FT.com / Arts / Music - Is classical music trying to be fashionable?

FT.com / Arts / Music - Is classical music trying to be fashionable?
“We’ve been slow to recognise what a radical departure this is,” says Sir Nicholas Kenyon, managing director of London’s Barbican Centre. “What people are choosing from is far more random and wide-ranging than in the past. The sheer availability of it all makes people insecure because they no longer turn to a single source to dictate their taste.” One positive result of this trend is that music with no connection to the long-familiar classical tradition can enjoy a new success, as the 12th-century composer Hildegard of Bingen has done. But there’s also a flash-in-the-pan effect, through the internet and television, that can turn any kind of music into a sudden hit. It has included an amateur opera singer winning the first Britain’s Got Talent competition, a blind soprano securing a recording contract on the back of her success in Operatunity and a comedian conducting a professional orchestra at the Proms, as Sue Perkins did last year after winning Maestro, another television talent contest.

Bursting the Higher Ed Bubble - THE WEEK

Yeah. I been saying that for years.

Bursting the Higher Ed Bubble - THE WEEK: "

• Over the past quarter-century, the average cost of higher education has risen at a rate four times faster than inflation—twice as fast as the cost of health care.
• Tuition, room, and board at private colleges can cost $50,000 per year or more.
• The market crash of 2008 inflicted terrible damage on college endowments. The Commonfund Institute reports that endowments dropped by an average of 23 percent in the five months ending Nov. 30, 2008.

Authors Joseph Cronin and Howard Horton (respectively a past Massachusetts secretary of Education and the president of the New England College of Business and Finance) comment:

“The middle class, which has paid for higher education in the past mainly by taking out loans, may now be precluded from doing so as the private student-loan market has all but dried up. In addition, endowment cushions that allowed colleges to engage in steep tuition discounting are gone. Declines in housing valuations are making it difficult for families to rely on home-equity loans for college financing. Even when the equity is there, parents are reluctant to further leverage themselves into a future where job security is uncertain.

Consumers who have questioned whether it is worth spending $1,000 a square foot for a home are now asking whether it is worth spending"

In Fashion Magazines, Retouching Stirs a Backlash - NYTimes.com

Woohoo... Peter Lindbergh rocks. I love that guy.

In Fashion Magazines, Retouching Stirs a Backlash - NYTimes.com: "No one could reasonably argue that Gwyneth Paltrow’s skin is indeed made of Silly Putty, as it appeared to be on the May 2008 cover of Vogue, or that Jessica Simpson’s body comes with only one hip, though her left one was suspiciously missing on last September’s cover of Elle, or wonder how the shape of Reese Witherspoon’s chin, dimples and eye color could change so drastically from her angelic Marie Claire appearance in February 2008 to her polished Vogue cover in November to her kittenish Elle pose this April.

Some popular blogs have made a sport of identifying egregious cases of Photoshop abuse, but the degree to which changes are made is rarely disclosed (and usually only when a magazine is caught). But as retouching has become more blatant and bizarre, sometimes resulting in bodies that defy the natural boundaries of human anatomy, a debate over photo manipulation has spilled into public view, with Mr. Lindbergh, one of the world’s most famous image makers, leading the charge against the practice."

Polaroid Lovers Try to Revive Its Instant Film - NYTimes.com

Interesting. Very interesting.

Polaroid Lovers Try to Revive Its Instant Film - NYTimes.com:
"The digital storm, Mr. Kaps says, has left analog opportunity in its wake. “If everyone runs in one direction, it creates a niche market in the other,” he said.

Marta Bukowska, a partner in Basic Model Management in New York, said that digital cameras had entirely displaced Polaroid for the workaday tasks of scouting talent, pitching clients, and beginning a photo shoot. About 18 months ago, the agency stopped using Polaroids regularly because digital is much less expensive, but still gets requests to capture that “high-quality, old-fashioned look” with a genuine instant photo.

“It used to be something you use for a lighting test,” Ms. Bukowska said. “Now it is the art itself.”"

RED ALERT: Did anti-Obama campaign contributions dictate which Chrysler dealers were shuttered?

Ya think?

RED ALERT: Did anti-Obama campaign contributions dictate which Chrysler dealers were shuttered?:
"Chrysler claimed that its formula for determining whether a dealership should close or not included 'sales volume, customer service scores, local market share and average household income in the immediate area.'

In fact, there may have been other criteria involved: politics may have played a part. If this data can be validated, it would appear to be further proof that the Obama administration is willing to step over any line to advance its agenda.

It bodes poorly for America and the rule of law."

16 Twitter Tips for Small Business Owners | ploked.com

Good points for social media marketers... and those that should be.

16 Twitter Tips for Small Business Owners | ploked.com:
"Whether you love the concept of Twitter, or hate the idea of Twitter, if your business is not taking advantage of this opportunity, you are only hurting yourself. Yes, Twitter may not be a marketing method right for every type of business, but at the very least you should explore the potential Twitter opportunity.

Twitter is a great resource for smaller or sole proprietorship businesses to get exposure on a world-wide level with a minimal investment (time). While you may be timid to jump into Twitter pool with your business, don’t worry, everything will be ok…there are lifeguards nearby to help you out should you get in trouble."

New Nikon D4.1 Digital SLR to be Announced This Week - Photo Tips @ Earthbound Light

Well, yes... there is that.

New Nikon D4.1 Digital SLR to be Announced This Week - Photo Tips @ Earthbound Light:
"Fears that Nikon might use a plastic film rewind coupling fork in the D4.1 rather than the metal version used on so called 'professional bodies' has also worried some reviewers even though this seems unlikely since digital cameras don't use film."

Can you believe it? New Yorker cover done on iPhone app.

Here we go...

Can you believe it? New Yorker cover done on iPhone app.:
"Colombo told the New York Times he loves the app because it 'made it easy for me to sketch without having to carry all my pens and brushes and notepads with me, and I like the fact that I am drawing with a set of tools that anybody can have easily in their pocket.'

This video will show you a stroke by stroke look at how the cover was created."

Jesse's New Mexico Workshop

Jesse did this great little video during the yacht shoot at the Girls of Rocky Point Calendar and Lighting Essentials workshop shoot.

Girls of Rocky Point aboard the Amelia Rose from Jesse Hoekstra on Vimeo.

FontJazz - Embed fonts on web pages

This is pretty cool. I am going to check it out next week on a project.

FontJazz - Embed fonts on web pages:
"FontJazz is a tiny typographic engine written in JavaScript, enabling webdesigners and developers to use any typeface on a website!

FontJazz does not take the usual road, where an image is generated on the server-side, for every headline - an approach that is rather ineffective."

Thoughts on “The photography-integrated-into-life method” | la pura vida

Posted without comment.

Thoughts on “The photography-integrated-into-life method” | la pura vida:
"Put simply, I don’t think the fine art photography establishment has much respect for this photographic philosophy or method (look at the general derision toward street photography and family photography for example). I know plenty of studious, intelligent photographers out there who treat photography as a way of life and don’t have any sort of fine art ambition."

