VISIT OUR ONLINE STORE

Things are a bit crazy at the moment, but we wanted to remind you to visit our 

Barbergallery online store!

Lots of canvas prints available, many of which we've featured here on the Thumbnail Traveler blog.

More coming soon.

MANHATTAN, NYC, NEW YORK - LEXINGTON IN THE RAIN

A filter-modified image which I've been working on this morning. 

New York City in a late fall light rain.

A few new images for the online store being uploaded today. Use the link to the left of the entry title above to check out what we have available, or click on the link below. Large canvas prints with a number of available images.

Just perfect for your house. That bare spot I can see over your shoulder behind you looks like a good place for some artwork.

This image was taken in 2005, and I've modified it to reflect a painter's eye and approach.

BARBERGALLERY ONLINE STORE

Coming Soon!

Watch this space.

New Barbergallery product announcements today!

New Canvas Print

Just added this new abstract print to the canvas print choices on the Etsy store.

Please drop by!!

Headers Anonymous

"Be able to draw an illustration as least well enough to get your point across to another person."
                                   - Marilyn vos Savant



I have several websites which I maintain, all related to each other but different enough I'd decided they need to have their own space. Each of them deal with different aspects of travel and photography, two of my loves in this life.

This, of course, is the core Thumbnail Traveler blog. It's my primary site and serves as sort of a clearing house, if you will, for my other ones. Ranging in content from The Pic of the Day to blog posts such as this one and featured items from the online store, this gets perhaps the most traffic short of my personal Facebook page. This image was a previous one, but since you can simply look up to see the current one I figured I'd revisit this one for flavor.



My second site is the recently opened Online Store. The focus of the rest of my sites is to help drive potential consumers to that store and see if there's enough interest in my work to be either a key second income or even replace the "real job" with an income when I retire. The simple diamond like square with a shaving blade is a clean and, ideally, eye-attracting image.



My third site is the Thumbnail Traveler Facebook page which originally began as the primary focus but has lately become more of a reposting site. I got this image as I was boarding a Delta flight from Salt Lake City to Long Beach, and only momentarily delayed the boarding process to get it.



Barbergallery.net is my most Artistic site, featuring my Fine Art work rather than the travel stuff. Because of the design of that site there is no photographic banner 00 though the site is=tself has a nice clean look and I think gets the point across.


Twitter is a major feed, and is a foci just as much as this site. The header is a view of Monument Valley, looking west via a rearview mirror on our car.





And lastly, but hardly least, is the Chasing Martinis FB page -- given the fact I've recently completed the first draft of the manuscript and am now seeking either an agent or a publisher, this is becoming a more and more important place for posts and commentary. Years ago I got this shot of a group of unfilled martini glasses prior to some sort of party. It seems appropriate as a header.



And as you've surmised, one of the most important elements to each of these sites is the use of a photographic header. Trying to find one which properly illustrates the pages, and does a good job of attracting the eye isn't easy, and I've had some solid hits and a few misses. Some of my favorites are below, with a brief explanation of where they were. 

Illustration for the the 4th of July

Cloud formation for a touch of whimsy

An eye-catching glimpse of the Goodyear blimp against the sun

A tropical theme highlighted by the El Junque rainforest

The Washington Monument for Memorial Day

All purpose travel header, in this case Rovinj, Croatia

Stonehenge

London

Las Vegas

A croppped version of this is on my 'Traveler FB page. Sorrento, Italy

And my most recent: Happy Halloween! 

Pic of the Day: Malibu Sunset

On a day many, many years ago my wife had a gig at a private party in Malibu, the famous colony of entertainment types just northwest of Los Angeles.

Because of the nature of the gig I would not be able to stay at the party while she played. It happens sometimes, so I brought along my trusty Nikon and went down to the beach for some afternoon and sunset shots. The sunset that evening was stunning, adding some five photographs to my permanent portfolio. This is one.

(This is available as one of the Sunset Greeting Card Collection from my online store.)

"Just Saying Hello"

The world could use with some friendly connections these days.

My Online Store now carries four different Greeting Card collections for your use and fun. Martinis, Wine, Abstract and Sunsets.

Would love you to take a look.

Abstractions

The Wine Collection

The Sunset Collection

The Martini Collection

Taking Stock

"Necessity is the mother of taking chances." 
                                          Mark Twain




I am fortunate to count among my friends quite a few people who are successful artists of some kind. Musicians, photographers, painters, comic book artists, actors, singers and writers.

Recently -- as in two months ago -- I made the decision to commit, really commit to my photography as both a vocation and as a business. Yes, I've had a good amount of work published and in art shows and the like, but it's always been a side business which got attention when I could. I consider, and I think reasonably, myself to have been a semi-pro. I get paid for the work and I think I'm a pretty good photographer when you get right down to it.

