Cornwall Photographic Inc!
Chillbrook became a company director this week when Cornwall photographic became Cornwall Photographic Sales Ltd, incorporated on the 29th July. Fed up with sites like Photoshelter, Smug Mug and all the rest taking a disproportionately large share of my photographic sales, I bit the bullet, did a self-taught crash course in PHP and Java to build a commercial site of my own with shopping carts, credit card facilities, SSL certificate and all the other stuff that goes with .com commerce. It’s a scary but exciting step. A bit like letting go of the side for the first time when learning to swim. I should have my portfolio uploaded and product options finalised this week and then the site can go live.
I did take a few hours off yesterday however and set off for Godrevy lighthouse at dawn. I waited for the first light of dawn to illuminate the lighthouse as the sun rose above the cliff to my right. I used a Lee 10 stop ND and a 0.9 hard graduated neutral density filter and a 10 minute exposure to get this shot. This is pretty much how it came out of the camera. The only thing I’ve done is add 1% noise to deal with some slight banding. If you missed the tutorial I did on banding and how to remedy it, you can find that here..
35mm f/11 603 secs. ISO-100
Click on the picture for a clearer, sharper view.. ;-)
I’m still struggling with liking posts and commenting as well as posts not making it to readers. I have an ongoing dialogue with WordPress and hope I can get the problems sorted soon. In the meantime, once again my apologies. I am looking and liking your blogs, I’m just not able to let you know always.
Cornwall Photographic 
If you are referring to the ‘like’ spam, WP doesn’t seem to care. I gave up on them. I put up a page on my site about this. Congrats on setting up your new website!
August 4, 2013 at 4:39 pm
Thanks John, I do keep getting the ‘Nope, nothing wrong here’ attitude that just seems to sum up pretty much every organisation I’ve had problems with in recent times. :-(
August 4, 2013 at 4:48 pm
Congratulations on setting up your website. This is a beautiful professional image. I’m sure it will be a favourite. I’ve had major problems with WordPress too, but at least I can access my site again now. Very best wishes with the sales. Blessings.
August 4, 2013 at 4:48 pm
Thank you Isabella. I’m glad to hear your WordPress problems are behind you. :-)
August 4, 2013 at 9:29 pm
The quality of your fine work deserves not only it’s own commercial site, but much success as well. Congratulations Adrian, and lovely photo here.
August 4, 2013 at 5:04 pm
Thank you very much Mike, I really appreciate that.
August 4, 2013 at 8:01 pm
Well done on taking the plunge with setting up your own site. hope all goes well.
August 4, 2013 at 5:12 pm
Thank you Colin!
August 4, 2013 at 8:14 pm
Wow you have been busy….I wish you all the best with your new venture Adrian. Your images are excellent and I’m sure they will sell very well through your new site. Do let us know when it’s up and running.
August 4, 2013 at 5:14 pm
I will do, thank you Mark.
August 4, 2013 at 8:15 pm
Lovely shot!
Congratulations and great good luck with the new endeavor!
August 4, 2013 at 5:23 pm
Thank you so much Gunta.
August 4, 2013 at 8:15 pm
A very good photo, love your composition!
August 4, 2013 at 5:24 pm
Thank you very much Hans!
August 4, 2013 at 8:15 pm
Good luck with the letting go of the side of the pool venture, I’m sure you will make a huge success.
Maybe in several years time when I get it right you can help me make a profit from my work too :) Well done for the brave move x
August 4, 2013 at 5:26 pm
Thank you so much Angi. I’ll be more than happy to help you when you’re ready to take that step. I suspect it’s not going to be several years.. ;-)
August 4, 2013 at 9:22 pm
What a perfect spot ChillB… It must have been so lovely watching the pink blush light creeping across the sky …. All very atmospheric. I can well see how Godrevy Lighthouse was apparently the inspiration for Virginia Woolf’s novel To the Light house .
Terrific news about your new website ! Just keep doing what you are doing … I’m sure you’ll have no need of a Mae West Lol :-)
August 4, 2013 at 5:44 pm
Thank you Poppy. I wasn’t aware of the literary connection. ‘To the Lighthouse’ is not a book I’ve read. It really is a beautiful spot and yes, it was just perfect sitting there on the rocks with the ocean swishing around me waiting for the sun to come up. It’s such a joy to be able to experience such things living here. Having said that, I wouldn’t mind giving your Malvern hills a try either. :-)
August 4, 2013 at 9:25 pm
;-)
August 5, 2013 at 11:48 am
Good luck!
