Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Spotlight on Alpha Dog Photo


Meet Ada, A.K.A. AlphaDogPhoto on Etsy. One day about five years ago my husband and I were visiting the Fountain of Youth in St. Augustine, Florida when Steve looked down at the sidewalk and said, "look, this crack looks just like a K." That was the start of a very addictive hobby.


We have traveled all over the United States and have taken photos of pretty much every crack and crevice we ever walked by. We go on wonderful vacations with beautiful scenery and come back with photographs of things that look like letters…but none of ourselves. We’ve even been driving down a highway and had to turn around and go back because something looked like a "P". Many times I’ll focus in on something on the ground or way up high--I must admit unlikely places for a Kodak moment. By the time I’m done snapping away, I realize that passersby are looking up or down perplexed and trying to figure out what I could possibly be taking a photo of. Little do they know that it’s something that looks like a letter that will eventually end up on Etsy.
In November 2010 we joined Etsy and wish we had signed up years before when one of our friends told us about it. We tried, and failed many times, at setting up our own website. Merchant accounts, tags, URLs… it was all so confusing. Etsy took a difficult and expensive part of our business and made it easy and affordable. We sell our alphabet photos and unique barn wood frames at craft fairs and Farmer Markets and love meeting new people and being part of the crafting community. What we did not expect when we joined Etsy was that it was also a community, but even BIGGER! I just shipped to the United Kingdom today and "convo’d" with someone in Hong Kong.

Who knew that Steve noticing a crack in the sidewalk would lead to an International business called Alpha Dog Photo?
www.alphadogphoto.etsy.com


4 comments:

  1. Good thing that sidewalk was cracked!

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  2. its obvious he has an artist's eye.. wow, and the photos u guys take show that...

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  3. Great post! And great story on how it all started. It's funny how we artists incorporate our passion in so many ways in our lives. Thanks for sharing!
    Melissa

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  4. Wonderful to hear how inspiration struck! Love the cards and gorgeous barn wood frames.

    Cheers!
    Julie
    Julie Magers Soulen Photography

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