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Pictures with Geography: Posting the Place on a Map

This is a nice combination of image and Google Mapping. I like it.

IN-FORUM | in view: "A photo column by Forum visual reporter Ann Arbor Miller focusing on everyday people and places in our community. Look for it Mondays. Each week, we'll add another pin to the map below. To suggest future column ideas, call (701) 451-4749 or e-mail amiller@forumcomm.com."

Sometimes I Just Want to Know Why...

... ya know.

... and the original. One of the classic rock videos ever.

Then check this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separate_Ways

Image Recognition Problem Finally Solved: Tech Crunch on Image Taggng

This is really interesting: another niche market for 'home based businesses...?" LOL. Probably not.

Image Recognition Problem Finally Solved: Let’s Pay People To Tag Photos: "Most people have thousands of digital photos sitting on their hard drive. And the vast majority of those photos aren’t tagged or searchable. Want to find the 300 pictures of your youngest son amongst 10,000 others? It’s not going to happen. Unless you’ve been diligently tagging and categorizing those photos over the years, and who does that?

The problem is obvious. The solution, not so much. A trail of failed startups have tried to tackle the problem with a fairly serious application of technology, including: Riya (now focused on ecommerce via Like.com), Ookles (never launched), and Polar Rose (in private beta for nearly a year), among others."

Detroit Workshop

Well Detroit is almost on us. A week from this Sunday. I am thrilled. Never been to Detroit before, and I am so looking forward to it. It was snowing last week so I am not sure what I will get into there, but still sounds like fun.

We have our studio rented for the morning, and the flights in and out. Looks like a layover in Chicago on the way out, but direct back on Monday. Cool.

Our models are picked and ready, and all is good so far. We do have two openings for photographers so if you have been thinking about coming on board, now is the time. I have a feeling they will close up really fast this next week.

On Saturday we will have a meetup and discussion to help get the pros and the pro-ams into the arena of making some money from their work. This will be a mix of web design / marketing / and 'getting work' and will be a casual roundtable like process.

For all those who are interested in coming, I look forward to meeting you.

Cheers and I am on the way, Motor City!

At Photojojo: Ten Tastiest Food Photography Tips

Ha! This is kind of basic for the professional, but the tips are good and solid for anyone wanting to try their hand at food shooting. Enjoy... I gotta get lunch.

Photojojo » The Ten Tastiest Food Photography Tips: "We’ve all heard the rumors about the terrible things food photographers do to make food look good. Horror stories about food stylists with their cans of shoe polish, burnishing raw turkeys to make them look roasted. Scoops of mashed potatoes glistening atop ice cream cones, covered in chocolatey-looking motor oil.

Fortunately, few of us know how to accomplish styling atrocities of that ilk. We’re just ordinary Joes, trying to make restaurant food look as good as it smells, or capture the deliciousness of Aunt Sally’s fresh-baked biscuits. It takes a little doing to make food photogenic, but it’s easy once you know how."

Lighting Essentials Magazine: Article on Models Online

I just posted this... take a look.

Lighting Essentials Magazine: "There was a question on working with online models. Working with agency models has always been a different experience with me. I have never had a no-show, or had issues with wardrobe and professionalism with agency models. Online agencies are a different matter. Online agencies have no guardian or gatekeeper. Anyone can simply sign up and they are now a ‘model.’ There really is nothing wrong with that, and it is a terrific way for talented models who may not be tall enough for the traditional agency. Agencies typically will not consider models under 5′8″ with 5′9″ being the norm."

A Photo Editor - Chip Simons: Interview

If you are old enough to remember the meteoric rise of Chip Simons in the 80's, you will be blown away at what has transpired since. Read this important interview with Rob... Chip Simons reinvents himself.

A Photo Editor - Chip Simons- Behind The Photos: "In 1993 his fame and fortunes have grown to the point where Chip and his girlfriend (now wife) move to Bosque Farms, NM where they feel confident they can keep the business flowing and they do, clocking up to 250 jobs a year through 2000 and the dot com bust.

