Hit a Brick Wall!

It's been a while since I've posted because since I put the photos up for sale I haven't actually taken many photos that I like and want to show people. I've sort of lost motivation now that the Etsy site is done which is really bad because I should be constantly putting photos up! I think part of it is that I'm now doubting whether my work is actually good enough to sell and whether people actually like it. After doing research about selling on Etsy, I know that it can take a long time to make you're first sale and you need to advertise it and work on publicity which I have been pretty bad with recently so I know that I need to start doing it again but I've lost the excitement of it.

I think because it's now getting colder outside and it's raining a lot, I just don't want to go outside and would prefer to stay in the warmth of my bed! It's getting to the point where I just need to man up and get on with it because I do love taking photos, I just need to get that motivation and creativity back!

Now that it's autumn, there's lots of new photo opportunities out there, with the leaves turning the beautiful shades of red and brown and all of the incredible fungi that pops up (I love taking photos of fungi!!) it really is an amazing time of year so there should be nothing stopping me from taking photos!

Since I haven't been taking many photos, I needed something else to fill the time because I have a LOT of free time! Last week I went into Hobby Craft to see if there was anything in there that could give me ideas of what I could do. I came across the knitting section and decided straight away that this is what I want to do! It might sound kind of lame and stereotypically be seen as something grandmas do, but I have always wanted to learn how to knit! My mum isn't very good at it and my Grandma lives too far away to teach me so I decided to learn from videos on-line. At the shop I didn't really know what I was getting, especially when it came to the needles as there were so many to choose from so I just went with some 5mm ones! I also chose some pretty wool. As soon as I got home I started straight away and instantly fell in love! It took me a while to get the hang of it but then I started doing different patterns and got more confidence. I am now knitting my first scarf! I'm so excited to finish it and actually be able to wear something that I made!

This is my scarf so far. I still have a long way to go with it but I'm pleased with how it's going. I really love the dark red colour and think it would be perfect for autumn! I'm using the moss/seed stitch which has a really good texture.

I love knitting so much already that I went back to the shop and bought another two pairs of needles (7.5mm and 10mm) and a lot more wool! I like the fact that I can just do it in front of the TV and it doesn't take too much brain power.

This is my collection of newly bought wool and needles. As you can see I have for quite autumnal colours and I love them!

If any of you are thinking about starting knitting then I highly recommend it. What could be better than making lots of scarves!! Plus they would make lovely Christmas presents!

Prints For Sale!

I haven't posted in awhile and this is due to me being rather busy! Since I last posted I have now passed my driving theory test, done a weeks volunteering at an rspb reserve, taken more photos and finally put some photos up for sale!

I had actually passed my theory test once before several years but I never ended up passing the practical test so my theory eventually ran out. This meant I wasn't too worried about it but I still had to do quite a bit of revision. I'm now looking into doing an intensive recap course because I was at a passing level but its been over 3 years since I've driven so I feel like this is the best option for me. Being able to drive will give me a lot more photo opportunities!

A few weeks ago, I went to Blacktoft Sands rspb reserve with my best friend to do a week of volunteer work. It was a great experience and I learnt a lot but it was a very tiring week! We did some habitat management which resulted in me not being able to move the next day because my whole body ached! We also did some bird surveying and got to see some great birds that I haven't seen before and even some pretty rare birds. Unfortunately I didn't see a Bearded Tit which is the one I was most looking forward to seeing but it was a very windy week. I would love to say that I got some great photos that I could share with you but I had to get the train to the reserve and it was quite a long journey and I already had too much stuff to take so I didn't actually take my camera. Overall, it was a brilliant week and I met some amazing people that work there!

I have been taking some more photos and here's one example:

I don't usually do black and white photography but I really liked how this photo looked and thought it looked better like this than in colour! It is of a Sow Thistle.

After weeks of research and planning, I have finally got some photos up for sale on Etsy. Click the link if you are interested and want to find out prices and sizes. www.etsy.com/uk/shop/KatherinePowellPhoto

At the moment I am just sticking with selling prints just so I can get the hang of it before making it more complicated! I got some business cards printed to put in with the prints that I sell and I'll carry some around with me if I ever bump into someone that might like my photos!