But I didn't take the steps necessary to take it to the next level. As I looked around at the successful people around me I wondered why I hadn't "taken off" as they had, and the answer is -- being directly honest with myself -- that I hadn't really applied myself to making it work. All of the successful artists I know work hard at their craft, but also in the marketing of it.

One of my friends -- my British "best mate" James Moran -- just posted a brilliant piece on Taking Stock of his writing career at least once a year. It's a great read and really pins down why it is he's successful and will continue to be. It resonated with me to a great extent and crystalized much of what I have been thinking and doing for the last two months.

First, as anyone who reads this blog regularly knows, I recently opened an online store to market canvas prints (and later, other products) based upon my photographic works. Many of the shots are filtered so as to look more like paintings than photographs, and that is part of the "art" of what I do. The online store, which I've only really started to market, is simply a logical and needed step in making my "second career" as a photographer more of a primary income when and if I ever get the opportunity to retire from my "bill paying" career. (I enjoy what I do in my "day job", but if I were to win the lottery I admit that's the first thing chucked out the door.)

Reading James' post reminded me that it isn't just taking a series of almost unrelated steps which make for a career, it's having a plan and working on that plan every day.

In that light, I have to look at my goals and realize/plan out what I'm doing and where I'm going with my work. There are essentially four different and yet closely related elements and goals I have by the end of the year.




1 - Teaching. I have dipped my toes into the instructional waters and found myself enjoying them. To that end I have several sessions booked at a camera store that seems to like what I do and supports me. (I support them as well...it's where I buy all my camera gear.) 

To that end I have created a couple of presentations geared toward Travel Photography and getting that moment versus just a series of pictures of people in front of famous structures. How do you make your work stand out? A second class in in the works, and I'm currently trying to hone down what it will be about. I've been given carte blanche to come up with ideas, which they will then vet and (hopefully) give me approval to move forward. I'm also instructing using one of the existing templates on Capturing the Moment, an excellent presentation designed by their instructional director.

To that end I am booked for a number of sessions through the next six months.




2 - My book CHASING MARTINIS is essentially finished. I have a handful more parts to add, but I have a mockup of perhaps a third of the final pages ready to be printed to be used as a sample for potential publishers and/or agents. 

What I need, now, is to begin to market the book. Finding an agent is the first part of this. I am frankly unaware of the process for finding a publisher for a book of photography. (Oddly enough I am far more familiar with how its done for fiction and other books, but since coffee table books are a different beastie altogether I'm in the dark.) Fortunately I am willing to learn by trial and error. The topic is a marketable one, and several ideas I have make it even more of an interesting project for the eventual publisher. But it's job #2 for my photography career.

(Several people have suggested self-publishing, but this in inherently too expensive when it comes to photography. I'd have to seek the coffee table book for nearly $200 just to break even. This needs a scale above what I can afford to spend and then try to get into stores myself. I need people familiar with marketing and distribution, and I am not.)




3 - The online store. I just need to keep pimping it. More than any other project this one is the one designed to bring money into the coffers. There are, as of this writing, nearly 40 images uploaded with more to come. I am starting out with canvas prints because I believe it displays a number of the works in the best possible way, and can be a strong artistic accent piece for the buyer. Photography is a tricky item when it comes to marketing. Unfortunately, as I've discussed in the post, many people regard it as a "pseudo-art" because "anybody can take a picture". This is true, but not a complete answer. Anyone CAN take a picture, but not everybody with a camera makes good art.

The images selected for the gallery are the things which resonate with me, and I believe strongly that they work well with a number of design styles. The prints are designed as accent pieces for rooms, not focal points (though they can function as such). Are they my most artistic shots, perhaps. They are a different species than are my martini shows, or my travel work -- though examples of both those categories have made it into the mix.

So it's an open and ongoing effort.




4 - Continuing to work on and improve my skills.

I had a discussion with a musician the other night at a gig where my wife was performing. The discussion centered on the need to work on your art, improve it, and never get complacent. No matter who you are and how successful you've become, everyone can benefit form ongoing training. I'm nowhere near being that successful or skilled, so I continue to work on knowing my camera better, improving my eye and becoming a better just of what is and is not photo-worthy.

To that end I am not only being an instructor at the camera store, I am going to be taking a number of the classes myself, working with the other photographers to hone my skills and becoming better at what I do. It's the only way to grow as an artist, and I am finally allowing myself the conceit of considering myself one. 


James' blog entry is the jumping off point, and has instilled in me a more fundamental approach to this artisty thingy. It's something I want to do, but it's something I need to take the steps to do. Not just "hope" something happens, because it probably won't. As he notes in his blog,: "you never “break in”, you just keep moving, and have to break in again every time you do something new". It's an important recognition that nobody is ever so successful that they can just rest on their laurels. 

