Have you ever noticed that things take longer than you expect? Yet I find that those last few changes are the ones that really make things pop. They say that the difference between good art and great art is a matter of millimeters. And they say that God is in the details. In other words, subtle changes make a big difference when it comes to art, or anything really.
In photography, I find that the last few moments when I’m taking a picture, long after I have found my angle, and shutter speed, etc… the last few seconds when I’m adjusting the composition, a hair to the left or a hair to the right, these are the moments when transcendence is most likely to occur. This is when the mind settles into something that is more than just a photograph. And I’ve learned not to rush that moment if I can help it.
It seems to be a similar thing with design. I have been working on this wall calendar pretty steadily for the past week or so, much of my time spent checking holidays and details like that. I would really like to get it to the printer, and I do believe I am only one double-check away from doing that tomorrow. However, I’m glad I’m letting the process run its course.
One suggestion that I got regarding the final photo choice made a lot of sense to me. A friend said that, while each picture makes a good calendar shot, overall the pictures picked last week were a little gray… more “pop” was needed. I agreed completely and revisited the images we had to choose from. I even opened up some recent images.
Playing with the back cover design, it took me a while to settle on a selection that jumps off the page more than what we had last week. Let me know if you agree.
I’m now settled in LA, and am excited to announce that the final calendar design is almost ready. With your help, the pictures have been chosen, and we’re almost ready to go to press in the next day or two.
I am still working on one introductory page (not shown). If you want to take a look at the calendar design so far, just follow the links below. If you like to proofread, your comments or corrections are very welcome.
I suggest that you choose your birth month to proofread if you only do one month. That way, we won’t all be proofreading January!
Here’s what needs to be checked for each month:
1. Numbers of the days of the month (check that numbers and sequence are correct). Check against a standard 2010 calendar here.
2. Numbers of the small calendars (previous and next month for each page). Double check numbers and sequence, as in #1, above.
3. Holidays (including grayed-out holidays from previous and last month for each page) See holidays for 2010 here. Canadian Holidays here. Hindu holidays (I’m just doing these few: Navaratri, Vijaya Dashami, Dipavali) see here.
4. Moon phases (check each phase) See moon phases here.
5. Full moon and New moon times (Times are given in Universal Time (Greenwhich Mean Time) – be sure that I converted the times to EST (minus 5 hours in winter) and EDT (minus 4 hours in summer daylight savings time) correctly. Moon data can be found here.
Here are the calendar pages:
Front Cover
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Back Cover
If you find any corrections, please leave a comment below right away. The calendar will go to the printer in a day or two.
Thanks again for all your help!
Thank you to everyone who left comments helping me choose the pictures for last year’s photography calendar.
Now it’s time to narrow down the choices…
January
I’m thinking about moving the frozen flowers, which is the most popular image for this month, to March–the right time of year for this image. What do you think? After the ice photo, the two most popular pictures for January are the rows of apple trees in the snow and the lone tree in the snow.
February
The three most popular photos for February are: the ice breakup on Lake Skaha, the hay bales in snow, and the grapes on the vine in snow. What’s your favorite for February?
March
The choices for March are the hillside of poppies and lupines, or the frozen flower buds from January. Both were very popular. Would the ice work here in March? What would you choose?
April
For April, it’s between the ladybug, the clematis and the lilacs, with the ladybug winning so far. Any votes?
May
The daisies are slightly ahead for May, followed by the yellow roses and the crumpled tulip. What’s your preference?
June
It’s between the peacock and the waterfall for June, with the waterfall winning by a body length. Any more input?
July
It was a close race for all of the photos for July. The two leaders turned out to be the apricots and the cherries. I’m also going to save the apricot in the tree. So it’s between these three. What would you like on your wall next summer?
August
The clear winner for August was the fishing scene, but unfortunately I can’t use that one without a model release (and I didn’t think to run over and ask the couple in the picture for one when I took it). After that, the waves crashing and the horse picture are the closest seconds. Do you have a preference?
September
The grapes picture was way out in front for September. After that was the apples in bins, and then tied for third was the green apple and the milkweed pod. Any last words?
October
This turned out to be the hardest month. They are all in a dead heat. Can you pick a winner? I’m leaning towards the first one because it worked well on the cover I did a few weeks ago.
November
The ice crystals image is the clear winner for November. If you have other suggestions from January or February, let me know. I might use the old sunflower from January here, or the grapes in snow from February.
December
December’s favorite was by far the pinecones, the next contestant was the snowy village. What’s your opinion? We could also use extra images from Jan or Feb.
Leave your comments below… we’re coming down the home stretch now!
