BOPB: What drew you into photography in the first place, and at what point in time did it become a more serious hobby?
Jasper: I always wanted to take pictures and create stuff. The whole analog shooting thing never got to me though. I bought my first digital cam for way to much money back in 2002, A 2-megapixel Sony DSC-S50, and started to experiment with it. Mostly long exposure stuff. I was too lazy to carry it around all the time, but I often saw shots I wanted to make. I took part in a small shooting competition on a Dutch tech forum and enjoyed the search for the best photo to enter with. I decided I wanted to really get into photography and started looking for ways to really push myself to keep shooting. The result was ‘the birth’ of my photoblog in 2004! I pushed myself to post one new photo every day. This way I had to go out and shoot! Pretty soon after that I got into the whole DSLR-thang and started spending way too much money on this hobby

What is the one piece of equipment that’s currently in your bag that you couldn’t live without?
That would have to be my Canon 5D. Although it is pretty boring without any lenses. I try to work with all my lenses, so I usually choose one I will work with that day, so I have no real liker. You can find a Sigma 15mm fisheye, Canon 17-40L, Tamron 28-75, Canon 50mm 1.8 and Canon 70-200L f/4 in my bag. Oh yeah, and a modified Holga lens with Canon mount.

What platform does your photoblog currently run on? Why did you choose it over the other options?
I never really researched for off the shelve photoblog software, so I forced myself into building it myself. My blog is built upon a custom CMS built by the company I work for, so I only (mostly) had to worry about the way my blog looks. Later I started expanding the software with Google Maps, Tagclouds, CoolIris support, RSS feeds, etc. My colleague Maarten over at Talkin.nl took over all development and really made the software to what it is today. Thank him for that!

If you were able to give one single piece of advice to another photographer who was considering setting up a photoblog of their own, what would it be?
Do it for yourself! I think that is the most important thing. Every once in a while I take some time and browse through my images and enjoy the whole documentation of my life there! I tend not to include people in my shots, but they are there when I shoot! This brings back good memories.

What do you think has been the biggest benefit associated with running your own photoblog?
The ability to test out new features is nice. Although you have to be a bit into coding and tweaking. I introduced my photomap some years ago after Google released their Maps API. Nowadays I don’t add much new functions, I just tweak the layout once in a while. I think this is my 6th of 7th makeover Oh yeah, I just redesigned my archive page.

While browsing your site for questions I noticed on one of your posts, that you have posted 1750 entries, if you have stuck to the “one a day” that’s roughly 5 years, first congratulations and second what would be your advice to other photographers who are struggling with “staying inspired”?
Yup, I started about 5 years ago, so I missed a few days unfortunately. I think my main advice is to not post what you think will work and score a lot of replies, but just post the images you like. As I said earlier, run the blog for yourself. I just celebrated my 5th birthday, which makes for 1840 photos already!

I really love the polariod style shots on your site, what was your inspiration behind creating those?
Thanks! Most of the shots are taking with the Polarize iPhone app. I don’t carry around my 5D where ever I go, but I do carry my phone around. The Polarize app processes the photo Polaroid style and puts the border around it. There are some amazing photo apps on the iPhone which I tend to use like Polarize and ColorTaste. You can also find a time lapse movie on my blog which was also done using an iPhone app. It is a very enjoyable app that me and my girlfriend use a lot when walking around somewhere

You seem to have a real passion for landscape photography, what was it that drew you into this type of photography?
I have no idea really. I think it is mainly because those are the photos I really liked to watch on forums and blogs. Maybe I was inspired by my dad who makes etchings of landscapes. Shooting a beautiful landscape in beautiful light appeals more to me than setting up lights to shoot a portrait series. I enjoy portraits in a way, but am to scared to approach people on the streets. I am pretty jealous of Jessyel at Dailysnap.com and Benoit Paille for their amazing portraits. My goal is to do portraits of strangers in the street. So keep checking my blog for that (and kick my ass if you don’t see any of them over the next couple of weeks ).

