OK fine. Lets start here. This is a link to what I was talking about in my last post. Go take a quick look I’ll wait.

OK, if you’re back…

This is the portfolio site I’ve been using to host some of my “better” work from my recent interest in taking “better” photographs (as opposed to simple snapshots I’ve clicked away at for 10 years now).  The link is directly to the Motorcycle folder but all my odds-n-ends are on there if you want to poke around.  To be honest,  while I’ve got a lot of room for improvement  I’m am totally  hooked.   It’s to the point that I’ll soon be fastening a Pelican Case to the tail of my DR650 so I can take the the New Nikon DSLR and assorted lenses  along with me and hopefully  combine riding and photography. What’s on the site at the moment are some of the “lucky shots” and better photographs of mine from past posts and such taken with a fairly simple Olympus point and shoot camera, I’m now in the possession of far superior equipment and I think/hope rapidly improving technique.

So… my goal.

What I’d eventually like to do is make these images available for purchase  through the site as either high quality, un-watermarked prints (framed or otherwise) or they can be printed on all sorts of items from coffee cups to mouse pads to T-shirts etc etc. And actually  the way the site is set up, you can do that now for what are very reasonable prices (and no money to me at all which for now I totally am cool with) but I’m hoping to get MUCH better quality material available after this spring and summers events in Daytona, Riding Into History, “hopefully” Barbers Vintage Days and probably a trip to Deals Gap for the annual 2-stroke rally.   I also will probably be branching out into classic muscle cars with the Turkey Rod Run in April, The Concourse D’elegance in Amelia Island and a few really nice car shows in the North Florida area.  Heck I”m going to try and make the classic Wooden Boat Show in Mt Dora too.  We’ll see.

What I’ll likely end up doing is leaving a business card with a link to the website on it for the owners “if ” I think I’ve got something special that they may want to get a print of…  or not… whatever.  I’ll be there either way taking a photo of their rides so it’s not going to be hurting anyone.  Of course anything on the site will be available to anyone who wants to buy one weather they own it or not.

Other things I’m looking into..

To avoid any copyright problems, for now I will only do it with photographs that I have personally taken.  This is a hobby and I don’t feel like getting sued for copyright infringement due to a misunderstanding.  However, if  I can work something out with permissions,  I would like to set up a template or watermark for each photo on the blog that has appeared on the site that might read something like “Kawasaki KZ900 – Owner John Smith – As seen on Motorcycle Photo Of The Day Feb 30 2013”  or some such headline or logo or watermark.  You (or anyone really)  would then have the option of purchasing, well, whatever, from a high quality framed photograph to a coffee cup.

I’ve been holding off because..I have not promoted this yet because

A) I have to test out ALL the products to see the quality of what actually gets delivered and the quality of the imagery and text.  I simply  will not do this if it looks like crap. and I can’t assure that you’ll get what you’re hoping for.  That means I have to do some testing as to print quality, color ranges etc etc etc.. to make sure that happens in each and every case.

B) I’m trying to sort out a mechanism to do this for past photographs that have been sent to me on behalf of the owners who may want a print of their bike from a particular day.  Copyrights has to be established

C)  A lot of the photographs I actually own and have posted on would need to be cleaned up for better quality printing.

D) Lots other stuff that I’m sure I haven’t thought of yet but my lawyer friend will warn me about.

To be clear.

I do NOT expect to get rich off of this.  A whimsical hopeful fantasy (that will probably never happen) is that the sale of a few t-shirts or coffee mugs might eventually offset a very tiny bit of my travel costs.  But what the heck, I’ll be going to these events either way and taking all these photographs either way.  It can’t hurt to give it a shot.  And no,  I don’t expect to compete with the Killboys  of the world who just flat out own certain market segments.  This all started essentially as a result of some inquiries I’ve gotten over the last year about prints being available…  and me getting a new camera.

So!  If you’re still reading this far, thanks for your patience and I hope t have more on this soon enough.

Thanks and Ride Safe!

First, a brief apology and new resolve.

Looking at my site stats I continue to be amazed at the reach that this blog has had.  The other day I did a google search on an unusual model KZ900 and it put me right back to a blogpost of my own.   I’d done it a few years back and forgotten about it.  I had a surge of  stupidity and pride all in one moment!  What really surprised me was that (through no efforts of my own) those hits were at the top of the google search which I have been assured is no small feat.  Indeed Typing  Motorcycle photo will ghost script my site out as the top hit.  I’m really of astounded by that!

NOW….  All that said…  I do acknowledge and accept that I have a certain responsibility to my readers and that I’ve been slipping (badly) lately.  And the truth is I have no credible excuse.  Even when I am in fact swamped I can always schedule posts to pop up automatically days/weeks/months/years in advance.   The last quarter of 2012 (or so) on this blog was not exactly my finest effort. Yes there were some quality posts here and there but I was absent for far too many stretches. Everyone has ups and downs in their personal life and I will not bore you with the details suffice it to say that compared to people who have “real” problems in this world I am still a very blessed person. I have decent health, a decent job, a secure family, I enjoy a warm climate and I have a  garage filled with bikes and projects (albeit neglected of late).

So…simply put, I resolve to shut up and take stock in what’s going right and forge ahead!  Spring is right around the corner and looking at the calendar i see that there will be more chances to get close to quality motorcycles than ever.  I’m going to get all over that.  Stay tuned.

P.S.  I know I’ve made a few cryptic references to an upcoming “announcement” and that a few of you have been curious as to what I’m up to.  It something that I reeeeally really want to get right so I’m hesitant to put it out there just yet but I just want to say CLEARLY that it does NOT IN ANY WAY (and never ever will) involve outside advertising of any sort as a few of you have worried about.   It may eventually put a few small shekels in my pocket and what I hope will be some REALLY cool stuff in your hands but it would be completely “in house operation” as they say.  If you’ve read this far, lets just say that efforts to significantly improve my photography has opened up a few avenues.