Kevin Anderson follows through at the Winston-Salem OpenWINSTON-SALEM, NC, USA - AUGUST 25: Kevin Anderson competes at the Winston-Salem Open on August 23, 2015 in Winston-Salem, NC, USA In August The Winston-Salem Open was held here in town and as I have the last two years, I was there for much of it.  It's so much fun that I can hardly stand it...it's also VERY HOT...but worth every minute.

This year, Kevin Anderson was champion of the tournament...I actually ran into him just about 30 minutes before the cham Kevin AndersonWINSTON-SALEM, NC, USA - AUGUST 29: Kevinn Anderson celebrates his finals win at the Winston-Salem Open on August 29, 2015 in Winston-Salem, NC, USA pionship match.  I was taking stock shots of the numbers on the Wake Forest University football field and as I finished I decided to take a short cut back to the media room.  I climbed some stairs and found myself practically in the middle of Keven Anderson's warm up on the balcony of the building.  I said "Good Luck", hoping that I hadn't irritated him, or something and he said "Thanks!" and I high-tailed it out of there.

Anyway, I took over 6000 shots during the week and spent the next couple weeks cutting that to less than half of that.  (When you're trying to get a great shot of a return, you get A LOT of shots of the player watching the ball smash past him).

I found these "in the wild" in the last few days...

Lucas Pouille - meczyki.plClient link: http://www.meczyki.pl/newsy/janowicz-poznal-rywala-bedzie-zmeczony/7821-n   Donald Young - Winston-Salem OpenClient link: http://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/how-to/growth-strategies/2015/09/donald-young-us-open-great-comeback-lessons.html?page=all   Jerzey Janowicz - wiadomosci.comClient link: http://wiadomosci.com/tenis-us-open-szybki-koniec-przygody-w-nowym-jorku-jerzego-janowicza/

Hooker Research Center and Rosenau Hall at UNC-Chapel HillHooker Research Center and Rosenau Hall at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Built in 2005 and 1962, respectively.

I should have done this a long time ago!

In June, I took a day trip to Chapel Hill, NC and spent about 4 hours taking pictures there.  It was REALLY not the BEST conditions for photography...I got there later than I wanted to so the sun was fierce.  But, I snapped a bunch of pictures and made the most of it.

Since then I have been working the pictures I took that day and I have never had a shoot like this be so popular!  Usually, it takes a while to get some traction for sales on shots like this, but not in this case.  I think the first sale took about 2 days and there have been a steady stream of them since.

I found this one today...  I gotta get out to Duke and NC State...

govtech.com - UNCClient link: http://www.govtech.com/education/University-of-North-Carolina-Officials-Cite-Glitch-Human-Error-in-Siren-Delay.html

NextAvenue.org - Winston-Salem"Take a Trip to the Reinvented Winston-Salem", Emily Gurnon, Next Avenue.
Client link: http://www.nextavenue.org/take-a-trip-to-the-reinvented-winston-salem/

Another use of one of my favorite shots (taken from the top of the Nissen Building) in Winston-Salem...also, a great plug for Winston-Salem!

Downtown Winston-SalemWide-angle Downtown Winston-Salem from the Nissen Building

"Take a Trip to the Reinvented Winston-Salem", Emily Gurnon, Next Avenue.
Client link: http://www.nextavenue.org/take-a-trip-to-the-reinvented-winston-salem/

Sports Law Insider - UNCClient link: http://sportslawinsider.com/north-carolina-going-south-ncaa-brings-five-charges-against-university/

So...why take pictures of buildings on college campuses?  THIS is why.  I heard about this story a couple days after my trip to Chapel Hill and I thought (just for an instant)..."hey, bloggers gonna need pictures!".  This was shot just a few days before it was used in this blog post.

Nice... 

I need to get back out there and take some more pictures...

Client link: http://sportslawinsider.com/north-carolina-going-south-ncaa-brings-five-charges-against-university/

Thrillist.com - Winston-Salem"America's 8 Most Overlooked Small Cities"
Client link: http://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/underrated-us-cities-small-markets-like-cincinnati-mobile-and-chattanooga

"America's 8 Most Overlooked Small Cities" - Thrillist.com, by Gianna Jaccoma, 5/22/2015.

