Sarah Barnard's Blog, page 6

Appreciation

Some days it just takes a little appreciation to make the whole day feel brighter. It can be a cold, wet, grey, day when you haven’t seen the sun at all. But when you feel you’ve done a good job with something, it really helps brighten your view. A few words, sincerely offered, can make … Continue reading Appreciation

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Canvases for sale

My canvases for sale! Some of my photographs have been printed onto canvas and are for sale at Franco’s Restaurant, Aberavon Beach, Port Talbot. They’re prominently displayed in the heart of the restaurant, and you can buy one for £30. There are 5 there at the moment, with different images, all taken right outside Franco’s. … Continue reading Canvases for sale

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Imperfection

Imperfection can be a learning experience, a light moment, funny, or sometimes frustrating. Do you want to know why I love digital photography? I can go out, take hundreds of pictures, and I can view them within minutes of getting home. I can walk through the door, make a pot of tea, fire up the … Continue reading Imperfection

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The Shop is Open

I declare the Sarah Barnard shop open for business! The shop is now open again, and linked to the lower of the top menus. I decided to reactivate the shop, and have the greeting cards back on for sale. They sold reasonably well when they were available before, so it makes sense. All the images … Continue reading The Shop is Open

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Sunset at the beach

On Wednesday evenings I get about an hour to waste at the beach. Youngest offspring is at Police Youth Volunteers, and after I’ve dropped her off, I get to go and chill out at Aberavon Beach. At this time if year, I get to watch the sun go down. Mostly it’s blinding when you look … Continue reading Sunset at the beach

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Thoughts on the Creative Mind

I found that when I was at home, setting my own sleep patterns, unencumbered by the demands of employment and responsibility, I was able to write. I could create stories, write until the small hours past midnight. This has changed, and these are my thoughts on the Creative Mind, how it works, and why it … Continue reading Thoughts on the Creative Mind

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Reconsidering the shop

I know, I said I wouldn’t be reactivating the shop, but the software is all set up. I’ve adjusted the stock to reflect what I actually have here. So I’m reconsidering the shop. There are books available, and some greeting cards. I have more images to use, and I’ve had some images printed onto blocked … Continue reading Reconsidering the shop

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Guru Shots

A while ago, I found a photography challenge website, Guru Shots. The site encourages you to upload your photos and then other members vote to compare them to others in a particular challenge. Your photo is ranked against others.

It’s not easy to explain, but if you sign up and give it a go, you’ll get the idea.

You will retain all copyrights to your images, and you can add a discrete watermark or signature if you wish.

I’ve used Guru Shots to improve my photography, simply by looking at the higher ranking images for ideas. You don’t always need a large, expensive camera to get a good result. The wrecked car picture is my highest ranked image so far, with the most votes across a few different challenges. I took this picture with a basic pocket camera (my Sony Cybershot)

A selection of some of the other images used in Guru Shots challenges, can be found in my galleries.

It takes a bit of time each day to vote on other members’ images. This increases your own images’ exposure and visibility, so it’s worth the effort. If you want to they also run exhibitions for the top ranked images in some challenges. There is a fee for this. All other functions are free, although you can pay for extras if you want to.

I’m enjoying it, I hope you do too.

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Neglected blog, and website

Almost a year since my last blog, and the website hosting is due for renewal, which leads me to wonder if I really need, or want, a blog and website?

I want to keep the domain, and email address, at least, but do I need a website? I don’t need any ecommerce for now, but I’d like to do something with this space. But what that will be, I haven’t decided yet.

There are currently 2 sites here, but will be downsizing to just the one now the diploma course is over. This poor neglected blog and website was the result of a college project and I think I’ll be ripping it apart, and rebuilding, once I decide how I want it to look, and what content I want to include. If you have any thoughts, requests, or preferences, please let me know in the comments. It would be nice to get genuine comments rather than spam…

At present, there is a facebook page, which no-one ever visits, and I fail to maintain. There is a photography website, another college project, that I’ve had to leave alone while the final marks were reviewed. But how much are those contributing to any meaningful web presence, and do I need one?

There’s no writing, or book promotion going on, so that won’t feature here. I am still loving the photography, and I think I’ll be focusing (pun intended) on that for now, until I decide whether I want to be running a business from home, or pursuing other things. With paid employment part time, and family commitments, it’s going to be difficult to fit everything in.

By the way, that Diploma course, passed it, with a distinction! Very pleased with myself, and allowing a day of smug self appreciation. I think I deserve it.

The plan in the meantime, is to try to add a blog post reasonably regularly, and work on the website. We’ll see how that goes, and take it from there.

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Not completing is not failing.

Not completing is not failing.

NaNoWriMo is a challenge. You compete only against yourself. If you compete, then you win. Even if you don’t complete the challenge, you are not failing.

There is no big prize for any winner, no publishing contract, no offer of professional editing, no accolades. There is only a certificate that you can download and print if you want to, and the enormous sense of achievement as your wordcount hits 50,000 words, or more.

You can cheat, you can fake it, but you are only cheating yourself. I’m sure some people do, and some may call themselves Nano-rebels. But in the end Nano is what you make of it, and when I first tried, it was a huge adventure, so much fun. The whole experience was incredibly intense, and that feeling at the end was amazing. I even found my first novel there.

This year, I’ve come back to Nano to see if I can kickstart my writing after several dry, wordless, years. But I’ve come to a conclusion, and I am actually surprisingly relaxed about it.

Not completing is not failing.

It’s not, it’s really not. Nano is half over and I’m nowhere near the 25,000 word mark. If I’m honest, and being realistic, it is incredibly unlikely I am going to catch up and find that elusive 50,000 word target now.

So I am declaring now that I think it unlikely I will complete Nano this year. But I’m ok with that because I have new words written, and I will continue to write them. The story is growing, and heading where it needs to go, and the characters are alive on the page again.

The words are trickling, not flowing, but I am writing again, albeit slowly. My aim is accomplished, and I intend to continue to write every day and see how close I can get to the 50,000 word target.

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