All Charges in Blackwater Case Are Dismissed - NYTimes.com

This is what we have now. Prosecutions based on political persuasion. Doesn't sound like the America my father fought for back in the "Great War"... sure as hell doesn't.

All Charges in Blackwater Case Are Dismissed - NYTimes.com:

"Citing repeated government missteps, U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina dismissed a case that had been steeped in international politics. The shooting in busy Nisoor Square left 17 Iraqis dead and inflamed anti-American sentiment abroad. The Iraqi government wanted the guards to face trial in Iraq and officials there said they would closely watch how the U.S. judicial system handled the case."

Key line:

"He dismissed the government's explanations as ''contradictory, unbelievable and lacking in credibility.''

Well, yeah. Now that the elections done and the 'right' guy was elected.

You Gotta Admire Them Skills | Permission To Suck

Yep... Music and Photography... so many similar traits.

You Gotta Admire Them Skills | Permission To Suck:

"An accomplished photographer carries skills that allow him to improvise –results aren’t fully conceived until they are – adding value occurs along the journey to completion. Yet, as a less than accomplished musician, when I pick up a guitar and play tunes that I’ve learned – this finger here, those fingers there – the end result at best, is predetermined. Variation is disappointing for its lack of skill."

The Visual Science Lab: The Flickr-ization of photography

Why indeed.  I suspect that the trend is harmless for the most part but it creates an unreal idea of the value of raw technique.  Throughout the history of advertising (and that is the primary target for commercial images) the goal has usually been to differentiate your client from the pack by differentiating their public face from the mass of competitors.  It was usually done by taking contrarian positions or showing product or services in a new way.  In a new style.

via visualsciencelab.blogspot.com

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nickonkenShoptalk

Nick's blog, like his work,keeps getting better and better.

nickonkenShoptalk:

"My goals have manifested in melting both personal and business aspects. Since the photography business is really a lifestyle job they both very much fuse together. I recently read the Four Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferris, and as much as he speaks to the full time corporate person working to create a lifestyle where they work less and enjoy more, there are many aspects of the book that directly apply to a career like mine. Lifestyle design is a huge asset to what this career can offer. You can create a business around what you shoot, what you want, and how you want to live if you do it right."

Gordon Crovitz: Technology Predictions Are Mostly Bunk - WSJ.com

Heh...

Gordon Crovitz: Technology Predictions Are Mostly Bunk - WSJ.com:

"'Inventions have long since reached their limit, and I see no hope for further developments,' said Roman engineer Julius Sextus Frontinus in 10 A.D. This end-of-progress view has been echoed many times, including by Charles Duell, commissioner for the U.S. Patent Office, who in 1899 said, 'Everything that can be invented has already been invented.'

It's worth recalling, especially in a gloomy year like the one drawing to an end, that the opposite is true: The more we invent, the more we invent. Knowledge grows on itself.

So here are the rest of my Top 10 Worst Technology Predictions, which prove that when it comes to tech, optimism pays:"

Want to Achieve Your Photography Goals for 2010? Start By Writing Them Down | Black Star Rising

Excellent advice from a Pro!

Want to Achieve Your Photography Goals for 2010? Start By Writing Them Down | Black Star Rising:

"Write it down by hand, with a pen and paper. Read it. Read it again — out loud. Only then should you type it into your computer and print it out.

I do this every year about this time. I call it my Vision and Marketing Statement.

By articulating your goals on paper, you will be creating a document that you can refer to regularly to ensure you are going in the right direction."

Running Girl in Phoenix, Arizona. Shot on film and printed on paper.

(My Old Shots Marathon Continues...)

We found this great old road just south of the studio and I knew it would come in handy for a shoot someday.

Well, this was the day. Overcast day and setting sun gave me the kind of light I needed for the shoot. This article was for shopping finds in Thrift Stores or something like that. We had two models and a stylist and a wardrobe that totaled about $12 but looked like a couple of grand. LOL...

Stylist put Brooke's hair up high, and we put that jacket on her... I wanted to deliver a couple of 'double-truck' images so the AD could use the image across two pages. I thought this would be a good one for that, so I turned the camera and did a couple of horizontals.

AD loved the way I had the models constantly doing something, and when I saw Brooke jump, I had her add some 'face' to it for more fun.

This image ran double-truck, but not as the opener - which I thought was pretty cool. I really liked that she was jumping 'past the frame' and the frame was printed in.

Shot with natural light at the end of the day... right into the bright sky of the setting sun (overcast). Exposure is based on Brooke's face, and the rest of the image falls where it falls.

Black and White Film, TMax 400, shot at ISO 320 and processed in TMax developer with a push of 20%.

Printed on Fiber-Based Seagull Gloss (#3) and toned with Copper Toner, bleached and re-toned with Selenium
Toner.

Camera was an F3, with a 35MM f2 lens shot at f2. Hand held at 1/125. It is approximately 23 years old.

Don Giannatti: Designer / Photographer / Writer
www.dongiannatti.com / www.lighting-essentials.com / www.learntolight.com / 602 434 1765

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--- @ WiseStamp Signature. Get it now

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What Makes Me Creative? A very important point to ponder this new year...