Millionaires Go Missing - WSJ.com

Well, duh!

Millionaires Go Missing - WSJ.com:
"All of this means that the burden of paying for bloated government in Annapolis will fall on the middle class. Thanks to the futility of soaking the rich, these working families will now pay Mr. O'Malley's 'fair share.'"

How to promote a new small business website | Small Business Trends

This is a well done case study.

How to promote a new small business website | Small Business Trends:
"It’s true what Lisa Barone wrote: Now is the best time to start a small business. And if you do, chances are good that you’ll build a web site and use the Internet to help grow your business. Heck, the web site and Internet might actually be your business.

Either way, the hard work is only beginning when your web site is done. That’s when the marketing and promotion kicks in. How would you do that? How would you spread the word about your new small business and web site?"

30 Creative And Eye-Catching Web Designer Portfolios | 1stwebdesigner - Love In Design

I would love to see some photographers working along these lines... you know. Doing something different than rows of thumbnails to chase down.

30 Creative And Eye-Catching Web Designer Portfolios | 1stwebdesigner - Love In Design:
"This time I wanted to showcase and promote web design companies or web designers with extremely creative portfolios as well as own showcase sites. With Internet possibilities now many designers showcase their works on their online portfolios, I could never stop to list portfolios. There are tons more creative sites available, but I tried to select the best picks of my own choice. I also believe these sites and screenshots can present also current design trends."

SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources » Blog Archive » 11 Things Every Successful Website Need

Take notes, people.

SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources » Blog Archive » 11 Things Every Successful Website Need:
"So you’ve put together a spectacular website, and you’re ready to go live on the Internet for the whole world to see. Not so fast there Bucky. In case you didn’t know, there are a few essential requirements that every site needs to include in order to be successful.

Let’s review, shall we:"

Why I Eat a Frog for Breakfast | ploked.com

Yesss!!! I have been doing this and it works. I didn't think of it as a frog, but I know that getting stuff done ad ready first thing in the morning... I have more unstressful time to do things uninterruptedly. And I may have made a couple of those words up.

Why I Eat a Frog for Breakfast | ploked.com:
"Do you procrastinate on your social media tasks? Is it a task you dread each day because you may very well end up down some rabbit hole and end up wasting a few hours before you knew what happened? Maybe you are a one person crew who squeezes in social media time throughout the day when you can? Or are you more systematic in your approach and set aside a slot of time each day to handle your social media tasks?

Do you view social media as one of the most difficult tasks of your day? Or do you often find yourself procrastinating on writing that blog post, responding to messages on social networks, or any other social media task that needs to be completed?"

Creation on Command § SEEDMAGAZINE.COM

Creativity is one of the least understood of man's abilities. Here's a glimpse into the ongoing investigations of what makes us creative.

Creation on Command § SEEDMAGAZINE.COM:
"But how does such an act of imagination happen? How does the mind create on command? William James described the creative process as a “seething cauldron of ideas, where everything is fizzling and bobbing about in a state of bewildering activity.” In the last year, two separate experiments have attempted to see inside the cauldron, to figure out how a loom of electric cells finds the exact right notes on the upright organ."

Holiday Jam

I used to do this. I will return to it soon.

Some music and artists to enjoy a lazy morning with. Let's let Diana Krall make the morning swing.

Windswept Beach Grass and Old Fence, Galveston, Texas

Windswept Beach Grass and Old Fence, Galveston, Texas, originally uploaded by Wizwow.

Landscape of twisted fencing and wind blown weeds in a little Texas town.

Smashing Magazine

You know this applies to photography too, right? You betcha ass it does. Keep shooting schlock because your clients want it, and atrophy can be a bigger career killer than anything else. Keep it fresh... even if you have to shoot it for yourself.

Smashing Magazine: "So when asked to “just slap a design together” or “crank it out,” how do we as designers maintain our standards and integrity when a logo must be created in three hours? Or a website in a day? And for that matter, can we? In this article, Stephanie Orma, a graphic design herself, hangs her head out the drive-through window and shares her personal experience, tips, and advice on how to handle the “hurry-up and be creative” demands of the graphic design industry."

Getting a return on investment from social media | SouthCoastToday.com

Getting a return on investment from social media | SouthCoastToday.com: "Hubspot vice president of inbound marketing Mike Volpe said companies should be thinking more like publishers than salesmen. Each part of a business' Internet presence becomes one piece of its content, he said, rattling off a list that includes blogs, video and sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

'Promoting this content in social media helps attract more people to it, which in turn makes it more likely you will get links. Links are what power SEO, (search engine optimization), so more links will attract more people to your content, which can contribute more followers and friends in social media,' he said in a blog posting that followed the panel discussion."

Portable Lighting | LIGHTING ESSENTIALS : For Photographers

Portable Lighting | LIGHTING ESSENTIALS : For Photographers: "I thought I would break down another shot I did that involved pre-visualization, overcoming a challenge and using small lights for a big light look.

The shot was for a dance Calendar for Briana. In the calendar images she presents 12 different types and styles of dance. for the last shot I wanted to harken back to the film “Flashdance” for a water/splash fun shot."

Photo Keywording 3.0

Important read for those starting out in the world of stock photography.

Photo Keywording 3.0:
"Keywording probably has to be the least popular part of any photographer’s workflow. Creating the images is always fun. Even editing and enhancing your pictures requires almost as much creativity as technical skill. But listing the words that a searcher might use to find your photos is about as enjoyable as reading a thesaurus – which, of course, is often part of the process."

She tried to remember the reason for it all. Why it happened wasn't as important as what had happened. And of course, who she was.

She tried to remember the reason for it all. Why it happened wasn't as important as what had happened. And of course, who she was., originally uploaded by Wizwow.

Blond in peril?

About Those 'Speculators' . . . - WSJ.com

Look. There are some serious problems that too many people are just closing their eyes to. Children are running our country. Spoiled and vindictive and really not very smart. Hope and change my ass... what we have here is total incompetence. Total and complete.

About Those 'Speculators' . . . - WSJ.com:
"Remember how President Obama blamed Chrysler's bankruptcy filing last month on 'a small group of speculators' who turned down Treasury's $2 billion final offer for their $6.9 billion in debt? Well, it turns out that hedge funds and other short sellers weren't the only secured creditors who got a raw deal from Uncle Sam.

Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock revealed this week that his state's police and teacher pension funds have lost millions of dollars in the Chrysler 'restructuring.' Indiana's State Police Fund and Major Moves Construction Fund, which finances roads and bridges, together lost more than $1 million. And the Teacher's Retirement Fund 'suffered, at a minimum, a loss of $4.6 million due to the action of the Federal government,' reports Mr. Mourdock.

