Feb 19 2011
I’ve been meaning to update my web site for almost 4 years now and have FINALLY gotten around to it.
I’m so excited with how everything came out and It’s so much easier now for
me to update the content.
The site displays photos that have only been taken in the last 18 month, so if you were sick of looking at what was already there, It’s gone! LOL
Please go take a look! http://www.kimgoodyear.com/
Mar 14 2008
A few unexpected things happened when I first started this blog. I’ve been in contact with many people that often have nice words about my work, and frankly am a little shy and embarrassed when something overly nice is said.
One thing that I found both curious and mildly amusing was the first request about two years ago for an enlargement of a scenic shot. I though… “There must be dozens of places to buy Newfoundland photos… right?”
Since then, I’ve been contacted for photos by old friends who are living away that want a few shots of home, online friends that I’ve never actually met who really like one specific picture, and a very nice lady who came to Cape Spear for her daughter’s wedding and simply “fell” for the place (for Newfoundland, not at Cape Spear). There’s one common thread among all the people that have asked for prints though – they genuinely love the province.
Most times though, for one reason or another, these requests go unfulfilled.
So, after a little bit of setup, we’re ready today to start online photo ordering.
Naturally though, there are some images that won’t be available online. For example, from recent history, here are a few photos you won’t find:
What you will see are Newfoundland scenic photos, for up to six months after they’ve been posted here.
I should also speak a bit about the setup we use for online ordering…
I’ll be uploading photos to the e-commerce server as soon as I post it here. When you order a photo, it’s sent electronically from the US-based server to a photo lab in Ontario. The photo lab prints the order and sends it directly to you. It’s totally automated – and quite the multi-national / multi-provincial effort.
We’ve used this system for wedding enlargements for a year now and, overall, it’s worked well. I’d still consider the technology to be in it’s infancy though, and we’ve been actively working the kinks out. Pretty much everybody along the way (the server crowd, the lab and myself) are here to help, so if anyone encounters a problem with ordering (done only after viewing the FAQ, of course), please get in touch.
So why a US service, and why an Ontario lab? Simple really. When we set this up, we looked at dozens of services before settling on this one. We also considered almost as many labs, with the nearest being in Nova Scotia. As it turns out, our wedding clients (being Newfoundlander’s) are pretty evenly scattered across the country – for last year alone, a surprising 53% lived outside the province. Based on the inquiries I’ve received so far, I’d estimate that this would be about the same situation for scenic stuff.
Anyway, as you’ll see in the left sidebar up top there, we’ve added a FAQ with (what I’m thinking will be) some common inquiries. I’d encourage anyone placing an order to review that info first. Payment is accepted through credit card, and shipping (for better or worse) is via Canada Post.
If you’d like to just poke around and check it out, have at it.
Mar 09 2008
One of the errands on Wednesday past was to get a few house keys cut. Randy (aka the minion, I think my use of that phrase is getting a little old) would usually get that done at his former place of work, Chester Dawe, but these required a few blanks that they didn’t carry.
I’d never been in Tulk’s Glass & Key Shop on LeMarchant Road before, but noticed the light and how it came into the old shop. When I had to go back for a few more keys the next day, I happened to have the camera with me. :)
In other news, tomorrow is not only the four month anniversary of this photo-a-day thing, but it’s also my birthday. If you’re a regular visitor who’s never commented, please post something and say where you’re visiting from.
Feb 29 2008
I’m now at a point in my life where the phrase “looking for a stud” means something entirely different than it did when I was 20.
This is the reason behind my posting of so many Shoebox entries for the last few days. My foray was primarily a role of assistant right up to the point the painting was done… then I was unleashed to decorate.
Feb 05 2008
I’m coming up on the three month mark for this “photo/picture-a-day” (PAD) thing, and I’m feeling reflective.
In all honesty, I had no awareness of what PAD meant or that there were people “attempting” to post a picture a day for a set amount of time (most often a year). I’m not sure, but I suspect the PAD term is reserved for those that post a picture each day, but only a photo that was taken on that day. I can’t find any general info on the term… so who knows. For me, I generally post shots that were taken during the last few days. This time of year – the slow season – I post a weird collection of things. During the summer, it’s mostly people, and mostly from weddings.
I’ve learned a few things. 
Much like shooting a wedding, a PAD routine forces hurried creativity. It’d be easy enough to not shoot for a few days, but I realize now that I really enjoy the challenge. Some days it’s annoying, but mostly it’s something I look forward to. I tend to “see” more things during the day now – I’ve realized that there are shots everywhere – I just have to look really hard.