Would you mind telling us about two other photoblogs who you really enjoy and why?
Of course DDOI was a real inspiration for me as this is one of the longest running photoblogs around (I think) and one I have been following since I learned about those things called photoblogs. Nowadays his shots are less appealing somehow. I do follow Jessyel at Dailysnap.com and many other blogs through my RSS reader. I also follow a lot of wonderful artists on Flickr, which also show up in my reader. If there are two blogs I visit daily, it is my girlfriend’s and my dad’s. My dad started blogging about 6 months after I started. He was taking shots everyday and collecting them in a book. Publishing them online has been very enjoyable for both of us.

Since I talk about monetizing your photoblog I need to ask the Blurb book you have self published.  How successful has it been?
Well, not very much I sold one copy, which was bought by my father. I still haven’t ordered it myself The problem with trying to make money of your blog is that your group of visitors is simply too small. I think many amateur bloggers do shoot work that has commercial value and I do have some ideas on helping these people sell the images. I can’t tell much about it, but I will definitely keep you posted!

(ED: Don’t let Jasper’s experience be a deterrent. I still feel that self-publishing is going to become even more important in the not-so-distant future!)

Would you recommend self-publishing a photo book as a way to help with offline promotion?
I don’t think so. I think if you want to succeed as a photographer, so have to do a lot more than that. Getting featured in the local paper, try to get a little exhibition in the local coffee joint, etc. etc. If you see how many photobooks are already being promoted in bookshops, it would be hard to get yours noticed.

(ED: I love the local coffee shop idea, if you’ve had any experience with this type of promotion why not let us know how it went)

What have you found to be the most effective method of attracting new visitors to your photoblog?
When I first started blogging, I tend to reply a lot on other blogs just to get people to visit mine. For the last three or so years I simply do not have the time to do that. If a shot is really special I tend to comment though Sites like VFXY do help to promote your blog.

How do you see photoblogs evolving over the next few years?
Pfew, that is a good one. I haven’t thought about that one yet. I do think that running your own blog has its advantages, so I think people will continue to blog on their own sites.

Finally, where do you see your photoblog in the next 3-5 years?
I hope it is still running 10 years of photoblogging would be very special, wouldn’t it? On the short term, I hope to post more portraits as mentioned earlier. But on the long run I simply want to keep it running and keep posting everyday

Submitting work to a gallery

Getting your work into a gallery is always the hardest when you are doing it for the first time.  Many galleries do not take unsolicited applications, thus you must choose where you send your work wisely.
You will want to find a gallery that is more focused on representing emerging artists or Artist Run Centers as they are more likely to a) have a “Call to Artists” currently open b) willing to look at unsolicited applications.
There are two types of gallery Call to Artists.  The first, is for a gallery’s exhibit roster (both group and solo) – they will be looking for work that will fit in a specific curatorial theme or interested in exhibiting work of artists who have a body of work that falls within a specific curatorial theme and can stand alone.  This may or may not include you permanently in their artist roster but it will get your work promoted if only on a temporary basis.  The second is for a permanent artist roster position which may or may not dictate your participation in an exhibit.   The best bet is always to start with Call to Artists as the intention to look at applications are clearly stated.  Most cities have art community publications that have a specific section for Call to Artists.

