My New Camera

What I really wanted for Christmas this year was a new camera. I had been using Dan’s dad’s for the past few years and it has been a very nice digital camera (my first, I believe). But for the past couple of years it has had two spots on the inside of the lens that has been messing up my shots. Since I like to try to get some of my photos published, this has been an issue with me. Some of my best shots have been messed up by these two little dots. If I have a lot of color in my shots, you can’t tell that they are there, but if I do a sky shot or a sand shot (many taken in New Mexico), you can tell.

Well I told people for Christmas I was collecting money to get a new camera. I knew what I wanted and it would be $350. I thought I would have to hold the money and get more money next year in order to get the camera, but when I went to eBay, I found a new opened box one for $148 and now it is mine. So the money had already begun to save and the money Dan’s mom and my parents gave me was enough to buy me my new camera.

I was using an Olympus Camedia C-3040Zoom with 3.3 megapixels. It had a 3x optical zoom and a 2.5x digital zoom. This nice camera also had f1.8 super bright zoom lens. This thing shot well and it was a lot brighter than the one I have now. In fact I would take pictures at a football game from the stance while Dan took shots from the sidelines and mine where brighter than his.

My new one is the same as the first nice camera Dan used while working at the Pender Post. The first one he had wasn’t very good so he did some research and the newspaper bought him a different one to use while he was there. The paper paid around $350 for theirs and I was very excited to pay only $148 for mine. Dan and I loved to use this camera as it had a wonderful zoom and it had a micro. After awhile, the paper got Dan an even fancier camera to use, and the little Minolta went to the next reporter. I did offer to buy theirs from them, but they wanted a little point and shot in the office for other reporters.

So yes, my new camera is a Minolta. It is a Konica Minolta Dimage Z3 in fact. It has 4.0 megapixels and 12x optical zoom.

Recently we have gone to the Moores Creek Battle Field and NC Aquarium. We have had a Young People’s Game night at our house and a teen activity. And believe it or not we have even a snow fall. So I have been playing with my new camera.

Sandlapper's Nice Rejection

Awhile ago, I told you about Sandlapper’s nice rejection letter. Well, here it is;

[begin quote]
Dear Joy:

Elaine Gillespie, Sandlapper’s design consultant, really liked your photos (particularly the albino peacock) and would like to encourage you to submit more for future consideration. As I may have said previously, Ms. Gillespie and Bob Wilkins, Sandlapper’s editor emeritus, are interested in showing more action on our covers and endpapers, so if you have any vertical of people working and playing in South Carolina, send them on. (We get our share of lighthouses, waterfalls, shorebirds, wildflowers, and beach sunsets.)

{Here she placed the deadlines for photos.}

We look forward to seeing more of your work, and appreciate your interest in us. Happy New Year!

Sincerely,
Adia Rogers
[end quote]

Then at the end of the letter she had wrote:

[begin quote]
P.S. Your package was damaged when it arrived – I think it got wet somehow – but we were able to access the CD.
[end quote]

See, I told you it was a very nice rejection and this is from a whole lot bigger magazine than Haruah. Ms. Rogers and I did quite a bit of corresponding back and forth before I got my photos sent in and I don’t recall her saying anything about action shots of people. Right now the computer that has these shots is crashed; but I don’t think I have what she is looking for.

I guess I’ll have to take another trip down to South Carolina. ;-)

Rejected by Sandlapper - though very positive

Though it took awhile, I did finally hear back from Sandlapper. I guess my package with my photos and CD got wet and damaged in the mail, but they were able to open the CD to look at the photos.

Though they did not accept my shots, they did send a VERY positive rejection letter and asked me to send in more photos (if I have any action shots of people in SC).

I’ll have to bring the letter here to church, since I don’t have internet at the house, and type out what it says another day.

I never did hear from NM Magazine, so I’m guessing that is a no.

I did get a start on the photos I want to send to Our State Magazine, but the computer with those shots crashed and we haven’t been able to get it up yet.

I also have another South Carolina magazine that was interested in looking at my pictures if Sandlapper didn’t accept them, but once again those are on the crashed computer.

Waiting to hear back from Two

I did send photos into Sandlapper before their Sept. 8th deadline, but I haven’t heard from them. I’ll send them an email in a few days to see what I can find out.

I also sent photos to the NM Magazine photo contest before their Oct. 15th deadline. They said that they would contact the winners by the end of the month, so I’m still waiting to hear from them.

I know what photos I’m going to send to Our State Magazine, but unfortunately at the moment, the computer with all of the photos on it is out for lunch. I hope that we will be able to get back in there and recover all of our photos and documents. It will be very, very, sad loss if we can’t.

Submitted to Sandlapper, rejected by Carolina Counry

Well, I finally got my submission off to Sandlapper. The dead-line is September 8th. I have no idea if I did my submission correctly. Their submission guidelines weren’t very clear.

I so need to find a place that will help tell and show how to set up a professional photo submission. I know how to for writing, because my husband found out and told me.

My photo of Anna peeking through a rotted stump did not make it into either the print or on-line version of Carolina Country. So that is one submission turned down.

