Update from me (and I need a chat!)

ZTD

kathfisch wrote:

Of course I can, what was I thinking!! :rolleyes:

Exactlly...

Don't sell yourself short...

kathfisch wrote:

Photographing random stuff will be fun, I know! And yes, I need to find my passion for my art again preferably by saturday when I meet the editor bloke... best get looking .

Have you looked down the back of the settee?

kathfisch wrote:

But the two are totally different things. That's good cos it means I wouldn't mind selling any of the 'pretty picture' type stuff through a stock library whereas my art is another matter...

No. Like I said - don't sell your good stuff.

kathfisch wrote:

Well, yes. But they're not exactly commercial images. And I'm protective of them.

But that shouldn't stop you looking around for a buyer (though obviously choose your buyer). The stuff the impressionists and Warhol did didn't start out by being commercial. Your meeting on saturday is (I hope) one step of many down that route.

kathfisch wrote:

Oh, have done this over and over in fantasy land!! I know which one I would get because it would accept the vast stock of lenses I already have (for my film cameras) and thereby saving about £400 each for the fancy lenses that people seem to think are essential. I'd only need to buy the body and would be getting double use out of my existing lenses... that's moneysaving!

It is - what camera are you looking at?

kathfisch wrote:

Of course there's also the fantasy land option... but not on my current salary!! :rotfl:

And which is this one?

kathfisch wrote:

I could borrow my dad's compact digital (which is quite good as they go) in the meantime though.

Yes, see how good it is. Also get some photoediting software and learn how to use it. It'll help for stuff like white-balance etc.

MinnieSpender

kathfisch wrote:

The stats are worse for photography I'm afraid... only 2% of photography graduates end up ever making their living from (art) photography. :eek:

What is stopping you from being in that 2%?

kathfisch

ZTD wrote:

But that shouldn't stop you looking around for a buyer (though obviously choose your buyer). The stuff the impressionists and Warhol did didn't start out by being commercial. Your meeting on saturday is (I hope) one step of many down that route.

Yes, hopefully!! But I need to keep doing the work and get passionate about it again, which I am doing thanks to you lot!

ZTD wrote:

It is - what camera are you looking at?

Pentax 100D - its only 'entry level' really but would cover everything I need and accept all the lenses I have or could buy on ebay for pennies

ZTD wrote:

And which is this one?

Oooh, a Canon one most likely. Can't remember the name of one I was looking at, they change all the time. Not sure that I'd really get a lot more from it than the pentax though, not in the short term anyway.

ZTD wrote:

Yes, see how good it is. Also get some photoediting software and learn how to use it. It'll help for stuff like white-balance etc.

It gives a good image quality except at a particular zoom level (or aperture setting... have yet to work it out!) because of a scratch on the lens :rolleyes: It has manual focus/aperture/shutter speed but not in a way that could be described as intuitive or easy to use :rotfl:

I've got Photoshop CS2 (at student rate a week before I graduated! ) and am really confident with it, no problems there! The book that we published for our exhibition, I did most of the image adjustments for that = lots of photoshop practice!

Oooh, see I can go all geeky about cameras :rotfl:

Tomorrow afternoon I will come home from work and put together my portfolio to take to Sunderland and think about what I want to say to him and generally get back in the mindset. I told him that I had some ideas in the beginning stages... which is true... so I'll have to articulate them in some sense-making way!!

Thank you again x

kathfisch

MinnieSpender wrote:

What is stopping you from being in that 2%?

I kid myself that its not really what I want - that I don't feel it passionately and therefore I won't have the necessary whatever to make it.

But that's a lie really. I can't think of anything better than making a living out of my art. And teaching it too, I really do absolutely want to teach.

*revelation moment*

Minnie, eternal gratefulness to you for making me say that. Wow. I've just got to make it happen now, however I can.


I'm off to bed or I'll fall asleep whilst minding the ladies fitting room at work :rotfl:

MinnieSpender

kathfisch wrote:

I kid myself that its not really what I want - that I don't feel it passionately and therefore I won't have the necessary whatever to make it.

But that's a lie really. I can't think of anything better than making a living out of my art. And teaching it too, I really do absolutely want to teach.

*revelation moment*

Minnie, eternal gratefulness to you for making me say that. Wow. I've just got to make it happen now, however I can.


I'm off to bed or I'll fall asleep whilst minding the ladies fitting room at work :rotfl:

Teaching is the best feeling in the world. I used to love it and I'm planning on doing it again.

Better than money or something else I could mention :whistle: . (Or maybe not, but you get my drift!).

DO IT!

kathfisch

Well well, it appears to be working!! Just working out this budget has made me think twice before spending, and end up not spending!! :T So far this week I've spent:

£10 on bridge toll (2 days worked so far)
£21 on petrol (hopefully last until mid/end next week)
£30 on train tickets to London and back in December for a trip with a friend. This is coming out of about £100 ebay earnings on stuff that I sold with this trip in mind... been planning for ages... so no dent in my budget there!

