Fine art vs. stock photography

I've been having a fine time this past week. I've shot salt ponds, egrets, and swans. I've shot towers, dogs, subway tunnels, and a shoe shine in Boston. You can see some of these shots in the Jalbums thumbnails on the upper right of this page, or you can see all the Jalbums here.

Most of these shots are intended as stock photos, some as art photos. What's the difference? Stock shots tend to be a bit more prosiaic, a bit more illustrative, and frequently either very generic (kitchens, scenics, etc) or VERY specific: a purple ranunculus, a female pileated woodpecker, etc.

I shoot stock shots in various categories: country scenes and country life; cityscapes; waterfowl and other birds; and scenics from New England, New Mexico, and the Mountain states.

You can see all these collections here.

Art shots exist in themselves. They may tell a story, or they may illustrate things as stock shots do, but they're not anchored to reality or realism as stock shots tend to be. My fine art work is not broken out separately on my Smugmug site; it's mixed in with the stock shots.

My fine art work IS separated out on my Art-Exchange listings. There are only a small number of images here, but they're good ones.

My fine art tends to cross subject lines, but in general I do architectural, art nudes, and water-related subjects like waterfalls, ponds, streams, etc.

Anyway, I'll be shooting waterfalls in Vermont tomorrow afternoon, then wildnerness (and some more waterfalls) in New Hampshire through next Wednesday. Then it's back to Cincinnati and the massive job of sorting and evaluating many gigs of work.

I have no idea how many people are following this blog, but as a reminder, your comments and posts are very welcome.

Have a great weekend.

SCITUATE and COHASSET

Arrived in Scituate Friday PM, just in time to clean up for my brother-in-law's 60th birthday party. He was in fact completely unsuspecting. Good.

I shot the party as a gift. But while things were winding down, I shot the moonlit harbor -- see the JALBUM buttons on the upper right. Today got out and shot some pictures in Cohaset. Not where the poor folks live!

More next time.

UPDATE, MONDAY 3:30 PM

Got to a little bit of coast called Humarock (origin unknown). Got some fun shots. Enjoy .

Bloomsburg PA

We reached Bloomsburg after a long and drizzly drive from Cincinnati. It's an interesting place, once you get past the mallification that's infested it as you leave I-80. Good restaurant, interesting main street, and a lot of period architecture.

Check it out here