Then, the business starts to struggle and stock sales start to crumble and suddenly divorce. And, wham, the money is all gone and the business is really drying up and suddenly you’re a 49 year old former wunderkind thinking “what in the hell am I going to do?” If you’re Chip Simons you hit the effing reset button, sell all your gear, pack your shit in the car and drive from New Mexico to east 13th street in NYC and start pounding the streets again."

sEE Keonammavong at the workshop March 22

20080322_LI (702) copy_wLogo
Originally uploaded by skeonamm

We were blessed to have two wonderful, gorgeous models at the workshop. Briana and Heather were just amazing. Since they were in little black dresses we decided the only kind of shot that made sense was of course to have them battling in the street. Two SB600's on handheld booms (PW's and Quantum batteries gave almost instant recycle at 1/4 power) were used to light them and the sun was the backlight. This is SEE's image from the shoot. Follow the link to see more of his work from the March 22, 2008 workshop.

Great works sEE!!!

Lighting Essentials Magazine: Gallery Tools for Photographers

It is a legacy post, but still important. If I have missed any, let me know.

Lighting Essentials Magazine: "There are a ton of very cool gallery tools that photographers can use to create portfolios, galleries, exhibits, or “just-for-fun” shows for clients and friends. If I have missed a favorite of yours, send me an email and I will add it."

Cars: Something Guys Can All Love

Trust me, there are cars there behind those, uh, 'booth babes' I guess the modern term is. Heh.

Autoblog

Triple Scoop Music : You need music for Multi-Media?

... And these guys have it. Get it legal, and get the license. For $60!!! Wow, great collection for nearly any use.

Triple Scoop Music : Award-winning music for professional photographers and videographers!: "Welcome to Triple Scoop Music, the first and only music licensing service built specifically for professional photographers and videographers!

Our 'royalty free' music collections include Grammy and Emmy winning artists, as well as acclaimed songwriters and musicians from around the globe."

Bill of Rights for Photographers at Pro-Imaging

I really like it when stuff like this comes together. This is an interesting project.

Pro-Imaging | The Bill of Rights for Photographers | Rights,: "Pro Imaging have set out conditions for photographic competition organisers and sponsors to be guided by when constructing terms and conditions for their competitions. We call this set of conditions The Bill of Rights for photographers. Pro Imaging believes The Bill of Rights represents best practice to the photographic competition industry and our intent is that it should be adopted as a standard code of practice.

In this section you will find the rules of the Bill of Rights for Photographers, followed by details of the Notification Letters that are sent to competition sponsors and organisers when their competition fails to meet all of the tests we set out in the Bill of Rights."

A Thought on the Future of Photography: at APE

Something we agree on and have been acting on for a couple of years. Creating a place where a photographer is not an elitist, but a photographer who provides... well, photographs. He also references the 1000 Fans Post we linked to last week. Read the whole thing.

A Photo Editor - A Thought on the Future of Photography: "A Thought on the Future of Photography

Photographers need more fans.

Photographers spend waaay too much time and money trying to develop a very small and elite group of fans at the top. What needs to change is instead of thinking about having a couple of fans with deep pockets you need to start adding a large number with shallow pockets. These fans are actually just the same consumers you would potentially reach through traditional media except now they can find you without the help of magazines and newspapers. As these people abandon traditional media they’re looking for places to spend the time and money they used to spend at the top. Why not be there waiting?

If you somehow find marketing and selling yourself to average citizens somehow revolting, not to worry, there will always be a group of 500 successful elite photographers who dominate the top of this industry with a handful of deep pocketed fans (top Photo Directors, Art Buyers and Creatives) and if that’s your goal you can continue the long slow climb to the top, but for many people it’s just not possible to make that climb anymore or maybe the mystique of it all has suddenly evaporated"

You Gots Rights

Bookmark it:

Say you’re out for a photographic stroll, taking pictures of that cool old power plant on the edge of town. Suddenly seventy security guards swarm you and demand you hand over your camera.

