Kuyper Photography

We are currently working on speech recognition software, between photo assignments.  The newest of our 5 computers has Vista which comes with its own software for speech recognition.  But, the other 4 computers use XP, so we also bought Dragon Naturally Speaking.  That means we are training 2 systems to understand our voice patterns.

We hope this will increase the frequency of Blog entries.  That is, if we have the patience to complete the training!

We have been busy busy busy working CafePress lately.  There are several new products: embroidery patch on jackets, polo shirts, denim shirt, and hats; ceramic pet food dishes, and a ceramic travel mug.  With over 1,200 sections in 4 Premium shops and a dozen basic shops, resizing designs on all products takes TIME.

Here’s a sample of the new travel mug.

We just returned from several days in and around Pine Island, Florida.  While there, we stayed at the Bokeelia Tarpon Inn, a friendly bed and breakfast.  We hired Captain Jim Welch and the “Lady Bokeelia” a 25 foot boat to take us on a hunt for dolphins and water birds.

Our inventory is now full of fresh Florida images including anhinga, ibis, sea hawks, dolphin, boats, and palm trees.

We have been busy photographing animal pets.

A cat show was quite interesting.  The prizes were just baskets of cat care products.  One cat breeder said she traveled across the state to attend the show, just for the pride of winning.  She also said it does not help stud fees much even if you have a blue ribbon winner.

I went to lunch in Punta Gorda, Florida, with some friends and stumbled  upon a great shop featuring every imaginable product with dog designs.  There were night lights, floor mats, key rings, socks, t-shirts, and more.  A bakery counter held treats for dogs.  The owner allowed photography so I came home with increased picture inventory.  Never leave home without your camera!
We drove to Lakeland, Florida, to work in a reptile store and in a store selling birds and tropical fish. Both store owners were present and both were very cooperative. We made hard to get pictures of birds being hand fed from what looked like a baster.

We spent a week working in Tucson, Arizona, too. While there we photographed in 2 large pet stores with all kinds of animals, an aquarium store with large zero edge tanks, and a reptile shop. Birds and lizards were also photographed at Tohono Chul Park, Saguro West National Park, and at Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.

We made lots of great pictures at the AKC dog show today. It was held indoors, but the area was well lit. Derk made digital pictures and I used a fill-flash for pictures on ISO 100 35mm slide film. We also photographed dogs in the exercise area outside.

No photography was allowed inside the show ring. That is understandable because it certainly would distract the dogs, handlers and judges. The show, itself, had 1 photographer with a digital set-up who photographed the winning dog at each judging.

The yorkshire terrier below was photographed with Derk’s digital Nikon.

If you are a photo buyer looking for dog pictures, please let us know. We are going to Palmetto, Florida, this Saturday and Sunday to photograph an AKC event.

Last month we photographed at a non-AKC event at LakeWood Ranch, the Annual Pug Parade. We made some cute pug dog pictures and will upload one below.  The dog has been dressed up like a rabbit.

We have been making pictures of animal pets at a local Petland store for several of our photobuyers. Pictures were made using hand held Nikon F5 with flash. There were just too many customers with small children to use a tripod.

Good pictures were made of lizards, birds, turtles, hamsters, and gerbils. The African Grey Timneh is one of the parrots photographed.

Derk had an interesting day at Mote Marine, Sarasota, Florida. He used his Nikon D200 digital camera, no flash, and no tripod. The pictures are great! We worked there on two earlier occasions using film, flash, and tripods. So, it came as a welcome surprise that the digital camera, alone, could do the job.

Mote has the usual aquarium type tanks for tropical fish. The biggest problem photographing in that area of the facility is the ever present hobby photographer or visiting school group.

Mote also has a huge aquarium tank for manatee. It is necessary to use wide lens because the manatee are big. The best perspective for a picture is from the lower viewing area where you make an underwater shot. Reflections on the aquarium glass can be a big problem there.

Here are a couple of Derk’s pictures. The Jellyfish is available at kphotos.imagekind.com/TropicalFish as poster or framed print and the clownfish is also available there.:

The latest addition to products available in our Cafe Press shop Photo Accents is a good example of the benefit of stock photos. Three years ago we had a publishers request for llama pictures.

We found a llama business in Georgia agreeable to our request to photograph herd of llamas. Some of the pictures made then were published in a children’s book on llamas.

Another llama picture is available on products at Cafe Press like the sweatshirt below.

Filling want lists from three monthly magazines has been keeping us busy.  Yesterday I worked in a business that designs and installs aquariums.   Their display tanks filled with coral and tropical fish were beautiful.  Tripod and flash were used  along with the store’s own  lighting.
Last week we were photographing dog themed products in a dog bakery.  The store lighting was very uneven and provided a challenge because we were not using a tripod.  They have a lot of customers in a relatively small area so tripods are not possible.

Now we are working on a request that requires us to visit a local Botanical Garden.  This time we need to include some “attractive” people in the picture.