Delusional Photographer

Here’s an SAT question for you:

The people in this video are to singing as I am to ? Got it? Maybe? More on that in a minute.

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I was running late this morning, so breakfast was quick – spelt toast with Barney Butter and chia seeds and Earthfare House coffee.

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Now that EIM is over, I just had to hit up an old fave…STARBUCKS! Ok, so it wasn’t Monday, but I worked from home yesterday, so Tuesday was the first day I could go.

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I got a vanilla soy latte

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…and a mini vanilla scone. Can’t believe this little thing has 140 calories in it!

I got tasked with something at work today that’s already a couple weeks behind. It’s due next Friday…yikes! Wish me luck!

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Since I was running late, I didn’t pack much of a lunch. I heated up a can of Wolfgang Pucks Organic Thick Hearty Vegetable soup. I hardly ever eat canned soup and today was a reminder why. Don’t get me wrong, this was a great soup for canned soup…I just prefer homemade. Guess I need to make a big batch and get some stowed away in our freezer.

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And I had a Barney Butter and organic pomegranate jelly sammie on spelt bread with chia seeds.

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Afternoon snacks included an organic banana and some Chai Masala Tulsi tea with sugar. (need to get some honey for my cubicle!)

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Had a wonderful session of photography class after work today. I am half way done with classes already! I can’t believe I’m half way through already! I want my classes to go on forever!

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Hubby picked up some Great Harvest bread for us today – honey whole wheat and cinnamon chip. Mmmm…can’t wait to make french toast and/or a sweet breakfast casserole with this stuff!

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Hubby ordered takeout from our fave pizza place, which I picked up on my way home.

We started with a side salad, which we shared.

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Then, it was on to the pizza! 1 slice of pepperoni and 2 slices of cheese. And yes, I’m a pizza blotter. 🙂

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Ok, so back to the American Idol analogy. You know how there are all those people who are on American Idol who think they’re really really good at singing but are actually really bad? I’m starting to wonder if I’m a delusional photographer. I don’t think I’m an expert by any means (hello, I’m taking a photography class! Not teaching it!) but I thought I was pretty good.

So, I submitted some photos to Tastespotting.com and Foodgawker.com. Alas, they were all declined.

Submission Attempt #1 – Waltz of the Ice Cream Sundaes

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Tastespotting: lighting

Food Gawker: Low lighting and/or underexposed

My take: When I take pictures of food, I try to not only capture the food, but the atmosphere and experience. This photo was taken at an intimate beer dinner tucked away in the cozy downstairs area of a local restaurant. The mood was casual and the lighting was low. I like the motion blur of this photo…and the darkness. 🙂 I think it helps tell the story.

Submission Attempt #2 – Spinach + Cheese Strata

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Tastespotting: composition

Food Gawker: Dull/unsharp image

My Take: I think this is a good photo. Perhaps I’m delusional after all? heehee

Submission Attempt #3 – Spinach + Cheese Strata

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Tastespotting: composition. appears dark. fork is distracting

Food Gawker: Lighting/exposure issues

My Take: I took this photo in my sunroom using natural light. I don’t like overexposing my photos. I like them a tad on the dark side. Maybe that’s wrong? But if it is wrong, I’m not sure I want to be right.

Guess slightly darker images are part of my style or something, which apparently doesn’t mesh well with TS and FG. They seem to like things a bit washed out looking, like this and this and this and this. And when I say overexpose, I mean that in my sun room with full natural light, I had my light meter completely zeroed out when I took my last strata photo. To lighten my images, I’m going to have to push the light meter above the middle mark, thereby overexposing, maybe just a tad.

Of course, I did see some dark images on both sites, like this and this.

And I’m not hating on those photos I linked to above…they are great photos! I’m just trying to figure out where I went wrong.

Well, it’s like the song, I get knocked down, but I get up again, you’re never gonna keep me down!

I’m going to keep trying. Some people may get discouraged by rejection. I like that TS and FG both give you feedback on why they didn’t accept your photos. If you can take that criticism and learn from it, then it just helps you become a better photographer, whether you choose to apply it or not. 😉

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Btw, I got a tweet from Tastestopping.com today. They are a site for people who are rejected by TS and FG and other similar sites. So, if you’ve been decilned head on over. I think I’m going to submit my photos…maybe tomorrow? In my “free time.” haha.