I'm back...someone I trust explicitly suggested that I was sharing too many of these, so I backed off.  I couldn't resist this one... ;)

This is one of my favorite shots of Old Salem Museum and Gardens taken at the peak of autumn in Winston-Salem.  I've sold a number of these, but they have been hard to find "in the wild".

Client link: http://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/underrated-us-cities-small-markets-like-cincinnati-mobile-and-chattanooga

Emerald IsleSand dunes at Emerald Isle on a cloudy morning.

Recently, my wife and I went on vacation (my first in a while).  We spent about 3 days in Emerald Isle, North Carolina,  part of the Crystal Coast and as I learned while I was there, also part of the "Southern Outer Banks".  My wife knew about this because she used to live near here when she was younger. 

 It's a beautiful area, and the beach is somewhat unique in these parts because it faces south, so the sun goes from one end of the beach to the other over the course of the day.

Of course, I don't go anywhere without my camera and I took a lot of pictures.  It's a great opportunity to put some of the techniques I have been learning into good use.  On a trip like this, I always learn new stuff about what works and what doesn't...what to do and what not to do...this trip was no exception.

The shot to the right was taken early one morning when it looked like it could rain at any time (it really didn't).  It's 3 exposures blended using Photoshop and Jimmy McIntyre's Easy Panel.  It allowed me to bring out the color in the dunes and beach houses behind them.  I had been using an ND filter earlier, but I took it off for this shot.  

Sunny morning on Emerald Isle. ND filter and 3 shots. The second shot was taken another morning when the sun was out.  Here, I still took three shots and used the Photoshop and Easy Panel, but I also took this shot with the ND filter.  It allowed me to bring get a better shot, even though I was looking directly at the sun.

I can't wait to go back to the beach, I've always loved the water and it's even better when you have someone as awesome as my wife, Sharon, to share it with!

Byan

junk-king.com - GreensboroWhat an interesting choice for the main image to represent Greensboro...a shot of Shaw Hall at UNCG! It must mean something to them, but I'm grateful that they used it.
Client link: http://www.junk-king.com/locations/greensboro
Photo link: http://www.bryanpollardphotos.com/p479521780/ecf94822

What an interesting choice for the main image to represent Greensboro...a shot of Shaw Hall at UNCG! It must mean something to them, but I'm grateful that they used it.

Client link: http://www.junk-king.com/locations/greensboro
Photo link: http://www.bryanpollardphotos.com/p479521780/ecf94822

eHow - Bell PeppersTook this shot at Mountain Man in Cana, VA.

Client link: http://www.ehow.com/info_8678360_difference-yellow-orange-bell-peppers.html
Photo link: http://www.bryanpollardphotos.com/p967587834/h41ee186d#h41ee186d

Took this shot at Mountain Man in Cana, VA.

Client link: http://www.ehow.com/info_8678360_difference-yellow-orange-bell-peppers.html
Photo link: http://www.bryanpollardphotos.com/p967587834/h41ee186d#h41ee186d

Foundation for Economic Education - VTI love this shot, it's the Graduate Life Center at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia. It was very early...when I was still figuring things out. I submitted this to iStock a bunch of times before it was accepted.
Client link: http://fee.org/events/
Photo link: http://www.bryanpollardphotos.com/p12718532/e5dc0b20

I love this shot, it's the Graduate Life Center at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia. It was very early...when I was still figuring things out. I submitted this to iStock a bunch of times before it was accepted.

Client link: http://fee.org/events/
Photo link: http://www.bryanpollardphotos.com/p12718532/e5dc0b20

Yellow Day LilyYellow Day Lily

Spring is here and that means we're getting out of the house...parties, graduations, ball games and all around fun!  Have a special way to remember it...let me come take care of the pictures!

25% OFF all sitting fees (except weddings) through May!  

Use the coupon code StellaDOro2015 when you order or contact me!  

