Deconstructing the Creative Process: an interesting series coming up

Looks like it's gonna be a good one.

First in a Series: Deconstructing the Creative Process | Harkins Creative: "I say of myself that I am an Idea Junkie. I am in love with new thoughts of all sorts, but especially if they are creative thoughts. I regularly express my creativity in music, photography, videography, motion graphics, graphics design, web design and entrepreneurial pursuits. (The last one might not seem purely creative, but in my experience, it has been the same kind of thrill and frustration I have had in any other highly creative and worthwhile pursuit.)"

Sumo Paint... Now that's pretty cool

Sumo Paint: an online art tool. Have fun, paint, draw... make cool little thingymabobs.

100 Awesome High Resolution Photoshop Brushes

To say this is an amazing collection of brushes is such an understatement. If you like brushes, you will love this collection. Enjoy this amazing post.

EDIT: There are several broken links, and I am sorry. It is not my post, and it looks as though some pages have been moved.

100 Awesome High Resolution Photoshop Brushes: "Let’s dive today into a sea of brushes. Hundreds of thousands of sets are lying undiscovered like pirate treasures all over the web. Due to this phenomenally vast amount of Photoshop brushes available, directories are becoming very popular lately.

Designers are collecting them like mad. Not to mention that finding the most unique or bizarre set is a must.

And believe me, in this case, size does matter… So, here’s my contribution to all the Photoshop brushes starving hordes of designers and artists, including myself: 100 Awesome High Resolution Photoshop Brushes. And don’t forget to check the list of brushes sites and directories at the end of the article!"

Traditional marketing meets SEO science : Read this

Last night some folks were asking me what I think of social media and new media directions. I told them that I think if you aren't embracing at least some of it, your business will ultimately wither and die. Harsh? Yeah, so sue me... they asked and I told them. Get to know this stuff... and ADD it to what you already know about marketing. Then today I see this article... take a moment and have a read.

Traditional marketing meets SEO science - Search and Internet Marketing rants, news and views - the Fire Horse Trail: "Traditional Marketers have a NIGHTMARE measuring ROI

Previous generations of marketers were limited regarding the availability of information at their disposal, trying to justify advertising budgets when measuring the return on that nightmare investment was not my favoured task!

The adage: 'You’ve got to spend money to make money' - Could have been more honest in saying: 'You’ve got to risk losing money to possibly make money'. -- Now that we have a chance to operate as marketers online, with all the tools and information at our disposal, should we not take advantage of this?"

Developing Creative Ideas at A List Apart

I don't care what type of creative endeavors you are interested in and are pursuing, there are times when you need to relight that pilot... pull it out. This is a really good article that every creative should read.

A List Apart: Articles: Saving the Spark: Developing Creative Ideas: "Ideas. They’re at the heart of every creative process. However, almost no really good ideas are flashes of inspiration. They may start that way—a single glimmer of something special—but in order to work, they need to be honed. Like a really good cheese, they need to mature. Indeed, the “flash of inspiration” idea—the Eureka moment—is only part of a longer process that, if ignored, will see most ideas simply fizzle out.

So, how do you “have” ideas? Sit about and wait for them to pop into your head? If only most of us had the luxury to do so. No, for most of us, ideas have to be squeezed out of us every day. To stand up to this challenge, you need to arm yourself with some good tools."

LIGHTING ESSENTIALS : Free Desktops

Here are some free desktops with calendars for February.

Portable Lighting | LIGHTING ESSENTIALS : For Photographers: "The workshops have changed a lot since we started, and now they are right where it makes sense for them. I concentrate on lighting, but we also discuss the other realities of shooting subjects from portrait to fashion. Posing, handling a shoot, staying in control, shooting for post and more."

Textures from 2experts Design

The use of textures in photography and photographic illustration is getting to be more popular. From blending whole textures to simply using a little in a subtle way, textures can liven up shots in many ways.

Here's a great collection of cardboard textures for download.