I’m currently in Astoria, Oregon, on my way down the Pacific Coast. Lots of rain the last few days, but I saw the sun this evening! Photography and camping in the rain is challenging, but there were some good shots nonetheless. Photos will show up here over the next few weeks, so stay tuned.
It’s been a whirlwind for the last couple of weeks. I managed to get everything packed and still squeeze in a week-long trip to the East Coast for my cousin’s wedding. Now I’m on the road, taking a two-week drive down the Pacific Coast, photographing as I go. I had to make a stop today though… my car is in the shop for the whole day. 
In case you missed yesterday’s newsletter featuring my cousin’s wedding, check it out! A lot of people said they enjoyed reading about a Quaker wedding. It was a great experience: a whole hour of silence with people speaking as they felt moved.
Here are a few more shots from this beautifully simple wedding. Read the whole story here.
A couple of weeks ago these photos were featured in my newsletter.
Interestingly enough, though I didn’t know it at the time, they proved to be a survey of my new home. I will be moving to LA, probably around Topanga Canyon, in the next month or so. I will make this announcement on my newsletter on Thursday, but you heard it first here on the blog! 
Things will be a bit busy for me over the next few weeks. I will be traveling to New York and D.C. for my cousin’s wedding and then plan to take two weeks to drive down the West Coast from Washington State to Southern California, taking pictures all along the way.
If you don’t hear from me three times a week, as usual, don’t worry, I’m probably just packing or traveling or some such thing. Same goes for email. You may not get a response right away. Thanks for your patience.
Here are the photos of the area where I’m going. You can order wallpaper or screensavers of all of these 20 shots for $14.85 here.
The time has come to create a wall calendar for next year. Can you help me choose the pictures?
Last year I was too ambitious when I created four calendars that never went to press. This year let’s just make one, with the best pictures we can find.
I’d love your input on the picture choices… I’ve chosen a few pictures for each month below (some are landscapes, some are flowers… it’s a bit of a mix this year).
Maybe we’ll call it a “Landscapes and Flowers” calendar. There is fruit in there too. Maybe we’ll call it an “Outdoors” calendar, or a “Nature” calendar. If you have any thoughts on this, I’d love to hear them.
Thanks to your input on my survey over the last few months. The winner for calendar size is 12 x 12. This makes sense, as it is the most common calendar size out there. The pictures for the calendar below are cropped to a square aspect ratio so they will fit on a 12×12 calendar.
If you had to choose one picture for each month from the list below, what would it be?
Please tell me your favorites in the comment section below. If you want your favorites to make the cut for next year’s calendar be sure to leave a comment to let me know.
Oh, by the way, this year’s calendar will be printed on recycled paper!
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Whew! That’s a lot of pictures. If there are any in particular that you would really like to see in next year’s calendar let me know in the comments below…
Speak up now so your favorites don’t get cut!
A few weeks ago, I featured orchard pruning in a newsletter. Since then I’ve had a lot of time to think about doing some pruning in my life.
I went to my favorite doctor, Vaidya Mishra, and he told me in no uncertain terms that I have to back off, slow down, and most especially decrease my computer use. I’m getting too much electromagnetic radiation every day and it’s affecting my health. Specifically, he told me I need to take a break after every two hours of computer use, and stop using the computer at night – as in “don’t go near it after 7pm!”
I’ll admit, it took me a full week to accept this one. It means getting way more streamlined in what I do. Sure I’m in front of the computer all day, but how much of what I am doing is really productive? I’ve been thinking more and more about what my priorities are for my business and this is forcing me to keep the important things at the top of my to-do list every day. That’s the only way my work will keep from spilling over into my nights.
My sister Sarah, (from http://www.getbuttonedup.com) has been preaching this forever and I’m just now starting to hear it. She says, use the 80:20 rule: take care of a few important things (20%) and you will solve 80% of your problems.
I guess pruning is just about making priorities. Choosing which branches and shoots will be the ones you want to build your tree on. For me the most important shoots of my business tree are:
- my newsletter – because that’s what motivates me to get out and create new photos all the time
- new product pages for my website – because my business depends on selling photography products like framed prints, greeting cards, calendars, wallpaper, and unframed prints
- my blog – because this is where we all create new products together and where I get feedback from everyone
- social media – because that’s where I meet new people and build relationships that lead to new opportunities
I put them in order of priority for me. That means that if I have to cut something, it will be from the bottom of the list first. For example, I’m spending a lot less time on Twitter as I used to. It’s hard to cut things I love, but I can’t do it all. I can’t believe I’m still learning this lesson at age 38. I have always done everything that I was “supposed” to do (in school for example I always did all my homework). The problem is that the more you grow, the more there is to do. Some decisions have to be made.
