The Hangover

Ron NiebruggeLas Vegas, Nevada, Photos, Shameless Self Promotion, Travel 4 Comments

Welcome to Las Vegas sign, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Welcome to Las Vegas sign, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Sorry to disappoint – I don’t have some crazy story about a late night last night!

You see, on June 5th, Warner Bros. is releasing a major motion picture with that name.  Like with most movie releases, the actors perform endless promotional interviews telling everyone just how funny the movie is, and how awesome everyone got along during filming.  But unlike most motion pictures, this time, the actors will be doing their interviews while sitting in front of a collage of Las Vegas photos, including our above photo of the Las Vegas sign!  I think that is pretty cool. 

Hopefully it works out better for them then Viva Laughlin!

Most Popular Photo

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Denali, Photos, Shameless Self Promotion, Travel 12 Comments

This year, I'm very excited to say, we have the cover image for all three Bell's Travel Guides!

This year, I'm very excited to report that we have the cover image for all three Bell's Travel Guides!

In my last post, in response to a question I shared information about our top grossing photos.  I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the above photo.  The boxing bear cub image you see on this travel guide hasn’t been used in an advertising campaign, this kept it off the top grossing list, but in terms of total number of sales, it has to be our most popular image.   Read More

What is your best selling photo in terms of revenue?

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Ask Ron, Chugach, Photos, Travel 12 Comments

A pond with Mt. Alice in the background, Seward, Alaska.

A pond with Mt. Alice in the background, Seward, Alaska.

As part of my Ask Ron series, Phil Cola asked what is my top selling photo in terms of revenue, and what was the location, setup, logistics etc.

It is a great question – I know I’m always fascinated by the annual issue of Photo District News (PDN) in which the major stock agencies share the same information on their most successful image from the prior year.  My most successful images draw on some similar parallels that I will touch on below.  Read More

What to do with my old slides?

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Ask Ron, Photos, Travel 3 Comments

Sentinel Lighthouse, Southeast Alaska.

Sentinel Lighthouse, Southeast Alaska.

One of our regular magazine clients contacted us earlier this week looking for photos of the Sentinel Lighthouse – they were unable to find one on our website.  So we dug through our old slide files and sure enough found this image which we scanned and sent off.  We have thousands of old slides like this that may have some value, but most just sit and take up valuable room in file cabinets.  Read More

Driftwood and Mt Alice

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Chugach, Photos, Travel 7 Comments

Mount Alice viewed from some beach driftwood, Seward, Alaska.

Mount Alice viewed from some beach driftwood, Seward, Alaska.

I located this cool looking stump on the beach about a month ago, and have intended to photograph it for some time now.  I can see myself returning to this spot and trying different compositions in varying light.   This was from last night at about 10:15.

Since the sun was off the driftwood, I played around with some off camera flash.  It probably would have been better with two flashes, but I just had one with me.  This was with my 24-105mm lens set at 32, with my aperture set at the smallest opening of f/22 to maximize the depth of field.  Shutter speed was 1/5 of a second.  I had to bump the ISO up to 400 to increase the strength of the flash which I had manually set to full strength (1:1).  I hand held the flash off to the left of the driftwood.

7 Years and Counting!

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Chugach, Photos, Travel 28 Comments

A Least Sandpiper resting near Seward, Alaska.

A Least Sandpiper resting near Seward, Alaska.

Seven years ago I walked away from a great job with full benefits, a wonderful boss and awesome co-workers to pursue my dream of being a photographer.  Janine had left her job a couple of years before to begin building the business and it was time to take the plunge.  It was the scariest, but one of the best, decisions I have ever made.

I find it interesting, at the time I was consumed with “making it”.  I really wanted to succeed, and would work as hard as possible to achieve that success.  If you had told me then that 7 years later we would be traveling, taking photos and making a comfortable living, I would have breathed a big sigh of relief and would have been thrilled at the thought of actually “making it”.  But now that I’m here, I still worry about the future, and continue to have those thoughts that I hope we can “make it”.  As someone told be recently, it is probably a good thing to feel that way.  I know one thing – it sure has been a wonderful journey!

Least Sandpiper Photo

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Chugach, Photos, Travel 5 Comments

A Least Sandpiper near Seward, Alaska.

A Least Sandpiper near Seward, Alaska.

This was from earlier this week – I liked how the sandpiper appeared to be checking out its reflection.

I wanted to thank everyone for all the constructive comments and emails I recived on the sandpiper blur image – lots of great insight, I really appreciate it!