There is nothing like freezing cold temperatures and recovering from surgery that makes one sit down and actually work through one’s existing photo portfolio.
My friends know that I’ve had memory and storage issues in the past year or so, with 100,000+ images (most likely duplicates or triplicates) hovering on many external hard drives around the house.
I’ve been wanting to consolidate and promote the collections within the work I’ve created the past few years, but never have made time to do it.
Somehow the Orchids called to me today, and I have a really long way to go. I’ve only just begun in adding my edited images on my Fine Art America page. While I’m not easily finding a way to embed a link to this post from Fine Art, the least I can do is give you a direct link to my orchids gallery.
This is only the tip of the iceberg in organizing and promoting my images, so any help from those successful photogs would be so appreciated. Now off to deal with another household issue. Hope you’re having a great day! Bella
Emily Carter ~ Nature as Art 
Hope the recovery is going well! I have the same problem with getting more and more photos, the storage is a tough one, but I just can’t let go of them! Beautiful captures 🙂
I am also the same way. Although with the birding pics I’m getting much better at picking out the best and throwing out the rest that same day.
Older pics will take more to clean house. The challenge is that I have the same topic shot throughout several years that need to compiled together. Things like these orchids.
Glad to see you back.
Sent from my iPhone
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Thanks Jack ! I’m actually feeling pretty awesome but know I have to take it slow and heal.
Good to have you back! Some fantastic images of orchids here. I know how you feel about storage; I learned my lesson from this summer when I stored too many photographs on one hard drive – now I am minus one hard drive and a couple thousand photos (which, I know, is a bit amateur compared to /100,000/ :P).
Well, not quite so back as I had a little setback due to all the meds. But feel much better today. I bet you cried when you lost images. Now I’m thinking I may just throw the whole lot away and start over with all the knowledge I have now. Imagine that. LOL!
Luckily my uncle had insisted I upload photographs of my Africa trip (which was the main event on the drive) to a Google Drive and I lost none of them. But you’re right – it was a good chance to start over. And it’s nice not to have a lot of space clogged up by bad photographs I took when I was just starting, which really just depressed me: there were so many of them and so few were good.
Happy you are feeling better! Back up is always a challenge for me. I’m going to look into the G-Drive Raid drives next. I’ve read several good reviews recently. Also a 2015 New Year’s Resolution…
I saw that ad too and wondered how expensive they were. So far these little Toshiba’s make me happy and they are so portable. Now to revel in my past success instead of looking for the greener grass outside. 🙂
How is your recovery going? I really need to do some house cleaning and consolidating too…you are inspiring me…and these orchids are just stunning!
The recovery has actually been really awesome. I had a girlie excavation done and with a minimally invasive procedure. I felt ready to walk a mile two days later. I really love these orchids and hope that you do get out into a lovely arboretum to enjoy some during these winter months.
Yeah, here you are again! How wonderful that you’re sharing Orchid photos!! 😀 I have a Paphiopedilum, well a few to be honest, that look very similar to your first. Though I have no Cymbidiums they are beautiful, especially those you shared with us today. They’re rather tall plants as I’m sure you’re aware so I’ll have to wait on getting any of those guys until I have more room. I love the lip on those guys you snapped.
I do remember hearing about your memory/storage issues right around the time I discovered you last year. It’s so frustrating. I made the mistake of get Western Digital external drive, a company that wants you to use their software along with the drive, which I did. But lately these days it seems it’s more of a problem than anything. Lucky for you and your MILLION images larger drives are available and getting cheaper by the day. Have you looked into “cloud storage”?
Best of luck and healing to you! Now I’m going to look at these other pics you’ve linked us to! I’m excited. 😉
Oh my goodness ! You know the names of these ? I made the fatal mistake as a photographer and not documenting each and every one of them when photographing them. When trying to promote them I really need to have their common and latin names. Think I need an expert.
I never did use the software the external hard drives ask you to use. I ended up with Toshiba’s and really like their performance.
Cloud storage doesn’t give you quite the immediate access that you would think. Dropbox does though and it is so super easy to use.