In my school days, and in other phases of my life, I often chose to neglect my sleep or play time in order to do all the things on my plate. I did everything that everyone else asked me to do, but I didn’t leave time for me to have a life. Now I’m realizing that I can choose the things I want to excel at and neglect other things. This time I’m choosing to take care of my health and run a profitable business. Some areas of my business may not grow as fast as I might like, but I’m going to be more conscious of keeping balance in my life now. And I’m going to do it by focusing on the 20% of things that really matter most.
How about you? Are you doing too much? Do you have clear priorities? Have you been through crossroads like mine before? What’s your advice?
Here are the photos that inspired these thoughts. Every year the orchardists prune their trees… why don’t we?
If you would like to purchase these photos as wallpaper for your computer, you can do so here.
My sister, Sarah Welch, and I have always gotten along well (except when she was first born–they tell me that I wasn’t too happy about it). Sarah is two years younger than me and we used to hang out together in high school. Her friends were all friends with my friends and vice versa.
Though I am older, I look up to Sarah, and only dream of catching up with her amazing business accomplishments. She is currently starting-up not one, but two businesses! And she always calls me in to help with photography, and pays me well.
I didn’t know it until now, but Sarah has been redesigning the website for her Buttoned Up business. It’s a great business with beautifully designed organizational tools for the busy people. I’ve featured some of her products on this blog and in my newsletter when I have photographed them.
This time, I just want to say, “Go look at Sarah’s awesome new web design!” I may be prejudiced, but I seriously think she could win awards for the design alone. Explore her products, and enjoy her organizing tips. I’m awfully proud of her.
Most of the product photography for Buttoned Up was done my me over the years. I can’t take credit for the lifestyle photography on her site.
This week’s newsletter features a short story of a country mouse who travels to the city of his dreams.
As winter draws to a close, I am thinking of adventures and new beginnings still just forming in my mind. Have you ever noticed how dreams begin? Sometimes vaguely… sometimes they’re very detailed.
What fascinates me is the way the world appears to be amazing, and almost unreal, when you actually fulfill a dream. It’s hard to tell whether the concrete expression of the dream is really there in front of my eyes or is still inside my mind, like the foggy thoughts that spawned it.
How is life treating you this late winter? Have you gotten out recently? What dreams are you pursuing?
These ten images can be purchased as wallpaper photos (normally $0.99 each). When purchased together, they are only $7.43 (25% off).
Last week was transition week here. The blog was down for most of the week and my regular website got a complete overhaul.
For those of you who use Wordpress for your blog, my error was a simple setting in my wp-config.php file. I switched hosting services and the new hosting has mysql files on a separate server (so localhost didn’t work). I’m especially glad of this, even though it took me a few days to figure it out. The end result is that my pages should load a lot faster now. Let me know your experience.
Have you had a chance to check out the new site. I wrote about it in last week’s newsletter.
Some of my favorite features include:
Gift Certificates – You can now buy gift certificates for anyone with an email address. The certificate will be sent right away and is good for a year. You can put any amount on it from $1 to $1000 (no preset amounts, thank you very much!). I’ve even customized the certificate layout so that it looks like Todd Smith Photography (for those who remember my old home page).
One Page Checkout – This is my favorite by far. Checkout used to take many steps on my old site, and there were always problems. Now the whole thing takes place in one simple page. I switched gateways too and am very happy with Authorize.net. As always, you can use Visa, Master Card, American Express, Discover and Diner’s Club cards.
Multicurrency Prices – The new cart will automatically detect which country you are in and will change the prices to your home currency. I only have loaded a few currencies so far, but if there’s one you’d like to see, let me know and I’ll be happy to add it. Also, you can manually select a currency if the automatic system doesn’t work for you. Even your receipt comes in the currency you have chosen.
View Large Images – You can view several images of any product in large size. This is especially great for wallpaper images because you can see what it really looks like up close.
Search With Pictures – Now you can search for items and see thumbnails while you’re searching. Find what you’re looking for in less time!
Sort Function – You can sort displayed items by price, rating, newness, bestselling, or alphabet. Looking for a gift within a certain price range? This function makes it easy to find what you need.
Free Shipping on Large Orders – For orders above $300 you get free shipping. Since most framed prints are in this range, it means that you often get free shipping when you order a print. During certain promotions, I will lower the free shipping minimum order.
In a nutshell, the new site is faster, more organized, and easier to use. I’m still loading products, so please be patient as I add them. In the meantime, you can subscribe to the new product feed, and see the new products as they come out. I’m trying to add a description to each product, so that slows things down. In the end, though, I think the descriptions will make the site more enjoyable to visit.
So what’s your opinion? Is there anything I should be doing that I haven’t thought of? Is there anything that needs to be fixed? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
By the way, if you need a shopping cart for your site, I can highly recommend the Interspire Shopping Cart.