2experts Design - Web Design and Graphic Design Blog: "The cardboard textures effects are a hot trend right now in the Web design. There have been several sites lately that incorporate cardboard texture in the design in some way or another. Adding cardboard texture objects to a design can definitely give it an artistic and realistic appearance when done well.

Here are some of the best cardboard textures that can be found on the web."

Here are more cardboard textures for downloading and using.

Six Revisions has a great collection.

PSD Fan has a tutorial on using cardboard as a design source.

And if you are looking for a cool Wordpress Theme to showcase your cardboard textured images, check out Absynthe. Nice. Very nice.

BittBox has some nice neutral tone textures as well.

Cool Photoshop Horizontal Type Mask Tool

Nicely done, concise little tutorial on creating a cool type effect.

Photoshop Horizontal Type Mask Tool: "Photoshop Horizontal Type Mask Tool

This Photoshop Video Tutorial dives right into and demonstrates how to use the Horizontal Type Mask Tool! Jack Franklin shows how to create some really easy but really cool effects."

"I am guessing that copying a world class photographer ain't all that easy..."

Mark Seliger has a, uh... a fan, I suppose.

A Photo Editor - Mark Seliger Rip Off: "Obviously simply copying an idea and setup doesn’t come close to making a picture work but it’s interesting to see how difficult it is in the comparison. The rigid attention to detail in Mark’s work really comes out here."

So You're a Good Photographer. So???

Think about this. Our domain of expertise is getting more level every day. From entry level cameras to free Photoshop on the internet, the domain of being a photographer is getting a little crowded.

So what if you are a 'good' photographer? Are you a remarkable photographer? Are you an amazing photographer? Do you even know the difference between being good at the process and having content that delights? Better find out quick. Read it all...

Seth's Blog: What are you good at?: "What are you good at?

As you consider marketing yourself for your next gig, consider the difference between process and content.

Content is domain knowledge. People you know or skills you've developed. Playing the piano or writing copy about furniture sales. A rolodex of movers in a given industry, or your ability to compute stress ratios in your head.

Domain knowledge is important, but it's (often) easily learnable."

February Desktops with and without Calendar.

February Desktops with and without Calendar.
Originally uploaded by Wizwow

Smashing Magazine is featuring Desktops you can download and use... here is my entry.

There are more at Lighting Essentials, a place for photographers.
www.lighting-essentials.com
Choose the tag "desktop"

Ansel Adams knew about Flickr?

Quote Mr. Adams:

”I have often thought that if photography were difficult in the true sense of the term — meaning that the creation of a simple photograph would entail as much time and effort as the production of a good watercolor or etching — there would be a vast improvement in total output. The sheer ease with which we can produce a superficial image often leads to creative disaster.”

More Photographer Quotes Here:

Famous Photographer Quotes | XposurePro | Digital Photography Tips: "It’s Friday and a lot of you are anxious to grab your cameras and head out for the weekend. Before you do, take a moment to read these quotes from some of the greatest photographers the world has known. Then think about them while you are out shooting and see what inspiration they can bring you"

13 Online Free Web Apps That You Would Really Love To Use - Opensource, Free and Useful Online Resources for Designers and Developers

13 Online Free Web Apps That You Would Really Love To Use - Opensource, Free and Useful Online Resources for Designers and Developers: "Today, we are publishing another list of 13 online free web based applications that are very helpful for you to process your daily work (Part 3). Whether you are designer, developer, office worker, manager, supervisor, student, home user, etc. But we make sure to add something interesting for everyone. Most of them are not very well-known, but they are really amazing in respect to their features. Just take a look at them and share your thought here."

New Yorker: Platon Photographs the Ball Scene

Nice shots. Such ordinary, regular people.

Portraits from the Obama inaugural balls: Audio Slide Show: Multimedia: The New Yorker: "In the February 2, 2009, issue of the magazine, Platon photographs the guests and performers at the inaugural balls. Here is a selection of his images."

I love Platon's work. This is really cool.

Model Art: Helena Christensen Paints a Pretty Picture - BlackBook

Nice work.