August 4, 2013 at 5:48 pm
Thank you Bumba!
August 4, 2013 at 9:25 pm
Congratulations! Yes, it is a bit scary with a certain ammount of unsureness but definitely exciting and a step worth to be taken.
PS: The photo is mesmerizing!
August 4, 2013 at 6:02 pm
Thank you Ese! :-)
August 4, 2013 at 9:26 pm
Congratulations and good luck.
August 4, 2013 at 6:42 pm
Thank you very much Victor!
August 4, 2013 at 9:26 pm
That is just fabulous!!!
August 4, 2013 at 7:14 pm
Thank you Andy.
August 4, 2013 at 9:26 pm
Congratulations on the big bold move. I’m sure it will be a great success. I’m making moves in that direction too, but not quite as bravely!
August 4, 2013 at 7:43 pm
Thank you very much Mike. I really appreciate that.
August 4, 2013 at 9:27 pm
You present a superb art photogrophy which is always pleasure to watch so good luck controling it destiny and we are always here to support you.
August 4, 2013 at 8:17 pm
Thank you Doron, thank you very much.
August 4, 2013 at 9:27 pm
Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous!!!!!
August 4, 2013 at 8:41 pm
Thank you! :-)
August 4, 2013 at 9:28 pm
The very best of luck with your new site. This image is an inspiration and was well worth getting up for.
WordPress is still giving me intermittent problems. I do wonder whether it is simply that their servers are overloaded at times. I have had no helpful responses from them.
August 4, 2013 at 9:45 pm
Thank you vry much Dave. This post didn’t appear when published and I did get some much needed help with that particular problem but comments ending up in spam and like limits are causing a lot of people problems with not much support coming from WordPress on that front.
August 5, 2013 at 10:11 am
How exciting, Chillbrook. Congratulations and Good luck! :)
August 4, 2013 at 11:05 pm
Thank you Bente! :-)
August 5, 2013 at 10:11 am
Congratulations and I wish you every success.
August 4, 2013 at 11:09 pm
Thank you very much indeed! :-)
August 5, 2013 at 10:12 am
Congratulations.I wish you a lot of succes.
August 4, 2013 at 11:18 pm
Thank you Lou. Very much appreciated! :-)
August 5, 2013 at 10:13 am
Great photo. And congratulations on the new site and business. Oh, and welcome back to my reader. As I said, your previous post never made it onto my reader. I hope the problems get sorted out once and for all soon. Cheers.
August 5, 2013 at 1:32 am
Thank you very much! This post didn’t appear at first but I did get help from WordPress and it was published eventually. The likes and comments being marked as spam continues however.. :-|
August 5, 2013 at 10:19 am
First, nice photo (as usual). Second, if I ever decide to seriously sell, I’ll be following in your footsteps. Keep us informed.
August 5, 2013 at 2:52 am
Thank you very much Emilio. I will indeed kepp you updated! :-)
August 5, 2013 at 10:20 am
Love your images, so I’m sure you will do well (what with setting up your own site/business). Quality, composition, exposure etc are excellent.
I’ve always imagined it would be hard to make money from stock images and/or prints due to the commission (as you have stated).
August 5, 2013 at 3:31 am
Thank you Vicki. The commissions are exorbitant but with so many clients the servers must be hugely expensive. The many clients is an additional problem of course as you get lost amongst so many. I definitely think a unique site is the way to go but it takes a lot of setting up. :-)
August 5, 2013 at 10:23 am
Nice shot. Again.
By now, I don’t have to look at the gravatar and the incriptions in my reader anymore – I just see the picture and instantly I know if it’s yours.
August 5, 2013 at 5:05 am
Thank you very much. A lovely compliment.
August 5, 2013 at 10:24 am
Fantastic image with great composition and lighting! How I wish I lived nearer the sea :(
Good luck with your new venture and I look forward to seeing your new site when it’s launched.
August 5, 2013 at 9:01 am
Thank you Noeline. I was pinching myself a bit, sitting there on the rocks. It really was a glorious morning. :-)
August 5, 2013 at 10:25 am
Congratulations and good luck.
August 5, 2013 at 9:04 am
Thanks ever so much David. :-)
August 5, 2013 at 10:26 am
Way to go, Adrian! (All that programming stuff is a little intimidating to me.) I’m looking forward to seeing your new website.
: )
The shifts is colour in the sky are so beautiful. It seems like another very early morning greatly rewarded.