Far from being speculators, these funds represent retired public employees, including cops and teachers. The funds paid a premium to buy 'secured' status, only to discover that they were politically outranked by the United Auto Workers in the White House hierarchy"

The conundrum of pricing - a perspective

Seems like there is a lot of frustration on being bid down on. I posted this at Flickr this morning (strobist group) and thought I would share a bit. A photographer had been outbid on four projects and was wondering why he was constantly being outbid. It is a problem many face - at all levels of photography.

There has been huge, base-shifting events that are making these challenging times. Lower prices? Lower quality? Lower expectations? Whenever these tumultuous times happen, there are losers. And there are winners. Creating a strategy that can lead to success through the raging waters of change can be daunting... but some will. I want to be following or leading that group.

"It is such a conundrum. We are in such a strange business - part art, part science, part technology, part service. We work without a net most of the time, and we only get paid when we are working.... very little residual income.

Figure in that there is no "Base" level of experience, or gear, or technology that directly - oh hell, even indirectly - relates to what the rate for a given item is. We cannot even agree on what that item is... file, Pshopped file, RAW, JPEG, CD of everything shot, single image, indeterminate usage, limited usage, whogivesaf**k usage... all over the map.

So we sit and try to determine what we need to make a living. And even there, it is impossible to come to an agreement within the industry.

Photographer A has a 2400 sq ft studio in a warehouse district. He pays $1800 a month for the lease, $400 for utilities, $135 for insurance and that is basic. He needs that space because of the large set images he does, and the need for a cyc and other 'studio' tools that make it possible to make the images he makes. He has an investment of over 100K in lights, computers, and special tech items that he NEEDS to do what he does. He has digital DSLR's, Medium Format Digital and film cameras with about 20 assorted lenses.

His monthly outlay is about $3000 per month, and that doesn't count for his home and car and motorcycle and girlfriend ( a former Russian model who he met on a shoot when he was kinda down and vulnerable and now she OWNS his ass and is quite the material girl... but, I digress.) His apartment costs $1200 per month. He is considered very good in the business.

Photographer B has a room at her apartment where she keeps her gear in two small cases and the closet. She mostly does location work as an editorial shooter providing images for magazines and periodicals. She uses a couple of Dynalites, a fairly good sized trunk for her stands and rents the rest as needed. She shoots a couple of DSLR's with four good lenses. She is considered very good in the business.

Her monthly outlay for her "office" is, well, nothing as it is part of her apartment rental, which is about $1200 per month.

"A" shoots advertising and recently shot a celebrity holding a new iPod case for Apple. His fee for one year usage: $15,000. It took him 2 hours, with 2 hours pre and 4 hours post.

"B" shot the same celebrity for a magazine article entitled "Celebrities with Brains... Myth?" Her fee for one year usage: $750 + $300 in rental and assistant fees. It took her one hour, and the image was delivered to the editors as RAW.

So we are left looking at a single shot of the same celebrity being worth either 15K or $750. Sure there are a lot of differences in what the usage will be and on and on and on. Try explaining it to an 8 year old. Try explaining it to a guy who does drywall all day for $18 an hour.

I am not saying the above is a problem, but you can see where 'pricing' an item in any kind of meaningful, objective way, can become a series of "if's" and "and's".

Add to that Geography. If Photographer A and B are both in Philadelphia, that is one thing. If A is in NY and B is in Memphis, there is even more disparity on the value of the money received.

You can get great work done all over the country. You can ger rates that make sense and some that will knock you out... sometimes in the same market.

I once owned an ad agency and one of our clients was PeopleSoft. I needed to get 5 photographs done. People standing on Market Street in SF with the TransAmerica tower behind them. We submitted three RFP's to a list of 'approved' photographers from the Marketing Dept at PeopleSoft.

Three photographers:
1. $25,000
2. $56,000
3. $140,000

All received the same RFP.

Let's go back to the A / B photographers above.

They both receive an RFP from a music label.
Image: Artist with low-rider car, automatic machine gun and lots of "Bling" shot low with smoke machine to illustrate new album "I Can't Sing, But I Can Sure as Hell Pop Yo Ass".

Photographer A plans on building a set in the studio, bringing in a smoke machine and renting an amazing amount of Bling. Stylist, Makeup, Hair, two assistants, some Green Screen work, and a digital image expert. . Shot will freakin' rock.
With usage on the CD cover: $35,000. ($15K for CD usage) Profit for photographer after expenses: $17,500

Photographer B scouts a great little location downtown. Smoke machine, MUA/Hair person, and an assistant. Shooting from the ground means she will have to rent an additional 10K WS light kit. Artist will bring his own Bling.
Shot will freakin' rock.
With usage for CD cover: $17K ($15k for CD usage) Profit for photographer after expenses: $16,500

So the variables are all over the damn place. Fees, expenses... it gets crazy. I know a photographer who was contacted by a large agency to do a shot for a major campaign that had been going on for years. The images were everywhere. He quoted from PhotoQuote. Fee: $12,000 includes usage. Client called "We only have $7K for the shot." OK, he says, that's fine.

????

What the hell was the 12K quote then? Was it simply pulled out of his, err, the air? If it was worth 7K, then why bid it at 12K? Arbitrary bullshit to me. And that makes it damn hard for all of us...

So when I get an RFP I ask questions relating to what their expectations are. What their budget will allow (Do you want a makeup artist or will the talent be doing their own? Studio set or will we find a location? Do you have any over-riding requirements that will help me make a better bid for you... one that matches your expectations?)

But a bad week does not make a bad career. We all have the bad week now and then.

Just remember... images are worth "0" (Stock Xchange) to perhaps millions. Choose your spot well, young Padiwan's.

Fotolia Launches Free Stock Photography Bank PhotoXpress

Well, this is great. I am wondering if it is OK to simply appropriate paragraphs of Tech Crunch into my writings and then grab a little Boing Boing, mix in some WSJ... and publish. If I use more than that, I kick over a "reasonable, modest amount."

To the guys who think this is good. I hope you someday see your work being equated with crap that is free... it will so help you establish a good price to help you feed your family.

Fotolia Launches Free Stock Photography Bank PhotoXpress:
"If you need more, then you start to pay a reasonable, modest amount."

Wizwow | Flickr Photographer Profiles

I was interviewed on Flickr Photographer Profiles. Heh. Thanks!

Wizwow | Flickr Photographer Profiles

Somer: Trio on the Beach: Mexico, 2009

Somer: Trio on the Beach: Mexico, 2009, originally uploaded by Wizwow.

The trio shoot of Somer on the beach in Mexico.

Savoy Sampler of Jazz - Free at this writing

Here.

Car Lust: Round Table--Pontiac Post-Mortem

My first car was a Pontiac. I have owned three. Never owned a Chevy, but I owned three Pontiacs. Recently I rented G6's at the workshops. Very nice machines. Too bad they're gone.

Car Lust: Round Table--Pontiac Post-Mortem:
"I didn't much mourn AMC's passing, or Plymouth's, but I will pause a bit this evening and raise a glass of ... well, Diet Pepsi and pretend it's champagne ... and toast the only GM brand I ever really identified with."