When applying here are a few tips to make your portfolio as clear and sellable to a gallery.  Most galleries have a guideline but if not here is a good standard format

1. Do not just send them your website, pick a selection of work (usually between 10-15) that is consistent with each other.  If you have more than one series of work (i.e. landscapes, portraits, still life paintings etc), stick with the one or two you most likely wish to show and clearly split them up (your artist statement should relate to both).  Do not select really old work, as this may lead the gallery to believe that you are either not producing new work or the new work your producing isn’t as good as your older work. Artists who do not continually produce new work and work that develops over time are risky as there sales will become stagnant because their work becomes stagnant.
2. Write a good artist statement.  If you don’t’ have an artist CV this is going to be the most important way to market your work to a gallery outside of your photos and it helps explain your intention with the work and where you would like it to go.
3. Clearly label your work, if its electronic or slide, make sure that it is easy for the reviewer to understand what they are seeing.  Title, Medium (if its mixed media list all mediums used), size, number in edition (if it’s photography or print), and (if asked for) sale price.  If your work has texture or details that do not come across in the photo include a ‘detail shot’ or better explain the make up of the work.
4. Artist CV – if you have professional artist exhibition experience make sure to include your CV.

A good bet for most young artists is to include themselves in applications for outdoor art shows and email galleries to come see your booth or if outdoor shows or ‘artist fairs’ aren’t your bag – apply to show in a rental gallery where it will cost you to rent it but again invite galleries to see the exhibit.  If you have access to a non-gallery space such as a studio – have a show there instead.

As a gallery director  I look for three major things when deciding if they can sell your work and would wish to represent it

1. Is the quality of work there (i.e. is there clear intent, is the artist developed technically, is it artistically comparable to other artists I represent)
2. Is the work consistent, does the artist have the potential to develop the work further.
3. Do I have the clients for this work (that you really can’t answer but you can get a sense by looking at the other artists a gallery has).

Lastly, develop a very thick skin – most galleries just won’t reply but be prepared to be turned down many times and if you can take it, ask for feedback – sometimes it will be harsh but if you can handle it, it will help you get better.

Cole Thompson – Cole built his online business with a ton of hardwork and some SEO!

Thomas D. Mangelsen – A little bit of a stretch when you’re just getting started, but it’s something to shoot for!

I really enjoyed this profile, Brad’s candid responses really show his personality, couple that with the work he allows us to see on his photoblog and you get a really great picture…

Enjoy the profile and make sure you visit Wasted Photos, maybe we can all help break Brad out of his rut!

BOPB:What drew you into photography in the first place, and at what point in time did it become more serious?
Brad: I’m not sure exactly what drew me into photography. In college my dad asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I said a digital camera, but not to get me one because I’d want a good one and that would be too much money… so he goes and gets me some Kodak point and click deally.. now mind you this was in 2000 so digital camera’s were still in there infancy. So I take this camera he got me, returned it to Best Buy and got a Sony S85. I would play around a lot with it.. mostly trying to do some night shots, but I really started having fun with photography when I found out a buddy of mine was interested in going out and taking photos too — so we started going out on weekends just shooting whatever we saw and had a blast doing it.. then I discovered how processing in Photoshop could help even more and it was like .. whoa… big boner time with my camera.

(BOPB: Having a friend who is also addicted to photography is an awesome way to break out of a rut, or discover photography)

What’s the one piece of equipment currently in your camera bag that you just couldn’t live without?
Considering I don’t have much equipment in my “camera bag” I’d say all of it. I have my Canon 30D, a 16-35L, a 580 EX2 and a 50mm 1.8 … so there’s really only one piece of equipment I CAN live without .. and that’s the 50/1.8 … or, I could live without all of them… I mean, it’s just camera equipment. What a silly question… THIS INTERVIEW IS OVER!

Why a photoblog?  What made you decide to invest to time and energy to get the site up and running?
Ok, I decided I’d keep answering your questions. (thanks Brad) So, I was out taking photos on a regular basis alone or with some friends and I had compiled a pretty decent collection of pretty decent photos… nothing amazing, but stuff I was happy with… and I started asking myself “What’s the point?” … I had all of these photos and they were just…. “going to waste” (Ehh .. ehh .. see where this is going?)… I threw together a small little site for myself and really liked doing it …and I’ve shown very few people this so feel special… a lot of those photos ended up on wastedphotos.com once that got started…. but back to the story … eventually I stumbled upon ddoi and something about the whole ‘picture a day’ experience really attracted me.. and once I saw thinsite’s photos, write-ups and the general genius that is attila I saw the direction I could really take things. Attila and I emailed back and forth a few times and he gave me some great pointers on getting started and was a regularly nice guy about it all and I figured I could try it out and see if it was fun or not.. and it was.