(Well, some can. It's called "retirement".)

Everybody needs to try new things and improve on the old ones.

So that's where we are. Just felt I had to write it down.

Cheers.

Pic of the Day: Tree at the Canyon

Sunrise in magical places is always a special moment. This tree was along the southern rim of the Grand Canyon while I was waiting to shoot the sun's light as it cascaded down across the canyon floor. As I was waiting I noted the tree, silhouetted against the blue sky and slightly reddening canyon below.

This is image is available as a beautiful canvas print at the Barbergallery store on Etsy

(Click on the above link to view)

THE IPAD CHRONICLES

"Live one day at a time, and make it a masterpiece."

           - Photographer Ralph Lee Hopkins


The iPad Chronicles

As a photographer, particularly one who travels quite a bit, I have several cameras at my disposal. 

Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC

Three Nikon SLRs lead the pack, two digital and one film. Plus a Nikon L120 point and shoot, a major workhorse given its high function, excellent resolution and portability. And while for the most part I am a Nikon aficionado, also I count a Canon video camera and a Fuji DSLR as options when needed. A year or so ago, as I discussed in a previous column, I added a new Nikon: the underwater and heavy duty AW 1, which so far has been exemplary.

Soda at the Rock Cafe, Rt 66, Oklahoma

Each of my cameras have their own niche specialty and use -- and each of them has contributed in some way or form to my overall portfolio. I have my favorites for indoor shots, landscape shooting and most of the usual lighting challenges. By far the majority of shots here on the blog are from the Nikons, though an upcoming series of videos were shot using the Canon.

But if you follow my posts on Twitter, or Facebook -- or any social media for that matter -- those are not the majority of the images you're seeing. 

The majority of photographs I place online, to visually highlight my adventures as they occur, are from my lowly and soon-to-be-replaced iPad 2 -- which in no way shape or form can boast a visual advantage over the Nikons or Canons. But what the iPad does offer is immediacy. The ability to shoot something and quickly post it online, making the iPad's images among the most timely if not the highest resolution or best composition. This, of course, makes it ideal for someone chronicling their adventures on the road, while they are on the road.

Live band in Austin

I bring the iPad almost everywhere while I'm traveling, or even when I'm not. Not only can I get instant images, I also have a few reference databases (the best being Ralph Velasco's MY SHOT LIST, which you can get from iTunes -- link down below), plus easy access to the internet for posting and commenting upon what I'm doing. It's a good source of entertainment, as well as a handy tool for writing, notekeeping or other activities. This column entry, as well as numerous others, was written on my iPad first, then transferred to the blog.

But what about those iPad images? Those pictures which, by and large, echo the ones I make with the more sophisticated cameras? If I decide not to include particular ones, or think another image, captured perhaps just an instant before or after, they usually sit under-appreciated and lonely, gathering electronic dust in my archives. A few of them though -- quite a few of them -- tell as much of a story as the higher resolution shots from the 'real' cameras, or even the "other" iPad pictures I choose to use.

Counter at McKenna's, Long Beach Airport

Brief Aside: I am aware, and often witness, other travelers and tourists using their iPhone or other smartphones for photography. I disagree that SLRs (those are the cameras with the big interchangeable lenses, as opposed to those which are point-and-shoots) will ever be replaced by cellphones, but recognize their use by the casual photographer. My version of the iPad is not quite even up to those cameras' resolutions, but it handles the requirements I ask of it nicely enough.

Within the next week or so, I will be getting a new iPad. The Mini. Easier to carry, lighter and with better photographic resolution. I'm excited, but will miss the early days of lugging around the larger 2 and shooting the low res shots put up on frequent display here on the blog and other social media.

Martini at the bar, M Resort, Las Vegas

Even with the new iPad, the photographs won't be portfolio or gallery ready, but I must profess a fondness for these shots. They, more than the rest, really are about the gritty everyday. The fun. The moment. A lot of martini and airport shots -- likely related to the fact I am at a bar in an airport when I am most likely to be using the iPad. Waiting for flights, or watching the world pass by as I sit and take notes, some of which make their way into your lap in some way, shape or form.

Maybe someday I'll publish a grainy cocktail table book using only these images. There are a few of them good enough (not this one, BTW) which have earned a place in the planned coffee table book Chasing Martinis. Sometimes grain works for an artistic success.

But more than anything else, these shots represent the moments I am most at rest. They're the instants in between. And sometimes those become the moments we remember most, the ones which resonate with us in the years to come.

Particularly when we're traveling.