Society teaches the creativity out of our students.  If X, then Y is easy to teach.  If X, then Y gets results.  It generates tangible and immediate ROI.  Do this and get that result. Take an alternative path and risk failure or – even worse – ridicule.  Research creative history and learn what got rewarded and what was ignored.  Teach high craft and call it high art.  Creativity is too soft and round; there is nothing to grab onto.  There are often no clean results to judge.  Creativity is messy but we all crave the rewards.

via permissiontosuck.net

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Simplicity: by Ken Rockwell

I come across hundreds, actually thousands of photo hobbyists and serious photographers. Here's a secret: out of all these people, I have only spoken to two people in my entire life who both know the technology behind pixels and profiles, and who can make good pictures. I'm dead serious: the men who can go off for hours about bit redithering never create any good pictures, and the people who crank out awesome work usually know very little about what goes on inside their cameras.

Real photographers don't care — they care about the picture, not the camera. I know of only two guys who know about both. This isn't an insult; they guys who make great pictures could care less about lens coatings — or even if their lens is clean!

I'm not counting Ansel Adams among these people, since I never got to work with him. He would be a third. He always clarified that he was an artist who just happened to use a little bit of science in creating his art, and most emphatically that his art was about his vision, not at all about the tools he used to create it.

I don't know about you, but given the choice, I'd rather know how to take good pictures than be able to tell you how a camera works.

via kenrockwell.com

Nicely said, Ken. I must say that my experience mirrors yours pretty well.

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Simplicity: Ken Rockwell hits this one out of the park

This is a true article written by one of photography's original thinkers. Love him or hate him, Rockwell has a brain that he isn't afraid to use. A lot. Some of his positions are controversial, and some are right the hell on. Like this one:

Simplicity:

"Worse, photography is leading amateurs down the path of eternally crummy pictures by giving them more completely irrelevant distractions, like 'should I shoot raw?,' 'maybe I should try shooting in AdobeRGB,' or worse, 'Maybe I should spend 30 minutes shooting 500 shots from the same tripod holes so I can stitch and HDR and panfocus them together later.'

Because our brains are distracted by this, we aren't thinking about the picture or the subject.

The dumbest thing people do is spend those 30 minutes making 500 exposures to stitch together, instead of spending 30 seconds looking for a better angle, better composition or better location that would actually result in a better image.

Shooting it is the easiest part; seeing it is the hard part.

If you make the shooting so difficult that it takes up all your effort, you have no time left to concentrate on seeing your picture in the first place.

If you spend little to no time looking for a good image, no matter how much effort you put into actually shooting it, it will still suck."

Read the whole thing. Now.

Thoughts of a Bohemian : On the Closing of L'Oeil

In the middle of a nicely written article we have this terribly bad graph.

Thoughts of a Bohemian » Blog Archive » A blind eye:

"A collective is not a photo agency. A collective is made up of like minded photographers who decide to pool some of their resource needs in order to reduce cost and help each other. It is a tad socialist concept, thus very unpopular in the USA as it might potentially lead to a communist revolution ."

I know this photographer is pretty damn knowledgeable, but this kind of statement makes me shudder.

Sir.

1. Collectives exist all over this country (USA). It is a wonderful way of working, collaborating and sharing the costs. I belong to one. So the statement "thus very unpopular in the USA" is downright silly.
2. Socialism is a Governmental structure, not a private enterprise structure. ONLY a Government can be socialist, bringing the populace with it through social laws and social economic structure. So what was that about?
3. Communism, while somewhat socialist in structure, is NOT socialism, but a faction of it developed with a very powerful central government.

So, OK, sir. You seem to be confused about how the things you are supposedly reporting on are constructed. And this comes from a man who was a CEO? I don't get it, sir. I really really don't. Are you wanting the US to become socialist? To have private enterprise, which you seem to have benefited from very well to be eliminated from anyone else's grasp?

Really?

A photo for a local TV station that ran in TV Guide a long time ago. My oldest daughter (now 23) is model.

I did a lot of work with a local station here in Arizona. It was a lot of fun to see my images in TV Guide.

Preparing for your kid's education was the story. The AD and I kicked around some concepts: stacks of money with baby pacifiers, toddler in front of Gammage (ASU) with book bag dragging on the ground, Crib with a vault door on the end...

We really liked the idea of the toddler with the bag, so a quick scout drive took us to... a parking lot. With the construction at the time, The only angle we could get was with a bazillion cars in the foreground.

Well, we kicked that idea down the road and thought a little more about it. He decided to do something very simple... a child with a diploma. Too much in the image and it spoiled the presentation... it was a small magazine and the ad ran across the top of the page.

A kid with a diploma huh... well, that shouldn't be too hard. I had the child, and he could make the diploma. Woohoo... we were off.

A quick call to the wife and Shanna (my daughter) was at the studio and ready to go. She loved having her picture taken and really hammed it up fo us.