Best wishes to you,
K
August 5, 2013 at 12:08 pm
Thank you so much Karen. Just being there on the rocks at that time of the morning as the sun came was reward enough for the early start but to come away with a picture I’m proud of was the icing on the cake. :-)
August 5, 2013 at 5:15 pm
Congratulations and all the best of luck! It will be a success for sure :)
August 5, 2013 at 12:24 pm
Thank you very much. :-)
August 5, 2013 at 5:15 pm
Very inspiring! Looking forward to viewing the new site. ;)
August 5, 2013 at 6:44 pm
Thank you Cynthia. :-)
August 6, 2013 at 3:43 pm
Heavenly blues!
August 5, 2013 at 7:55 pm
Thanks Elena.
August 6, 2013 at 3:43 pm
I have to admit to thinking about doing something similar, the commissions charged by those sites you mentioned (not to mention the monthly fees) are offputting to say the least. My question is how are you planning on producing the photos themselves? Printing them yourself? I was under the impression that a quality home printer was expensive and a bit finicky. Maybe I am wrong on that one.
Good luck!
August 5, 2013 at 8:23 pm
Thank you James. I have a fairly cheap (this is all relative of course) Espson Stylus SX535WD printer that does a really excellent job and you can get comparatively cheap generic inks for it. It can only print up to A4 though and although I buy the best quality photo paper I would worry about the longevity of the generic inks, although it’s suggested they are fade proof.
The other problem with home printers is despite investing in a Spyder screen calibrator to ensure the colours I was seeing on my screen were the colours that would come out of the printer, they don’t. The printer has to mix the inks and if this is a bit off, so are your colours. As I said, it prints a nice picture and for the most part the colours are OK but I’d rather know that what I see is what the print will be exactly. For this reason, prints bought on my site will be professionally prinited by a company called Spectrum photographic in East Sussex. They’ll print to order and ship where I need the print to go.
August 6, 2013 at 3:52 pm
I have just had a look at Spectrum Photographic, they look very good. I think I am going to order a few prints to try them out:)
August 6, 2013 at 6:23 pm
Yes, congrats, indeed, on your business venture, Adrian. I hope it is a profitable and enjoyable experience for you. And, seemingly, as always, such a beautiful photo.
August 6, 2013 at 1:59 pm
Thank you very much Scott!
August 6, 2013 at 3:42 pm
Good luck with the business. I have run two small Ltd companies and now run as a sole trader. Happy to help with any admin type queries.
August 6, 2013 at 4:29 pm
Thank you very much Rhys, that’s very kind.
August 6, 2013 at 4:33 pm
Congrats on your new site and beautiful photo.
August 6, 2013 at 6:45 pm
Thank you very much Mark!
August 7, 2013 at 6:03 am
Fantastic photo, Adrian. Congratulations and good luck on your new site. :)
August 7, 2013 at 4:17 pm
Thank you so much Sylvia. :-)
August 8, 2013 at 2:54 pm
Gorgeous photo and admirable venture. It seems from my limited exploration that some of the services you’ve described are indeed quite pricey. However, with your investment of money, labor and time, you have a hard-earned autonomy that will eventually pay off. Well done and congratulations.:-) Viv
August 7, 2013 at 7:21 pm
Thank you ever so much Vivan. Much appreciated.
August 8, 2013 at 2:55 pm
Congratulations to you! I have no doubt that your artistic talent will bring you much success!
August 8, 2013 at 12:46 am
Thank you very much. That’s very kind of you to say. :-)
August 8, 2013 at 2:55 pm
Best wishes for your new site Adrian. Love the treatment on your image.
August 8, 2013 at 1:35 pm
Thank you John. Really appreciate that.
August 8, 2013 at 2:55 pm
Wow! Congrats and good luck!
August 9, 2013 at 8:24 pm
Thank you Lynne, thank you very much. :-)
August 11, 2013 at 6:08 pm
Congratulations on the site!!
August 11, 2013 at 4:38 am
Thank you Marina, I’m building frantically at the moment. It’s amazing how much work goes into listing products on a website, descriptions on the site plus meta tags etc etc. I’m not used to having to think up names for pictures and waxing lyrical about how they came about.. I need a marketing director and creative team leaving me to just get on with taking pictures.. ;-)
August 11, 2013 at 6:07 pm
You must feel like a Jack of all trades!! It’s touch — I know. You need an assistant!
