Farmer's Market Bounty

Hello all!

I decided last week to post photos of my "take" from the farmer's market, and just never got around to it. So, I'm posting my photo essay of what I got! I really encourage everyone to support your local farmer's market. Small farms in America are really disappearing fast. I'm really lucky to live in the Pacific Northwest where farmer's markets abound with the fresh harvest.

Garlic, shallots, peppers, and a Thai eggplant!

Purple bell pepper, hot serranos, and more eggplant

Fresh fillet of sockeye salmon, just out of Alaska not 24 hours before!

Cucumbers for pickling :)

Local artisan bread and cheeses!

Who doesn't love a nice wine with some crusty bread???

I'll be making some blackberry jam this week!

Beautiful fresh berries; get 'em before they're gone as the season comes to an end.

I hope you've enjoyed this kindof rustic imagery, and will give your local farmers a try.

Chasing The Dream

There is no telling how many miles you will have to run while chasing a dream. ~Author Unknown

I would like to make clear, first, that the image above is NOT mine, and unfortunately, I could not find the name of the photographer. However, it expresses exactly what I want to convey today, so a thank you to the photographer who this image belongs to...

Sometimes, life is all about perseverance. I've been working for several weeks to create an area on my website where you can purchase my images. Being a small, young business, I am on a budget like so many people right now. So, I set out to learn the CSS/HTML coding to make the page myself. I had a very definite idea what I ideally wanted the page to look like, how you would scroll through the images, how they would enlarge, etc. After spending two weeks trying to research online how to best do this and even buying a book on CSS, I finally decided I had done enough of the research stage, now it was time to get started on the actual editing and coding. I tried for a solid week to make the gallery exactly as I wanted it. Ultimately yesterday, I realized that I'm trying to make this elaborate gallery which I don't have the coding experience and knowledge to do. So, I tweaked my idea for the gallery layout, and voila, last night I was able to (finally) complete it.

I'll be honest, it was an incredibly frustrating process, and I have a new-found respect for those that work in I.T. :)! However, by pushing through and allowing myself the realization that you have to walk before you run (and make a less complicated gallery), I was able to accomplish the ultimate goal of having it be not only functional but professionally presented, even if it wasn't in the exact format I wanted.

To me, perseverance is an important part of life. And part of this is knowing that sometimes you have to be flexible enough to change the course, as long as you get to the same end goal. Sometimes, you have to push yourself to keep going and get to the finish line, but when you do, it's always worth the effort.

How has persevering helped you in your life? Let us know.

Freelance photography & being open to change

Working freelance is a strange creature sometimes, especially in this economy...

It's really made me look at how I work currently, and how I want to change my business going forward. I love the freedom of working freelance, and essentially choosing whether or not I accept an assignment. But there's also the reality that you end up waiting to be paid, sometimes much longer than was agreed upon. And it seems like, in our current economic situation, the latter is happening more and more often. It's during these times that I think it makes you really evaluate where you really want your career to go, and formulate a way to get there.


I'll always enjoy commercial photography assignments; I honestly enjoy the chance to work with products and people I would otherwise probably not get a chance to experience. I especially love working with small businesses; there's so much time and passion put into what they do. With that said, I think the changes in the industry have forced me to see how much I really enjoy doing fine art photography as well. Now I'm not saying that selling art in this economy is easy either, far from it. But I enjoy the creative process & complete freedom in it.

For those of you that are pro photographers or are selling your imagery, what do you think? How do you feel the economy has affected you and your business? What new strategies are you trying to employ in an industry that is, honestly, going to be forever changed?