I used a Mamiya RB67 for the shot. This AD loved the bigger contact sheets, and that made the call. I could easily have done it on 35MM but making the AD happy is part of the service.

I used my hand-painted background pretty far back from Shanna. It is at least 8 feet behind her. I didn't want the main light to spill over and kill the contrast, and I wanted my spray light to be seen, and not diminished because of main light falling on the canvas.

A large 4x6 foot softbox is to camera left, and oblique to the subject. That means it is straight at her from the side, not angled toward her at all. A 4x8 sheet of fome core is flagging the light from reaching the background and extends to within inches of the frame. The light is 4 feet from the subject.

A second 4x8 fome core is standing verticle to camera right, but back about 4 feet to not fill too much, only a little bit to not let the darks fall too much into non texture. I needed that sleeve on her left arm to have some light so it could be made out. If that little rim didn't show, that would be a huge black area instead of a sleeve with an arm sticking out of it.

A Norman head with a 12" reflector covered with a spun glass diffuser was moved to within inches of the background facing it. I had to make sure Shanna was hiding that light when I shot, and the spray had to be controlled to not be way too hot... I only wanted a little separation.

We set it up while Shanna was on her way, and when she came in it was only a matter of a few Polaroids to get it ready. I shot two rolls of film (20 images) and we immediately loved this one. The hat started tipping and she naturally reached up to stop it from falling. The smile was natural because of the falling hat...click. Got it.

Film (T-Max 100, 120) developed, contacts made and delivered. Choice circled and print was made on Seagull #3 semigloss paper and delivered.

Shanna and I had lunch yesterday. She is now a customer relations specialist at Verizon, and is 23.

As a photographer I like this shot. As a dad... well. You can only imagine.

Don Giannatti: Designer / Photographer / Writer

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The End Starts Here: Rodney Smith, Photographer

Wonderful take by a master photographer. Absolute gold.

The End Starts Here:

"The question arose for me: How do I make pictures that have strength and intensity with people who do not generally possess it?

The answer for me lies in stepping back, rather than going forward. When I was younger, I kept getting closer, until I had removed all the artifice, until I was standing face to face with people. I would look in their eyes to their souls and I would find my own personal strength.

Now I was asked to photograph the “beautiful people.” It was not about their soul and character, but rather about their style, their beauty, or even their clothing.

Without consciously even realizing it, I learned to make the photographs despite these restrictions or constraints, even better than what proceeded it. I think the general solution became what was hidden and only occasionally expressed in my early work, and that was humor.

I learned how to step back, so that the model became a figure rather than a portrait. He becomes part of the story, reciting lines with me, rather than at me. It is a story with him as a character, a personage, rather than a novel about him."

A still life editorial shot taken with Polaroid 55PN with a split toned BW image. Gloves and Spade

... or something like that.

I don't remember the particulars on the slant of the article.

Late on a Monday, the art director called in a panic with a rush job. Could I do an illustration for a publication that was going to press on Wednesday. We had to shoot it, approve it, scan it, get it separated and into the layout in a day.

Sure, we can do that. She faxed over the page layout and the ideas for the shot and we went out to get the props instead of heading to dinner. (You gotta have a very understanding spouse in this business.)

I started out at the local hardware store and they had the scoop thing, as well as some very course fertilizer. They also had some very nice work gloves that I bought. I had an idea, but I know I needed gloves anyway, so I got them and we headed back to the studio.

On the way, I dropped in on a local nursery down on Baseline and about 32nd St and made one of the guys an offer. Trade the brand new gloves for his pair of ratty old gloves. Well, it was a deal he couldn't turn down.

So back to the studio and it was now going on 6. The AD was waiting and we got going on the shot.

She wanted:
Black and white.
"Gritty and Earthy"
Vertical
It will be framed by copy.
Small area bottom right to be used for copy (call out).

I suggested we use black and white Polaroid Type 55PN and keep the edges of the negative rough and 'earthy' to help with the overall look she wanted. It would also allow her to leave the studio with finished art to drop by the printer for scanning and separating.

The small piece of plant was provided by the long suffering plants in the lobby area of the studio. and the old wood was from our prop area. An old beat up pallet for shipping was used. (It had set outside for a couple of years so it was a wreck. Woo Hoo.)

We set up the still life on a short table (2 ft) and brought over the camera, a Toyo 4x5 Monorail with a 210MM Schnieder F5.6 lens.

Neither of us were happy with the softlight shot we started with... it looked way too 'straight' and commercial. We needed something a little more gritty for the lighting... where the lighting becomes part of the image.

I took two Norman heads and grid-spotted the 12inch reflectors. Bringing them to the same height of the set allowed me to 'rake' the light from bottom right and top left. That proved to be a little too contrasty for me. so I inserted a spun glass diffuser in the grid-spot. That worked.

Now I was able to light the glove from both sides... not a main/fill look, but something very much more interesting. The tool was then becoming a problem... it looked too 'generic' and boring. A silver spade and light wood handle didn't say anything about anything.