“What is this,” you ask yourself, “a Michael Moore movie?”

Read the whole thing at PhotoJoJo

The Ten Legal Commandments of Photography

I. Anyone in a public place can take pictures of anything they want. Public places include parks, sidewalks, malls, etc. Malls? Yeah. Even though it’s technically private property, being open to the public makes it public space.

II. If you are on public property, you can take pictures of private property. If a building, for example, is visible from the sidewalk, it’s fair game.

III. If you are on private property and are asked not to take pictures, you are obligated to honor that request. This includes posted signs.

"How You Do That Thing You Do?"

What a great post at what's the jackanory? You want a little insight into an editorial shooter on the job? Andrew, one of my faves, offers a quick little post on shooting some recent gigs. Read it all and check out the great images.

I always bring a similar camera and lighting package on all my gigs. I find that the results are always different each time I go out; there is always that intangible variant that makes the consistent inconsistent. I could and do use the same set up day in and day out and the results are always different. You may argue that my stuff always looks the same but I swear there is always something going on, another lesson to be learnt from unpredictable happenings. Sometimes the light just doesn't do what you want it to and doesn't look like you had envisaged it. Some subjects just suck up the light, I think some of you know what I mean. You do your set up on your assistant looks great then your victim steps in, a quick polaroid followed by "what the fuck ! where's the magic gone ?" Maybe its their skin tone, what they are wearing but I have been having me a lot of this recently.

Avisualsociety on the Pay to Play post at APE

A good little post about fashion photography and self promotion by shooting cheap editorial. If you are a fashion shooter, take a moment to read.

Pay to Play | Avisualsociety: "When Alexey Brodovitch was at Harper’s Bazaar, he was the one who discovered the likes of Penn, Hiro and Avedon, and helped push their careers to their legendary heights…nowadays names such as Fabien Baron and Dennis Freedman hold that power, but fashion editors have a tremendous amount of power now as well in helping make a photographer’s career.

No decent fashion photographer worth their salt would use sourcebooks…the only one they would use is Le Book (which of course mostly aimed at the fashion world). For them, fashion editorials are their effective advertising tools for themselves and their work."

Richard Renaldi's Photography Blog

Incredible work from Renaldi on this project. Imagine doing 5 months with an 8x10 to do environmental portraits with natural light. Wow... that would be a dream assignment for me. Ecxcellent work, Richard.

Richard Renaldi's Photography Blog: "I have 'climbed that mountain'and returned home a more experienced and hopefully better photographer. All of this of course could not have been done without the help and collaboration of a great crew. My first assistant - shared by both my friend Wadley and then my partner Seth were an enormous help and my fantastic producer Mary Pratt could handle and resolve any difficult issue or situation that came up with calmness and grace. Being able to work with local crews from so many different countries and meeting so many new people was rewarding, as was working with the agency people from McCann and the clients representing Microsoft -all very nice down to earth people. In the end I am so happy they choose only one photographer- me! and that they produced an entire advertising campaign of real people in eight by ten large format with all natural light- all extremely rare and unusual in this business especially in the digital age."

And he blogged the whole journey. Check it out.

Shoot! The Blog: Professional Photography Blog

I will be checking in and watching it unfold. Seems like they have a talented blogger there, as well as a well educated photographer. Should be interesting.

Shoot! The Blog - Shoot The Blog: "This blog will report on a cross-section of what's going on in the industry every day. I'll check in with photographers on location, wrest secrets out of art buyers, see who's buying what at the local photo bookstore, and post pictures I love. Each month we'll have a range of contributors, and we'll give you a peek up front to see who we're talking with (see following post with cutting-edge floating heads). We welcome audience participation, so let us know who you'd like to see interviewed, or which photographer has piqued your interest. Hate those Bert Stern Lohan pics? I do too! But I'm not going to get naked like Michael Musto to show you. Yet."