I have also opened an 'Online Saver' with HSBC to get £20 John Lewis vouchers. Needed to deposit £500 to get them, not a problem... that's what my 0% overdraft is for ...... with HSBC :rotfl:

Funny how you can be totally converted to something and then gradually let it slip and then rediscover it all over again :rolleyes:

Oh, and I got my first student loan statement since I've left uni... grand total £9250.66 and going up by £25 a month :eek: I know its not bad debt and its the least of my worries right now but still... this place has taught me a fundamental dislike of the idea of being in debt! I won't ever make overpayments, don't fret, but if I could have even some of that total in an ISA or something and be earning more interest than I was paying, that would feel much better.

kathfisch

and if I could be so cheeky as to steal your song lyric idea Minnie .... this seemed particularly apt:

And this is no palace, the place that I live
And I am no king, but I've got things to give
And I waste so much time, thinking of time
And I should be out there, claiming what's mine
Any day I could die, just like I was born
And this bit in the middle is what I'm here for
And I just want to fill it all with joy

Blue would still be blue - Guillemots

kathfisch

Well guys... I had my meeting with the editor bloke today! It went well I think, I felt positive about it. I'm pretty sure he doesn't want to publish anything just yet but he wants me to keep him updated and email him new stuff that I do. He's given me some ideas about the project that I showed him and how that could be developed, its up to me whether I want to do that.

To be honest the whole day has been so confusing. He was a lovely guy, really friendly and nice. All the criticisms he had were fair and he wasn't horrible about it at all. Its the kind of thing where everyone has their opinion, its very subjective!

Anyway... its made me realise that I really need to step up a gear if I want to do this. The stuff I've done at uni really doesn't cut it, that was just the beginning and there's so much more I need to learn! That's obvious stuff but it was just higlighted today.

I need to be committed and really willing to push myself. And I don't know how I feel about that right now. I've simultaneously got a taste of the world I'd like to be completely involved in, and a sense of how hard that would be. I've got to really want it and right now i don't know what I want!

I'm exhausted and confused and I just need to let everything mull around in my head a bit more!

Sorry to waffle again... just helps to write it down!

On the plus side... monday to friday this week i spent absolutely nothing apart from the essential bridge toll(s) and petrol :T

And today I obviously spent some money... airport parking, metro ticket, lunch, newspaper... but I consciously kept it as low as possible at every opportunity and I feel much more confidence in myself that I can stick to a tight budget... I've fallen back into it easily and have that 'I haven't spent anything' proud feeling back again

Kath x

moozie_2

Hey Kath

I am glad your meeting went well today and you ar eback safe. I have no great words of wisdom except, take your time to make up your mind about what you'd like to do. OK, pretty obvious :rolleyes: as I said, no great wisdom here.

I think there comes a time where we have to re-access what we have, what we want and what we can do. I had to do it when I finished uni with a degree that I didn't know exactly how to use or if I wanted to use it. I chose to go down a completely different route than what I had studied/been working towards and luckily for me, it has worked out so that I earn a good salary and I love my career. It's not the obvious choice for me and in fact, I still meet people from uni or school that are surprised to hear that I didn't follow my degree path.

What I am trying to say is that sometimes, the road less expected can be even more satisfying/fulfilling/rewarding that previous planned routes. Keep an open mind and make the choice that feels right now but be prepared to accept that you may change your mind later on. It's all part of the grand game plan

Keep talking about it - I for sure want to know what's going on

kathfisch

moozie wrote:

Hey Kath

I am glad your meeting went well today and you ar eback safe. I have no great words of wisdom except, take your time to make up your mind about what you'd like to do. OK, pretty obvious :rolleyes: as I said, no great wisdom here.

I think there comes a time where we have to re-access what we have, what we want and what we can do. I had to do it when I finished uni with a degree that I didn't know exactly how to use or if I wanted to use it. I chose to go down a completely different route than what I had studied/been working towards and luckily for me, it has worked out so that I earn a good salary and I love my career. It's not the obvious choice for me and in fact, I still meet people from uni or school that are surprised to hear that I didn't follow my degree path.

What I am trying to say is that sometimes, the road less expected can be even more satisfying/fulfilling/rewarding that previous planned routes. Keep an open mind and make the choice that feels right now but be prepared to accept that you may change your mind later on. It's all part of the grand game plan

Keep talking about it - I for sure want to know what's going on

Thanks moozie - those are great words of wisdom!! I have an application in for a graduate training scheme type thing in the civil service and I'm quite keen to hear about that, have to wait until january though. Its absolutely nothing to do with my degree but I really like the sound of the job and I've passed the initial online tests which is a good sign.

I just feel like there are so many skills I have that were not used/developed by my degree and that I could happily be in a job using those.

Lots to think about but I'm trying not to hurry... just letting it all stew in my head!

On the plus side, my parents have said that for christmas/birthday (which are kinda close together) I could have some cash towards this camera that I want. Would be fab if I can get one because then I'd be able to submit to stock sites and take up some offers of work I've had (just one off things fo a couple of quid!) because I'd have the right equipment! :T