I suggested we do something with the spade to make it look more like the hero. It is the spade that was able to deliver the fertilizer/pesticide or whatever it was we were trying to illustrate, so we needed it to be 'heroic'.

I painted it white with quick drying spray paint. I always kept a few cans of white, black, silver, gold, gray and red. (I was quite the 'tagger' you know... ;-)

The light simply lit that spade up like crazy and we loved the look. We added a tall piece of wood taped to a background stand to the front of the light camera bottom, right and that shadow added a bit more mystery to the light.

We settled on the image after working with the props, and in total I think I shot about 12 or so images. Processing them and clearing/fixing them right there on set.

As she was pulling together some notes and helping my assistant clean up the shoot set, I went to the darkroom and made a few contact prints of this negative.

After fixing the image, I started thinking about some toning. We always kept a lot of different toners in the darkroom, so with a sponge I started to blend some copper and green tones into one of the prints. I really liked how it looked, so I showed it with the regular one to the AD and she sighed.

When the article came out, they had actually run the multi-toned print... springing for the color scan and separation. She told me later how happy everyone was with the lightly colored image.

Making split decisions and drawing on your creativity is the most empowering feeling you can experience.

I coulda shot it and given her a black and white print from the Polaroid and be done. There was no mandate to do a split toned black and white, one-off image for an editorial page where the money was nothing spectacular either.

But that is what we do. We try to create solutions that go above and beyond the expectations of the client.

At least I do.

(This image is 24 years old)

Don Giannatti: Designer / Photographer / Writer

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Dr. Helen: Learned helplessness or learned optimism? You decide.

Woof. And I mean WOOOOOOOOOOOOFFFFF!!!

Dr. Helen: Learned helplessness or learned optimism? You decide.:

"Like the more resilient dogs, those of us who love freedom, believe in making our own health care choices and know to our very core that the government does not own us must never become helpless but must continue to find ways out of an unpleasant situation, and look forward with optimism, knowing that no condition is permanent."

Clyde Butcher - Black and White Fine Art Photographer

French enlarger 10x10
(came in pieces, no instructions to assemble, but it had a bottle of champagne! When the manufacturer couldn't ship the enlarger without a liquor license he no longer sold them in the USA)

via clydebutcher.com

Become familiar with this wonderful photographer out of Florida. Just so love his work.

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Nikki in black and white at Canyon Lake, AZ. A fashion shoot "break" led to a nice portrait.

We were shooting for a small boutique. Ads, POP's and direct mail. Nikki had been working in front of the lens for about 4 hours and we were about to call an end to the morning shoot.

Several bikers came up to the spot we were shooting and stopped to check their maps. I asked if Nikki could sit on one of the bikes for a moment. I liked the denim and pearls she was wearing and thought that it could be pretty cool for a portrait.

It was about 10am and we were in the shadow of the mountains with open sky to camera left. Adding a large white reflector (4x6ft) to the camera right position opened the shadows and gave the shot a more open look.

I had Nikki looking off from the camera to enhance the 'glimpse' view of her, as well as the hair style 'blowing' forward. I instructed Nikki to think about something that was important to her and would be beautiful thing happening soon. I like to work with models who can act and throw themselves into 'roles' that give the photo a little bit of life... a story.

I was using a Nikon F2 with my trusted and much loved Nikkor 180mm f-2.8 wide open. Plus-X film was shot at ISO 80 and processed in D76. Pushed 10% for a little more snap, the negative was printed on Seagull fiber-based gloss and toned with extremely diluted Selenium for 24 minutes. Printed full frame on hand filed neg holder with a 75MM Nikkor Enlarging lens.

We didn't have Photoshop in those days.

This image is 28 years old.

Don Giannatti: Designer / Photographer / Writer

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Newspapers and technology: Network effects | The Economist

Dontcha just love them expurts!

Newspapers and technology: Network effects | The Economist:

"James Gordon Bennett, the editor of the New York Herald and author of the gloomy prediction of May 1845, concluded that the telegraph would put many newspapers out of business. “In regard to the newspaper press, it will experience to a degree, that must in a vast number of cases be fatal, the effects of the new mode of circulating intelligence,” he wrote. He returned to his theme in another editorial in July. “All those papers which serve merely as vehicles of intelligence will be destroyed,” he declared. “The scissors-and-paste journalism of the country will be annihilated.”"

Bwahahahahaha....

JammieWearingFool:

"Meanwhile, another liberal Democrat also whines.

'New Yorkers will more than pay their share for increasing health coverage around the country,' says the letter, which Bronx Rep. Eliot Engel wrote and expects to send today, signed by 24 members. 'Yet New York will receive far less than the national average in federal relief.'

This is why clear-thinking people have fled or are in the process of leaving New York. You basically have one-party rule and these nincompoops still get the shaft."

Interesting discussion on the future of media. Predictions and excellent advice for planning next year.

All the old, institutionalized ways of doing things will continue to break down in 2010 and 2011, and be restructured on more reasonable, sustainable foundations. The big guys who are all running around repeating the mantra of 'local' will find out how much they don't know.

via foliomag.com

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Every damn day.