Model Art: Helena Christensen Paints a Pretty Picture - BlackBook: "She is blessed with the ability to transmit beauty from either side of the camera, dates a rock star, and is one of the biggest models in the world. But Helena Christensen is not above life’s petty annoyances. “Oh my god, I just spent 10 minutes in a cab that was playing one long, new-age jazz fusion number,” she says, her piercing green eyes fiery with rage, as she strides into Dactyl Foundation gallery to discuss her current photography show “Far From, Close” (up until the end of January; she's pictured above with Dactyl's Neil Grayson). “It was a live concert, so people were yelling and clapping the whole way through. It was so bad, I literally wanted to leave the cab.” After that harrowing journey from her West Village digs, the Danish beauty, dressed head-to-toe in black, sits down to chat and notices her fly is down. “I’m always doing that!” she says with a laugh."

"In a Silent Way" - Miles Davis for $2

Seriously.
At least for today.

Social Media Will Change in 2009

Yes it will. Are you ready?

10 Ways Social Media Will Change in 2009 - ReadWriteWeb: "Meaning and connection -- two key anchors of all things social media -- are corroding by the day as people's ability to organize their experiences and find the relevance of their networks declines. Social media, in essence, is bumping up against its own ceiling, no longer able to serve the needs of those living within its walls; and for these reasons, social media as we know it is changing course."

Briana discovers original wireless trigger and chooses to blind Wizwow again and again

Don an Briana teamed up again for Lighting Essentials Workshop
Originally uploaded by Just Fab

Just mean... in fact, typing this with those spots in my eyes is difficult.

$200 Laptops Break a Business Model - NYTimes.com

Kinda like what I been saying for about 4 years now. Things change, nothing is static and the synergistic connections may not even be realized to be real.

$200 Laptops Break a Business Model - NYTimes.com: "“We’ve reached one of those moments in tech history when there are low-priced and free alternatives that are both user-friendly and reliable enough to make the switch,” Mr. Title said. “Then there’s the extra bonus of saving some cash.”"

OT? And These People Want to Lead Us All...

I live in Phoenix. It gets hot here. It gets damn hot here. Today is January 26 and I am going for a walk in shorts and a t-shirt.

We had a bunch of people, the kind who know sooooo much more than the rest of us, tell us that we need a light rail system. Gotta have it. We are the Government, we know what you need. Now.

We spent 1.5 BILLION dollars on a train that runs from Mesa to downtown Phoenix. Actually, it runs through downtown to the moderate west side near a mall named Chris Town.

It takes a stop near where all the Gubment bildings are too.

So - and this is cool....

1. They have no way of knowing if anyone purchased a ticket. There is no turnstyle or ticket verification.
2. Students from ASU and Government wonks ride free, or with public money subsidization. That means the train could conceivably run at huge capacity while making no revenue, just taking revenue to pay for the student and government riders.
3. No Shade. The platforms are in the sun. No covers. Lawsuit waiting to happen.
4. No water fountains... Platform in the sun in 118 degree sun, no water.
   
5. No restrooms. None. Not on the trains, not on the platforms. ADA lawsuit right around the corner on that one.
6. While you can tether your bicycle, you cannot tether your wheelchair... instead, you have to hang on for dear life.
7. It takes nearly an hour and a half to go from Mesa to Christown (I believe that is 28 miles... maybe a bit more... so we can leave out convenience.
8. No parking near stations. Yes, that's right. There are Metro Stations with no parking.
   

I guess you just gotta walk to the station in the 118 degree heat with no water but that's ok because we can just ride for free.

These people really believe they are the smartest among us.

BTW, Arizona is 1.5 Billion in the hole. If that number sounds familiar, read above.

Hayley at the Lighting Essentials Workshop: Phoenix, AZ, Saturday, January 24, 2009

Hayley at the Lighting Essentials Workshop: Phoenix, AZ, Saturday, January 24, 2009
Originally uploaded by Wizwow

One of the shots we set up for the Lighting Essentials Workshop yesterday. Hayley is a stunning subject for this single light image. Students were amazed at how fast this shot came together after knowing how to modify light.