Reserve your spot today!

takungpao.com - CalfI took this shot at a farm on the edge of the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It's amazing to me how cows will just walk up to you (I know they associate people with food) but they just stare at you like they're curious about you.
According to Google, the article is in Traditional Chinese. It's from a news agency in Hong Kong. When Google translated the page it was a bit hard to follow, but from what I can tell, a calf swallowed a knife...I think they saved it.
Client link: http://news.takungpao.com.hk/special/sjdwr/2013-10/18408.html
Photo link: https://500px.com/photo/12943979/curious-calf-by-bryan-pollard?from=user_library

One of the really great things about selling stock photography is that you never know where you're stuff will end up.  Since when does a picture of a calf taken in Blacksburg, Virginia end up in a Hong Kong news story!

Pretty cool...

I took this shot at a farm on the edge of the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It's amazing to me how cows will just walk up to you (I know they associate people with food) but they just stare at you like they're curious about you.

According to Google, the article is in Traditional Chinese. It's from a news agency in Hong Kong. When Google translated the page it was a bit hard to follow, but from what I can tell, a calf swallowed a knife...I think they saved it.

Client link: http://news.takungpao.com.hk/special/sjdwr/2013-10/18408.html
Photo link: https://500px.com/photo/12943979/curious-calf-by-bryan-pollard?from=user_library

Klostra - Stella D'oroStella d' Oro from my yard.

Client link: http://www.klostra.se/daglilja-stella-d-oro-perenner-rotter
Photo link: http://www.bryanpollardphotos.com/p687508127/e41ed4e2d

Found this today on a site from Sweden!

Stella d' Oro from my yard.

Client link: http://www.klostra.se/daglilja-stella-d-oro-perenner-rotter
Photo link: http://www.bryanpollardphotos.com/p687508127/e41ed4e2d

Torgersen Hall at VTTorgersen Hall at Virginia Tech University The company I was working for kept "bankers hours" so I had time in the mornings and time in the late afternoon/evenings to find something to do...I took pictures...lots of 'em.

Virginia Tech is a pretty special campus, most of the buildings are covered in a special stone called "Hokie Stone" which is a kind of limestone that comes from a Virginia quarry and only used for VT projects.  There are plenty of signature buildings on campus, one of the first I shot was Torgersen Hall with it's signature "Torgersen Bridge" that spans over a major section of the campus.  At the time, I thought I was just taking cool pictures and honing my photography skills.  

I was soon to figure out something about the business of photography...  I started submitting these photos to iStock.com (the only service I was using at the time) and once they started being accepted something interesting happened...they started to sell!  I had tripped on something - there aren't a great deal of stock pictures of college campus buildings.  Sure, the iconic buildings at iconic colleges and universities are well covered, especially the ones in or near major cities, but beyond that there's not a lot.  We all know that plenty of schools are in places far off the beaten track, like Blacksburg VA or Winston-Salem NC or Oxford MS.   

Anyone that knows anything about colleges and universities know that there is always something going on there and that the institutions are sticklers for giving credit for someone else's work.

Wait ChapelWait Chapel at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, NC. I've started a library of college campus photos and I'm always aligning our family trips to accommodate stopping off here or there while traveling to spend an hour or two on a college campus.  The campus doesn't even have to be that pretty, but most are beautiful.  

I've done enough to have a "working system" to get the most out of a visit to any campus.  Basically, I find a map (usually on their website) and print it out, then when I get there I drive around a bit to get the flow of the traffic and find a place on the edge of campus to park.  Picking a parking spot on a college campus can be one of the most important decisions you make all day.  Campus police are notorious for towing cars that are parked illegally...so my advice is to look for "visitor parking" and make sure you read all the signs - pay for parking if necessary.  

Once you find your spot, gather your gear and head out I just have a couple of suggestions.  I try to make it clear that I am taking pictures of the buildings, not the people (although, it's often impossible not to shoot both).  I don't typically go in any buildings, there's plenty to see outside.  I never get impatient with anyone while trying to get a shot...I'm a visitor and on no schedule.  Look around, not at just the big, obvious buildings, but the other ones.  I always try to snap a shot of the sign to a building so I know which one it is later.  The other fun part is learning about the buildings and the campuses...they all have history.