Luddites Here: Luddites There.

I am so glad the benevolent masters are enlightened. They can't make it any more plain.
Shitty professors demand attention, and this ban helps.
Shitty meetings with no point are far more important than actually getting something done.
Stupid, incompetence and boring are reasons in and of themselves for paying close attention.

Or could there be another reason?

Challenging a maroon professor by Googling his absurd pontifications are so damn uncomfortable for the University Deacons of Knowledge. Business leaders that are so incompetent as to be laughable... they wouldn't want anyone in the meeting to get any real work done, or actually find real insightful information about the drivel that is forthcoming from the 'Team Leader' as he spouts the corporate crap that leads to the downfall of viable businesses like Polaroid.

Naww... couldn't be that. Nope.

The Laptop Ban: It's Not Just for Classrooms Anymore :: Inside Higher Ed :: Higher Education's Source for News, and Views and Jobs: "More and more professors — hell, entire departments — are banning laptops from their classrooms. Now the business world’s doing it too, since people in meetings are using their laptops for the same reason, and in the same way, most students are using theirs:"

Photoshop Disasters: Great Blog to NOT be featured in

... but oh s0 much fun to read.
Via the whatstheackanory...

There are so many fun things on this site. Just makes you wonder how people with such an inordinate amount of incompetence can get to the level of working on movie posters, national ads and more. Don't be featured here... ever.

But visit and laugh whenever you need a break.

Images from iStockPhoto: $12
Stealing the preview images instead: $0
Seeing the watermark on your finished, printed artwork: priceless

Added a new Workshop to the Schedule

As we get into the Spring, the workshop schedule is growing: Thanks to all the great hosts out there who are helping me set the workshops up.

If you are interested in hosting a workshop (no money, just help find the locations, places to shoot and stay and such), let me know. I would really like to come to Seattle/Vancouver, Chicago, Midwest, and Nashville... as well as many others.

Here is what I have so far:

Less Me, More You - Less Bluster, More Shooting

Workshops:

Phoenix, AZ:
March 22, 2008

Detroit, MI:
April 6, 2008

Tucson, AZ:
April 12, 2008

Baltimore, MD:
April 19, 2008 (one opening)
New York, NY: (Full)
April 20, 2008

Mexico:
(Rocky Point)
April 27 - 28 - 29, 2008

Santa Clara, CA:
May 4, 2008

St. Petersburg / Tampa, FL:
May 17 - 18, 2008

Houston, Texas:
June 7, 2008

College Station, Texas:
June 8, 2008

Portland, Maine:
June 18, 2008

Halifax, Nova Scotia:
June 22, 2008

Seth Goes After the Alphabet!

Well, not really. But his point is well taken on using Alphabetical Order to achieve a taxonomy. It really is useless for a lot of things... not the least are websites, files and images. You know, the things we use all the dang time. That's why I like tagging better. Adding a tag (or keyword in a way) gives more meaning... maybe adding an additional term for date/location may help, but putting Banana Tree next to Banal Tree is not helpful. Read Seth... he has more.

Seth's Blog: Alphabetical order is obsolete: "Example: When I do a search in Google images, I want them sorted by relevance and then, within that, by size. Bigger is better.

Bookstores really don't have much choice. They need to alphabetize the books so you'll know that you'll find me in the Gs, near Malcolm Gladwell. But Amazon has no business using the alphabet, because almost any other ordering technique makes more sense."

I Just Don't Freekin' Get It... A Rant!

What the hell is it with photographers?

Rant?... yeah... its a Rant today.

I just looked at 7 wonderful portfolio web portfolios. Wonderful image.
Well presented... no animated crap or flying and flipping and bouncing photos.
Just well presented, excellent work.

And I had never heard of them before. I found their links on a page that cost them money to be placed there. All of them were totally built in Flash.

