Trying to get back into the swing of things

Well, back into the swing of my hobbies at least. I finally came back to World of Warcraft, working on my hunter to get her to level 70 and acquire her level 60 mount. Yes, I am that slow; I'm enjoying the adventure that comes with the endgame, thank you.

I've also come back to photography. I purchased a Canon PowerShot G9 digital camera this past Sunday, and the camera has been really cool. It's an advanced point-and-shoot with features of an entry level DSLR. The best feature about this camera is that it can take pictures in RAW format. I never got to use a digital camera that could save in RAW, so this is a first for me. AND I LURVES IT SO MUCH. I seriously do not want to go back to jpeg. The only reason I would is to take pictures of not-so-serious stuff (ie catching people being stupid). As for pictures I would seriously consider microstock-worthy, it's RAW all the way. Holy Christ, the quality of RAW. The noise in the RAW images look more like film grain captured by a negative scanner. The only exception to this is when using a very high ISO setting, which is something that plagues all DSLRs or so I've read (in a lot of camera reviews).

So by now I've taken some pics with this lovely Canon PowerShot G9 digital camera, and I'm quite happy with some of the shots I've taken. Of course the lot of them come from our front yard, but hey, my mom has a green thumb. Her roses bloomed beautifully yesterday, and I had to get some photos. I actually thought some of these would be nice to share online. Even though they are of the overly done "nature/home garden" category, I wanted upload them anyway.

I will begin adding these pictures to a Shareapic gallery (for obvious reasons), and they will be available for people to download. Even if these photos are considered a high quality by stock photo agents, nature pics are not hard to come by, so I doubt submitting them to a stock photo site will produce any noticeable revenue. So I'm offering web-sized versions of my photos for free at Shareapic.net. The images are sized to a with of 600 pixels (may be small depending on the height). It's should be a good size to work with for many designers wanting to use them for web purposes. If a designer contacts me to request a larger pic, then discussion of payment will take place. That's the name of the game, yo. Here are the "rules":

I, Alexandria Long, have given consent for all people to download and use my photos in either personal or commercial projects. What you may NOT do with these images are:

1. Resell them as your own. If I find any of my photos on a stock photo site that I'm not a member of, you WILL be hearing from me. If I find them in printed stock photo catalogues or art books, you WILL be hearing from me.
2. Upload my photos to art and photo gallery/album websites and state that you're the creator. You in fact did not create them, and any credit for them should go to me (Alexandria Long). If I find my photos on sites such as DeviantArt, etc, then you WILL be reported.
3. Simply altering one or any of my photos DOES NOT make the result your photo. Anyone with a brain can play with Photoshop/Gimp/Paint Shop Pro filters. Using a photo as a design element in a project is fine, but filtering the photo to high hell for the sake of "making it mine" doesn't cut the mustard. Sale or unauthorized distribution of any altered versions of my images is prohibited.
4. Print them on tangible products such as coffee mugs or postcards meant for sale. Slapping one or some of my photos on a CafePress item and selling it is not cool. You are in effect selling my photos as stated in the first rule, so if I catch you, I will report you.
5. If I, Alexandria Long, were to sell to anyone larger, higher quality versions of my images, that does not give the buyer the right to sell the image. The buyer merely purchased the right(s) to use a higher quality image in whatever project they need it for. The buyer DOES NOT own the purchased photo, and therefore may not sell any of my photos.
6. If my photos were to ever be used in printed materials such as magazine or book covers, then credit MUST be given to the creator (Alexandria Long). I will also be looking further compensation when it comes to book covers. If you use a web-safe version of my image for a 'zine or book cover, expect to hear from me.
7. If my photos were to ever be used in online publications such as online news or blog websites, then credit should be given to the creator (Alexandria Long).

By downloading my images from Shareapic.net or Picable.com, you are agreeing to my terms. Even if you do find other more spectacular photos for free, I still have my rights as a creator.

I'm eventually going to move the T&Cs to their own page. After adding a few more photographs to the first Shareapic gallery, I'll link to it from the sidebar. For now, you can reach it by clicking here. This is the 'Home Garden" gallery, where all of my home's flower pics will go. More galleries should soon follow.