Sunset From My Back Yard

From time to time we all see fantastic sunsets, and many of us even rush to pick up our cameras to try and record the event. What is it about this natural happening that stirs us so very much?

What ever it is everybody has one or two in their photographic collection. I am no exception, here are a few shots taken in my back garden.

You can see larger versions of three of these photographs

I am also very fond of painting this subject, it usually makes for very dramatic art, I use water colours and pastel mostly but have been known to use other media now and again. I always feel that the real thing can be so much better than the artistic interpretation because as an artist I feel constrained to make the sky seem real. Of course the answer is to claim artistic licence, or that the subject was actually an example of the aurora borealis, or similar. Or just show a photo of a sunset like the above.

Christmas cards from my photographs on Zazzle

This is almost an established way for me now, of making money from the images of photographs I have taken. Hoping for some share of the money flowing around this christmas I have been designing a few christmas cards on Zazzle. Of course most photos taken over the christmas period are of family and friends so I am a little lilmited in using photos from past christmases. One I have made use of though is of the christmas tree, and it makes quite a deccent card tho' I say so myself. Here is the product on Zazzle:-

christmas tree greeting card by ArtyfaxCards
View other Christmas Cards

I have made a promise to myself to take a few more generic christmas themed photographs this year, looking forward to next year's batch. More examples coming soon, so watch this space.

Earning money for my Photos on-line

After a busy end to the summer and  a break in the sun, I have returned to add yet another potential earner to the mu internet profile. Again I thought, "why not try to earn money from my photos". As I have said more than once I take many photos on days out and around the garden, these are basically for fun and I do not have the high end camera which could compete with professionals on the stock photo sites. However, there is Redgage, a site which claims to monetise your existing web content and pays you for your social activity. Sounds good? It does seem to work for some members. However like many of the opportunities for earning money on the internet, it is I believe a case of working to build up a portfolio and looking forward to a small passive income stream in the coming months.

After three weeks including a weeks holiday, I have earnt close on $5. Doesn't sound much I know but I hope that it will build up exponentially as I add content to my Redgage account. Over the past few days I have been adding content ( mainly photos and links to other sites) at a rate of 5-10 items per day. This could be easily sustainable over the next few months. The bulk of this has come from having a photograph featured, but with a current total of 110 items, I have been earning up to 20 cents per day. Over a 12 month period this could be $60 but with more content who knows? Higher rates of earning from the items could double or quadruple this amount and more featured items would considerably add to the amount. Yes, I know this is still small beer but this is for very little effort and no outlay. In other words a passive income stream which may well need little extra effort and produce for a long time to come.

I will try to keep the blog updated regularly with details on how this works out. In the meantime why not check out these links and see for yourself how Redgage works and how my earninigs are coming along.