Here on the blog I’ve been focusing on where to go next. I know that probably doesn’t interest you, but I have been spending a lot of time on it. Also trying to work out the scams and the sites that can really help. There is so much out and trying to work it out can be so confusing.
Scams
Did you know there are a lot of scams on the internet?
Yeah, well I’ve been sucked in enough. I recently paid a fortune for a Facebook course that I thought would be good, just to find that it was offered to over 500 people. That means your questions have to be answered by others in the same boat. They would do live videos to look at people’s pages, but only a very small number, and they were nearly always bascially the same. Never like mine, so I never got anything out of those. I have had to figure a lot out myself.
On top of that many of the live sessions would be done in the middle of the night for me. I don’t understand why they are happy to take money from international students, but cater only for US ones. Time zones are always in US terms, so if you aren’t in the US you have no idea. I don’t understand why they don’t use international time zones like everyone else does.
I keep saying to people, would you do a class for $500 and expect to be there with 500 others and never have your questions answered by the teacher. You wouldn’t be happy, so it makes you wonder why it is okay to do that on the internet. Mind you, when I signed up, I had no idea that so many people would be doing the course at the same time.
To be fair, I did start a new page and what she taught worked for a while, but it didn’t make money for me. Which is what it was meant to do. I suspect, with all these courses online that the only people making money are the people claiming to help you earn money. There are obviously enough people out there wanting to earn money from the internet that they can rip us all off. Okay, maybe I am being cynical, hard not to be. No more courses like that for me.
Sirui Tripods
The two tripods I have had on loan from Sirui here in Australia have been sent back. I loved using them and think that while I like the @-2204 carbon fibre waterproof tripod the most, in the end I think I will get the model down. That would be the W-1204, if I was getting one for myself.
I am now looking into being a reseller. This will mean that if you are in Australia you could have the possibility of buying a tripod from me. I am excited about this, and hopefully will get it all set up soon.
Tamron lens
If you saw the post on the weekend you will know I am trying out the Tamron 150-600mm G2 lens. I did try this lens out a couple of years. Though not this one, the previous version and I am happy to say this one is so much better. The autofocus is really good. The only time I had trouble was when there wasn’t anything for it to focus on, no lines or changes. I did have one place where I couldn’t get it to work at all, I had to use manual focus. I knew something was wrong, so when I looked at the lens I could see that the problem was I had switched the focus to manual. No idea how I did it, but it does happen.
The tele converter was great with it as well. I’ve never used one before, so it was good to experiment. I might have to look into getting one of my own.
Workshops
It has been suggested to me by quite a few people that I should be doing more workshops. If you believe in signs, I think that might be true. I have been talking about them a lot and more and more people are signing up for them. It has been really good.
A new friend thinks I should offer some tours as well, ones that specialise in long exposure photography. So I might just do that, and start looking into the possibilities of running some.
There are going to be classes on learning how to use your camera. They are going to take a bit more working out on how to do them. What will be the best way. I know I have helped lots of other people figure how to use their camera, and I know I can do it, so I want to do more of that.
Perhaps some two day long exposure workshops to help people get the most out of Melbourne.
New workshop ideas
I also thought there might be people who would love to do some architectural tours with me. Photograph Melbourne my way. Take photos of the buildings that I love to photograph. I will have to plan a couple of different ones. The nice thing about these is that could also do these with your phone if you wanted.
So stay tuned, more to come on these.
Where to go next?
Well, I suspect I have answered that question. I do plan on blogging more, and trying to get more informative posts for you. I might try to get some sponsored posts as well. It is all up in the air right now. I will sort it all out. I hope you will enjoy coming along with me.
I was just talking to my mom about how I got scammed the other night by an e-mail posing as my pharmacist. It was really the cherry on top of a great three weeks of being sick, on unemployment and unable to find a job and other things. I had just moved about $70.00 from my savings to that particular account so I could pay a bill and then it was taken. I normally am very wary about things like that and will notice little details that other people sometimes miss. But I was tired and distracted and I am sure the opportunity to do a survey and get a free gift did not help my judgement. By the time I entered my card number to pay the small shipping fee it was too late too notice that the e-mail address was not from my pharmacist. Kind of mad at myself. There is another scam in my area where people threaten over the phone that unless you pay the IRS you will be arrested. Some of these people have physically come to the door. Yikes! I also took an online course that came compliments of my cell provider. It was on graphic design but it turns out that that school was giving that course away anyhow. They tell you that you are getting so much value but it’s just a sample of information that you wonder if it is worth the risk of getting the full course. I think some people/entrepreneurs are seriously blurring the line between outright scam and legitimate endeavor.
Leann, I really like the photo of the paper mache cow in the tree. I am very amateur at photography, but I can pick out the difference in your photo. I can see you are using a more sophisticated technique to get that perspective from the ones I know. My favorite subject is weather and I really like some of my photographs but I wonder if there is a better way to do what I am doing. Probably a different lens.
Scams are the pits, I hate them, and so sorry to hear you have had a bad experience too. We really do have to keep on the ball with it all.
