I’m not a photographer.

If you have seen the pics on the blog or on my Instagram then you will likely agree with the assessment that my photography is like an ape with a camera.

“Yes, his photography is like an ape just picked up a camera, smashed it with a stick for a bit, and then started to snap off pictures.  Most of the pictures are of an apelike quality, but there are a few good ones in there.” Apparently, even an ape can get lucky and get a good image once in a while.

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Recently, I feel that my photography has gotten slightly less apelike and started to trend in the direction of being Australopithecus-like.  I’ve started to recognize things like framing/color saturation/lighting and then applying those traits to my photos to create better images.  That is something that photographers do, right?

And that brings me to this photo that I recently published on my Instagram  page:

deer-nine-mile-run
This white tail deer has a lot of scars.  He has probably been knife-fighting again.

Posting an image on IG and getting engagement (this is a social media term for when people either like or comment on your post) is great.  However, a greater validation exists when an external entity uses your photo in their marketing materials.  That brings us to the Nine Mile Run Watershed Association…

nine-mile-run

The Nine Mile Run Watershed Association is a conservation based non-profit that works to protect a tributary (Nine Mile Run) of the Monongahela river in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

I took that deer pic in the Nine Mile Run and their folks saw it on IG.  They reached out to see if they could use the deer image in their newsletter.

My response:  you guys like my image enough to use it in your marketing materials that aim to protect vital watershed tributaries and conserve supporting wildlife habitat???  OMG, YES, YOU CAN USE MY IMAGE!!!

And they did…

deer-nine-mile-run-newsletter
This is the first time an image of mine has ever been used for anything productive.

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Yeah, yeah, one image in a newsletter doesn’t make me a NatGeo photographer nor does it save the planet.  Still, I’m extremely proud to have contributed in this small way.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have to revert to my apelike ways.

How do all of these buttons on this camera work?  Let me get my smashing bone and test this thing out!

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