I took a few days off to recover and am now to backup and cataloging. Wish me luck!
Luck, Luck Luck!!!! I’m sure you have your work cut out for you. And thanks for the heads up with Toshiba, I’ll have to keep that on my radar next time I’m in the market for another drive. Using the software they provide seems stupid now! I appreciated the claim that it would backup automatically when the computer is connected but it doesn’t really seem to be so “automatic”.
The cost of cloud storage is a funny thing to me as well. Seems that the monthly fees for a decent amount of storage space add up to more than it would cost to just buy a drive. Luckily external drives are getting cheaper.
I don’t know all the Latin names, but I continue to learn. The red wine-colored one is a Ladyslipper also known as Paphiopedilum. When you see them with a pouch like that then they’re Paphs, but then there’s also the Phragmipediums… What hybrid it is I don’t know but it really does look VERY similar to mine. There’s a forum called OrchidBoard whose users could probably help you with some basic IDs if you needed it, but again naming the exact hybrid isn’t always so easy; there’s thousands of them.
I made that mistake too when I went to the Orchid show although I did start snapping images of the ID tags later on I didn’t do it for all of them. Next time I will be more diligent. There’s so many species – those found naturally – in addition to the thousands of hybrids – some occur naturally though I do believe most on the market are man-made. I think sharing pictures of Orchids and their names is really important because there’s not exactly a lot of pictures available relative to the number of species. The Royal Horticultural Society, which is where people go to register new hybrids, doesn’t provide pictures of them on their site. So sometimes it’s like doing a service posting pictures (with IDs) of Orchids.
🙂 Cheers! Glad you took some time to heal, wishing you the best!
Those are all so beautiful!! Are the Orchids yours, or…where did you see them? Last year I went to my first Orchid Show at the Botanical Gardens, it was fabulous. It really taught me a bit of a hard lesson about photography. For one, have a plan for your coat cause though it’s cold outside it’s tropical inside. Two, don’t let all those people moving around get you flustered while you’re trying to learn/practice the craft. Three, better yet than two, don’t go on a day that you yourself are in a hurry! Four, and finally only because I’m trying not to be too long-winded, get a grip on how best to get the right lighting and don’t attempt to snap every flower you like… sigh… but I loved it and got some great pics. I love how you were able to isolate them and how you chose to zoom in on some of them. Your colors are always so vivid and I especially appreciate it in flowers.
And the rest of those pics on Fine Art are tremendous. The tigers are precious. Your barn pics relate a lot of character and “ancient” life if you will. And btw, the white-crested Cockatoo pic? Yeah, that’s what one of my birds are, also known as the Umbrella Cockatoo. Today was his 13th birthday. They’re a handful, but pretty cute and funny too.
Thanks for sharing all your talent with us!
You are so awesome that you actually went to Fine Art and browsed around. I didn’t know you had cockatoos for pets. By all means, you need to share them. I bet they are a hoot and keep you entertained.
You’re absolutely right about how to handle capturing flowers in a botanical garden or show. I’ve learned to use a telephoto lens on a tripod to get closer to the flowers. Especially when they’re inside a bed. Also go early as most people are late risers. I get there before opening, knock it out for two hours and leave when things start to get busier. If not then, than late in the day when things wind down again.
Lighting..wow, I have so much to learn on that. A little handheld light is what my flower photographer expert used in such a variety of ways, along backdrops.
It was my pleasure. 😉 I have one Cockatoo and an African Grey Parrot. They are certainly a riot. I have some pics up, well just a few really but I should post about them more, they make quite interesting models although they’re not always the most obedient.
Thank you for sharing your tips. It definitely makes sense to go earlier, in fact I do believe they have an earlier time period for photographers. Do they let just anybody in with a camera or do you have a be a “professional”? Orchid show season will soon be upon us and I can’t wait! I only made the one last year so we’ll see how this year goes.
Do you really now? Seems to me you handle lighting pretty well! I remember having to change my settings constantly. Overall I was happy with a lot of the shots I got.