As both a photographer and a musician, the biggest challenge I have is time. Not ideas, basic skills or gear. Time. We get bogged down in the every day BS that is life. And traveling here and doing that keeps us off the thrown, keyboards and camera.

But we know it is important. We can feel it in everything we do. Practice. Perfect practice is the only way to excellence. Not how many hours, but simply hours.

I love my iPhone camera for its ease. But I should be no less interested in bringing out the entire gear kit with me when I go places. Or even the view camera kit. The time it takes to even set that camera up is a killer. And it shouldn't be. It should be a joy.

But it takes us away from the other things we are committed to. Work. Paperwork. Family. Commute. The list is endless... and many items on it precious to us. And important.

So what do you do when you feel the time running by and nothing getting done? Collapse more into the quicksand of self-pity and self-doubt? Or take incremental steps toward the regaining of some of your creative life back?

For me it was getting some smaller, less expensive cameras for the journey. Easy to use and still get images I like. iPhone camera, P&S. It was a new electric keyboard with headphones for playing after the family has gone to bed. Soon an electric drumkit will occupy one corner of the den for the same purpose.

I need to practice. Every day...

Every damn day. : Photocine News:

"My conversation with Stanton reminded me of the cold truthful words of my first agent, Michael De Martini, who fostered the start of my fashion photography career. I presented him with a set of damn good images. He even said they were good photographs. Then he looked and me and said, “if I want good, I’ll talk to ninety percent of the photographers out there. If you shoot for me, you shoot brilliantly or you don’t shoot at all.” And so started a period of shooting and re-shooting the same thing over and over again until I found the subtleties."

Space Blanket Portrait in the Seattle Cold: And it was fairly cold for sure.

Kind of a fun portrait... I loved the nearly monochrome look and the color of her pale skin.

Don Giannatti: Designer / Photographer / Writer

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Does where you live matter as a commercial photographer? Well.... that depends.

Jacqueline Bovaird from Glasshouse Assignment raises this question in her latest email newsletter and  also her website. She posed this to Jason Lau at Team One USA, Manuel Oprea at Adweek, her excellent photographers Ryan Schude and Evan Kafka, and also asked me to weigh-in on the matter because Wonderful Machine has photographers in so many different locations. And it turns out to be a more complex issue than I thought.

via wonderfulmachine.com

Cool info for photographers who are wondering this same thing. As am I.

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Interview with Neil Binkley, PDN 2009 Self Promotion Awards Designer.

Read the whole thing.

Interview with Neil Binkley, Judge for PDN’s 2009 Self Promotion Awards « No Plastic Sleeves:

"How important do you feel a portfolio book and/or online portfolio is in securing a job in the creative industries?

I think that creating and sharing a printed portfolio is still a necessary and valuable exercise, and for a few reasons:

1) For advertising work especially, agencies still call in books. Partially, I think, because photographers’ websites can look so wonderful on the web, but most campaigns end up in print at some point, and an art buyer wants to be sure that the photographer can deliver in the printed realm. Especially when it comes to retouching.

2) It’s still helpful to meet art buyers/photo editors in person, and what will you show them when they do agree to a meeting? Of course, you can bring your fancy laser gun leave-behinds, but a quality-minded creative wants to be confident that you have consistently created a body of work that shows many images in the style they’re looking for. And meeting someone in-person is generally much more memorable than an email or phone call.

3) The creation of the book itself is valuable, because it forces you to define the type of work that you’re good at and that you’d like more of. In some cases you’ll need to shoot more work after realizing that you haven’t shot enough to be reliable. You don’t want someone to think that your amazing photograph was done by chance. You want them to be confident that you are in control of creating good images.

And as for digital portfolios, I’m not sure if you’re referring to a website, which really can be an online portfolio, or a digital version of your print book. Either way, the same rules of providing a tight edit and good work apply. And sure, sending a digital portfolio instead of a printed one is better than not sharing your work.

But I would always recommend having a printed book."

Wonderful Machine Photography Blog : A wonderful blog dedicated to commercial and editorial photography

I enjoyed that her responses had a strong point of view, and this one stood out to me. When asked about the importance of print portfolios, Robin replied:

Make it as good as you can. No excuses. If you don’t love it, don’t put it in your book. If you don’t have enough solid work, make more. Learn to edit yourself. Remember who your audience is. Consider what would appeal to them. Take them for a ride. Entertain. It’s a word often forgotten at the convergence of art and commerce.

via wonderfulmachine.com

Just found this blog. Looks like a really great information site.

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A totally natural light hi-key portrait on a snowy day in Kansas City. A return to the emotional portrait.

All natural light, reflectors in close and all around. Held by VAL's.

Don Giannatti: Designer / Photographer / Writer
www.dongiannatti.com / www.lighting-essentials.com / www.learntolight.com / 602 434 1765

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2009 Plagiarism Round-Up | Regret the Error

Hey, it's always free when you steal it. Simple.

