The calendar took all month but was only one of my September projects. I’ve also been working on the Shop 4 Jewelry, looking for a job, working on photos, spending way too much time online, and dreaming of play and travel. At the beginning of September I asked, where did the summer go? Somehow it doesn’t feel like I’ve gotten anything done since returning from my July vacation.
I picked up a project begun at least four years ago, setting up an online store for all the jewelry 4 sale. It’s a rather huge and daunting project and the previous ecommerce plugin was not very user friendly. Thank goodness WooCommerce automatically adapted to the old plugin’s data so I picked up where I left off and a lot of it is intuitive so far. Taking photos of product is a whole new arena.
About a year ago I bought a portable lightbox kit with cube and lights. The box opens and closes like one of those ornery windshield sun screens. Opened it is a 2 foot cube. Rather large for RV life. Yet I made a place in the house to set it up and began the struggle of shooting product. With a tripod and without, flash or no flash, both cameras, and even the phone. Any item in the “Shop 4 Jewelry” with a white backdrop is recent. Black is from the first attempt.
Plus, the jewelry item has to be polished before the photo as part of this process. Years of tarnish buildup has slowed me down. It’s not as easy as I thought it would be so I’ll keep plodding along on this project.
Looking for a job is another ongoing project. But I’m picky. Real picky. First of all, there are no jobs in Yarnell. Hell, there’s only a few businesses here. Couldn’t be more than two plus the Dollar Mall actually open seven days a week. I’m not interested in driving 30-60 minuets to Wickenburg or Prescott for some probably minimum-wage retail job. I’ve been applying for the Park Ranger jobs I’m interested in and qualified for. For winter season they are few and exceptionally competitive. Nothing yet.
Thanks Joann
Did get a few good sunset shows worth driving part-way down Yarnell Hill followed by weeks of typical Arizona blue skies.
I dreamed of a road trip to Flagstaff to shoot flowers with maybe a loop drive through Sunset Crater and Wupatki National Monuments. But no.
Yarnell is at the top of the hill
I started a Nepholography group on Facebook because I love to photograph clouds. Feel free to join. So that’s something else to add to September projects, and beyond.
I’ve had lots of time to label, process, and upload photos to several different sites including my own. Sold a print of the lightning at Grand Canyon last month, thank you to somebody in Colorado. Haven’t quite made a dollar off digital downloads on ShutterStock. This is a fun project and I keep track of what photos go where.
I’m barely two months behind labeling photos and having just started the last “vacation” makes me long to be on the road.
Yet another ongoing project is backing up data and photos at least twice on external drives. This lead me to bring the big PC from the 5th-wheel to the house (Have I mentioned how I live from three places right now, like an oversized house with outdoor hallways.) and attach it to the huge TV with an HDMI cord. Haven’t seen that PC in almost a year. Sure is cool to see photos on this 2×3 foot TV screen which must be pretty high resolution. Hey, I finally found a use for the TV.
I attended the Yarnell/Peeples Valley Country Fair, a fund raiser for Meals on Wheels, at the historic school house. Friends were drumming, painting, playing and trying to win the funny hat contest. I bought six tickets for $5 and ate a three-ticket hotdog and a three-ticket desert, the last piece of Jane’s delicious and award winning zucchini pie.
Ever since, I’ve been dreaming of a Dazzos Chicago Italian Beef Sandwich found in Wikieup a couple hours away. Would make a great day trip driving in a loop via Bagdad and Kirkland back home. Hasn’t happened, yet.
After weeks of blue skies, clouds come in, temperatures drop a bit, a light rain falls, petrichor. Fall really is on the way with the Autumn Equinox celebrated. More lovely sunsets.
Jim texted me one morning that he’s watching a bush covered with butterflies. At first I dismissed it. But then drove over to look. OH MY WOW! He wasn’t kidding about the six foot Desert Broom bush being almost literally covered with butterflies. At first thought to be Monarchs. Yet turns out the majority are Queens, just a little smaller than Monarchs and slightly different pattern. Others were attracted to the flowers like American Snout and Painted Lady butterflies, plus bees, tarantula wasps, flies and of course me. Some neighbors rode past on their bikes and returned with cameras. This went on for almost three days. Then the first of the rain preceding Hurricane Rosa thinned them out and we don’t know where they went. Queens don’t necessarily migrate to Mexico and are residents in Tucson.
