johnrochaphoto.net

Caption:

Storm Over The Tomb of Bin Ali In Salalah the capital of Dhofar in the Sultanate of Oman.

Description:

Bin Ali was a famous Islamic Saint and sage and this is his tomb in the Dhofar area of Oman.

Dhofar is the southern region of Oman centred on the regional capital Salalah.

Bin Ali’s tomb is one of the finest examples of medieval Islamic architecture in the region.

If you want to use this picture, click here for Alamy

Photo Comments:

This has been one of my most successful photos.

It has sold as a travel photo in a number of outlets sometimes in the Arab press.

It has also been successful purely as a photo in its own right.

And of course, it has attracted some controversy.

Not because of its content but because of its composition.

This photograph is a combination of two photos that I took especially with this composition in mind.

Like many photographers I believe in pre-visualization rather than just relying on luck and random shooting – though this can yield some great pictures too.

This photo was taken with my Bronica 6×6 film camera.

I was visiting Salalah the beautiful southern province of the Sultanate of Oman when I found this tomb.

I knew as soon as I saw the scene that I would need a different sky and composed my photo accordingly.

I was confident, and rightly so, that there would soon be storm clouds in the sky.

I later combined my two photos after scanning the film.

When this photo appeared in Practical Photography, the editor of the time, William Cheung sent my a note saying, “Nice one John”.

Some readers were not so happy.

I blame those who have no understanding of the history of photography and those who still promulgate the view that photography is literally “truthful” in some way.

I was accused of being a bad photographer, dishonest and untalented.

Well everyone’s entitled to his or her view but I stand by this picture and the process.

I used the standard 80mm lens for both originals steadying my Bronica on my old Slik tripod.

Caption:

Cockroach on a Stone in Oman.

Description:

cockroaches are almost universally condemned as ugly and disgusting but close up photography shows the beauty of the structure of insects which thrive in the warm dry climate of Ibra in Oman.

If you want to use this picture, click here for Alamy

Photo Comments:

This was the first picture I sold through Alamy in 2004.

It established for me the principle, that a successful stockphoto need not be either a beautiful pictureque picture or a boring cutout on a white background.

I found it’s almost impossible to predict what will sell.

The world of the internet is a big place and providing a photo is technically adequate, there’s probably a use for it somewhere.

This is in keeping with Alamy’s working model where the photographer chooses the photos and Alamy decides if the quality is good enough to pass the QC – quality control procedure.

Here is the sale info:

Traditional Licence Country: Spain Usage: Editorial Media: Textbook – print only Industry: Non Profit/ Education Sub-Industry: School/College Print run: up to 50,000 Placement: Inside Image Size: 1/4 page Start: 29 February 2004 End: 28 February 2007

I took this photo on film using a Tamron 90mm macro lens and natural light

I’ve had quite a while to think about the type of post that might be worthwhile in these recessionary times.

I’ve had to concentrate, like many others, on survival techniques.

With this in mind I’ve decided to post a couple of times a week or so with an example of a stockphoto and perhaps some discussion related to the business of stock photography such as suitable equipment and post processing matters such as editing and keywording.

Hope this will be of interest to other editorial and stock photographers.