That is a great sculpture, the cow up the tree. Weather is great to photograph as well. I don’t know what you are using Leah.
Hi Leanne. I am using basic stuff, a Canon EOS rebel t3 and the kit lens ( 18-55) I also have a 70mm telephoto lens. No special lights or anything else yet but I attended a seminar by Jim Gerlach and he had some awesome techniques he had developed using what you have got with any camera like focus stacking and flash fill.
Nothing wrong with basic stuff, especially if you are getting what you want. That’s great that you got so much from the seminar.
Where to go next is a frequently asked question…I hope the journey for you is fulfilling and enjoyable…
Thank you Robert, I would like that too. Fingers crossed.
Love your creativity.
Thank you, that’s nice of you to say.
Sorry! Leanne, there are a lot of free courses on YouTube. You could also promote your products on FB, Twitter and YouTube. Have you tried any affiliate programs?
Yeah, that is the problem, though people telling me they want to learn from me and then don’t really doesn’t help. I have some affiliate programs now. It will sort itself out, I hope. Either that, or I give it all up and get a real job. lol
You are too good a photographer to give up. What about portraits and weddings?
I won’t give up too soon, though portraits and weddings are not something I want to do.
Courses about how to make money on the Internet are like courses on how to make money in Real Estate. The money is made by those ‘teaching’ the courses. Often, by selling follow-up courses. Sorry for your virtual, and brick and mortar woes. Keep up the good work. You’ll figure this out.
I am starting to see that Jonathan, they are everywhere, promising so much. I think so too, they are the ones making the money. Thank you, still lesson learned, I hope so.
So sorry to hear about the scams you have had online and offline. It is like the people organising it all don’t give you the fine print to read. It’s really deceptive and you don’t know until you are already halfway into it. You can never be too careful with your money these days. I’m not a huge fan of online courses and have never done any. Not saying I will never but if I do, doesn’t hurt to think twice.
Good to hear that things are looking up on the equipment front and you have a sense of direction for your blog. Equipment reviews and having more technical articles is something I would like to see. But really whichever way you choose to go, it’s the way you choose to go and good on you for following your own voice. It is amazing to see how The Photographer’s Mentor has grown so much in such a short space of time, and it looks like it will continue to grow 🙂
The scams are everywhere, sadly. They really don’t, certainly don’t give you all the details. I think courses should be capped, so people who do them get more attention. The way that one was being run, no one got anything. You really can’t be, everyone needs to be careful. This person is making a fortune off suckers like me.
They are looking up. I’m looking for lots of ways to help people, but also earn some money. I’m hoping to do a lot more stuff as well. Plans are being made, so who knows. Something has to work, right? Thank you so much Mabel. I’m loving the Photographer’s Mentor, it has been incredible.
Just so you don’t feel so alone, I got whacked by two scams here. Not even internet scams, but local (or so I thought) people who took money for repairs, didn’t do them and left me $1100 down. I have yet to recover. Getting scammed seems to be part of everyone’s life these days — and I do mean EVERYONE.
Oh I didn’t even talk about the stuff in the real world that has gone wrong. $14K for a roof that will start leaking at some point soon, not done properly. Then $13K for solar panels almost 9 months ago that still aren’t working properly. OMG I’m about ready to scream. No wonder my blood pressure is up. We are still fighting for everything to get fixed up. It does, and there isn’t a lot of protection out there for people either. I’m sorry to hear that it has happened to you too.
I admire you for your energy in trying to find a way forward. I hope that some of these ideas will get you where you want to be!
Thank you Chris, have to keep trying, I keep hoping something will work, haha.
Great idea about workshops and walks in Melbourne. I live in Geelong and would probably be interested in these so long as (a) the workshop venue is easy for public transport; (b) caters for mirrorless cameras, I have a Fujifilm X-T2; and (c) the walks weren’t too pressured, I have mobility problems and can only walk slowly. I was born and bred in Melbourne but left there in the 1960s and there’s so much has happened in the city since then, some I’m familiar with, some is foreign country.
Thank you, Geelong would be great to do some workshops in as well. I do most of the city ones around the main train stations, mainly because I catch the train in.I have lots of poeple who have mirrorless cameras, so that isn’t a problem. Maybe you should try a long exposure workshop, we don’t move around a lot with those. The city has changed a lot even in the 30 years I’ve lived in it. Docklands was a whole new place.
Thanks for your prompt reply Leanne, much appreciated. You’re right about Geelong, lots of interesting stuff down here that has managed to escape the depredation of developers. No sweat to come to Melbourne though, only an hour by train, and costs peanuts when you’re a Senior. I’ve never tried long-exposure photography, not too sure that lights my candle, but worth considering so long as they’re not at night. Docklands is totally unexplored territory for me, and Eureka Skydeck sounds interesting too. I love candid photography, industrial subjects and a bit of good grunge and/or street art of all kinds.
The Docklands is quite amazing. Kind of good for photography because there aren’t a lot of people around. The skydeck is really good too, I like going up there to take photos. A great place for Sunset. No problem I know long exposures aren’t everyone’s cup of tea.