Look. Here are the GD FACTS!

Art Directors DO use search engines. Search Technology, Taxonomy and relevance are currently eating millions, if not Billions of dollars. Search and find IS the way the world is more and more working. Plain damn fact. Several recent surveys point this out... Clearly.

So these folks built websites that CANNOT be found. No Way... Unless they spend additional dollars, time and effort to drive customers to their website.

"Well, so and so has a flash website and she's busy all the time..." Yeah. I hear ya.
She also has a Rep in LA, a Rep in NY, and a Rep in London.
Combine that with her 30K annual ads and workbook placements... yeah... gotcha.
If you are pulling 500K and have all the work you can handle, you can stop reading this and laugh your ass off. Good for you... seriously, I wish everyone could do as well.

Here's a real world reality. Search Engines cannot see Flash Websites.
Google and Yahoo and MSN don't look at Meta Tags anymore. So all they see when they get to your Flash site is a page that says, essentially... have a nice day... get the hell out.

This isn't rocket science, alchemy or some bizarre, carefully hidden secret. It just freekin' is. Search engines are customer centric... and advertisers, website owners and photographer's are not their clients. Searchers are their client. They want to be relevant... being relevant to the searcher means knowing what is on the page that they are serving to the searcher. Words... that' all they can see... words.

We used to be able to use Meta Keywords to show Google and the others what was on the page... and especially if the page had a lot of graphics on it. Combine that with the 'alt text' for the images and a page could at least have a fighting chance.

Gone. Got it? Gone. No more Metatags, Flash pages are holders for a movie file and search engines are not looking into movie files. ("Well, my web builder has a way where a page is actually shown to the crawlers and then they index that and...") Bullshit. You can provide all the freekin' alt pages you want... if VISITORS don't see them, they fall way back in indexing. It is seen as a 'trick' for SEO... and Google will squash it soon... if they haven't already. It's called 'Black Hat" and it wont last.

But photographers keep doing this shit. Going to Flash developers who have no idea how the web works (or they would create, you know... hybird sites and make them search friendly and still accomplish the design look they wanted...) Oh yeah... it can definitely be done... just don't ask the 'Graphic Designer' who is now a Flash Guru about it... Ask someone who wants to help you make a site that WORKS. Designers who also want you to do well instead of winning awards for themselves... from other designers... not from photographers who increased their business because of the design.

So back to the portfolios I saw.
All of them simply designed. Perfect.
All of them uncluttered and easy to navigate. Perfect.
All of them had wonderful imagery. Perfect.

None of them had a page rank, or backward links, or any ranking at all on Google or other places that measure traffic. Oh yeah, the photographer and a few friends and clients can see it... Cause they know it is there... but someone in Las Vegas looking for a photographer who shoots large product in Columbus Ohio just ain't gonna find it. (But, as I said... they looked good...)

In fact, they all look cool... I guess that's all that matters in a robust economy where photographers have all the work they can handle and are just rolling in wonderful jobs. You know, like today when photographers have a lock on their field and there is simply no end to the boon in site... Yeah. Like that. You bet.

Now the kicker... All of these could have been hybrid sites.
All of them. ALL OF THEM.... All could have been done in HTML/CSS/XML and use flash to show the movie parts. The designs would have allowed that easily. There was simply no rational reason to use the Flash. (Flash does cost a lot more....hmmm.... naww, that isn't it. Couldn't be.)

Oh, and all of them had 'splash' pages, or 'covers' or whatever the hell is they call them these days... It's a freekin' locked door to search engines... Didn't your 'Flash Guy' tell you that? Didn't they sit you down and tell you...