August 11, 2013 at 8:04 pm
I do. The other director in the new company is a friend of mine, I’m training him up.. ;-)
August 12, 2013 at 12:13 pm
wow, another director?! Very cool! Can’t wait to see the finished product :)
August 12, 2013 at 4:08 pm
You need a minimum of two directors to start a limited company Marina, so I roped in a friend who was an account exec. in an advertising agency. I fully intent to be making the most of his marketing talents. :-)
August 12, 2013 at 9:02 pm
Good luck!!
August 12, 2013 at 11:31 pm
Thank you! :-)
August 13, 2013 at 6:12 am
Seriously beautiful Adrian. And from a Compnay Director at that!
August 12, 2013 at 7:47 am
Thank you. Yes, who’d have thought it, company director. ;-)
August 12, 2013 at 12:10 pm
Wonderful shot, Adrain. It’s so clear and crisp and then at the same time so moody.
I have the same Problem with WP. Lots of other bloggers as well, especially not appearing in the reader.
Klausbernd and myself made a topic out of it and posted
http://toffeefee.wordpress.com/2013/08/13/wordpress-please-help-what-am-i-doing-wrong/#comment-8199
http://kbvollmarblog.wordpress.com/2013/08/15/wordpress-problems/
and we have a thread at the Forum.
Dina
August 17, 2013 at 6:30 pm
Thank you Dina. It’s good to hear I’m not the only one.
August 19, 2013 at 9:33 am
I understand your situation with not being able to write comments. Most times it takes me 11/2 – 2 minutes just to open an email and another 5 minutes to get everything working to respond. A lot of the times if I can get the like button stable so that I can click on it, I go with that. My signal strength is terrible. forget about all of that . I want to commend you on such a terrific photo. I like the way the rocks are jotting up with layer of fog or is it foamy sea below and a gorgeous light house it the back ground. I don’t know if anyone could have painted a prettier picture.
August 17, 2013 at 11:13 pm
Thank you James. I really appreciate that. Yes, the Internet can be so frustrating when you’re just trying to get things done.
August 19, 2013 at 9:32 am
Stunning shot.. xxx wow!!
August 19, 2013 at 8:40 am
Thank you so much Lisa! :-)
August 19, 2013 at 9:31 am
well all the very best – I will be joining you next year – the other sites suit me right now as I simply dont have the time (to keep up with blogging never mind anything else) but once I have some time I shall follow suit – all the very best
August 21, 2013 at 7:34 pm
Thank you very much for that Scott. I’m surprised at just how much there is to do in setting up an ecommerce site but I’m getting there. I thought about getting someone to design the site for me but it’s very expensive. Any help I can offer you next year I’ll be happy to.
August 22, 2013 at 5:26 pm
Very cool image and congrats on the new site.
August 23, 2013 at 2:00 pm
Thank you very much Jim!
August 23, 2013 at 6:48 pm
Good luck with the new site, Adrian, and congratulations for the courage :). Photography seems piece of cake when compared to the extra burden in setting up and running a photo business…
August 25, 2013 at 8:39 am
Thank you Sorin. The website is taking longer to set up than I imagined, there’s always something it seems that’s been forgotten or needs tweaking before you can actually get down to loading prints and writing descriptions, setting prices etc etc.. I’m getting there. My photography has rather taken a back seat to setting up the business but once it’s all in place, I can get back to the serious business of taking pictures. :-)
August 26, 2013 at 8:42 am
I admire your spunk, Adrian! Wishing you much happiness and success with your new endeavors! This image is gorgeous (as always :))
September 1, 2013 at 2:58 pm
Thank you very much Anita! :-)
September 2, 2013 at 9:16 pm
I’m impressed, and happy for you, for having taken on the creation of your own website to sell your work. May it bring great rewards – monetary and otherwise!
September 3, 2013 at 1:35 am
Thank you. Much appreciated! :-)
September 3, 2013 at 9:12 am
This is an interesting image, not the least when you compare it with the image on the last post of this blog. It really shows how light makes a totally different picture of the same scenery. I like this one, it’s softer more delicate, has more subtle tones in its limited colour palette. Still I think the light in the other images makes it stronger. It’s always interesting to compare pictures taken at the same spot at different times. Good luck with getting you web site properly running.
September 10, 2013 at 5:42 pm
Thank you Otto. It’s an interesting time to be taking pictures, around dawn or dusk. I prefer dawn but that’s mainly because this is the time of day I’m much better able to get in touch with my creativity.
September 11, 2013 at 9:03 pm