (a labrador and a border-collie x) with us.
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The quarantine costs are astronomical (around R60 000/$6000 US) this includes their flights and a 6 month stay in quarantine.
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We do not want to rehome them because there are already too many dogs in this country in the same scary position.
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We do not want to have them put down because it would break our hearts. They are part of our family. If you are able to make a small donation towards this cost, it would be greatly appreciated. Even $1 helps. Thank you.
By MacNessa, on December 1st, 2008%
I blog at length on this site about creating a fresh and airy space in which to be and do creative things. The perfect home office etc.
But let’s move outside for a second. Let’s talk about something that I know nothing about, Gardening!
Sure I love a great garden. I’m all about neat hedges, and lavender and, well you see there’s my problem. I like STATELY gardens. The kind I’m never likely to have given that I don’t have several hundred acres, a stately home in the country and several hundred (paid for by taxpayers) gardeners.
But it would be really cool if I did right? I would really enjoy the odd fountain, hidden within the confines of a real 6ft high hedge maze. An apple orchard behind the stable yard from which I’d collect (or in my case ‘have’ collected) apples for my prize-winning dressage horses, and the surplus would go towards my range of organic and gourmet apple chutney’s and jams which naturally, I’d ‘have made’. Let’s go the whole hog here for a sec, what about a lavender walk, tulip field, and a little cluster of Persimmon trees at the end?
I could go on forever. You know me and day dreaming right?
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