Don Stevenson Photography: A New Website

Don Stevenson Photography: A New Website
Originally uploaded by Wizwow

We just finished doing the prelaunch of my friend Don Stevenson's new web site. It is a SEO heavy site as Don gets about 60% of his inquiries and business off of the internet.

Don has been working the net to his advantage for many years. We built a site for him several years ago and when it came time for a redo, he came back to me. I am glad to have worked with him on this... and the site will be very, very popular with his clients and visitors. It is easy, fast and has a ton of great fun information that will both entertain and drive searches to his site.

Online Identity Calculator

You should know this stuff...

Online Identity Calculator

Congratulations. You are digitally distinct!
This is the nirvana of online identity. A search of your name yields lots of results about you, and most, if not all, reinforce your unique personal brand. Keep up the good work, and remember that your Google results can change as fast as the weather in New England. So, regularly monitor your online identity. That way, if something negative, such as an anonymous ad hominem attack on your character on a blog, crops up, you can address it quickly, before it gets out of hand. Read Chapter 11 of Career Distinction: Stand Out by Building Your Brand for more ideas on how to continue to build your brand online."

14 Golden Tips for Beating the Freelancer Blues - FreelanceSwitch - The Freelance Blog

Quite a good read. Think about it before throwing yourself off a bridge. Hmmm... sounds like a good idea... a clean up crew for taking care of those who throw themselves off bridges. Silver lining?

14 Golden Tips for Beating the Freelancer Blues - FreelanceSwitch - The Freelance Blog: "Freelancers, like their artist and writer predecessors, such as Vincent Van Gogh or Virginia Woolf, may be prone to depression, starving, and self-obsessing. To combat the freelancer blues, you need to schedule some sunshine into your calendar."

Free Image Gallery, Slideshows

This is a wonderful list... check it out.

57+ Free Image Gallery, Slideshow And Lightbox Solutions | 1stwebdesigner - Love In Design: "Actually at first I wanted simple image gallery solution for web design project, but when I started to search I changed my mind and thought how great would be to create article about all the best image gallery solutions available on the Internet. So here it is - this list is separated in 3 big categories like Ajax, JavaScript and Lightbox based galleries, CSS based galleries and FLASH based galleries, so You can easy switch to category You got interest in. I think here You’ll find gallery for every needs, should be enough to choose from!"

Read This: Today

Get Paid. Keep your chin up and do not lower your rates to panic rates. Just don't.

Pay the Designer! | 8164: "Just how much should we charge? I can’t answer that with a $ figure. However, I can only humbly suggest do not go lower than what your typical rate was during the good times. Instead of thinking if you should charge less, I recommend offering more comprehensive services. In doing so, you can even charge more."

20 Hot Client Industries That Hire Freelancers - FreelanceSwitch - The Freelance Blog

Read it. Print it. Learn it. Seems well documented and pretty cool.

20 Hot Client Industries That Hire Freelancers - FreelanceSwitch - The Freelance Blog: "With the coming recession, I get a lot of questions about whether it will be increasingly difficult for freelancers to get new clients and, more importantly, projects that pay appropriately.

Over the past eight months, the following industries have proved extremely lucrative for freelancers. I categorize them into Spheres."

The Beauty Of Urban Decay | Smashing Magazine

Wonderful post at Smashing Magazine... one of my favorite blogs.

The Beauty Of Urban Decay | Inspiration | Smashing Magazine: "The city is a fantastic source of beauty and inspiration, with all the glitz and glamour glistening beneath the city lights. But there is another side of the city altogether, one rife with its own kind of allure. Across the tracks, away from the dazzle of downtown, lies a darker imagination, this one looking to grunge-ridden, dilapidated architecture for inspiration. There is a beauty that pervades this kind of urban decay and captured wonderfully through a photographer’s well-trained eye. These industrial city scenes are wonderfully dark and offer a glimpse of the weathered face beneath the city facade."