Flash Guy: "Hey... we will spend like, maybe, like 10K for this. And it will look really cool. I can use some tiny little fonts, and put, like, little grid lines behind your images... oh... and this is cool... the thumbnails will slide in from a dark area... whoa... gettin', like goosebumps thinking about how cool this is gonna look."
You: "What about how well it will work to expand my customer base and create new channels for growth. You know, its been a little slow so I want to show more of my lifestyle to a wider market.?
Flash Guy: "... uh, did I explain how the thumbnails will, like, slide in...?"
You: "... Yeah, 'k... sounds great. Let's do it."

I had a totally Flash developer tell me once that his sites were easily searched in Google. And he was pissed cause some photographer in Phoenix ran to him to tell him that I was dissing his product- which I wasn't by the way. So this guy calls me and threatens to sue me if I don't place a retraction, which I did so I wouldn't have to be a problem. Hey, Phoenix Photographer... thanks for calling me first to get where I was coming from. Really professional, dude.

Anyway, he tells me to go to Google and type something into the search cause he was gonna impress me with how their Flash websites ARE searchable. So he gives me this:
Jimmie Bobby Ray Photography - got it... hit the Search button.

There it is... right on top!!!! My God!

URL is www.jimmiebobbyrayphotography.com (don't click it... sheesh).

Impressive. So if I, like, dial your phone number, would it connect to you? Everytime? Really?

Impressive.

Of course the damn thing will connect to you... and of course your URL when typed into Google should show up first... At least it better. Try it. If it doesn't, LOL... you gotta much bigger problem. Call somebody who knows and cares... not your developer... he/she should have known it was an issue... if they cared.

As he was droning on I type in "food photographer new york" - the photog in question's specialty.
Not found on first 300 listings.
"still life photographer new york"
Nope.
"french food cookbook photography'
Uh...uh.

So if I know who you are, and remember what your website is, I can find you in Google.

Impressive.

Flash is fine for showing portfolio.
Keep this in mind... an AD cannot mark a specific image and send it to a peer, his boss or the client... he has to send a message that says... "go to www.jimmiebobbyrayphotography.com, click on the portfolio link then go to portfolio 4... go 12 images in... that's the one..."
Wow... you really made his life easier...

Websites should be searchable. They should load fast. They should be customer centric, not "you" centric. They should impress clients who overwhelmingly come down on ease of use, notability, no extraneous crap and ease of use... yeah... I mentioned it twice. What...? You think you wont get a job cause the kerning on the fancy, hip font that the Flash guy insists is the one to use cause it is so "you"? Really? You really do?

So, to me, here's the deal. If you have a Flash web site and are crying the blues about how you aren't getting calls from it or that it isn't doing what was promised, sit down. You did it. You made that choice. You didn't research it, or you didn't want to write anything, or you thought the cool factor was all that mattered. Fine, then you got a great Flash site that you can spend a lot of money to tell people where it is... if they can find the card, or search their email... oh, wait... they'll just Google you...

ooops....

(Before the flames start from Flash developers... dudes, I love what you do. IF you do it in ways to help the client through their specific challenges. Do it with 'eyes wide open' and all's good with me. Do it from a position of not caring about the photographer's position, and I got no use for it.)

This also comes on the heels of a photographer that I know that is struggling to get some more work. He has the talent, and a wonderful portfolio. His site is Flash and he isn't getting a damn thing from it. I offered to help, he was on board, but apparently talked to his Flash guy who nixed the whole thing cause it would have disrupted the design. I disagree, but whatever.

So... not 'disrupting' the design is more important than this guy's financial health. Got it.

Naww... I really don't get it.

A Photo Editor - Jennifer Rocholl on Influences

When I first saw Jennifer's image, I too wondered how close the image that was shot was influenced by Hollenbak, but figured that influences abound and really gave Jennifer the benefit of the doubt. Especially after seeing more of her work.

To sum up: Jenniefer's shot chosen to represent her is very stylistically close to Jan Hallenbak's portfolio "
Dreams of Flying." I wont link here, APE has the interview and the links. Take a look and make your own call. Personally I just think that it is an eerie coincidence.