Now I’m waiting for the calendars to arrive so I can get shipping them out. I probably drove you crazy last month asking for advice on the final calendar photo selections. I truly thank you. Now just put those orders in if you haven’t already.
On the first of September I asked myself, where did the summer go? Of course, being in Arizona it will still feel like summer for a while, and I’m just fine with that. I love, and could happily live with a perpetual, summer. And now it’s the first of October and I’m asking, where did September go. I really want to take a trip and see fall colors. I must need a new photography project for October.
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Hello Gaelyn, Oh ! I really do hope you find the job you most love doing, because when you love what you are doing you are happy. However, in between time its nice that you have a back-up project to work on. The jewelry business is interesting. Of course I love all the ancient style jewelry such as the Egyptian, Greek and Roman styles. I love all those sunset shots here on your blog and the butterflies are fantastic. Some of them look like our red admirals, very colourful.
Thanks Rita. I’m hoping to find a good job soon. No guarantee on income from the jewelry store. I really love the Native American jewelry but also collect silver and stone.
I just always love your photos, I thought some time ago that they could never get any better but they do. I hope a winter job comes up for you, it must be difficult with no summer money coming in, and at this stage, I presume not sure what will happen next year. Love your jewellery. I have masses of ‘stuff’ that I brought from RSA in 2002 with the idea of pocket money but it just sits in boxes!!!
Take care, best of luck. Hugs, Diane and Nigel
Thank you Diane, practice makes better. I thought about buying for resale when visiting SA but would have needed more suitcases.
Wonderful cloud photos! Like your new hair color, too.
Hope the perfect job comes up soon!
Thanks Gayle. The purple is rather fun and washes out. A job would be nice.
never too many photographs are there? I don’t even ever get mine well organized and probably have many that I could use somewhere, but instead I want to take more. Even if most of them are the same old same old places (but always a new view or something new happening). I’m off to put a check in the mail and also to look for the cloud FB site (after I check the spelling above ;>)…. oh and after I catch up on posts I’ve missed here, including last Friday favorites for sure. Happy October and good luck on all your projects .
I love to make photos, even the same scene looks different every time. Just my OCD to label them all. Must be starting to look like fall for you.
I am still mad at the Park Service for not hiring you this past summer. I hope that you find something you like.
My photography teacher does a lot of product photography for fashion magazines and such and tells us that it is very difficult to get just right. So hang in there. I remember in my Dad’s last days he said he didn’t want an estate sale of his stuff he said to sell it over the internet and me and my sister were like, well who is going to take care of that.
Thanks for the vote of confidence. It is rather crazy how much “stuff” we leave behind. Better I should sell it now. Do need a lot more practice photographing the product.
Hi Gaelyn. I am trying to keep up but you do know where I am at the moment. I did want to say somethin on this post because it was a great one, loved seeing you get to spend a summer in Yarnell, an entirely different experience for sure. Good luck on the job thing, I totally get it, not wanting to commute a long way for a minimum wage job. Something will show up eventually, and wishing you well in the mean time. The jewelry looks great, by the way.
Thanks, but don’t worry about keeping up, it will be here when you get back. That’s when I’ll be catching up with you. It’s been an interesting summer.
I always thought about setting myself up with Shutterstock, or the same. Good for you for doing it. You have amazing opportunities!
Yea, I’ve made .75 from Shutterstock in a month. 😀
Loving the purple highlights! You go girl!
Beautiful photos as always, just stunning captures of the sunset/rise!
Thanks Patti. Girls just gotta’ have fun.
What a hoot to see the final shot of a post with amazingly gorgeous sky, cloud, moon, sunset, butterfly pictures is purple hair! Love it! We need to meet up in person. I’m absolutely a “when I grow old I will wear purple ” gal.
Don’t have to be too old to wear purple. Two washes and it’s almost gone. Yes, we do need to meet.