Okay, it is time to get serious! Since October, I had a photoshoot in Japan in December; a photoshoot of a wedding reception in Seoul in January; and a possible shoot of menu items in a restaurant in Itaewon in February. Things are really picking up!

My personal laptop hard drive crashed in December, so I was able to get a MacBook Pro in mid-January. I hope to get the software I need to support my photography on the Mac by the end of February. I've started making my own business cards using my own photos and printing them on photo paper. :-)

I'm considering making this a more useful blog for those who are considering modeling. I am also looking at doing a project on Buddhist temples in Korea. This will definitely be a long-term project, but one that I am very interested in doing.

Wow!!! What has happened in the past year??? Well for one thing I started to pursue my MBA again through a University of Maryland online series of courses. That has taken a lot of my spare time. I have begun to process my photos that I took for Xmas of '07 up to the present. That will take some time. I have also been going over some art books and learning to look at and appreciate good art in the form of photographs. I have also purchased a couple of Photoshop CS2 books so I can improve my processing skills and speed up the workflow so I can get caught up. I will put in a more detailed journal update soon.

I have my own site dedicated for posting pics I've been either commissioned to take or that I take and am allowing others to purchase prints, cups, mugs, puzzles with the pics on them.

http://photos.leswaller.com/

Really busy these days. I am now on a business trip to Japan I have not had time to take any pics yet while here. Perhaps next week things will settle down a little bit.

Moved into a different apartment last week. I have rearranged furniture to allow me to build my own home studio when I come back from Japan. Fun, fun, fun!!!

Wow! What an upgrade from the Nikon D50 this is. I bought the D200 and it is really nice. I have downloaded a good user's guide from www.kenrockwell.com

There is a lot to learn about the camera. I really enjoy using the feature that allows me to fire my SB800 flash unit remotely. Fun, fun, fun!

This month I am really busy at work and will have no more free days until September. I cannot wait for September. Although, it will still be rather hot and humid in September here in Seoul.

TTFN

Well, then!

I have 20 photos now in my portfolio. I got two approved from our trip to Semiwon. It is along the river and there are fields of Lotus flowers and a nice view of the river.

I have also decided to be more active in the current wants/needs forum and have uploaded two more pictures for approval based on a customer wanted something specific for a book he is going to publish. I'll keep my fingers crossed, but the graphic file I saw submitted looked pretty good to me, too. No problem there as it gave me more practice with the camera and if my photos are approved I'll have 22 photos in my portfolio.

My goal is to have 500 photos in my portfolio by the end of September, 2008. I have already made my plans on how I'm going to get there. :-)

Wish me luck!

Les

Last night was another productive evening. After taking an after-dinner nap, I shuffled around the apartment for about five minutes trying to determine what I should do. Finally, I decided I needed to spend more time working on my photography endeavor.

I decided to do a search on organizing a photography business to make sure I was on the right track. I came up with this wonderful site that gave some insight into how to start a photography business. After a couple of hours time I had completed my marketing plan for Les Waller's Photography using his provided template.

In addition to that, I took advantage of smugmug's 14-day free trial to setup my site. I want to use to enable clients to select the photos they want and how they want them; pay for them; and have them delivered by mail to their address. This will save me a lot of time that I do not have.

Well, things are moving right along. I have 18 photos uploaded to the iStockPhoto site. I have updated and improved my photography site. I am looking at using a site to do my photo prints and delivery; however, I haven't committed to doing that, yet.

I am now also posting some of my fun photos at this flickr site.

I hope to be buying a new Nikon D200 within the next month. I can't wait!

I am pursuing a new (old) hobby that has become my primary interest after my daughter became interested. Photography

I am an American living and working in Seoul, Korea. I love playing baduk(go), reading, and studying foreign languages. I speak some Korean, Japanese, and Chinese Mandarin.

Les