The next step for me now is to try and generate some publicity for my website and to obviously keep taking photos!

If you have any questions for me then feel free to leave a comment or send me an email at katherinepowellphotography@gmail.com

Check out my new photos: www.katherinepowellphotography.com

Beautiful Weather and Beautiful Flowers

This week we have had some beautiful weather and naturally I didn't want to be cooped up indoors, reading about how to start a business! So instead I spent majority of my time outdoors enjoying the glorious sunshine. I found it a bit too bright during the day to take photos so I waited until the evenings when there was less glare.

It's the first time I've properly been out taking photographs since I finished uni and I have to say it was a lot more enjoyable this time. Not having the pressure of a deadline and worrying about whether my teachers would like it or not makes it a lot less stressful. I feel like I have more freedom now to do what I want!

I just took photos in my garden because I often find that I don't need to go anywhere fancy because looking at anything close up is usually always interesting. There are also some beautiful flowers out at the moment so I thought I had better take some photos before they started to die.

This photo is of a purple Scabious. This has always been one of my favourite flowers because when I was a kid I used to think it looked like a UFO so I've always called it the UFO plant. This was taken with extension tubes attached to my macro lens so I could get even closer.

This photo is of an African Marigold. Its got such a beautiful, vibrant colour and really stands out from the other flowers in the garden. I didn't want to focus on capturing the detail with this picture because I just wanted to focus on the colours. There is only the edge of one petal in focus and the rest is out of focus. I personally like this approach because it draws you eye to that one part of the photo but it all flows well together. This again was taken with a macro lens attached to extension tubes. 

I will be adding some these photos and some more to my website soon. Check it out by following this link www.katherinepowellphotography.com

In the next few weeks I will probably do a post about what equipment I use. It's nothing fancy but some of you might be interested. 

If you have any feedback about my photos then feel free to comment. Or if you have any questions then again don't hesitate to leave a comment and I will get back to you as quickly as possible!

Hope you are enjoying the beautiful weather as much as I am!

Venturing into the World of Etsy

I have been going back and forth about whether to start an Etsy shop or not and I have finally come to a decision... I'm going through with it! It's a great site for people to buy and sell handmade items and I would definitely recommend checking it out if you haven't already! I've looked through their photography section and specifically at nature macro photography and I do feel like I could eventually sell some of my work.

My main worry about setting up a shop is having it turn out to be a complete failure and not sell one item! I suppose this is many people's concern when they are thinking about doing this but obviously a lot of people still go through with it. I've done a lot of research about setting a shop up and it will definitely be a lot of hard work and will take a lot of patience.

It seems to be that getting traffic to the site will be very important because obviously if people aren't looking at your shop then you arent going to be getting any sales! So before I actually set up a shop, I am trying to get more of a following and social media is a fantastic way of doing this.

I have made an Instagram account that is just focused on my photography and isn't personal. I feel like this will be a good way to show my work because of the hashtag system they have. I have a link to my online portfolio on there so if people are interested in seeing more of my work then they can. If you want to check out my Instagram, my username is: katherinepowellphotography

I am also planning on setting up a twitter account when I've set up an Etsy shop as this is a good way to tell my followers when I've put new items on my shop.

There is also this blog, which is my way of showing what I am up to with a bit more detail.

I have looked at a lot of other photographers on Etsy and a lot of them don't just sell prints. They also sell phone cases, mugs, coasters, bags, cushions etc. with their photos printed on them. This is definitely something I am going to look into more and check out prices.

This is just one example of what I could sell. I think my style of photos would work well with phone cases. This particular photo is of a Sow thistle head with water drops on it.

I think it would be good to have a range of products to sell because it would hopefully introduce a range of customers instead of people just looking for a photo print.

Setting up this shop will by no means be what I pay the bills with. I am being realistic with it and realise it will be difficult to get even one sale. It's more of a project for me to do up until I go travelling and then once I come back and get a full time job, it can be something I do on the side. It is also a good way for me to still do photography and I am really looking forward to getting the shop up and running! It will take a while before I do start putting my work up for sale because there is quite a lot I have to think about first and there's lots of planning to do but I am really excited!