2009 Plagiarism Round-Up | Regret the Error:

"Wired magazine editor Chris Anderson admitted that a “screwup” resulted in his book, Free, including multiple passages lifted from Wikipedia. Link"

Bruce Banrbaum: Thoughts on Digital Photography

The student who seeks photographic artistry must be as determined to learn the art of seeing, of understanding, and of creating, as much as he/she demands to learn Photoshop or darkroom approaches. My own Photographic Arts Workshop program stresses those fundamentals, making the workshops as valuable to the digital photographer as to the traditional photographer. Every student must pay equal attention to all the necessities in the field—and to your own mindset while working in the field— as you do to the digital or traditional darkroom aspects of the art. Ignoring either one inevitably results in failure.

via barnbaum.com

From Bruce Barnbaum's excellent piece on Digital Photography.

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Another view of my studio door. This time in early morning light.

Sent from my iPhone

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Light and storm.

Sent from my iPhone

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Take Out Photo: Hi-pass skin softening: 4 great tutorials

Nice list of techniques with HiPass.

Take Out Photo: Hi-pass skin softening: 4 great tutorials:

"Hi-pass methods are worth exploring, but don't even think that we have exhausted the skin retouch possibilities. There's more to come."

These Tools Are Insane @ Permission To Suck

You no longer have 10,000 hours to become a supremely accomplished anything. Additionally, those superbly mastered skills that worked to differentiate your business, have distorted into obscure techniques for specialized fine artists. Thus, before you can cash in on those professional skills, they’re no longer in demand.  My peers surely remember the fine black and white prints on Agfa Portrega-Rapid Photo Paper processed in Bovira as a fond distant memory. “Damn, just when I was starting to get good.”

A Detroit auto-worker replaced by robots will mutter, “no shit”, when they hear a creative professional complain about digital this or CS4 that causing a downward creative demand.  Craftsmanship has taken many tough hits in the form of the newest creative tools.

Can the 10,0000 hour skill of a professional compete with the 500 hour skill of 1000 amateurs?  The new creative democracy yields plenty of broken hearts, but let’s looks beyond that to what the tools allow the ubiquitous creative minds to achieve.

No time to whine.  What I’m suggesting is that there has been no other period when a highly accomplished professional from one field could apply their expertise to another, and do it solo.  There are enough specialized skills automated by hardware and software to allow knowledge to cross disciplines, and then push those skills out to the masses like Rupert Murdoch.

via permissiontosuck.net

Great article. Scary and positive at the same time. Do you fit into this discussion? Your skills?

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What Happens Between the Notes of Your Life?

It takes courage to allow others to interpret your work but that is where emotions reside; in the spaces between the notes.  Make a statement then allow space for interpretation; too many answers create myopic works.  Passion is heightened when we find obscured spaces or silence allowing us time to emote; The notes manipulate and the spaces allow feelings.

via permissiontosuck.net

Permission To Suck | Fearless Pursuit of Creativity - one of the best blogs out there for creative people.

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Wow... Those Progressives are certainly, uh, progressive

Always thought the guy was a very strange duck. Now I know he is a creep and anti-semite. But I am willing to bet a ton-o-cash that no one calls him on it. What a crazy world when a cretin like this can be considered a caring and wonderful guy.

Garrison Keillor Doesn’t Like Jews Writing Christmas Songs - by Marissa Brostoff > Tablet Magazine - A New Read on Jewish Life:

"And all those lousy holiday songs by Jewish guys that trash up the malls every year, Rudolph and the chestnuts and the rest of that dreck. Did one of our guys write ‘Grab your loafers, come along if you wanna, and we’ll blow that shofar for Rosh Hashanah’? No, we didn’t. Christmas is a Christian holiday—if you’re not in the club, then buzz off."

Adobe Design Center - Columns and articles from experts on web design and motion graphics

Adobe Design Center - Columns and articles from experts on web design and motion graphics:

"For some clients and too many young designers, multimedia Flash projects have become synonymous with web design. If it doesn't sing and dance, it must not be good — and it certainly isn't cool. Great work is being created in Flash (SWF), and it's receiving overdue recognition in award shows — particularly in traditional, high-profile award shows, where 'the digital stuff' precedes the multimillion-dollar TV commercials. Judges expect TV commercials to have a brilliant concept and higher production values than most commercial films. Naturally, they expect web sites to blow them away, too.

Boundary-busting, stylistically baroque experiments built with the latest technology will continue to win awards as long as judges continue to view them in the latest browsers on wide-screen G5s and Pentiums with T1 connections. And, it goes without saying, they will win these awards only if they are prize-worthy in their graphic design and programming. We're not talking about bad design, here. We're talking about design at the highest levels — but design of a certain type only."

Sheesh

Geeks drive girls out of computer science - LiveScience- msnbc.com:

"The stereotype of computer scientists as geeks who memorize Star Trek lines and never leave the lab may be driving women away from the field, a new study suggests."

When is the last time they were not surprised?

I hate these idiots! They are ALWAYS surprised. Which means they are incompetant at the least and stupid at the worst. Fools... and the morons at the LameStreetPress keep going back to the the same 'surprised' fools.