HOW TO: Build Your Personal Brand on Twitter

Submitted without comment.

HOW TO: Build Your Personal Brand on Twitter:
"Today, Twitter has roughly 6 million users and is projected to grow to 18.1 million users by 2010. With all those people, the chances for networking are endless and connecting with new people can lead to career opportunities, so it is essential that your personal brand exists on the service. Last month we showed you a step-by-step process for building your personal brand on Facebook, and today we’re going to show you how to do the same thing on Twitter. By leveraging the Twitter platform to build your brand you can showcase yourself to a huge and growing audience."

Yeah... I see this a lot. Cloudy sky and blue universe from 38,000 feet.

Yeah... I see this a lot. Cloudy sky and blue universe from 38,000 feet. , originally uploaded by Wizwow.

I love to travel to the workshops. but the scenery from 38,000 feet is usually pretty much the same. I liked the cloud/sky/horizon thing here.

Sea of Cortez Rentals: Vacation Excitement in Mexico

Great rates on Condos in San Carlos for the summer. It gets hot there, but it such a nice, lazy kinda hot. $50 for a one bedroom... that is a Condo, not a hotel room.

Sea of Cortez Rentals: Vacation Excitement in Mexico:
"Experience the small town charm of historical San Carlos/Guaymas, Mexico. San Carlos is located 255 miles south of the Arizona/Nogales border. Here you will find one of Mexico’s truly unique vacation destinations. With its ecosystem preserve, fishing villages, pearl farm, 2 marinas, dive shops, restaurants, and many other exciting things to experience and enjoy, you will feel as if you have found your own personal hideaway with a small town atmosphere."

How To Build Your Own Single Page Portfolio Website

This is a nice little look into what goes in to making some design for a website.

How To Build Your Own Single Page Portfolio Website:
"A great looking portfolio site is crucial for any designer to instantly present their work to potential clients or employers. A simple, single page site can do this effectively by displaying three key features of large header with short introduction, examples of your work and methods of contact all in one, extremely browsable page. Let’s take a look at producing a single page portfolio concept in Photoshop, constructing the page in XHTML/CSS and adding some fancy functionality with jQuery."

Is Your Web Designer Full of Crap? - A Picture's Worth

Well... yeah. In a lot of cases.

I still see photographers who are slow with Flash websites, no copy, no meta, no compelling search information to make them be found. Oh... but their site looks cool and you can chase the thumbnails while waiting for the images to load. Of spend a few minutes trying to find the well hidden, but oh so precious navigation. Or try like hell to find how to turn off the crappy rap music or free 'hiphop' drum track that floods the otherwise quiet office.

Photographers are to blame as well as the 'designer' who still thinks that the website is somehow about the font choice and line leading... Full of crap? Personally I think that is generous.

Is Your Web Designer Full of Crap? - A Picture's Worth:
"Back in the 90s, when website design was still a novelty, we used to hire designers based on who could make our websites the prettiest. There were so few websites and digital photography didn't exist yet, so getting a photography website together always created a lot of buzz. But times have changed, and grabbing someone's attention to view your photos is much harder. The Internet has evolved significantly, and websites need to reflect that changing reality."

There Is No Social Media Kit | Altitude Branding | Brand Elevation through Social Media

Yeah... them magic bullets are hard to find. But everyone wants to spend so much time looking for one that they cannot see the reality of the work involved.

There Is No Social Media Kit | Altitude Branding | Brand Elevation through Social Media:

"Here’s the thing, folks.

There is no kit of parts in social media. There are some examples of what works. There are examples of what didn’t work. The answer to “will this work for us” or “how should we get started listening” or “what’s the best way to engage our audience online” will always be this: it depends.

It depends on your business. Your goals. Your resources. Your culture, risk tolerance, openness to change, compliance and disclosure issues, industry, product, audience, management. Among other things. (And as a quick aside, there was no guarantee your dumb postcard campaign would work either. It’s just that other people did them lots, so it felt like an easier risk to take. After all, everyone else was doing it.)"

Read it all.

Editorial Photographers UK | National Trust lose high profile photographer in competition rights row.

Posted without comment.

Editorial Photographers UK | National Trust lose high profile photographer in competition rights row.:
"Norfolk said he was ‘furious’ about the National Trust’s actions, and that he was left in no doubt that the forthcoming competition had been intended by the organisation to boost its own commercial picture library by exploiting the work of competition entrants.

Such competitions – referred to as ‘rights-grabs’ by professional photographers – impose obscure small-print rules allowing the organisers to publish photos entered free of charge or to resell them to others without any payment being made to the photographer.

Following Norfolk’s departure, the competition terms have been changed – but the National Trust deny any connection between the two events, and say that the competition was never intended as a rights-grab."

Are Blogs Encouraging the Quick Consumption of Photography? - Conscientious

Yes. I have been saying this for years. The time-line nature of the "Blog" makes it not the best way to organize information that may NOT be linked to a contemporary timeline. News, political, humor and such, fine. But my blog has content that is good for years, not only today. Yet the site gets visited on a 'home-page' hierarchy that has little follow through clicks. Even though there is tons of content that is not 'old' because it was posted a few months or years ago.

Yes... I am thinking of taking Lighting Essentials back to a website instead of a blog.

Are Blogs Encouraging the Quick Consumption of Photography? - Conscientious:
"I don't even know why I didn't realize this earlier, but most blogs (at least those similar to Conscientious) are being organized in a temporal way - new posts are sorted by when they were published - but, in fact, their contents usually is not temporal at all! I do post one photographer per day, but the reason why I post one is so that people have enough time to look, so that the photographer's work is done justice. This might make it look like yesterday's photographer is 'old news', but that's just because the blogging software makes it look that way."

Liquid-Cooled Computer Mod – Quad Core 1-kw Desktop Case Computer Mod - Popular Mechanics

Gotta get me one of these. LOL.

Liquid-Cooled Computer Mod – Quad Core 1-kw Desktop Case Computer Mod - Popular Mechanics:
"Our ideas often start out with a simple premise. About a year ago, I first came to Anthony with a plan to build a computer into the structure of a desk. A quick bit of brainstorming determined that there were essentially two ways to accomplish this: old-school (a classic oak executive's desk with components hidden behind false backs in the drawers); and new-school (transparent surfaces with components on display). The old-school approach was classy and definitely appealing (we won't rule it out for the future), but the new-school approach was both less practical and more ostentatious, which made it our natural choice."

Top ten mistakes that aspiring professional freelance photographers make | WildShots

Submitted without comment.

Top ten mistakes that aspiring professional freelance photographers make | WildShots:

10. "Listening to the naysayers – When I was researching becoming a professional nature photographer, everyone told me I was crazy. The professional nature photographers in business at the time were especially negative. I ignored them, built a realistic business plan and have so far persevered. Sure, I’ve taken a vow of poverty, but I’ve never been happier."

Photography Tools – 21 Firefox Add-ons For Photographers : Virtual Photography Studio - Digital Photography Business Guide To Resources, Products and Information

This is really a nice collection of FF addons. Take a look and enjoy.

