For more than a decade I've been a collector of rare coins and bullion coins. It's a fun hobby, and over the past few years it's also become a profitable hobby.

Recently as I started toying with macro photography I decided to take a few shots of several coins. Silver & Gold eagles to be exact. But there are many more types of bullion coins out there, and I thought it would be fun to see other coins offered up by photographers from Dreamstime.

So, I just created a new collection called Bullion Coins. I'm hoping that folks will submit their favorites to the collection, along with the photos I already started picking out this morning. To get to the collection simply [link=http://www.dreamstime.com/bullion-coins-rcollection6229-resi346629]click ...

Wow, already made it to 200. And I just haven't been shooting too much lately. Pesky job I keep going to has kept me inside too often.

Next week I'll be traveling to Anza-Borrego in California. What does Anza-Borrego promise? How about desert palms, rare desert wild flowers, and big horn sheep. And I completely forgot, an area of Badlands in the high desert as well.

So, a 5 day trip in a beautiful area with so many photographic opportunities. Hopefully I'll produce some worthwhile shots that will work well for Dreamstime. Maybe I'll get to 300!

I'll be looking forward to taking my recent practice with macro photography and extending it outside to the wild flowers of the high desert and the humming birds that visit them. I'm looking forward ...

Over the past few weeks I've been very distracted, and away from Dreamstime. But I'm back, and uploading away once more! This is just so much fun, and it helps to drive me to remember my camera at all times!!! Too bad I keep missing the bobcat that's been within 20 feet of my place.

Something I've always wanted to learn more about is Macro Photography. So, I've started experimenting. I'm still waiting for a few more photos to be key worded (my favorite is still in process), but in the meantime thought I would share one of the latest uploads.

I'll be learning more over the next few weeks about macros as I experiment with my new 50mm Canon macro lens, and my little desktop studio! And I'll be looking at other people's portfolios to see what inspires them to create ...

While my sales are still low, each sale is definitely exciting! I popped on today and saw that two new sales had taken place. What a treat!

Looking through other portfolios I know I need to expand what I shoot. Landscapes, while pretty, can't be the only thing. Still, I enjoy shooting them!

With the addition of 3 models I think that more interesting and exciting shots will be added to the portfolio. I'm hoping that combined with learning about other "still life" shots will add to the portfolio.

By the way, the shot in this post is the latest sale. Glad I can combine climbing and photography. It's a lot of fun, even with a heavy pack!

Today was one of those days. I knew I'd have a batch of e-mails from DT. I submitted a bunch of photos from this past weekend, including some amazing photos of 3 of my friends / models.

As I looked through my inbox I saw the "Image Selected" sprinkled throughout, and a bunch of not selected's as well. Oh no!

I read the reason, and rechecked my latest model release. Our newest edition to our climbing group signed his release on Sunday. He filled almost everything out, but left out a field. The rejections were for incomplete model releases. Ah.

Clearly my bad here. I needed to recheck the form to be sure it was all filled in. His phone number wasn't on there. A quick call this morning confirmed he didn't mean to leave it off.

So, now I'll be resubmitting ...

This morning I was happy to see that I've added my 100th photo. And then more! 116 in total. Nice!

I'm also glad that some of my latest have made it. The new photos are a change. I've been doing a ton of landscapes. This time around a few climbers, wagon wheels, and train wheels. Oh, and some interesting colored bricks (no kidding).

I couldn't get the train in because it has the name of the rail company that used to own it (now defunct). Disappointing, but I understand the copyright / trademark concerns. But the train was neat too! I'll need to go read the forums regarding signs on subjects.

Thanks to the folks on the forums suggesting I vary to other items beyond landscape. I just got my 3rd MR, and spent the weekend climbing and taking ...

Several days ago a pair of great friends signed MR's with me. I've been photographing both of them over the summer. We climb together several times a week, and I've been working on photographing climbers (not as easy as you'd think).

This morning I got my first approval for shots with my "models" in them, and it's really exciting! Going forward I think this will be a lot of fun. First I was glad to meet them because they're a married couple who climbs together. Makes it easier to find a few folks to climb with last minute. And now I can upload some of our better climbing shots (I've got tons of those shots).

I'll have to see what else we can do with "outdoor people" photos. This is a new realm for me. I've always stayed away from photos with people in them, ...

Here's something totally new for me. As I've been looking around Dreamstime I can't help notice some really amazing stock photos. Simple things like shots of brick walls, phones, keyboards, etc. These are things I've never played with shooting before.

After looking around last week I decided to take myself out into the rocks and take some "object" photos. Recently my favorite Cams were on sale (climbing gear) and they're really colorful. I thought they might make a good stock photo or two.

Walking around through the boulder fields of the Granite Dells I found a good spot with lighting I was happy with, and proceeded to shoot my gear. No climbing that day, just lugging a heavy pack full of stuff for a fun photo or two. And amazingly enough,...

Well, I just read another post this morning, and I have to second the entire post. Take a read of, Outdoor photography can be as challenging as a sport. I commented on the post, but decided I need to give some detail regarding my own activities yesterday.

Over the past few months I've been working hard on becoming a "good" climbing photographer. There's a lot to that. First, you need to be really comfortable with heights. Second, you should probably know how to climb. While you're climbing you can't shoot. While you're belaying you can't shoot. You need to go with a few other folks if you want to get some shots.

So, yesterday I set out with two friends ...

Several days ago I uploaded one shot on a whim, and honestly I wasn't sure if it would pass the test. It was a unique view of my current home, a 25 ft Airstream. I'd recently backed my silver twinkie against some great rock formations here in Arizona, and was taking the photo for my personal blog.

I was happy to see the photo accepted here. And it tells me I should think more about using my unique lifestyle (Airstreaming) as part of my stock portfolio.

Now I'm reconsidering many "home" shots as possible stock photos. I'll be looking forward to the "log cabin" home photo in the near future! :)