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I still have to do my Fitness Challenge post!!

Oh and I’ve got a couple more Bake Sale payments to round up before I can do my recap post…sorry for the delay!

G’night!

15 thoughts on “Delusional Photographer”

  1. OK, I know absolutely nothing about the technical aspects of photography, but looking at your photos compared to the seemingly overexposed photos that have been accepted by those sights, I have to honestly say that I think your photos are much more eye-catching and engaging.

    Like you mentioned in the post, the photo of the sundae’s tells more of a story about the atmosphere… it’s not just a flat image of a single sundae. The photos that you linked to on tastespotting seem to have less of a creative edge to them. I don’t think you’re delusional at all – your blog has some of the best food photography in all of my google reader list. Keep on doing what you’re doing! 🙂

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  2. You have such a great creative edge – I like pictures that tell a story, or make the viewer think of one. And you are obviously technically skilled. Maybe you have the same chore writers have-you have to give the publishers what THEY want, which may or may not be the work you like to do. You have a choice-you can pick a publisher and tailor your work to their needs, or you can refine your vision and look for an outlet that shares your vision. Please just don’t get discouraged and never doubt your skills. You are well trained already and are learning more, and you have a wonderful creative eye that can see a story thru the lens-in that way you are a natural and it’s a gift, prob not something a person could learn. Just keep on keepin’ on. Study photographers you admire. Babe Ruth said “Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.” Thomas Edison said “I haven’t failed, I have found 10000 ways that don’t work.” And my mom used to say “If you’re not screwing up, you’re probably not trying hard enough.” I used to think she was being silly, but now I realize she meant the only way a failure stays a failure is if you don’t learn something from it. I echo Lindsay that your food photography is some of the best I’ve seen – anywhere. I believe in you and my biggest wish for you is that you believe in yourself! Best wishes and good luck!

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  3. What a wonderful day of eats!!!

    I have much of the same issues with foodgawker and tastespotting, and its rather subjective. I honestly think its dependant on the persons mood the time of day they are reviewing photos. Ill compare mine that were declined by those of others accepted and think.. “what the…..”

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  4. I’m in the same boat. I’ve submitted 34 pictures to foodgawker. 2 have been accepted. (they count for you which is nice) Tastespotting has been easier and I’ve gotten a whopping 9 accepted there. They love the images overexposed. Another trick is to be at least 2 feet (to 4 feet) away from the food, it is more sharp that way. your pics are fabulous so keep it up, just takes time and catering to their interests! Photograzing is also easier to submit too. They take awhile to upload and don’t notify, but they publish almost anything.

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  5. Just dropping by to say thanks for the lovely TasteStopping mention here. I was going to suggest Photograzing as well, but I see that one of your other commenters already has. And, yes, I would love to publish all of these photos. It cracks me up to see commentary like “fork is distracting.” To whom? If you set that strata down in front of me without a fork, that would be pretty distracting too! 😀

    Thanks again,
    Casey
    Editor

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  6. One time my rejection commentary said “plate looks blue”. Well, that’s because plate WAS blue. You just gotta laugh at them sometimes.

    I always love all of your pictures and I’m shocked that they rejected you. One trick I’ve learned is to go ahead and resize it to 250 x 250 and then brighten & sharpen until you’re blue in the face. I leave the original photo on my blog though because I’m not a huge fan of super edited photos. Also, is it just me or does the quality of the photo seem to go down after you upload to FG or TS? My pictures always look so different on their site than they do on my computer. Frustrating.

    But yes, Photograzing is awesome. So is Refrigerator Soup. And Tastestopping, of course.

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  7. I don’t want your classes to end either! I love all this info, don’t forget the tripods lol I’m still debating on one and I’ve been looking at a white balance cap thing for different lenses that when you put it on you take a shot into the light and it automatically does the auto wb for a perfect shot. Or I’m thinking about constructing some kind of light set up with ego lights?
    I absolutely adore your photography, and yes, those are ‘washed out’ almost sterile and too bright to me. It seems to take out the detail and warmth? who knows what they were thinking, but it’s always worth a shot and great learning experience. I like your last strata picture because it enhances the sense of morning light streaming through the window, perfect with a nice strata, and yes please I need the fork! but maybe if it was a pristinely clean and sterile fork they wouldn’t have said anything lol

    Reply

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