Me hosting a photography workshop - Image by Denise Borsari

I love to talk to new photographers.  I'm intrigued by the stories that brought them to the art and science of the thing.  Sometimes a specific event (like the birth of a child) sparks the love of shooting and I often hear how parents and other family member photographers were the catalyst. Most new "togs" start out as generalists, taking pictures of everything, and gradually narrow their focus to one or two genres that become their passion.   Since each genre has its own technical and artistic challenges, it usually makes sense that most good photographers focus their practice over time. 

I still consider myself a generalist because I love the challenge of trying new things, discovering what makes a particular genre work, and pushing myself to learn.  Until you discover your niche, photography is a odyssey along meandering roads that will take you to some unexpected places.  

©2016 Images by Design

I never thought I'd be interested in sports photography, but when my son decided to take up lacrosse this year, I started shooting his games and found (after a lot of trial and error) that I could get some decent images and sharing them with the players and their families was rewarding.  I was approached by the coaches to shoot a tournament next month.  I'll take the paid gig, and will work to create the best images possible but I don't see sports photography as a major or consistant revenue stream for me.  I'll certainly use the lessons learned to improve my wildlife shooting.

Model: Sativa ©2016 Images by Design.

I hadn't considered boudoir portraiture as an interest area either.  Through the course of networking with folks who suggested that it's a rich market in my area and to try it, I've recently given that a shot.  And found I really enjoy it as well.  Denise and I make a great team for these sessions where I work the set, the lights and the camera and she helps with hair, makeup and wardrobe.  So far, we've worked with some lovely models to build a mini boudoir portfolio that will help us start actively look for customers.  

These experiences have enforced my belief that you should always keep your options open.  Next, I'm going to try a little astrophotography and have just purchased an inexpensive 6.5mm fish-eye lens to play with.  I'll share the results of that experiment as I get a chance to use it.    

Denise paddling in the Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge ©2016 Images by Design

A while back I posted my challenges getting back into my usual physical activities after this past winter's hibernation.  I've done a good job since then of returning to my routine daily walks, a few weekend hikes, etc.  No more back pain after an 8 mile hike or 20 mile bike ride - I feel young again.  I won't be repeating that mistake again next winter.  And, we have finally gotten those kayaks out to work our upper body a bit too.  That's all good news.  But...

Anyone notice that I didn't post a blog last week?  I was a feeling bit under the weather, then a weird problem developed in my eye. So, I went my OD and he confirmed my suspicion of a burst blood vessel on my retina.  He also noted that my Blood Pressure (BP) was very high.  I've always had slightly elevated BP and (up until now) have managed it through exercise and diet (like avoiding salt where possible).  Well, this was different.  When I said high I mean very high - and I didn't have a clue.  Now I'm on hypertension meds and test four times a day.  It's getting better now and the cloud of blood blocking my vision is slowly dissipating.  I see this eye problem as a blessing in disguise - an early warning sign to address this "silent killer."  If I hadn't burst this blood vessel, I'd have no idea what was going on.

So, this week's blog is a short PSA.  If you've ever tested with elevated BP, have a family history of hypertension or kidney problems, or have any of the lifestyle risk factors (high stress, poor diet, a few extra pounds, smoking, little or no exercise, etc.) then I strongly encourage you to test often.  Most pharmacies have a free BP station you can use and home monitor kits (get the upper arm cuff, not the wrist style) range from $20-$100.  Seems like a small price to pay to help avoid a heart attack, stroke, kidney failure and other complications.  

Part of my strategy for preparing to transition to a full time photog is to present my business in a professional way.  This site is part of that strategy.  While its current primary mission is to inspire me to continue improving my photography skills, it also serves as a vehicle to deliver digital content to customers and models.  Notice the name of this site is www.imagesbydesign-us.com.  It's a little clunky with the -us at the end.  I wanted www.imagesbydesign.com.  That domain is currently owned by a Canadian marketing and business development company but isn't in use as far as I can tell.  I've contacted them several times with offers to buy it from them but my requests have gone unanswered.