From the Travel Archive: Nick Onken Photography

Here is a great little post with some wonderful travel photographs. Nick Onken is a favorite photographer of mine. Take a look

nickonkenShoptalk: From the Travel Archive: "As some of you may know, I'm writing a travel photography book for Random House. It's quite a venture, and I'm now pulling together an edit for the book. It's fun to go through the archives because there are images that my eye didn't catch the first time, and some that I've forgotten I had. Thought I'd post up a few."

Would Life Be Easier if You Weren’t A Designer? :: Positive Space Blog

Uh, As compared to what? Dishwasher? Probably. Brain Surgeon? Naw... nobody dies if the leading ain't all that great... ya know.

» Would Life Be Easier if You Weren’t A Designer? :: Positive Space Blog: "At one point I had an entrepreneurship professor ask me why I would ever want to be a designer. His rationale was that at any moment in my career I could be replaced by a kid that knew Photoshop or inDesign better than me for half the price. His statement at the time really got to me and almost led to me pursuing a career in sales. It took me some time to see the flaw in his argument and realize that he had no idea about what being a designer really meant, even though he employed a number of them himself. This event and the following concerns had me really pondering if a career in design was right for me"

David Kelley on Fast Company

Good read. Take a moment and read it all.

A Designer Takes on His Biggest Challenge Ever | Fast Company: "Some students seem a little mystified, as they twirl noodles around their chop sticks. What does a 'ramen experience' have to do with design? Better packaging? Curlier noodles? Adding a cute little forky thing to the cheap staple of dorm rooms everywhere?

Kelley, a lanky guy with a bald head, a Groucho Marx mustache, and a heartland-bred affability, tackles the mystery head on: 'I was sitting at a big dinner in Pacific Heights recently, and I told my hostess I was a designer. 'Oh,' she said. 'So what do you think of my curtains?' ' That, Kelley says, is not where we're going.

'You're sitting here today because we moved from thinking of ourselves as designers to thinking of ourselves as design thinkers,' he continues. 'What we, as design thinkers, have, is this creative confidence that, when given a difficult problem, we have a methodology that enables us to come up with a solution that nobody has before.'"

So Do You REALLY Need that Annual Ad?

This is a nice little kick in the traditional marketings ass. I have been saying this for years. Traditional marketing is NOT for everyone. (Not sure it works for lots of different areas, but there are some places that will hold on and do well. For now.) Denny's spending three million dollars on a SuperBowl Ad is non-sensical to me.

How about a photographer who is experiencing some downturn in business. Does an annual placement of $16K for a couple of pages - and it won't come out for several months - really gonna do anything for his business? Really?

I think there are so many other things that could be done as photographers that spending that kind of money on annual placement is stupid. Now, there are some super-shooters who can consider it a price of doing business at that level, but if you are a struggling product shooter in a medium sized town... it's nuts.

Take some time and think about things you could do that would make more sense with your time and effort to get local work and local buzz.

Andy Sernovitz's Damn, I Wish I'd Thought of That!: A Super Bowl ad is not what you need: "Denny’s traffic is down 8.8% for the quarter. So they're going to buy a SuperBowl ad.

This isn't going to work.

Everyone knows Denny’s. They have 90% top-of-mind brand awareness. There is nothing you can say in 30 seconds that will make a single person decide to jump up and run to a Denny’s."

Office Inspiration

My offices always lean toward the tightly confined artistic messes variety. I really enjoy seeing how others work. This little post will entertain you and probably give you some great ideas.

2experts Design - Web Design and Graphic Design Blog: "An inspiration once you’ve decided to jazz up your work environment."

Interesting Things to Make You Think

2009 January | la pura vida: "“Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent” - Jim Jarmusch
Posted by bryanf on January 14, 2009."

Filed Under: About Damn Time

Attaboy Patrick.

Photographer Patrick Cariou Sues Richard Prince for Copyright Infringement: "French photographer Patrick Cariou has filed a lawsuit over a series of Prince collage paintings that were displayed recently at the Gagosian Gallery in New York. Cariou claims Prince’s “Canal Zone” series illegally borrows photographs from his book Yes Rasta.