A Photo Editor - Jennifer Rocholl- PDN 30: "Tell me about the picture in question.

I shot that picture last May as a portrait of 2 clothing designers called Brown Sound, for Flaunt Magazine. It was a collaborative idea between the 3 of us, and developed that afternoon as we were coming up with ideas.

I was unaware of Jan’s work until last week when he emailed me and I saw his “dreams of flying” series on his site.

So, Jan emailed you after seeing it, what was his reaction?

He asked why I chose that particular image to represent my photography. Actually, PDN selected it out of my portfolio submission. I said I was sorry if he felt I copied his work, but that was not the case as I had not been familiar with him as a photographer or his series. And actually, if I was at all influenced by any images, they would be this fashion story Zach Scott did in 2002 for Los Angeles Magazine:"

Read the whole thing.

Fire the workaholics: 37 Signals fires back at Calcanis

Calcanis created a mini firestorm with "Fire Everyone that is not a workaholic"... and some people fire back.

Fire the workaholics - (37signals)

Here’s another take on that: Fire the people who are workaholics! Here’s five reasons why:

1. Workaholics may well say that they enjoy those 14 hour days week after week, but despite their claims, working like that all month, all the time is not going to be sustainable. When the burnout crash comes, and it will, it’ll hit all the harder and according to Murphy at the least convenient time.
2. People who are workaholics are likely to attempt to fix problems by throwing sheer hours at the problem. If you’re dealing with people working with anything creatively that’s a deadbeat way to get great work done.

There's more of course. 37 Signals is one of our favorites and they are usually right on the money, or close enough to touch it. Read it all... then ask yourself if working harder or smarter is the thing. I work hard, but it isn't because of a love of sitting in a seat.

One of these really interesting articles: The end of the office phone call

I find things like this interesting. Have you noticed how much of your communication takes place 'off-phone'? Email, IM and textinghave replaced many short-form phone calls. I get more texts and IM's these days.

The Office Phone Call Was Music to the Ears - New York Times: "How can anyone get a grasp of an industry’s pertinent relationships or decision-making time frames, let alone the fragility of a particular office’s egos, if there are so few chances to hear these people talking to the outside world? The office phone call, properly overheard, is really the cheapest, easiest way to transmit institutional knowledge.

At first glance, there are reasons e-mail seems a boon. It leaves a paper trail. It allows you to formulate responses, rather than having to think on your feet. And if anything has gone wrong, we prefer not to be aurally assaulted. Every time you answer a phone call, you introduce uncertainty into your day.

But this attempt at self-preservation is counterproductive. What else is lost when we skip the call? It’s not just institutional knowledge, but also all the information conveyed through the attendant rituals of phoning."

Read it all... it is worth it.

33 photoshop tutorials: Basic, but a great list

Here are some Photoshop tips and links that are kind of fun. I would say they run from pretty good to not so great, but maybe an idea presented may make you think of a process to make it better.

33 awesome body enhancement photoshop tutorials | The Best Article Every day: "It is said that the eyes are windows into the soul. In that case some of us must have really boring souls, but help is at hand if you want to your eyes to really stand out in photographs and creative photo manipulations. This tutorial details a simple yet powerful technique for altering eye color using basic Photoshop tools and a decent image of an eye."

Lighting Essentials is back up in its new look - and we are going to Maine!

Took a little longer than expected, but most content is up and searchable and ready for business. And to celebrate we are announcing the newest date on our workshop calendar: Portland, Maine.
We are extremely excited about Portland and Halifax so close together. (Of course the probability that Phoenix will be cooking at about 118 degrees on those days doesn't enter into the equation for going to someplace that is around 70.... ahhhhh...)

If you are in the Portland area and are interested in attending a Lighting Essentials Workshop, check out the workshop page here:

Lighting Essentials will be down for a few days...

I could not figure a better way of doing it. Sometime this evening or tomorrow morning Lighting Essentials will be down for a few hours and back up to speed in a few days.