Photography Tools – 21 Firefox Add-ons For Photographers : Virtual Photography Studio - Digital Photography Business Guide To Resources, Products and Information:
"Firefox is my favorite browser! With so many great features to use, how can it help photographers? We put together a list of our favorite Photography Firefox add-ons to help with your daily tasks."

Soak the Rich, Lose the Rich - Jeeez, ya think?

My god, I am shocked, SHOCKED, I say.

Soak the Rich, Lose the Rich - WSJ.com:
"Did the greater prosperity in low-tax states happen by chance? Is it coincidence that the two highest tax-rate states in the nation, California and New York, have the biggest fiscal holes to repair? No. Dozens of academic studies -- old and new -- have found clear and irrefutable statistical evidence that high state and local taxes repel jobs and businesses."

Dell Inspiron Mini 10 & Mini 10v Netbook Product Details

One of these with Lightroom on it and a capture software... dang nice tethered shooting tool.

Dell Inspiron Mini 10 & Mini 10v Netbook Product Details:
Meet the Mini 10 and Mini 10v
The Mini 10 and Mini 10v are everything you want in a mobile companion and more. They may be small, but you’ll be surprised by all the fun features packed inside.

Copyright Critics Rationalize Theft - WSJ.com

This is one of the best articles I have read on this subject. Read it all.

Copyright Critics Rationalize Theft - WSJ.com:
By MARK HELPRIN

"Imagine a city of many millions of people who support themselves and their families solely by arranging words, images and sounds, or in the industries that make this work available to others. They neither farm, fish, mine, manufacture, manage, heal, teach, build nor defend. But what they do influences most everything, shapes politics and governance, provides a conception of our time, forges the culture such as it is, and stamps the imprint of the present for history to judge. Though builders may build, in the main they follow the plans of architects. Teachers teach, but they must have a text. Politicians govern, but only upon the flow of commentary that raises them up or casts them down.

Dispersed throughout the United States, the millions of this hypothetical city do exist, in professions dependent upon the copyright protection of intellectual property. More than anywhere else, they are concentrated in New York, where you see them walking at 60 miles per hour, fully absorbed in their novels, plans, melodies, compositions, essays or designs.

Their work is peculiarly vulnerable in that it is easy to appropriate.

There's more...
Read it all NOW.

30 Untypical WordPress Sites | Designfeed.me (Beta)

Cool list and very inspirational. Thanks Designfeed guys.

30 Untypical WordPress Sites | Designfeed.me (Beta):
"By now, I think most of you should know that WordPress can do more than just a blog platform. With WordPress, plus some plugins, you can build almost any type of websites. To show you what I mean, I have collected 30 websites that use WordPress for different purposes — from general websites to portfolios, ecommerce and corporate sites. Hope this post will open up more ideas for you to use WordPress."

The Obscura

You should check this blog out. Cool stuff there. Really.

The Obscura

Portable Lighting | LIGHTING ESSENTIALS : For Photographers

My newest post at Lighting Essentials.

Shooting to Layout for Print Ads:
"This post looks at creating an ad from a layout. The client, Dimensional Software in Palo Alto, CA, needed to have an ad produced in nearly no time. An opening in a magazine came up last minute and a fax was sent to me with a sketch of the ad that we had talked about.

We will take a look at how the shot was done, and how making the layout a part of the planning and thinking"

Rob Galbraith DPI: Pre-orders begin June 1 on AlienBees MAX monolight, new accessories

These look like they will put a big strain on some of the more "pro" lighting out there. The specs are incredible and I gotta have one of those 86" softlighter as well as the new 11" long throw and 22" beauty dish. Looks like these guys wanna play with the big boys and will be doing so soon...

Rob Galbraith DPI: Pre-orders begin June 1 on AlienBees MAX monolight, new accessories:
"Pre-orders begin June 1 on AlienBees MAX monolight, new accessories
Thursday, April 30, 2009 | by Rob Galbraith
Starting June 1, Paul C. Buff will begin taking pre-orders on a slick new pair of 320ws and 640ws monolights called AlienBees MAX that features digital controls, automatic switching between three capacitor banks for more consistent colour temperature and faster flash duration as flash brightness is lowered, a worldwide power supply, the ability to be powered in the field by inexpensive square wave AC inverters and optional remote wireless control.

At the same time, the Nashville, Tennessee-based lighting company will be taking the wraps off redesigned reflectors that feature greater dent resistance, a line of light-efficient parabolic umbrellas and a wireless remote control unit called Cyber Commander. The company is also expanding into Europe, with direct ordering and shipment from Switzerland projected to begin in June 2009."

Editorial Photographers UK | Visual plagiarism: when does inspiration become imitation ? (page 1 of 2)

Excellent article.

Editorial Photographers UK | Visual plagiarism: when does inspiration become imitation ? (page 1 of 2):
"After he won the top prize in the Arts Stories category in the 2003 World Press Photo awards for his dense and unreal dusk cityscapes of Asian cities, German photographer Peter Bialobrzeski became used to other photographers asking him for advice. But one phone call, from father-and-son team Horst and Daniel Zielske stuck in his mind for the specific detail they asked for, including the type of film, exposures and vantage points used.

“I wasn’t very suspicious [until] they were asking me specifically about this one photograph of the Nanpu Bridge. At that point I stopped the conversation and said ‘You have to find something out for yourself.’ “"

I been sayin' this for nearly 40 years...

"I would so have liked to embed this video for you. It would have saved you a click. But alas, the embed code furnished was semantically wrong in syntax and would not show the video, but instead the badly formed code. Normally I would just move on, believing that if someone were unable to write the code correctly, then it probably wasn't worth watching.

But in this case, I will go ahead and link the page.

Hopefully they will make enough money to hire someone who knows how to write an embed code... you know, with the greater or lesser brackets not the ascii...

Get Rich Slowly » Starting a Business After a Job Loss

Good. Read.

Get Rich Slowly » Starting a Business After a Job Loss:
"Necessity is the mother of invention, and suddenly needing a source of income can be a serious psychological motivator. The time is not ideal to jump into business ownership, but don’t waste the motivation!

While you are searching for your next job, I think it would be a great idea to devote some of your free time to further developing your ideas for a business. Then once you’ve obtained your next job, re-established yourself financially, built-up excess savings, and determined the proper time to enter the market, you can begin to implement the idea with confidence and a much faster road to success."

Camille Seaman On Shooting Storm Clouds

Photo by Camille Seaman
Great article on a shooter who has defined projects in front of her all the time.

Camille Seaman On Shooting Storm Clouds:
"Fine-art photographer Camille Seaman shot the images in her latest project, 'The Big Cloud,' last summer on a storm-chasing tour from central Texas through North Dakota. Like her previous project, 'The Last Iceberg,' which she shot over several years in the Arctic and Antarctica, Seaman's new series captures the awe-inspiring power of nature. But as Seaman explains in our Exposures feature in PDN's May issue, photographing super-cell storms—the storm clouds that can produce hail, lightning and, at times, tornados—presented a different set of logistical and technical challenges."