If you have any advice on how I should start an Etsy shop then feel free to comment! Any help is welcome by me!

If you would like to see more of my work then check out my website using the following link: www.katherinepowellphotography.com

End of Year Exhibition

As I mentioned in my previous post, a few weeks ago I had my end of year exhibition at university. I thought I would show you what I did and explain why I did it.

So here is my final work. I did a series because I feel with my style of work, it works better having photos supporting each other rather than one image on it's own. In each frame I focus on a specific animal. From left to right: snails, ants, wasps and finally woodlice. Now, you may be thinking "why has she not taken photos of the pretty insects, like butterflies?" Well I wanted to take photos of the animals that aren't usually seen as beautiful or cute, but are just seen as pests, whose lives are often abruptly ended by a quick whack of a shoe! The reason I wanted to have these animals as my main subjects is because I wanted to show people that these animals can be interesting and in some cases can be cute. If I can change someone's opinion about one of these animals then that'll be one less person who is killing them. There is more to them than a lot of people think!

Every animal has its own role in the earth's ecosystem. For example, woodlice help with decomposition of dead plants and wasps help with controlling insect populations. Now these may seem like insignificant acts, but they are vital to keeping everything together. If we didn't have wasps then other insect populations would grow and this would then lead to other problems and it's like a chain reaction.

I really enjoyed doing this project as I haven't focused on taking photos of animals in a long time! It's always been plants or things that don't move. So it was quite challenging because I had to find the creatures, which proved more difficult than I first thought. I also don't have much control on their actions so it was a lot of patience on my end! The ants were particularly tricky to take photos of because they move so quick and are so small! I ended up luring them out with honey, which worked amazingly well!

If you want to see the photos on a bigger scale then click on the following link http://www.katherinepowellphotography.com/#!pests/c21nf

I plan to add more photos to this series soon.

Finishing University and Deciding What to do Next

The last few weeks have been a pretty hectic, but exciting time. I have had my end of year exhibition at university, finished university with a 2:1 degree in photography and I have now moved back home. It's all happened very quickly and now that I'm back home I feel slightly lost, realising that I won't be returning back to education in September (something that has happened every year since I was 4 years old!). I am now having to enter the 'real world'. It's a scary thought, which I'm sure a lot of you have already experienced, not really knowing what to do next.

I've spent the last few days coming up with a plan for the next year and I'm pretty excited about it all. I decided a while ago that this year was going to be a sort of gap year for me as I have always wanted to go travelling and thought now would be the perfect time for me to go. So in January next year, I will be heading off to Australia with a friend and doing the East Coast. Then we will head to New Zealand and finish off in Thailand.

Travelling was the easy decision! But deciding on what to do up until I go has been a lot more difficult. One thing that I definitely need to do, is pass my driving test! I tried 3 years ago to pass but it didn't go so well and with going to uni, I haven't driven since. I basically live in the middle of no where so having a car is very important making it my main priority.

The same as any other graduate, I want to be earning money! I have been looking at endless job sites but I can currently only work a few specific days a week so have found it difficult to find anything. I was discussing it with a friend and she suggested why not try selling some of my photos on-line. I looked into different sites that sell photography and realised it is something that I could give a go. I then started to come up with a small business plan and did my research about pricing and printing etc. I read different blogs about how people got started and how they promoted their sites to see what were the best ways to go about this.

After doing the research, this is something I really want to give a try and I thought it would be a good idea to start a blog, to document how it all goes! I realise it will be difficult and there is a chance that it won't be successful. But if I don't try then I will never know!

I am currently working on promoting my work as I already have a website, which I made at uni and I am now getting on Pinterest and Instagram.

This is one of my photos I took for my end of year exhibition. I am passionate about nature so this is what I focus on. Most of work is macro photography but I want to start branching out into different areas soon.

Please have a look at my website and feel free to leave any comments!

www.katherinepowellphotography.com

Also if you have any ideas/suggestions about any of my plans for the next year, then please let me know :)