My Way News - New jobless claims rise unexpectedly:

"The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of new jobless claims rose to 480,000 last week, up 7,000 from the previous week. That was a worse performance than the decline to 465,000 that economists had expected."

So Funny and Yet So Sad... for us

JammieWearingFool:

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is leading a large delegation on at least two Air Force jets to Copenhagen for the climate summit -- where participants harshly condemn the use of jet airplanes for the high amounts of CO2 they emit."

How To Become Known As a Better Photographer

An important and vitally instructive information on your portfolio. Wonderful stuff, Scott.

How To Become Known As a Better Photographer:

"Do Some Research
Check out the online portfolios of the big name photographers whose work you admire. You may not love every single image in their portfolio, but you can be sure of one thing—there’s not a “stinker” in the bunch. They’re all “page 1” photos, because successful pros are experts at editing things down so they’re just showing their very best images. They limit the number of images so every one’s a winner. Every pro takes 2nd rate shots sometimes—-you just never see them because (come on everybody, say it with me), “They only show their best work.”"

Ooops... This is my studio door.

Sent from my iPhone

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My studio door in mid day light.

Sent from my iPhone

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Michael Cannon Explains it All to You: Democrats Lie to Gain Power

And that is supposed to help get the country right again? How? Hiding costs is not a game. It is a real problem for those who will be called on to pay the costs. Short term gain is not how to govern.

Michael Cannon Explains it All to You - Megan McArdle:

"The problem is that crafting the private-sector mandates such that they fall just a hair short of CBO's definition does not reduce those mandates' cost, nor does it make those mandates any less binding. But it dramatically reduces the apparent cost of the legislation. It's the reason we're all talking about an $848 billion Reid bill, rather than a $2.1 trillion Reid bill.

The MLR memo is the smoking gun: it shows that this is what they've been doing with CBO all along. Proposals that would result in a complete cost estimate are dropped. Because we can't let the public see how much this thing really costs."

Photographer arrested at mall after taking holiday ... - News - The Charleston Gazette - West Virginia News and Sports

I don't think I have a choice," he said. "If this guy shows that kind of force to a guy who took a picture of a choir and of Santa and a uniformed police officer in the mall, then what kind of force is he going to show someone in a dark alley somewhere where no one was watching.

via wvgazette.com

You guys were heroes after 9-11. And everyone realized how important you were. And now you are turning into fuckin' thugs. Amerika grows ever more prominent in our futures, as the law and order becomes "we gots the power, punk, so shut the fuck up."

Great... simply great.

Tell my kids to respect 'mr policeman'? Sure... when mr policeman starts respecting the people he is supposed to be fucking protecting... not dominating.

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Thomas Friedman's Great Inflection theory is nonsense: (Buying into Friedman is a losing proposition)

My purpose is not to bash Friedman, even though I’ll always wonder how deeply he examines his other sources.  My concern is the Internet economy’s “Great Lie” claiming technology allows people lacking skill and talent to be competitive in business. The ways that professionals do things have been changing, and that has included certain efficiencies, but the rules of life have not. You get what you pay for.

via media-proinc.com

Damn Straight!

What you 'pay for' is more than the thing.

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It stood silent. Waiting for a pick up game, or a lanky kid on a skateboard with a ball. Waiting for a game, in the mist.

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PDNPulse: Larry Sultan Dies at 63

In all of the things I’m drawn to,” said Sultan, “photographs have a major role in constructing the mythology of the thing.

via pdnpulse.com

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PDNPulse: Larry Sultan Dies at 63

Born in New York in 1946, Sultan grew up in the San Fernando Valley, and earned an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1973. His mission as a photographer was to “raise questions about the construction of a photograph and make that construction apparent.” Throughout his 35-year career, Sultan’s work was always about how pictures mean as opposed to what they mean.

 In 1977, Sultan published Evidence in collaboration with artist Mike Mandel. The work is a collection of appropriated and de-contextualized photographs from business, industry and government archives. It made the point that context is everything, and that meaning is not inherent in objects or images but is a function of human perception.

via pdnpulse.com

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Law Enforcement vs. The Photographer | Visual Perspective

If you’re a photographer you do have the right to take photos on publicly owned property, it’s actually a first amendment right and our Supreme Court has ruled many times on our first amendment freedoms to make this point very clear.  You do not have to show the police your photos unless they have a warrant.  You do have the right to take photos of subways, bus stops, government buildings, banks and anything else you can see from a side walk.   Police cannot take your camera from you unless they have a warrant and they cannot delete your photos either.    No matter what they say to you they cannot legally do these things and if they do you can take legal action against them.   

via becthomasphotography.com

Damn straight.

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Oh man this is cool!

Sweeet! Gotta get a change jar going for this!

Diana / Diana Products / Diana+ Deluxe Kit:

"We are pleased to announce the arrival of the Diana+ Deluxe Kit. Now, for the first time the Diana+ can be found together with all her accessory kinsman. That’s correct – every Diana+ accessory you can think of is right here ready to roll. Go forth and diversify your Diana+ experimentation with the comprehensive collection of tools and accessories."