Throughout his career, Prince has used borrowed images in his artwork. He has occasionally drawn criticism from photographers whose images he has used without permission, but no photographer has ever sued him.

Cariou filed a suit in a U.S. federal court in December against Prince, the Gagosian Gallery, gallery owner Lawrence Gagosian and book publisher Rizzoli, which handled a book connected to the gallery show.

The suit accuses all parties of copyright infringement and seeks unspecified damages. It also asks to have the unsold paintings and books impounded or destroyed, and for the plaintiffs to notify owners of sold paintings that it is illegal to display the work."

Be thinking about this: But don't think too hard

I know two companies that are raising prices just a bit. They have a premium product and they are adding some wonderful value-adds and finding some success.

Kausfiles: "An idea so crazy it just might be crazy! Facing an economic slowdown, possible deflation, declining readership and competition that gives away its product for free, the Los Angeles Times raises newsstand prices 50%. .... 12:42 P.M."

I think that cutting prices may not be the best way to move forward. Maybe add some more value, or find a way to deliver what you have in more ways that people want.

But in the case of Old Media... well, they didn't get it, they don't get it, they never will get it... cause they gonna be gone soon.

To think this is a smart move shows how stupid they really are. And to think, Angelinos get their news from these folks. Yeah, I think I'll be checking out their advice for weathering the storm. Better do it soon though, cause they won't be here on the other side.

Point is for photographers and designers... be standing on the other side. Be standing and ready to rock. It will be back and we must be ready - not working at Home Depot with the editors of the LA Times.

Natural Light: On The Edge

Portable Lighting | LIGHTING ESSENTIALS : For Photographers: "Our Natural Light Assignment this week is a lot of fun and so easy to do. You only need a model or subject, a camera and lens, and a setting sun. And maybe a building or two… your call.

These shots were taken in downtown Phoenix at a fun group shoot we were doing at a place called “Boo’s Warehouse.” We had some motorcycles and old cars and such. It was a lot of fun and I wanted to do some very simple shots with the direct light and the soft shadow line light we were getting.

As the sun gets lower and lower on the horizon, it starts to throw a softer edge to the light. I like to use that edge as a great place to shoot."

The Panic Of '08: The Lost Decade

Well, this is certainly the zeitgeist of the moment isn't it? We all scrude!!! It'll take decades to bring it back! We all skrude! Worst economy since the Great Depression. WeBScrewed!

Bullshit.

But still it is a bad time for a lot of folks.

The Panic Of '08: The Lost Decade: "So, let's remember what's passed in between, now that the last eleven years have been, financially speaking, wiped clean."

I have a few things that I will be doing to 'weather the storm' so to speak.

1. I will not spend a nickel on Hollywood movies at the theaters. Just not worth it. They make crap like they have done for the past couple of decades, but now spend millions making starlets hang in the sky while kicking people all around her. Yawn.
   
2. We are going to open the studio up to creatives and those who need a place without spending a ton of dough for it. Kind of a 'creative space' for designers/photographers/illustrators and writers. No more wasted space.
3. Limiting myself to only purchasing music that I really think I will be listening to in a few months. That means Jazz, Classical and Opera to me. Listening to last years Beyonce is simply painful.
4. Organize. Quite simply organize. Get files where I want them. Have things at my fingertips. Too much time wasted looking for something I should have at my digital fingertips.
5. Use video conferencing, Skype and Adobe meetings more. A lot more.
6. SEO the hell out of everything I do. Expand the reach of Lighting Essentials.
7. Clarify what I want to shoot and design. No more wasted shoots 'for fun.' Still will be doing shoots for fun, but they will be dead on to what I am trying to do.
8. Video tape every shoot I do from this date forward. I want a record of what I am doing. Will not forget ever again to video the shoot.
9. Create some integral partners to help get folks who need some guidance. A group of people helping people may get more synergy going.
10. Redouble my efforts at creating value for my clients. Whether design clients or photography clients, I want the clients we have to absolutely not even think about using someone else.

These things are pretty simple.