Alamance BuildingAlamance Building at Elon University in Elon, North Carolina. Built in 1925. I've only been questioned a couple of times...considering how long I have walked around campuses that's nothing.  I've only been turned away once and that was at (of all places) my Alma Mater (High Point University).  I've started a "Bucket List" of college campuses I want to visit and shoot high on the list are (U of M, Duke, University of South Carolina, University of Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Harvard...to name a few)

So...the lesson here is that there is tons of really great stuff out there to shoot, look for something unusual and you just might get a surprise!

One of my favorite (and most convenient) places to take pictures is in my garden.  This shot is from my yard!

eHow.com is turning out to be one of my best customers!

Just like my "real job", photography is mainly an exercise in creativity.  There is a great technical and methodical aspect to both jobs and you spend a lot of time developing those skills and an even greater amount of time expanding them.

However, in both cases, real growth can come where you least expect it and often comes in the form of "playing around".  I find that when I test the limits of my imagination it often requires a new skill that I can later apply to the "real work".

With all of that in mind I started a new gallery to share with you some playful stuff that may not be worth much to anyone else, but they're very important to me.

* The blog post photo is called a Circle Polyorama (or also a Polar Polyorama).  It's from downtown Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The next time someone asks me "why are you taking a picture of THAT?!" I'll bring up this photo.  

It was hard to find this dam, you almost miss it if you aren't paying attention.  When I was telecommuting for company in Blacksburg, VA I had to go up there every 5-6 weeks and spend 3-5 days there.  They kept 9-5 hours, so my mornings and evenings were my own and I spent a lot of time just driving around looking for stuff to shoot.  

One day I decided to check out Radford University in Radford, VA.  That was a bust...not much to it and not much to look at...but I did find this dam tucked away just off the highway.  I drove down this little dirt road and had hike about 1/2 mile to get this shot.  I always wondered if there would be ANY use for it...

Wow...being featured on Senator Richard Burr's Website is an honor.  They used my late fall picture of Wait Chapel at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem.  The morning I shot this picture was pretty amazing...the colors were BIG and the sky was very blue.

Wait Chapel has hosted 2 presidential debates and Jimmy Carter made a Nation Security Address there during his presidency.

UPDATE:  I found ANOTHER picture they used on the site...on the front page!  The site uses different pictures (rotating through them periodically) so you may not see it unless you are persistent or lucky!  You have to scroll down to see it (or at least I did).  The shot they used is from Round Peak Vineyard near Mount Airy, NC.

Found this today!  eHow - The Best Northeastern Retirement Places.

This was an early shot and if I remember correctly, it was rejected at least twice before I got it right.  I had to deal with some pretty harsh light (and hard shadows).  Not a particularly beautiful building compared to other on the VT campus, but it overlooks the main quad.

Saying that to some photographers is the same as; admitting you used to play Farmville, showing someone a picture of you when you were 20-something with a MULLET or conceding that you have taken someone else's lunch from the break room fridge.  To some, it's "selling out" because you are selling photos at a fraction of the cost they may be worth...in their humble opinion.

An excellent example is this one. Virginia Farm This is a picture I took of a farm just down the road from Virginia Tech.  The setting was beautiful, it was the right time for nice light, I loved the composition and I was sure it would be accepted.  But it wasn't, not just once, but about 3 or 4 times.  So many times that I finally gave up.  Fast forward about 2 years later and I came back across it and by that time I knew exactly what I needed to do to it before submission...it took me less than 5 minutes to fix it and it sailed right through submission...and I've already sold it!

mecenium - Old SalemI believe that this is the first image of mine that I ever found "out in the wild". I can't remember when it was, but I do remember being very excited about it.

The photo is from the side of one of the buildings at Old Salem Museum and Gardens in Winston-Salem. It's really cool, because the color of the wall is coral and the green shutters make it pop. Since I took this shot I have seen quite a few wedding shots against this wall.

That's a feeling that I hope I never get used to.

As far as I can remember, this is the first shot I ever found "in the wild".  When I saw it I couldn't hardly believe what I was seeing...someone bought and used one of my photos!  The photo is The Boy's School at Old Salem Museum and Gardens in Winston-Salem, NC.  I still love it, the colors are amazing, the coral wall, forest green shutters and the blue sky reflected in the window make this shot pop.