🙂
The funny thing is, if you mention you’re a professional photographer, restrictions fall in place and fees are incurred. Avid photographer or blogger? Doors open. Yes, in photographing almost anything, settings are nearly always changed due to the subject and lighting. So a normal task. There is Home and Garden show in February where the orchid society has a display and I take advantage there as many people don’t make it into that building. Can’t wait to see what we come up this next round. Got to run..
Wow, that is interesting. I guess if they think you’re going to make money they want a cut of it!
I look forward to getting better at getting my camera settings right faster.
Yes I am looking forward to it too!
Yep ! At least their cut if not all of the profits. Even the National Zoo says pros can’t sell their images without express permission. If you want, try that project 365, it makes you really savvy quick about photography due to so much practice.
Gosh I did not know they did that. I’ll bet getting permission is a pain in the butt??
Last year I got to maybe May with the Project 365 and then really started slacking. The more I slacked the worse I felt! Then I strayed even more until months had passed and I gave up. Not something I’m proud of but perhaps I will pick it up again in the future. It certainly was a challenge, interesting and educational. That made me think about photography even more every day. These days I’m trying out a variety of challenges here and there. That’s quite fun as well.
You know I do believe my finding your blog was due in part to your 365 last year. 🙂
Jeez, was my 365 last year? That is really hard to believe. I think you mean 2013. Yes, I think getting permission is a pain. I haven’t tried it yet, but should.
You can always do a project 52 – once a week. Now we can do that right?
I think you’re right, oops sorry! 😉 Looking back I do believe you were coming to the end of it at the beginning of 2014.
Would be interesting and useful to know the process and whether or not it’s worth it.
Project 52, now I just may do that because we sure can!
Ok, so I already failed at Project 52. Humm..maybe a theme project then? LOL!
Yes! Themed projects are fun. There’s a lot of cool weekly challenges out there. 🙂
Wow, Emily! That’s a marvellous collection you’ve got there! I wonder if you have contacted any gardening or botanical magazines to feature your work. Some of those flowers are simply amazing and you captured the colours and textures supremely well. I think I might just order some of your greeting cards. Hope you’re recovering well. 🙂
That’s a wonderful idea Fatima, and I really should follow through with it. I’m sure we can do something fun with these pics. Perhaps tea towels, plates..who knows?
Hope you are doing well, surgery is never any picnic. Good luck on selling your images too. A whole new world awaits.
Easier said than done as you know. So far, so good with the recovery, just a few bad days and I’m now back on track. Got nothing done all week, but back to mental work today. Lots to catch up on. Thanks sweetie.
Beautiful orchids, Emily. Take it easy for a while. Maybe it’s a good thing that the weather is too cold for you to venture outside. 🙂
I couldn’t have planned it better as it’s been so darned cold outside. I’ve been a good patient. I’d rather heal well the first time, then have a set back from doing too much. Thanks so much.
Best to you this morning – these are gorgeous.
Thanks Mary ! Now these colors I can see you having lots of fun with.
True Emily, it’s time for me to paint some flowers – been too long. Hope you are feeling better.
When we lived in Sri Lanka for a season, a tree with 57 varieties of orchids grew outside our bedroom window. They were lovely, but the mosquitoes were not.
That must have been absolutely incredible. The sights, not the bugs. I wouldn’t have liked the bugs. 🙂
Hoping your recovery is going well, Emily. MAJOR hugs coming’ your way. From me and the Marm-Meister. xoxoxoxoxooxxoxoxoxooxox
Now Sunshine has been a wishy washy recovery partner. She has been ignoring me most of the time. Seems I may need a Marm-Meister loan for a couple of weeks to get proper kitty loving. 🙂
Awww…… Just glad you are feeling better, Emily, I was late to the news about your surgery, just glad to hear it’s going well.
You know, considering what I had done, I’m doing amazingly well! Was able to carry my heavy tripod and camera with lens yesterday. Granted, I only walked about 100 feet, but it was doable. Raining today so I may go visit Remy and give her an apple.
Orchids !! My faves ! Can never have enough :). Hope you are feeling better !