Technically, it has surely helped to develop skills. For example, lately I’ve been coming up with shoot concepts in a new way. Instead of basing a shoot on a model, look or location, I’ll be working with a technical limitation that has to be overcome. This can be something as simple as shooting creatively with just one lens, or with challenging or non-traditional lighting conditions, for example.
Since I like to post some sort of commentary as well, my skill with writing has also developed (if you can call it skill… perhaps “style” is a better term?). Text can be related to the photos, or as you see here, totally unrelated. Either way, it can be as much of a challenge on some days to produce something editorially as it can be a visually.
Overall, it’s a challenging and rewarding endeavor. If you’re a photographer, give it a go – I recommend it.
Jan 26 2008
When we stopped to take pictures in Lamaline, we were greeted by a curious home owner that told us the tide can come in as far as his house.
He said “It’s alright, it takes the snow back out with it”. So often, when the tide is at it’s height, his back yard can be completely submerged!
I though… “With waves that angry, I’d be wearing rubber boots to bed!”
Sorry – I’m tired, and it’s the best my brain can do right now.
PS. I’ve had to turn off Comments for a bit. We’re trying to strike the perfect balance between plugins and filtering to prevent comment spam courtesy of the robots that crawl the ‘net. Frequent visitors may have noticed that they’ve been hitting new posts lately.
Jan 19 2008
I’ve got a few things coming up later today that I’ll be posting here in the pm – check back.
In the mean time, for those of you who visit in the morning, here’s something to munch on ’till supper time. I stumbled upon this Flickr account a few days ago – it’s not too often that I find much new on Flickr, but Bethan has some really nice travel stuff.
Jan 18 2008
I have an addiction that I have to admit to – I love stats. Web site stats I mean.
Basically this is just a monthly running total of visitors to our various web sites – it tells me the number of daily visits, unique visitors per month, where they’re coming from, what software they’re using and so-on and so-on. I check these stats daily and, if I’m at the computer for any significant amount of time, several times a day.
Something weird happened a few days ago though – when I posted those tattoo pics. The stats went through the roof.
It didn’t even register what could be the cause of this spike until a day or two later when I tracked it back to the post date. It was surprising when I though it could have to do with a few shots of a scantly clad female. How very naive of me, and how very predictable. _sigh_ Perhaps it could be described as implied nudity, but certainly nothing beyond what one would see in a prime time TV ad or in a women’s magazine.
So I actually do work like this fairly regularly, but most often it’s a “boudoir” type shoot (ick – I *hate* that word) for a paying client. Even when it’s not for a paying client, it’s not something that I’d feel comfortable sticking online in the blog – it’s not the type of thing that I’m known for, and I’d prefer not to (for lack of a better term) “scare the bejeezous” out of me poor old mudder.
In thinking about this from the perspective of a social experiment then, I though I’d post a few shots from some past modeling sessions. These are shots of non-paying clients for which each model has signed a release. They also could only be described as implied nudity. There’s literally thousands of places on the ‘net where a visitor could see far more revealing photos, so it’ll be interesting to see what this does to the stats…
Plus, this gets me one day further along in my desperate attempt to keep up this pic-a-day thing.
Jan 17 2008
OK, so I’ve really been milking this last outing for all it’s worth – it’s just so hard
to get out shooting every day, especially when the snow, rain, wind and fog just won’t quit.
I played with a new filter on these and love the burning sensation that quickly follows after looking at that multi-color rock. I only have a few images left from this “series” and even fewer actions in Photoshop with which to manipulate them.
So what have I got besides a few mediocre pictures and Photoshop actions to offer?
How about blog updates thru email? If you’re sick of coming back here over-and-over and would just like to receive all the crap you see on here in your inbox once a day, click here. Enter your email address, confirm, and you’ll get one message in the evening containing all my pics and ramblings. No entry, no email.
Give it a go – unsubscribe is two clicks away – promise.
Jan 12 2008
Just some stuff that I had kicking around on the computer that seemed to match up.
In other news…
The old blue / green blog and sessions site have now officially been taken offline and visitors will automagically be forwarded to the new design and address (the old ones were at wordpress.newfoundlandphotographer.ca and sessions.newfoundlandphotographer.ca).
I’m told that I don’t have to worry about the search engines – they will find the new address and update their links in short order. Apparently it’s the non-robotic visitors that I have to worry about, so please kind sir or madam, if you have not yet done so, update your link to me.