This photo was taken just weeks after I got my first DSLR and it boosted my confidence in a big way...

I sell quite a few pictures on stock sites and that's great (I'll explain in a later post why I use stock sites so much...there's a good reason), but one of the problems with selling photos this way is that most of the time I have no idea how they are being used.  I've learned a few tricks to find the one's that make it online, but the one's I find are a fraction of those I actually sell.

Huffington Post Old MissThis is a perfect example of why I take my camera everywhere and why I am always looking for something to shoot!

We were in Mississippi in 2013 for our family reunion...every 2 years the Melton Family (my grandmother's maiden name) meets at a nearby state park. Sharon and I went into the nearby town of Oxford because that was the closest Starbucks (in the Ole Miss library). I spent maybe an hour and a half walking around the campus taking pictures (while Sharon drank coffee and used the WiFi) even though it was about 11am in June (the sun was very bright and high in the sky).
I had to work this shot pretty hard in post-production to make it useful, dealing with some strong extremes in light and shade...I never imagined it would be purchased.
Boy, was I wrong. It's amazing to find all the different ways others use my work and even better when it hits a bigger audience.  By far, the biggest I have found...so far...is this one from the Huffington Post (see the article here).  It's a shot I took while we were in Mississippi for our family reunion.  

It's way out in the middle of nowhere at a state park...the nearest Starbucks was about 40 minutes away in Oxford at the Ole Miss library.  We were there a day early so the first morning, Sharon and I took a little trip to get her some coffee.  I took advantage of about an hour and a half to walk around campus and take pictures...to this day I wish I had taken more.  I was so concerned that the light was to harsh that I took less pictures...now I know that I can work with that kind of light.

I recently added a new section to my site where I share some of the "in the wild" findings and the stories behind them here, you can also check them out live from my Pinterest page here.

If you think that you see something of mine "in the wild", be sure to let me know!

Later...

Living in North Carolina all snow is a "snow event", even a little bit.  However, once in a while we get a really good one and I get a chance to take pictures as best I can (it melts just about as fast as it came in).  Today we have a "real snow day".

The other day I did my first Circle Polyorama from a panoramic shot I took from downtown Winston-Salem last year.  It wasn't that great because the shot wasn't 360 degrees.  Today, I took advantage of the lack of cars on the roads to take my Canon 60D, tripod and the EF-S 10-22mm lens out to take a 360 degree panorama in the middle of an intersection next to my house.  24 shots took a while to process in Photoshop, but finally I was able to turn it into Circle Polyorama. 

I still have some things to figure out about getting the colors right in the snow but, here it is!

When I say "free", I mean FREE.  You pick the picture and you get it delivered to your home, no charge!

Details:  (I love bullet lists)

• You must be my Facebook Friend as of YESTERDAY (2/21/2015).
• You must register on my site.
• When you pick the photo you must SHARE it on Facebook.
• I'm only giving ONE AWAY - first come, first served.
• You must use the coupon code 3OrangeWhips
• Pick your photo and order through the website.
• Take a picture of you holding your wall display when you get it and post it to Facebook.

That's it!

You'd think that, considering I am a web developer, that this would have been a "no brainer"...not so much.  I've created lots of sites over the years, but making my own has always been harder than it should be.  15 years ago I would have loved the thought of spending hours writing something completely unique and making it mine...today, I would rather be TAKING pictures than writing code to manage a website for my pictures.  So...I've tried some solutions that wouldn't require me to code and maintain the site.

First, I tried 500px.  I really enjoy being part of 500px at one point it looked like that would work.  I like the look and feel of the site, but selling pictures on it is problematic

Next, I found and bought a beautiful wordpress theme...  That was a bust.  I spend way too much time trying to make it look like the demos and never came close.  I finally gave up on that and  just settled on something that I thought was "good enough for now".  Then, the first time I tried using it with a client it was so slow I had to abandon it.

That leaves me back to a place that I should have started in the first place.  A professional tennis photographer that I know told me over a year ago to use zenfolio...so here I am and here you go.

I'm looking forward to building a great site and sharing photos with friends, family and whoever else is interested!

Bryan