PDN Faces,365 Tao,Benton-Franklin Humane Society,animal adoption
Everything I read suggests that it is very important for photographers to have a blog. Oh, and that if you don’t frequently update the blog or at least regularly update the blog, that you are better off not having it at all. The advice that seems to be lacking is how the busy photographer is supposed to find time to write. Hmm… I guess I need to try harder.
I just celebrated my 38th birthday this week and received a book by Deng Ming-Dao of daily meditations reflecting on the Tao. After the brief forward, each lesson is just a short page and is meant to be reflected upon as the reader finds a bit of quiet time through the day. The author’s intent is to help the readers find how the teaching of Taoism can apply to everyday life. I don’t pretend to have any more than a superficial knowledge of Taoism but am looking forward to the daily lessons over the next year. Today’s lesson asks us to reflect on beginnings which is obviously an excellent way to start the journey. Beginnings can be full of many things but Ming-Dao suggests that they should be a time of hope and anticipation. Lately as I look forward to graduation, I can’t help but think I am on the verge of a new beginning. At this point I’m unsure of the destination but I am very optimistic that it will be a good journey.
Back in March, I asked you to vote for some of my Benton-Franklin Humane Society photographs in the photography journal PDN’s (Photo District News) Faces contest. The popular vote was only a portion of the contest and the images were also judged by industry professionals. I’m very excited to announce that the photographs of Maralee and an unnamed kitten were each selected for publication in the July 2009 issue. I’m also very happy to report that both animals have long since been adopted.
I hope to have news to announce soon on a project that I’ve been working on. While the project is an ongoing part of my thesis work, this avenue definitely represents a new beginning for me. Hopefully it represents a new beginning for the homeless animals too.
fine art,photography,color
I’ve just completed an update of Portfolio 4 which features my latest fine art project. Limited edition prints are available from this series. Please email me with any inquiries at info@michaelklothphotography.com.
I will be updating my fee schedule as of May 1, 2009. As a special offer to my clients, any sessions scheduled in the next week can lock in at the current rate for any session booked for the month of May if the session is paid for at the time when the session is booked.
Thank you for your continued support and business.
Zazzle,photo gifts,merchandise,humane society
Coming soon to a web store near you…
I am putting together a series of photography gift items with a limited selection of my work. I am in the process of making available items like coffee mugs and greeting cards available for purchase through Zazzle.com. Prints will not be included in this online store as I feel that I am better able to provide better service by printing my own work using my own state of the art professional printer. I would ask that anyone interested in prints (made on any archival media) contact me directly for pricing and availability either by email (info@michaelklothphotography.com) or by phone (859-948-4642).
The kitten coffee mug featured below is the first of many products that will be unveiled over the coming weeks. Proceeds from these sales will help to support my work with the animals at the Benton-Franklin Humane Society. I hope you enjoy and check back often!
buy unique gifts at Zazzle
Facebook,Twitter,photography
In today’s market, it is sometimes difficult to know how to best promote my business. Increasingly it seems that social networking sites are playing an important role in any marketing strategy and for some time I’ve been sharing my work with people via my artist page on Facebook. With over one million users and growing, it would seem that Twitter is a next logical resource to utilizing in my marketing efforts. For those of you interested in following my work, please consider becoming a "fan" of Michael Kloth Photography on Facebook and following my updates on Twitter.
Today’s photos feature two of the animals I photographed at the Benton-Franklin Humane Society this week.
portrait,people,photography
I just updated Gallery 2 (people) on my web site. In addition to changing some of the photographs, I’ve made a few minor navigation changes. Please let me know if you have any difficulty viewing this or any other gallery on my web site.
Thanks and I hope you enjoy!
This weekend I had the opportunity to work with two clients. The first is a breeder and asked me to photograph two of her adults along with their six puppies. I’d never met a Silken Windhound before, much less eight of them but let me tell you, if these eight were a good representation, they are delightful dogs. It was a hectic, busy hour but it was a lot of fun. The next day I met a six year old dog that isn’t expected to be with her family for more than another week before the her sarcoma burden brings her family to give her one last act of love. The two sessions back to back really underscored to me what it means to love a dog.
As you may or may not know, I am the person and photographer that I am today because of Little Bit. She is the first dog that Robin and I adopted from the humane society and she was about six months old when we brought her home. She taught us what it is to be responsible dog owners and when she was diagnosed with lymphoma, she taught us a lot about compassion and dignity. I might have been an animal photographer anyway, but documenting her journey as I was just beginning to learn photography undoubtedly made a huge impact on me. When it came time to develop a portfolio to submit with my graduate school application, my course had been determined and I’ve been working with humane society and rescue animals ever since.
So while none of the dogs I photographed this weekend had even a passing resemblance to Little Bit, I couldn’t help but think about her as I was interacting with these nine dogs and their owners. And it was very good that I was able to balance the joy of puppyhood with the sorrow of knowing that I was helping a family capture what life is left in their beloved dog. After all, life is all about balance.
I thank both families for sharing a little bit of their lives with me and I wish them well. And for Storm’s family, they will be in my thoughts and I hope that they can find peace in their loss knowing that they made the best possible decisions for her health and comfort.
stock photography,Veer,fine art
I’m happy to report that I have been given the green light to develop my Water Colors series as a Fancy collection for the Veer stock agency. Veer is the company that is currently selling a collection of my animal portraits and is generally regarded as one of the quality providers of both rights managed and royalty free stock photography. I’m very excited for the opportunity to explore this project more fully with the expectation that it will generate a steady source of income for Michael Kloth Photography.
This is a very exciting time for me as I work to wrap up my thesis project with an anticipated December 2009 graduation. As I started the graduate program at the Academy of Art University, I only knew that I wanted to make a career in photography and the arts. As I worked my way through the program and establishing myself as a photographer, my plans slowly evolved and I am excited to see that all of my work is very rapidly reaching the point where my work is being recognized and that my business is beginning to take off.
I want to close today by saying thank you to everyone that has given me support and feedback though this journey.
I took a short trip to Whistler, B.C. this week. I don’t ski but I did give snow shoeing a try and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. The weather didn’t exactly cooperate for photography but I did take a few photographs to remind me of my trip.
I have a few websites that I’d like to share. Today my work is featured on the Snap My Pet and Macro Mutt both of which help people find pet photographers.
Also, I wrote a few weeks back I wrote about the PDN “Faces” contest. While the contest is still accepting applications and the people’s choice votes (please vote if you already haven’t), I was notified that the editors selected one of my images for the Editor’s Photo of the Day and I will be featured tomorrow, March 19, 2008. My photograph will be posted on their site after noon, Eastern.