However, I will spend. I will buy things that are of value to me. I think that will be the only way out of this problem. And the problem may be that there is too much value placed on crap. A simplification shouldn't result in a lot of pain. Can I live without this years iTouch? Yeah, sure. I can. Wish I had 32Gig, but maybe I will have to be a little more judicious in what I put on it for a while. Bye bye, Beyonce.

I believe that the American people have the ability to pull this thing out. Government put us here. Government that is made up of elitists who vote pay raises for themselves and ask us to 'pay more' and 'share the pain' and 'sacrifice.' One of the silliest and insipidly dangerous of the current situation is that we are being 'led' by people who have no contact with what is real.

Our new first lady believes that "$600 wouldn't buy a decent pair of earrings" and congress believes that borrowing 1.5Trillion will stimulate something... yeah, more misery they can then offer to lessen... in exchange for more power.

Will we give it to them? Yeah, probably. Unfortunately.

Super. We can be like France soon. Cool.

Do you have any goals for this year?

With all the doom and gloom out there, and have you noticed they all are hawking a book or website, there may be no thought to growth. Simply staying up with it could be the goal for a lot of people.

That's not good enough. You gotta get your head around some goals.

Seth Godin has a little post to get you thinking about making some definitive points in the upcoming year or two.

Ever had a bad day? Gary Vaynerchuk tells us how he handled his.

Gary Vaynerchuk's video today really rocks. If you can see and hear what he is saying, that will be very powerful.

How do you handle negativity. I had an incident this year where I had to respond very quickly... and as it was I was still slow out of the gate. The internet can make wingnuts valid for some reason, and it seems like you may have to work even harder to counter 'stupid' than ever before.

I make Gary's site a must visit for my business. I hope you like his info and I love his style.

So wrong on so many levels...

And yet it does have a ring of truth in it. NOTE: I was sent this on my FaceBook and am merely passing it on. For, uh, research purposes only.

Top Ten Model Mayhem Lists I Haven't Made Yet
1. Thank God I Didn't Shoot This Fucking Photo
2. Who Says A Cell Phone Can't Be A Camera?
3. You Have a Pretty Decent Port For A Waitress at Hooters
4. Just Because You're Color Blind Remember That The Rest of Us Aren't
5. Thanks To You I Want To Punch My Lasik Surgeon In The Mouth
6. Gollum & Frodo Share A Tender Moment
7. Oh, How Unfortunate
8. TFP Includes Arby's On Me, Seriously
9. It's Funny You Don't Do Gay Porn Because As Soon As I Saw Your Port I Thought "Gay Porn"
10. You Broke Photoshop!!!!

See what I mean?

Visualville: Go To Tombstone, Young Man

This will be a rockin' good time.

Visualville: A Photographers Resource: "You'll also have the opportunity to work in a casual classroom setting alongside one of the best print makers and Photoshop teachers in the Southwest, Steve Burger. I've known both of these talented men for many years and they get my highest recommendation.

A chance to capture great images in one of the West's most romantic destinations and leave with a great print! Photo workshops don't get any better than that! For more info or to sign up click here."

Spires of Ultimate Death. Well... not really. Just some Agave plants in a parking lot. I liked the lines and the background. And laying on pavement is something I just like to do.

Spires of Ultimate Death. Well... not really. Just some Agave plants in a parking lot. I liked the lines and the background. And laying on pavement is something I just like to do.
Originally uploaded by Wizwow

Agave Succulents in the desert town of Winkleman, Arizona.

Picasa Finally Hits The Mac: This Is Pretty Cool

I love Picasa. Now that it is ready for the Mac, it will make a big impact. If you haven't worked with it, take a look and be amazed that it is free and powerful.

Picasa Finally Hits The Mac, Squares Off With iPhoto: "Picasa, the popular free photo management software made by Google, has finally made its way to the Mac. The application has long been noticeably absent on the Macintosh - especially given the fact that it has been available for Linux (which typically lags behind Macs and Windows) since 2006. It’s also a direct competitor to Apple’s long running iPhoto product, which has come with all new Macs for years. So how does it stack up?