(Ralph Velasco's MY SHOT LIST: http://ralphvelasco.com/products/my-shot-lists-for-travel/ )

The view from THE VIEW HOTEL, Monument Valley

Allons-y!

"I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move." 
                           - Robert Louis Stevenson

Just a few days ago I posted my 2012 Year End review, and what a fun year it was. But now, as with ever First of January, I find myself looking forward not back. 

Off Again....

The new year holds a lot of promise, and I genuinely plan on taking advantage of the opportunities that come my way. We already have three major trips on the drawing boards (well, one is solid and the other two are well into the planning and reservation stage). Unlike 2012, 2013 is going to be more of an intercontinental effort, filled with new countries and destinations. It's always fun to plans such adventures, because when it comes to exploring new territory you're in the position of having to rely upon the advice of others to make sure you don't get tripped up -- and if you are, how best to respond to it.

One of the biggest plans of 2013 is to continue to expand the brand of the Thumbnail Traveler. Not only do we have this blog page -- which is rapidly gaining traction, and I have all of you to thank for that -- but there is a Twitter feed (@thumbnailtravel), a Facebook page (Thumbnail Traveler) and soon to come, a fully illustrated website dedicated to destination guides, galleries and links to other reference sites for -- at the start -- thirty global destinations. We figure that should go live by late February,. so keep your eyes peeled here for updates. 

A little later in the year -- perhaps February or March -- we're preparing a handful of videos for Youtube (and elsewhere). Yep, we're goin' MultiMedia here at the Thumbnail Traveler!!! You can see the first beta test by using the link down below. It's just the first round. Future iterations will include voiceover descriptions and actual video of sites.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdNTx2F-IVg

CURRENT PLANS

Obviously, since the entire content of the Thumbnail Traveler sites is dependent upon travel, we're going to be on the road for a number of times during the year. There will be a handful of the short-duration overnights up into such areas as the California deserts. Not only a return to Joshua Tree, but I'd also like to log some time photographing the area near the Salton Sea, and up through the Death Valley. A friend hipped me to some interesting statuary out near Joshua Tree that I'd like to explore a bit, working in a similar vein to the night shots of The Last Supper statues in Rhyolite, Nevada. If you haven't seen the exposures I'm describing, check them out using the link down at the bottom of this column. They're truly stunning works.

The more formalized trips for the year are, as noted, taking shape. In February we're journeying up to perhaps our second most frequented destination in the world, and that is Las Vegas. We get there two to three times a year and usually find quite a bit to keep us occupied. This trip promises nothing different, with side trips into Red Rock Canyon, the town of Goodsprings, and possibly a run up to the Hoover Dam. I've worked around the first two, and still have a couple of old archived shots of the dam which I would love to augment. Side trips to and from also remain a possibility, but whether that means the Death Valley, or the aptly-named Devil's Playground is anybody's guess at this point.

The second major trip of the year -- a weeklong road journey to the beautiful city of Santa Fe, New Mexico and back -- offers quite a few side trips and entertainments. I'm looking forward to posting a few thoughts and ideas, as well as revisiting some sites (sights) I for which wish I had a more extensive archive. I tend to doubt this will include the Petrified Forest, but almost certainly will involve Meteor Crater, The Painted Desert and general Route 66 holdovers along the way. Santa Fe is a wonderfully art-oriented town, and ought to offer more than a handful of ideas and photo ops in and of itself. There's nothing like going walkabout in a place like that -- educational and also a real chance to get away from the world and lose myself in a destination.

The Wind Surf

The last and final planned journey for 2013 is a return visit to our friends at Windstar Cruise Lines for a voyage between Stockholm and Edinburgh. With the exception of a few nights in London, virtually all destinations on this particular trip will be new to both myself and our travel companions. This is the one which will knock out at least a couple of our NOW list items, particularly a visit to Loch Ness in Scotland. Standing on the shores of that great lake has long been a dream of mine, so it's about time I made it happen. As I've noted many, many times in the past, this is the sort of thing you have to plan and do, versus merely dream about it. And since this will also involve a visit to Copenhagen and Norwegian fjords, 2013 will not only satisfy formal NOW list checks, but also a handful of "I've always wanted to"s along the way. (Still trying to figure out if I can get my ass over to Stonehenge while we're in England, but this might be pushing a bit too hard given the time allotted.)

So 2013 appears to be shaping up nicely. I'll be adding more than a handful of new galleries to my various websites, and certainly a lot of new entries here at the Blog. It's going to be a fun (and hopefully adventurous) year -- and I'd be honored if you came along for the ride.

Happy New Year.

Rhyolite Sculptures

http://www.rhyolitesite.com/statues.html

Other Thumbnail Traveler web sites

http://www.barbergallery.net

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Thumbnail-Traveler/342013912536224?fref=ts