20 branding tips using only social media | Guerrilla Freelancing

This is a really good article to keep in mind, people.

20 branding tips using only social media | Guerrilla Freelancing:
"As a freelancer, you probably do not have the multi-thousand dollar budgets that other corporations have in order to hire a marketing/branding agency to do all of the work for you. The good news is that freelancers do not need it. When you’re a guerrilla freelancer, you can get things done - on your own, on a low budget and quite possibly more effectively than the big agencies you’d otherwise be hiring."

15 Awesome Time Management Tools and Apps - Dumb Little Man

Cool... very cool list of Time Management tools. I gotta run, I'm late...

15 Awesome Time Management Tools and Apps - Dumb Little Man:
"As promised in my previous post regarding time management, here I am with a list of cool tools that can help you manage your time effectively and become more productive in your work.

Since I am a big fan of tools which are operating system independent, you will find that most of these tools are browser-based and can work on any computer whether it is Windows, Mac or Linux.

By the way, since I am also a fan of saving money, you will also notice that all of these tools are free!"

WordPress Widget List | and WordPress Plugin List

Man, this took some work. Thanks!

WordPress Widget List |:
"Below are some to the most popular widgets for WordPress. WordPress Widgets are also known as “sidebar accessories” which are WordPress Plugins or add-ons to your WordPress blog sidebar. WordPress Widgets allow the easy addition of design elements, gadgets, content, images, and more to your WordPress sidebar to personalize your blog without knowing HTML, PHP, or any code. Many WordPress Plugins now come with a Widget version to allow easy addition to the sidebar."

WordPress Plugin List :
Below is a list of WordPress Plugins that can come in handy when building your site.

This list is sortable by the plugin name…just click the little arrow next to “WordPress Plugin” to sort.

189 business building ideas for photographers | New Media Photographer | Digital and Social Media for photographers

Rosh Sillars offers some good ideas.

189 business building ideas for photographers | New Media Photographer | Digital and Social Media for photographers:
"Here is a starting list of 189 business-building ideas for photographers:

1) Join a professional organization. APA, ASMP, PPA

2) Start a photo blog.

3) Consider using per-image pricing.

4) Read John Harrington’s book: Best Business Practices for Photographers. (not a NMP affiliate)

5) Define your target market."

Portable Lighting | LIGHTING ESSENTIALS : For Photographers

Portable Lighting | LIGHTING ESSENTIALS : For Photographers:
"This weekend’s interview is with Steve Korn, a photographer and musician living in Seattle. I think you will find his work and his words interesting. Being a creative person in music and photography can bring a different perspective to things. Steve presents his work in a very direct, exciting and yet somewhat understated way. Nuance and style."

Marissa Beauty Shot: Phoenix, AZ. Studio Headshot

Marissa Beauty Shot: Phoenix, AZ. Studio Headshot, originally uploaded by Wizwow.

Beauty shot in Phoenix studio.

Dan Winter's New Book

Dan Winters new book from andrew hetherington on Vimeo.

Vitality Has Been Sucked Out of European Society

So true. So sadly, sadly true.

RealClearPolitics - Vitality Has Been Sucked Out of European Society:
"Outside of politics, sports, and popular entertainment, how many living Germans, or French, or Austrians, or even Brits can you name?

Even well-informed people who love art and literature and who follow developments in science and medicine would be hard pressed to come up with many, more often any, names. In terms of greatness in literature, art, music, the sciences, philosophy, and medical breakthroughs, Europe has virtually fallen off the radar screen.

This is particularly meaningful given how different the answer would have been had you asked anyone the same question between just 80 and 120 years ago -- and certainly before that. A plethora of world-renowned names would have flowed."

Exercise and Vitamins: Now, Wait A Minute. . .. In the Pipeline:

I'm for the vitamins. Where's my couch.

Exercise and Vitamins: Now, Wait A Minute. . .. In the Pipeline::
"And as it turns out, antioxidant supplements appear to cancel out many of the beneficial effects of exercise. Soaking up those transient bursts of reactive oxygen species keeps them from signaling. Looked at the other way, oxidative stress could be a key to preventing type II diabetes. Glucose uptake and insulin sensitivity aren't affected by exercise if you're taking supplementary amounts of vitamins C and E, and this effect is seen all the way down to molecular markers such as the PPAR coactivator proteins PGC1 alpha and beta. In fact, this paper seems to constitute strong evidence that ROS are the key mediators for the effects of exercise, and that this process is mediated through PGC1 and PPAR-gamma. (Note that PPAR-gamma is the target of the glitazone class of drugs for type II diabetes, although signaling in this area is notoriously complex).

Interestingly, exercise also increases the body's endogenous antioxidant systems - superoxide dismutase and so on. These are some of the gene targets of PPAR-gamma, suggesting that these are downstream effects. Taking antioxidant supplements kept these from going up, too. All these effects were slightly more pronounced in the group that hadn't been exercising before, but were still very strong across the board."

Mmmm... Breakfast Burgers

In hot pursuit (One of the shots from this past weekend's workshop)

In hot pursuit, originally uploaded by Bill Millios.

Bill Millios did this one... and it rocks, Bill.
Wonderful job.

Portable Lighting | LIGHTING ESSENTIALS : For Photographers

There's lots more here...

Portable Lighting | LIGHTING ESSENTIALS : For Photographers:
"The shot above was done in Mexico at the Workshop in April. Christine had been walking with me and when she turned to talk to me I saw this shot. I pre-visualized the image as being somewhat illustrative… some heavy Photoshop was planned and I wanted the colors to be muted. The feeling was one of mystery, and the color palette and post would show a portrait that was modern, but also seemingly candid.

I liked the symmetry of the background, but also knew that putting her there would rob the image of the candid aspects. I wanted her to be moving into the middle of the poles… not be there already.

The sun was over my right shoulder and when she looked away toward the beach, her face was in shadow. I wanted to light her independently from the background and knew that a split lighting would work to show off the shot.

Save as Draft

PDNPulse: Alt Weekly Paper Runs Photo That Got Photographer Arrested

So who the hell is "Loomis?"

PDNPulse: Alt Weekly Paper Runs Photo That Got Photographer Arrested:
"Here's the cover of the current issue of The Stranger, the Seattle alt-weekly newspaper. The photo, showing two men working on an ATM in an REI store, was shot with an iPhone by Seattle designer Shane Becker."

How to Work in Bursts to Get More Done - FreelanceSwitch - The Freelance Blog

Posted without comment cause I am bursting right now...

How to Work in Bursts to Get More Done - FreelanceSwitch - The Freelance Blog:
"If you’re like me — and if you’re a freelancer, you’re probably like this — you procrastinate on your assignment because, well, you just don’t feel like doing it right now. There are tons of reasons why: it’s an intimidating project, you’re not sure how to start, or simple inertia stops you from getting started.