In my brief testing the application seems to be very snappy (much faster than iPhoto), though it lacks the sleek look of Apple’s products. Photos import quickly, effects are easy to find and apply, and most things are intuitive, though the folder browsing can be a little confusing. It might not be as pretty as iPhoto, but I won’t be surprised if power-users make the switch (or at least consider it)."

Photojojo: Get JPG Mag News

And a Link to every JPG Mag in one Zipped file. Cool, but get it ASAP.

Photojojo: "New Year’s Day brought crummy news: JPG Magazine is calling it quits."

So True!

21 Dragons » Future Past Tense: "Future Past Tense

If you look to the past to live your present, your future can never be anything more than a repeat of history."

Michaila on the road near Maricopa, Arizona. No ice for miles around, and she wants to practice her Lutz, or, uh... Axel? That's gotta hurt.

Michaila on the road near Maricopa, Arizona. No ice for miles around, and she wants to practice her Lutz, or, uh... Axel? That's gotta hurt.
Originally uploaded by Wizwow

My Favorite Things: John Coltrane... for a buck!

You gotta get this one NOW. If you don't have this amazing album, you can save yourself from the embarrassmant of not having heard Trane play for under a buck. One of the worlds best musicians ever and a seminal album. Get it.

Amazon.com: My Favorite Things: MP3 Downloads: John Coltrane: "My Favorite Things
by John Coltrane
Price: $0.99
Album Savings: $0.99 compared to buying all songs"

I have no idea what this means, but shouldn't someone be held accountable?

This is just, well... it is just strange. Stranger yet is that it is reported as some kind of news. How has your life been enhanced by this knowledge? Me? Well, not so much. But then, I am rethinking that whole Grand Canyon trip...

Suicides in national parks increase in 2008 - Yahoo! News: "'It's some place where, toward the end of someone's life, when they're feeling a total sense of despondency, they want to return to a place of natural beauty ... for their final moments,' Suddath said.

Park officials estimate people made more than 274 million visits to the country's 391 national park units last year. The vast majority are intent on seeing breathtaking vistas, wildlife in its natural habitat or places where history was made, such as the Gettysburg battlefield. A troubled few came to end their lives."

Change your pricing?

Another thought provoking message from Seth Godin. Some things that we carve in stone would be better off sketched in pencil... ya know?

Seth's Blog: Change your pricing: "If you're a copywriter or masseuse or other sort of freelancer, how many retainer clients do you need to relax and spend more time on the work, less on the billing/looking part? What happens when an artist does this?"

Life Coaches Blog: Personal Atrophy?

Sometimes it takes a bit more than a perfect portfolio. Which toolset are you using from this article. Excellent thoughts, for sure.

Personal Atrophy for Foolish People | Life Coaches Blog: "When you combine the principles, you get the secondary principles of personal development; Truth combined with Love gives you Oneness, Love and Power combine to give you Courage and Truth with Power gives you Authority. All together, the six principles combine to give you the seventh core principle of personal development: Intelligence.

Steve says that these core principles are universal and cannot be broken down into smaller chunks. I’ve been thinking that if these truly are the core principles of personal development, then their inverse should also be true."

In search of competition: Seth Has Great Insight for Photographers

Instead of focusing on everyone else, focus on yourself as if they are all focusing on you... get it?

Seth's Blog: In search of competition: "The only way to enjoy competition is to have something different, or better, or something that scales. You need to offer a community that increases in value as it scales, or a unique perspective or technology.

Compare Amazon to the folks that make the Invisible Fence® dog containment system. They hate competition. In my experience, they have really high prices, nasty policies and a take-it-or-leave-it attitude. That's okay, as long as you really don't have a choice--you need a system like this, and they have it. If there were a transparent market for this product, they'd fail in a heartbeat.

Of course, nothing lasts forever, and competition does show up. Then what?

If you run your restaurant knowing that there are dozens of other restaurants on your block, things will be easier when in fact there are other restaurants down the block."