I have decided to go with a very modern WordPress theme and make it so much easier for visitors to find the tutorials that work best for them. The page will load very much more faster, the look is more like the magazine and there will be multiple ways to search.

In addition, there will be places to discuss the images and tutorials, and have a dialog with the visitors.

See you on the other side of the weekend.

Kevin Kelly: 1000 True Fans: Read This One

OK... hat tip to Seth, this is one of the most important post I have read in a long time. Relevant, real, powerful, clear and simply inspiring.

Kevin Kelly -- The Technium: "Assume conservatively that your True Fans will each spend one day's wages per year in support of what you do. That 'one-day-wage' is an average, because of course your truest fans will spend a lot more than that. Let's peg that per diem each True Fan spends at $100 per year. If you have 1,000 fans that sums up to $100,000 per year, which minus some modest expenses, is a living for most folks.

One thousand is a feasible number. You could count to 1,000. If you added one fan a day, it would take only three years. True Fanship is doable. Pleasing a True Fan is pleasurable, and invigorating. It rewards the artist to remain true, to focus on the unique aspects of their work, the qualities that True Fans appreciate.

The key challenge is that you have to maintain direct contact with your 1,000 True Fans. They are giving you their support directly. Maybe they come to your house concerts, or they are buying your DVDs from your website, or they order your prints from Pictopia. As much as possible you retain the full amount of their support. You also benefit from the direct feedback and love."

This well written long post is an eye opening piece from a very knowledgeable guy. Take a look at it.
I read it, printed it and added it to my special little binder of wisdom.

Turning Down Jobs

This is a very interesting post at A Photo Editor. Turning down jobs to get better jobs. Sounds counterproductive, but it isn't. And it goes deeper than the shoot and the money.

It goes to self-identification. How we see ourselves can be transmitted to those who are around us. We become what we think we are... and sometimes we think we are what others see in us. It can be a self-fulfilling prophecy with serious career side effects.

Can we have a little doubt? Sure, but it is so important to deal with that doubt and move to a place where the confidence is what is in control. A self-doubting photographer is not the way to get the jobs that call for a confident shooter. Taking every job that comes in can be seen as a sign of doubt, or desperation... or worse.

One of the things I believe is that people treat you the way you ask to be treated. You get the jobs you ask for, prepare for, are capable of. But first you have to be able to understand all that means and be able to perform. And if you are prepared, and capable and ready, then turning down the jobs that aren't going to promote your career is the most confident thing you can do.

A Photo Editor - Turning Down Jobs: "So, what’s the best way to turn down jobs? Don’t be the photographer who says “I only shoot fashion or covers” because that’s not going to get you a call back to shoot fashion or covers. The usual method is to be busy during the shoot days and that’s why good agents will never tell you their photographer’s schedule before they hear the job details.

As a Photo Editor it’s important to have a couple photographers who will “shoot anything, anywhere and anytime” because you can always rely on them to get the job done but for most people this is not the way to advance your career."

The Constant Cycle of Change: A New Article at Lighting Essentials Magazine

Whoa... check this out:

The Constant Cycle of Change :: Lighting Essentials Magazine: "Just as we are starting to understand the ramifications of the digital era, along comes something new that is destined to change the entire world of photography. Some photographers will embrace it and make it part of their arsenal. Others may simply throw their arms up and groan with a collective resignation that what they had learned and practiced for decades, was over."

Christian O'Dell is showing in Tulsa

New friend and email buddy, Christian O'Dell is having a show in Tulsa, Oklahoma. If you are in the area and want to take a few moments to take in his work, as well as some great coffee and food, remember this date.

Shades of Brown café/gallery in Tulsa, OK.

3302 S Peoria Ave
Tulsa, OK 74105
(918) 747-3000

Growing Old Sucks Sometimes...

But growing stupid and hurting people you care about... well, that sucks even more.

Ya know.