Colour Grunge Street Photography in Tapachula Mexico

[Robert Watcher]

Tapachula is a city in southern Mexico where Anne and I headed to for our Visa Extension after 60 days in the C4 (Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua). In general it wasn't as interesting photographically as what I have been capturing in Guatemala and Nicaragua - but some walking around side streets as the sun was setting, turned up some textures that were similar but markedly different from other such content that I have photographed.

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[Asher Kelman]

Robert,

It's all quite remarkable. The colors are just fabulously intense. nothing seems subtle, except with sacculated grime and weathering by the elements!

I dread to think how many pictures you have to sort through. Are you culling the pictures as you go along or do you so as I do, promise to remove a lot but hardly ever do?

Asher

 

[Robert Watcher]

Robert,

It's all quite remarkable. The colors are just fabulously intense. nothing seems subtle, except with sacculated grime and weathering by the elements!

I dread to think how many pictures you have to sort through. Are you culling the pictures as you go along or do you so as I do, promise to remove a lot but hardly ever do?

Asher

Thank you Asher.


I have no interest in deleting any images that I take. At the end of each day I import all of my files into Lightroom - storing them on one large portable hard drive. A typical day for me might be photographing anywhere from 100 to 1,000 or more images.

I expect a large percentage of success rate, as I am a deliberate shooter, knowing exactly what I am getting on capture - even though I shoot quickly and move on. My largest posting of images is currently on my Instagram account where I may post 3-5 times a day in groups of 3. The rest of my successful images are processed and marked in Lightroom for easy access.

I have learned that the more I shoot, the keener my eye and higher number of successful images result. So I photograph every day to keep sharp and improve my skills and find enjoyment in the craft that I became enthralled with almost 40 years ago. That does mean that I end up with a pile of images that are salable in one way or another - tens of thousands I guess. They are a necessary evil I suppose LOL.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Very disciplined approach and efficient. Great that you get better all the time in selecting what you shoot. I guess that's the place where one must invest the energy, not downstream!

Where are you selling mostly?

Asher

 

[Robert Watcher]

Very disciplined approach and efficient. Great that you get better all the time in selecting what you shoot. I guess that's the place where one must invest the energy, not downstream!

Where are you selling mostly?

Asher

I don't sell that much. But that has no bearing on the salability of my images. Social media venues like Instagram are great for name and style recognition. I get the odd print sale based on an image that I post ---- but mostly it reinforces my abilities for my portrait and commercial clients who provide me with a few well paying jobs each year, during the few months that I am back in Canada. I also have a small web hosting and design company. My skills and abilities in photography are seen by those clients (who generally love photography) and keep them loyal to me. During the last couple of years, I end up with a few personal training clients when I am back in Canada - they are willing to pay in an attempt to learn what is needed to produce images like they see me post on Instagram (currently I have posted 1,036 images in a bit under 5 months since I started the account om Sept 6, 2015) - or Facebook or Twitter. So as for selling - nothing specific - and mostly residual - and just enough to keep Anne and I enjoying our simple life in Central America.