A solution that works every time: break the job into smaller bits, and do those bits in bursts.

That may sound obvious, but not many people put this to optimal use. Too often they procrastinate because they’re stuck with a daunting task on their to-do list. If that’s you, try these 10 productive tips:"

Waffle House | The Daily Show

Yeah, there are few people that are as loathesome as this porcelain stain, but - hey - he skewers one of his own so that is kinda fun.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Waffle House
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

Laura in Natural Light in Mexico behind the Casita on a beautiful Monday morning

Laura in Natural Light in Mexico behind the Casita on a beautiful Monday morning, originally uploaded by Wizwow.

This image is featured in the article at ProPhotoResource. Subject Centric Lighting I call it. Thinking subject out instead of light in.

Laura caught in natural light.

Portable Lighting | LIGHTING ESSENTIALS : For Photographers

Portable Lighting | LIGHTING ESSENTIALS : For Photographers: "They are finally here. We have been so busy lately, but it is time to announce that the WordPress Themes for photographers are ready for purchase and installation.

We are really pretty proud of these WP Themes. They are built with the incredible power of WordPress, and are widget and portfolio ready. The price is a one time purchase and includes any and all updates to the theme you purchase.

What makes them different from a regular WordPress theme? Well, for starters the home page is fixed. Most contain a mini gallery entitled “New Work” and all have the ability to add the wonderful SlideShowPro.net Gallery tool for an additional $39. The license is yours, and you can use the Director Module on your domain forever. SlideShowPro allows you to easily manage galleries, add images, create new categories, add music, video and more. It is the most robust gallery tool I am aware of."

The Art of Available Light by Judy Host [Review]

Posted without a lot of comment... Read it all.

The Art of Available Light by Judy Host [Review]:
"Here at DPS, we often talk about wireless lighting, soft-boxes, strobes and the myriad of aspects to artificial lighting. As great as controlled lighting is, we often neglect the wonderful (and affordable) world of natural lighting. Problem is, once you’ve been hooked on the methodology of a “Strobist”, it’s often hard to let the light ride as the world gives it to you. To help combat this tendency, I decided to pick up an instructional DVD on using available light. Entitled The Art of Available Light, photographer Judy Host presents this DVD as a way to shoot sans any lighting equipment."

I am still in the "If it is a cool shot, I wanna take it" school of photography. Climbing on bandwagons or deciding that the tools are more important than the photograph really does nothing but bore me. Anyway, this is a good review of the DVD. I am just astonished that people all of a sudden think that natural light is somehow 'less' because they can now shoot a flash.

Maybe I'm still grumby from a longass plane ride... heh.

Chase Jarvis Blog: Shake Your Tree Today

Great ideas. Read the whole post. Do it now.

Chase Jarvis Blog: Shake Your Tree Today:
"I'm taking the liberty of suggesting that you do one or more of the following today:

1. Shoot personal work. Call in some favors, get creative with no budget, and shoot something for yourself.

2. Set free that idea you've been holding onto. Write a blog post about it. Ask your friends what they think. Tell the world.

3. Learn about video. Don't have a camera? Buy drip coffee for a month instead of lattes, and buy a Flip Mino video camera with the money you save. Experiment.

4. Connect with your peers. Start a blog, dig into your Facebook. Or, hell, gather your photo friends for beers and a slide show.

5. Walk around with your camera. You don't need sunshine. Interesting weather makes interesting pictures. iPhone or one dSLR body with one lens. There is no 'client'. Just take pictures."

Portable Lighting | LIGHTING ESSENTIALS : For Photographers

We interview Claire Currant Corbin, a Dallas photographer, at Lighting Essentials.

Portable Lighting | LIGHTING ESSENTIALS : For Photographers:
"OK… enough about me, let’s talk to Claire Corbett about photography and getting started as a beauty/fashion photographer.

1. How long have you been in business? Was it a slow transition or did you just open shop?

I would say I have been in the business for about two years. It was a bit of a slow transition… I was in college and started taking things more seriously in my last year. I feel like the quality of my work greatly improved, and I really started focusing on having a strong portfolio. I think once my book started to improve dramatically, I began working a lot more."

Kountry Keith Photography: The right place at the right time -- and the right people.

Keith has a great little post on shooting some portraits. It is kinda cool to read what he was thinking about and projecting on the images. Thanks for the insight,

Kountry Keith Photography: The right place at the right time -- and the right people.:
"So a week or so ago I ended up going out and shooting for fun one afternoon even though I had work I was needing to get done on the computer. I thought about it and weighed my options. The way I saw it - the work could wait until it was dark out - the beautiful day would not. Smart decision I think now looking back. I ended up shooting in a awesome location with beautiful natural lighting. On top of this I had the company of two other great photographers that were shooting too - and of course two easy going and good looking models. It would be hard to make bad shots in those conditions I think. Anyway here are some of my favorites from the shoot."

3 Ways Companies Sabotage Their SEO Investment

Oh, and there are about 25 more, but these three are the most used, err... abused... uh.. well, you know what we mean. If you are gonna do SEO, do it right.

Or just get one of them cool websites with the hidden navigation and all that flashy goodness that hides you from the world. Yeah, do that. That would be better for my clients... heh.

3 Ways Companies Sabotage Their SEO Investment:
"1. Redesigning web sites or changing content management systems without a SEO migration plan. At a recent conference I met a web design type who asked what I do. I replied that I own a SEO consulting company. His reply, “Ah, keyword stuffing”. While this was most likely an attempt at humor, my reply was more typical: “Thanks to web designers/developers, SEOs are busier than ever.” ”Do you do web design?” says the humorist. My reply was common for most SEO agencies: “Not really, but I have web design/development talent on staff to fix issues caused by web design agencies that make client web sites near invisible to search engines.”

Most web design or redesign projects are executed on specifications. In most cases, those specifications emphasize front end design and user experience elements as well as back end content mangement and adminstration features. What most web design specifications do not include is attention to how search engines will interact with the web site or how a re-design will impact current search engine visibility."

How to Travel With Cameras | PhotographyBLOG

Nice little article.

How to Travel With Cameras | PhotographyBLOG:
"Personally I find packing to similar to playing a game of Tetris. Every trip is different; each journey has its own needs and wants. First and foremost, ahead of everything else, is the safety of my equipment as I pack my equipment properly.

For me, I can get on a plane with a Mountainsmith Borealis AT backpack and a camera on each shoulder to fly halfway around the world with nothing else; or I can pack a fully loaded Mountainsmith Parallax with two bodies, 8 lenses, and macro tubes. ETTL cords along with a fully loaded LowePro Pro Roller II case loaded with a mobile location lighting kit to fly just a few hundred miles away for the afternoon. Whether I am travelling light or travelling heavy the fundamentals are the same."

How to Create a Slick and Clean Button in Photoshop

BUTTONS! Yeah, baby.

