I had great fun photographing the Dragon Boat Racing in Brindley Place Birmingham today. Lots to see and do. It was also possible to get close to the action allowing me to get some close up pictures. There were Romans, Star Wars, Egyptians and Disney Characters amongst the crews. There was even a capsize of a couple of boats but I missed that unfortunately as I was checking my pictures. Lesson learnt 🙂 It would also be good to get involved with it as well.
There are always people browsing your Flickr photographs and I was contacted by Dorling Kindersley, a London based publishing house.who are part of the Penguin Random House group. They informed me that they are creating a presentation entitled, Flora.
To illustrate the text on Leaf Skeleton, they wished to use the below image from my Flickr collection:
I agreed that DK may use the image. It is one image and I let it go forward for a PDF and an acknowledgement in the book. I was flattered that they wished to use the image but I don’t get any financial award 🙁 By letting them use the picture then they have my consent to use this image in all editions in all forms of Flora (including digital products based on Flora) in all languages throughout the world.
I can take some comfort from the accompanying text they sent me. DK is an award-winning global publisher of distinctive, highly visual products for adults and children. Founded in London in 1974, we are enormously proud to be the worlds leading illustrated reference publisher. Therefore I may not get financial compensation but a lot of people will get to see the image and it may lead to more recognition.
The changing nature of the weather is so fascinating. The colours at dawn and dusk can be amazing. During the day there may be storms, rainbows and even sunny weather that just has to be captured. I regularly post to the BBC Weather Watchers page as it is always fun to get your picture on the Television. The Weather watchers page will tag your photos with “Editors Picks” and then you will know thet the picture has been featured on the television. I was one of the first weather watchers to be selected as a feature of the pages and able to share my experiences of taking pictures of the weather. I also contribute to the Yahoo Weather Project for the mobile phone where your photographs are selected from the Flickr Group.
Dammo’s Weather Watchers Profile
IgersBirmingham is run by Fraser and Beth and they highlight pictures taken around Birmingham. They hold regular instameets and I have been fortunate to attend those that took place around Harborne, Soho House and Spaghetti Junction. They also have a feature on Instagram called PICTURE OF THE DAY and one picture is selected by the team. Last year three of my pictures were featured and these along with many many others were selected as picture of the day. In December, IgersBirmingham held a photographic exhibition which was a celebration of the Instameets and the pictures of the day. The exhibition was very successful and my images were part of a large projection of the photographs as part of the exhibition.
Well done to the IgersBirmingham team and I am proud to be part of their photographic movement.
This is a project that I did for a Lynne a friend from work. She wanted four pictures of bridges from around the world. These were to be printed out and displayed in her kitchen. Hope you recognise them as they are iconic bridges.
It is always a thrill to have your photographs published in the local paper and this is easier than you think. I discovered that the Birmingham Post and Mail have a Flickr Group and if you post your pictures into this group then you stand a chance of being selected for publication in the paper. Steve was the first journalist who ran the group and soon I found that my pictures were being regularly selected for the paper. The selection process is now run by Marcus who will leave a comment in your flickr page letting you know that your pictures have been selected. All good fun.
The Birmingham Gems calendar features pictures from 4 photographers in Birmingham and it is the idea of both Daniel Sturley (@iconic_exposure) and Jonathon Bostock (@birminghamweare ). The email telling me that i was going to have my pictures selected for the calendar was unexpected. After I had sent in a few examples of my photographs, they selected New Street Station, my view of the Civic buildings in Birmingham and my sunrise of St Paul’s Church. The latter one was my first picture that was selected for BBC West midlands today. I was also in good company with Tim Crornbill, Simon Felton and Ellie all photographers whose work I do admire.
There were many emails discussing the project followed by a celebration evening at Priestly Wharf where some of my family attended. There were poets, musicians and artists present and there were my pictures which I found so exciting.
The Calendar duly arrived and it was a high profile sell across Birmingham. All participants used their numerous contacts to spread the word. The proceeds from the Calendar are for Barbados, Queen Elizabeth Hospital and St Basils. All worthy causes for the proceeds of the calendar sale.
An exciting project and one that I was so pleased to have been invited to be a part of.
Website address:- Birmingham We Are
Charities supported by the calendar
Barnardos Queen Elizabeth Hospital St Basils