What platform is your photoblog currently running on and why did you choose it over the others?
I’m actually running my own software… I’m not sure why, but I’m a programmer during the day so to me it seemed like “well, I need a blog, lets code one up”… it’s also nice knowing how everything works so that when something breaks I know where to go fix it.. of course you could argue that with some packaged software (pixelpost) that things don’t break…..

I liked your post about how you started out with a bang in 2008, but you felt “flat” by July, just how hard is it keep a photoblog fresh?
It’s super hard. I have had days where I’ll go out for 5-6 hours and come home with just a few photos I can maybe use. Then there are the days where I come home with a ton.. the problem is that I HATE repeating myself.. If I have a picture of a cow today I don’t want to do another one for a few months. Variety keeps people interested and that, unfortunatley, means you have to constantly be out shooting…. and I dont have time for that… I’ve got money to make and kids to feed (not really… thank god). So, the short answer — it’s VERY hard.

If you were able to give a single piece of advice to a photographer who is considering setting up their own photoblog, what would it be?
The same advice that Atttila originally gave to me… and that is, if you’re going to do it, just have fun with it.. post the things that YOU want to and don’t ever try to make people happy. Granted, I will often hold back on photos that I don’t expect will get a good response, but I’ve really taken his advice to heart when it comes to my write ups. I know that a lot of what I write can offend people or might be gross, but it makes me laugh (usually) so I don’t care. I think of the whole thing as a website for me that other people can see.. not a website for everyone else. Maybe I’m selfish.

I always like to “categorize” the blogs that I enjoy, but I haven’t been able to do that with yours..If you had to categorize your work what would you call it?
If I HAD to categorize my blog? “Crap” maybe? I’m not sure. Wasted Photos is definately part of a small group of photos blogs category wise… only half of the site’s focus is on the photo — the other half is my write up (and that’s the harder part by FAR)… there are so many wayyyy better photographers out there, but their sites are SO BORING because they get all uppidity and pretencious about their work… “This is a photo of a sunset and I took it because it represented the color of my soul” …or people who always refer to their “portrait” shots… that’s boring to read.. so I try to make it interesting. thinsite did it, and a few others — like Jeff Ambrose’s openroadimagery … although he’s been slacking lately with the jokes — Jeff, get on it!

Do you mind telling us a little about your typical post-processing?
Well, first it’s into the Adobe Raw converter and I take the lazy way and usually just hit Auto. I have a tendency to over process things so there’s always TONS of layers going on in my photoshop files, but I more often than not add in a Colorized Hue/Saturation layer.. and I scroll through the blending effects until I find something I like. I always sharpen last then add a little vignetting through a PS action I setup. I used to give away my PSD’s on the site, but people were just taking them and not saying thank you so I stopped.

When you run into a “rut”, when even thinking about getting behind the camera, how do you work past that?
What a timely question… seeing how I haven’t posted a photo in over 2 weeks… and until now I had never missed a day in 2.5 years. I really don’t know how to work past ruts. I have wayyyy too many hobbies as is so if I’m not into my camera I have plenty of other things to go do. Photography is much more of a warm weather thing for me — I usually post from my archives once the weather dips below 50.

I noticed that you offer prints of all of the work on your site, how successful has that been?
I don’t know if I should lie and say it’s been great to make it seem like my photos are a hot commodity or be honest .. and since I guess I just let the cat out of the bag I guess I’ll just be honest. I’ve sold like 2 or 3 prints ever. Well, maybe more than that — but a lot of time I sell them to friends at cost.. I mean, how can I charge my friends for some photos I took while dicking around? That doesn’t seem fair.