I have stated, once again, to work on my submission to Our State.

I wrote NM Magazine a question and am still waiting to hear back from them.

Well, not much to talk about in the photo and writing deparment.

Back to Photo Submitting

Hi, all. Yes, I know long time no hear.

In late June 2007, we moved to North Carolina. I got a job baby-sitting, which took time away from writing and photography submitting. Then January 2008, we bought a house that needed some fixing up.

Due to a tight budget, getting tighter I have returned to trying to get photos published.

On June 29, I sent inquiry emails to:
Carolina Scene Magazine (www.carolinascene.com)
Carolina Country Magazine (www.carolinacountry.com)
WNC Magazine (www.wncmagazine.com)

Only June 30th, I heard from MNC Magazine stating that they would “gladly consider submissions” and told me the name of person to contact (while including her email address).

On July 6, I sent inquiry emails to:
Sandlapper Magazine (www.sandlapper.org)
South Carolina Magazine (www.scmagazine.net)

On July 7th, I heard from Sandlapper saying that they did take free-lance material and sent me a copy of their submission guidelines. I have been in contact with the editor there several times now. They are interested in photo essays and some stand along photos. As I don’t have enough photos for an essay, I sent a list of the 9 photos that I had. She contacted me back and there are 3 shots (of the same thing) that she isn’t interested in; but I could send the others. I emailed her today to get the formatting for the submission.

On July 8th, I heard from South Carolina Magazine. The editor stated that they don’t normally accept photos that hadn’t been assigned to an article, but I could send her a few to take a look at.

My plan for my few South Carolina photos that I took last year while vacationing there with my parents and my family is to send them to Sandlapper and then to South Carolina Magazine.

I don’t remember the date, but I sent an inquiry email to Master Sunday Bulletins to see if they take free-lance material. I see the photos on the bulletins every week and I often think that I could have taken a shot like that. I let them know that I was a pastor’s wife and that I have had photos published else where.

Well, on July 4th, I got my answer:

[begin quote]
Thank you for asking about our use of unsolicited images for publication by Master Sunday Bulletins.

We have a long term contract with a group of photographers who supply our images.

We wish you every success on monetizing your photography!!

James E. Johnson, Director and Advisor to the publisher of Master Sunday Bulletins.
[end quote]

While looking in our issue of Carolina Country, I found that they were having a photo contest. The contest was “My Favorite Photo.” The photos that get published in the magazine get $50. There will be photos that don’t make the print magazine that will make the on-line magazine (though those aren’t paid anything). Only
July 7th, I submitted a photo to this contest. The winning photos will be printed in the September issue.

So, I have one submission out. I am trying to finish a submission of six photos with Sandlapper Magazine. I have information about sending to Our State North Carolina Magazine. I just need to sit down and prepare my photos according to their submission guidelines. I just got back from a mission trip to New Mexico and before I left I found a photo contest to send photos to; so, I have to choose my six photos and prepare those for according their guidelines.

It feels good to be getting photo submissions out there again and hopefully, God willing, I’ll get a few published.

Re-submitted to Agency

After waiting 161 days to hear back from Agency about my story “Home and Home Again,” I sent them an email asking if they have received my story and if they had how it was fairing.

I got an email back the same day and I found out that they never received my story has they had had several trouble in the summer (when I sent it).

Yesterday, I resent my story to them. However, after I sent it I realized that I think I sent it to the wrong address. They didn’t post the email address on their submission page, so I used the one at the top of the web-site, the same one I used to send the inquiry, so hopefully they got it. I also realized that this story talks about the American shore and it hints at the war we are in right now and Agency is a Canadian publication....so I doubt it will be accepted.

Sending Inquiries

It has been such a long time since I have done anything with my writing and submitting. I recalled the other day that I had three submissions out there that I haven’t heard from so yesterday I sent inquiry emails to see how my stuff was doing.

On July 6th, I sent my story “Home and Home Again” to Agency and after waiting 161 days to hear from them (the average being 139), I sent them an email to see if they received my story and how it was going.

This is the response I got from them yesterday:

[quote]
Hello Joy,

Unfortunately, we did not receive your story. We have had some problems with our server – especially over the summer months – which may account for that. Our apologies. Please do send it again if you are still interested in appearing in AGENCY.

Thank you for checking in.

Olivia Jacques
Assistant, AGENCY magazine
[end quote]

I sent the same story out to The Bergen Street Review on August 3rd. The average response time is 21 days and I have now been waiting 134 days. I sent them an inquiry yesterday as well, but have not heard back from them.

The third inquiry I emailed yesterday was to do with some photos that I had emailed out on September 17th to Baker’s Dozen Review.

This is the response I got today from them:

[quote]
Ms. Robelen:

I apologize for the delay. I thought I had already responded to your submission. Your photography was not quite what our magazine is looking for. We appreciate your time and effort in submitting, and hope you will feel free to submit new material for consideration in the future.

Sincerely, (with apologies)
John Hocter
Editor, Baker's Dozen Review
[end quote]

I’ll let you know what The Bergen Street Review says when I find out.