Waiting for momma...

Another image just approved by Dreamstime and Canstock. This is our little Bichon-Poodle. She's 10 years old and probably the smartest dog in the world. Mrs. Magnum liked it so much she ordered a 20x30 canvas print from Photobucket.

New photos approved...

Received an email from Dreamstime informing me they had accepted a few more of my images. If you're interested in submitting work to stock image companies, it's really simple to do. Just make sure you look them over for things like focus, composition, and lighting. They are a bit picky. Leave a comment if you need any information on how to get started.

Model Release Templates...

If you are considering submitting any of your images to a stock photo agency, be advised that they will require a signed Release for any photos including recognizable images of people or properties. You're going to need three: Model Release, Model Release for Minor, and Property Release.

I have created my own releases, and if you'd like a copy in .doc format to modify for your own use, let me know. Just leave a comment with your email address, and I will send whichever ones you would like.

Another stock agency added...

I sent some of my images to a stock agency known as Canstock. I heard back from them today with approval on several of my images. I'm including one of them on the left.

If you're interested in submitting your images to stock agencies, here's a list of the biggies that you might wish to consider:

DREAMSTIME
SHUTTERSTOCK
123RF
ISTOCK
BIGSTOCK
FOTOLIO

There are several others, but these represent some of the largest.

Blood Moon Eclipse

I shot this image last night during the total lunar eclipse. Not great, but with only a 135mm zoom, it could have been worse. I used ISO 200, f13 aperture, and an 8 second exposure. A little post production work in Photoshop to brighten it up a bit, and that's as good as it gets with this lens.

Enjoy. Leave a comment if you wish, and until I speak to you again and even after that – you stay focused.

Two Shots in One

This photo was taken at our subdivision entrance. When I drove past and saw the bright yellow explosion, I thought they deserved to be shot. I used my 18-135 kit lens on the Canon 70D and got a close up, trying to keep the depth of field as large as possible. Dreamstime approved it.

Later, I went into Photoshop, used the magnetic lasso and outlined a trio of the flowers, inverted the selection and deleted the background, replacing it with black, creating the photo shown on the right.

This one was also approved. So, just a simple lesson on how you can get more than one good photo out of an original image. If you're not familiar with Photoshop, or how to cut an image out of the background, I will create a video showing a couple of simple and easy methods to do that little trick. I will post it here when it's finished. Meanwhile, if you haven't visited my YouTube channel you might find something of interest there as well. Just type in this address: 

www.youtube.com/c/magnumvideos

Until next time — You stay focused!

Welcome to my new blog!

I just created this blog, and I'm happy you are visiting. About two weeks ago, I purchased a new Canon 70D DSLR, which I fell in love with in short order. This blog will cover the things I learn on my journey with this new camera, as well as some images I've shot.

I hope you return soon. I would love to read your comments if you have a moment to write something. Until next time – you stay focused.

Michael