What have you found to be the most effective method of attracting new visitors to your photoblog?
I have no idea how to attract visitors to my site. Maybe word of mouth? I don’t know who most of my visitors are so I don’t know how they found me… although it did seem like I had a lot more traffic when thinsite was running… so maybe everyone funnelled through him? I should really stop mentioning his site on here… this is about me… not mr I-don’t-post anymore..

Do you engage in any offline-promotion of your photoblog?
I got a tattoo with my URL on my schlong if that counts… wait, no I don’t. So, no… no offline promotion.

Would you mind telling us about two other photographers who you find to be especially inspiring?
Well, since I already talked about thinsite we won’t count him… Kenny over at moodaholic is great. I’d love to know his post-processing techniques. Martin Andreasen at WhatTheHeck also has unbelievable post work. I feel like post-processing is a make-or-break it type of thing for any photo and those guys blow me away. I also want to go on record and say that, although once an inspiration, I hate-hate-HATE ddoi… the photos are boring and repetative.

Finally, where do you see your photoblog and photography in say 3-5 years time?
Hopefully the blog will still be running… but given how things have gone for me lately who knows… hopefully I’ll be a better photographer by then. My girlfriend just got me my first set of umbrellas and some stands so I’ll be playing around with them and maybe getting better. Maybe I’ll be a drunk by then and will have sold my camera for a sixer and some cheese — I don’t know.

(BOPB: I would hate to see the last option happen – unless of course the cheese is a nice gouda, if this happens, make sure you let me know!)

Get out there and shoot!

Thanks for the heads up Bob

If you do end up going, why not send us some shots of the exhibition?

Sweden’s just a little to long of a drive for me, so unfortunately I will have to be satisified with Archerfoto.

Congrats Amy.

Here’s my idea.  If your (or someone you know) work is being displayed in a gallery or is scheduled to be displayed, let me know, and I will post details about it here…

Just so we’re clear right from the beginning, we’re not really comparing apples-to-apples here, but you have to start somewhere right?

This year I decided that I would create two different holiday cards and send them out to folks who were members of my “fan” page on Facebook.  All it took to get on the list was simply to become a “fan” and send me your mailing address, response was lighter than I had hoped, but I am still growing my base.  Since photography (and my photoblog) are just a hobby for me, I was on a tight budget  and decided to use my favourite online printer – MOO.  For approximately $50CDN I received 50 cards (25 of each image) with a greeting printed inside, a special URL printed on the back, and recycled envelopes (Green is in).  As usual I was really happy with the finished product and was excited to send out my very 1st mailer.  Here’s a couple of things I learned during this process,

Have a Goal

I’ve talked about how important it is to always have a goal in mind when you’re doing anything, and I’ll admit that I broke this rule this go-around.  It was the first time I decided to create my own mailer (although I have another project in mind) and I got ahead of myself just a bit.  My goal for my photoblog has always been to sell prints, and I didn’t work that goal into my mailer at all – by this I mean offering specials, etc. to everyone who received a card.

Triple-check everything

I’ve also talked about being able to track things on your photoblog, and with this in mind I created a special URL that was printed only on the cards.  Here’s the problem, I created and tested it multiple times on my computer, but I quickly heard back from several people that the URL didn’t work.  Oops!  The ideas was to have people come to a special URL on the photoblog, register, and then they would receive an extra little gift.  I figured I could track the percentage of people who visited and then the percentage of those who registered.  Kinda hard to do, when the page isn’t working…

Conclusion

Besides having those two setbacks, I am working on another offline promotion right now, and once I work the bugs out I will be hitting up Canada Post to make some deliveries for me and I will be sure to let you all know how it goes.

Has anyone else out there done some offline promotion of their photoblog?  Why not sure your experiences with us by leaving a comment below.

Drop by wastedphotos and check out the “Communist Photoing” post, by the way, this photoblog has some of the wittiest titles and commentary I have come across.