I own the domain setzer.photos, but when I created Images by Design I stopped advertising that.  I've also registered imagesbydesign.org.  The .org top level domain was created originally for non-profit organizations so it's not the most fitting for my long term plans - even though I see some for-profit entities using it.  As I write this, if you type either setzer.photos or imagesbydesign.org into your browser you'll end up back here.  If I can manage to buy that imagesbydesign.com domain I'll surely jettison these since I don't want confusion among potential clients or customers.

I just recently added an email service to the imagesbydesign.org domain, updating my accounts on all photo related sites to jim@imagesbydesign.org so I can track all that correspondence in one place.  As a side benefit, if you are a subscriber who uses Google Chrome browser, you should now see these blog posts come into your inbox under Social instead of Promos.

If you've been following here since the blog began, you might have noticed that I've updated my logo a few times.  It's still not exactly what I'd like but it's getting there.  There's a lot of psychology behind logo design so I feel I need to get this just right.  A great logo conveys the spirit of your company more than people think.  There's a reason the McDonald's arches are "golden."  Shapes convey different messages about your company as well.  Denise's "Healthy Living" logo was a piece of cake compared to this one. 

I'd greatly appreciate any feedback on all this badging and branding.  Which ones work or not, or does it not matter all that much to you?  And we're still looking for a better title for this blog, so any ideas about that are welcomed too. 

bu·reauc·ra·cy  byo͝oˈräkrəsē/

noun

1. a system of government in which most of the important decisions are made by state officials rather than by elected representatives.

As a Civil Servant working for the DoD I am deeply ensconced in one of the largest bureaucracies in the world.  Every day I see first hand how policy made at the highest levels, usually with some sort of good intention, becomes a giant, complex and expensive Gordian Knot.  What was initially conceived to save a dime now costs hundreds in adminastrivia.  I've become a cog in several of these overly complex machines called processes.  It's one of the reasons I'm working so hard to reinvent myself and move on to my next career as an artist.  

My son heads off to school this morning for another round of Standards of Learning (SOL) testing.  I think the acronym is fitting but with a slightly different meaning.  This whole thing has gotten so out of hand it makes my head spin.  The complete story is far too complex to tell here but in a nutshell this is my perception of this ridiculous affair.  It started with Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) studies which have been ranking the US fairly low since first published in 2000.  Well, the US doesn't like to be considered average in anything so to fix this problem lawmakers created the No Child Left Behind act or NCLB.  Politicians really don't (or maybe can't because of how the DC beltway works) think outside the box.  They only know how to make laws that regulate, either by stick or by carrot.  The fed can't force a state to adopt standardized testing directly, but they have a big carrot - Title 1 federal education funding.  NCLB reprogrammed federal education funds to reflect performance on standardized tests.  Each state had to create a standard testing program and in Virginia those tests are the aforementioned SOLs.  Basically the fed says "play this testing game, score well and we'll continue to give you your alms."  Now the bureaucratic fun really begins.

Virginia and other states, in fear of losing those precious funds, decided that they needed to ensure good scores got reported to the fed, so they added some pre-test requirements throughout the year.  See the same flawed logic?  Then the local school boards, not wanting to lose their crumbs, added more tests as well.  This year, my 8th grade son will take 5 different standardized pre-tests in preparation for 7 different SOL tests.

Ryan Setzer - May 2010 shows off his 2nd grade science experiment

This is just what happens in any large hierarchy.  No one had anything but good intentions however the result is this:  1) Education budgets are now strongly focused on attaining passing scores on all of these tests.  2) Teachers have thrown creativity and innovation out the window because they only have time (and are told) to teach to the test.  3) Students learn the test materials and not much else - so forget creative or critical thinking, appreciation for the arts, healthy living, or other truly useful life skills.  4) Educators' pay has gone down (sorry, no money left over for even cost of living increases, teachers.)  And, here's the real kicker....  5) Our Standings on those PISA surveys?  It has gone DOWN since we started all of this.

Going back to the original problem - if we had, instead, taken a fraction of the funds wasted on this circus, and used them to increased teacher's salaries to reflect their importance in our society and/or provided grants directly to those educators who demonstrated teaching innovations, taught creative and critical thinking and any of the really important things you're supposed to learn in school, we'd be looking at a much different result, in my humble opinion.