How to Create a Slick and Clean Button in Photoshop:
"This Photoshop tutorial shows you how to create a simple and clean 'Web 2.0 style' button sprite with a rollover state. You’ll also learn how to set up the sprite using some basic CSS techniques (CSS background sprite and CSS text image replacement)."

Ten Ways to Stay On Top Of Your Work - Dumb Little Man

I think I need at least 17 ways, but I will start with ten.

Ten Ways to Stay On Top Of Your Work - Dumb Little Man:
"Do you ever feel like you’re drowning in work? Your inbox is overflowing, you have to move two stacks of papers to get to your keyboard, you have a constant nagging feeling that you’ve forgotten about something vital, and that major project you want to start work on still remains a pipe dream."

Create a Clean Modern Website Design in Photoshop

Nicely done tutorial. Well documented, and the site looks pretty good. (So many of these end up with clunky sites, but this one is quite nice.)

Create a Clean Modern Website Design in Photoshop:
"Build a complete website design mockup for a fictional design studio, starting with the creation of the initial layout then moving on to designing the individual page elements. The result is a modern, crisp and clean webpage layout ready for coding."

20 Excellent Plugins for Safari | Webdesigner Depot

Hey... Safari has Plugins! Woohoo, this is interesting.

20 Excellent Plugins for Safari | Webdesigner Depot:
"Each browser comes with its own set of advantages and features and one of the greatest benefits of Firefox has been the ability to fully customize it through the use of plugins and add-ons.

This feature is especially important for those of you using Mac OS X, when deciding whether to pick one of the two heavyweights: Firefox or Safari.

But Safari actually does support plugins. While the choice is nowhere near as extensive as that of Firefox, there is still a good variety of them to choose from.

Here’s a list of 20 useful plugins for Safari for OS X."

10 Design Decisions That Annoys Readers

There are more, of course. But these 10 are very annoying.

10 Design Decisions That Annoys Readers:
"As a member of multiple social media networks, I end up at various different blogs reading articles. I have noticed alot of decisions that designers make which really annoys the readers. I know as a reader I get annoyed and after reading multiple forum posts, talking to webmasters, and reading the tweets, I know that some of these decisions really annoys others as well."

Rain on the horizon

Rain on the horizon, originally uploaded by geroco.

Me thinks a storm may be a brewin'...

My bud Jerry's shot of Christina. Simply lit for dramatic results.

On the Block

Hmmm. Posted without comment. Good read, and it is photography.

The Year in Pictures: On the Block:
"Do you want something cool, chic, imposing, modern, prescient, and sexy? Do you have a spare $200,000 - $300,000? If the answers to both questions are yes, then this 53' x 90' Andreas Gursky, 'Untitled IX. 1998', coming up at Phillips Contemporary Art Sale on May 14 might be for you!

In the mid to late 1990s, Gursky turned his attention to the intersection of art and consumer culture with a series of huge color pictures of interior details of various Prada stores. Both Prada and Gursky were cresting waves of re-invention - Prada of its brand and Gursky of contemporary color photography - and the Gursky/Prada photographs are an observation and a commentary of the minimalist fetishism and artistic ambition of high fashion: underwear as expensive as jewelry being displayed like fine art in a store designed to look like a cutting edge museum.

At the time I didn't quite get the pictures - on one level they were a threat to the more classical school of photography I was associated with - but 10 years later, at which point they have already become period pieces, I think they're pretty impressive."

Technology Review: Blogs: Jason Pontin's blog: How to Save Media

Read this:

Technology Review: Blogs: Jason Pontin's blog: How to Save Media
"But so long as subscription and advertising revenues grew, the system did work. In turn, the business of publishing supported the profession of journalism, which was, when all is said and done, a useful thing. In open societies, magazines and newspapers were the most important exchanges in the free marketplace of ideas. Publications informed, instructed, diverted, and delighted.

But the Internet taught readers they might read stories whenever they liked without charge, and it offered companies more-efficient ways to advertise. Both parties spent less. As a consequence, today the business of media is sickly.

In recent months, the news about magazines and newspapers, distressing for many years, has become alarming. During the first quarter of 2009, the advertising revenues of newspapers declined, on average, 30 percent; in the last six months of 2008 (the most recent period for which we have reliable numbers), subscriptions fell by 7 percent. The number of ad pages in consumer magazines shrunk by 26 percent in the first quarter of the year; and while magazine circulations are not declining as rapidly as those of newspapers, it is becoming more and more expensive to maintain their rate bases (the circulation numbers from which publishers derive advertising rates), and with fewer advertisers willing to pay to reach those readers, a less and less rational investment"

And then This one:

An Interview with Hugh McLeod.

"2. A lot of artists and creative types see marketing as an evil necessity - or just plain evil. What would you say to them?

“Artists cannot market” is complete crap. Warhol was GREAT at marketing. As was Picasso and countless other “Blue Chips”. Of course, they’d often take the “anti-marketing” stance as a form of marketing themselves. And their patrons lapped it up.

The way artists market themselves is by having a great story, by having a “Myth”. Telling anecdotal stories about Warhol, Pollack, Basquiat, Van Gogh is both (A) fun and (B) has a mythical dimension… if they didn’t, they wouldn’t have had movies made about them. The art feeds the myth. The myth feeds the art.

The worst thing an artist can do is see marketing as “The Other”, i.e. something outside of themselves. It’s not."

Noted from APhotoEditor.

The incredible Jasmin in Mexico on the edge of a pool overlooking the ocean. So, go ahead and ask me how much fun it is being a photographer... go ahead, ask me.

The incredible Jasmin in Mexico on the edge of a pool overlooking the ocean. So, go ahead and ask me how much fun it is being a photographer... go ahead, ask me., originally uploaded by Wizwow.

Just posted at Flickr.

Life is good... Houston last October.

Life is good, originally uploaded by charles.howard.

What a blast.

The Year in Pictures: Why Am I Showing This Picture?

You will definitely enjoy this post. Really.

The Year in Pictures: Why Am I Showing This Picture?:
"Anyway, back to my category – Iconic American Photographs. I’ll give you my final four and you can let me know which you would pick."

Sometimes a RingLight is just what is needed. I used a ringlight here... you aren't paying any damn attention to my ringlight rant, are you... sheesh.

Sometimes a RingLight is just what is needed. I used a ringlight here... you aren't paying any damn attention to my ringlight rant, are you... sheesh., originally uploaded by Wizwow.

A study in ring flash for you all.

40 Places Where Freelancers Can Learn More About Business | Designfeed.me (Beta)

Here's a good place to bookmark. A very nice and thorough page for finding links to all kinds of business help.

40 Places Where Freelancers Can Learn More About Business | Designfeed.me (Beta):
"People become freelancers for all sorts of reasons. Very few do it to get into business - that’s just a side effect. To be successful freelancers, we need to be savvy business people.

Understanding business takes work - some light reading, some heavy ploughing though your government’s forms and requirements, maybe some serious study, and keeping up with business news and events. Material for small businesses and entrepreneurs will be especially helpful."