Memorial on Bradenton Beach.

Memorial on Bradenton Beach. , originally uploaded by Wizwow.

Elliott Carter Turns 101 today

One of my favorite composers has a birthday today. 101 years young today. You may not see much on the lamestream media as they are still following a golfer with a problem, but it is really something that America's premier composer is still with us. Happy Birthday, Mr. Carter. Many more, please.

Elliott Carter - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

"Carter's earlier works are influenced by Stravinsky, Harris, Copland, and Hindemith, and are mainly neoclassical in aesthetic. He had a strict and thorough training in counterpoint, from medieval polyphony through Stravinsky, and this shows in his earliest music, such as the ballet Pocahontas (1938-9). Some of his music during the Second World War is frankly diatonic, and includes a melodic lyricism reminiscent of Samuel Barber. Interestingly, Carter abandoned neoclassicism around the same time Stravinsky did, saying that he felt he had been evading vital areas of feeling.

His music after 1950 is typically atonal and rhythmically complex, indicated by the invention of the term metric modulation to describe the frequent, precise tempo changes found in his work. While Carter's chromaticism and tonal vocabulary parallels serial composers of the period, Carter does not employ serial techniques in his music. Rather he independently developed and cataloged all possible collections of pitches (i.e. all possible 3 note chords, 5 note chords etc.). Musical theorists like Allen Forte later systematized this data into musical set theory. A series of works in the 1960s and 1970's generates its tonal material by using all possible chords of a particular number of pitches."

Here are some links:
Nonesuch Records Special Edition.

The Photographic world of Drew Gardner: A New Year beckons - So does a new direction

From an excellent photographer:

The Photographic world of Drew Gardner: A New Year beckons - So does a new direction:

"So, I hear you ask, where does still photography fit in to my world now? It was my first love and will remain a big part of my life. In fact my still images will always be there, you will just be seeing them move."

The Florida Coast: Into the Gulf. Bradenton Beach, Florida

The Florida Coast: Into the Gulf. Bradenton Beach, Florida, originally uploaded by Wizwow.

Chase Jarvis Blog: Making Subtle Light

I love subtle light. And I agree with the Chase on the "just cause you got 'em, don't mean you gotta use 'em" mode of lighting. It doesn't make a better picture.

Chase Jarvis Blog: Making Subtle Light:

"Solution: I’d encourage you to think of artificial light in a photo more like good service at a restaurant: it’s often best when it’s there, but you don’t notice it at all. Thus, enter what I’d call subtle light. And the beauty of making subtle light is that it doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, most shooters I know over-think it. At it’s root, it’s really about just a few things: your ambient exposure, bouncing and/or diffusing light."

Funny how things work. I am working on a post on creating subtle, natural looking images with the blend of strobe and ambient and Chase posts this. Cool.

Money Quote:

"Under-exposing 2 stops and then popping your subject from 5 feet away with a direct shot from your strobe is certainly a style, but unless it’s done deliberately as a style, it often distracts the viewer from the image rather than adding to it."

Cross in a little patch of light on Anna Maria Island, Florida.

Cross in a little patch of light on Anna Maria Island, Florida., originally uploaded by Wizwow.

From the roadside memorial project.

Beer could be the new weapon against cancer - Scotsman.com News

And Corona has been shown to be the best, uh... cancer fighting chemical around. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Beer could be the new weapon against cancer - Scotsman.com News: "Tests showed that the ingredient, xanthohumol, blocked a biological pathway that allows prostate cancer to be fuelled by the male hormone testosterone.

The disease is commonly treated with drugs that act in a similar way.

Xanthohumol is a powerful antioxidant derived from hops. It belongs to a family of chemicals called flavonoids found in fruits and vegetables that are known to have anti-cancer properties."

Five Reasons Why Photographers Should Build A Blog Rather Than A Website : I Disagree

I’ve visited 20 Flash-based photographer’s websites this week. I’ve been subjected to long load times, terrible – loud music, poor animation and a serious lack of good imagery. Unfortunately for the photographers who owned these sites, I was visiting to look at their entry into our Emerging Photographer of the Year contest. None of these folks will win because their web sites are so bad, I couldn’t find the pictures and if I could find them, the pain and agony I had to go through to look at them was simply not worth it.

via photofocus.com

Scott Bourne has this post over at Photo Focus:
Five Reasons Why Photographers Should Build A Blog Rather Than A Website

I disagree for a few reasons. I will order them as I find them to his post.

First of all, I totally agree with the Flash thing. Hate it in almost every situation. I am simply not impressed by animating a photographers name. Who cares?

1. You can build a blog at no cost.
Yes... you can. But if it doesn't look good, what is gained. Sure there are great WP themes out there, and some of the biggest names use Blogger. But that doesn't mean that it is right for everyone. Or that it isn't. It's a blog... a linearly structured set of posts that must be interesting to make any impact. And I don't necessarily think that another Blogger Minimalist is the best way to assert your photography into the minds of potential buyers. Should you spend a couple-o-G's building a new blog? HELL NO... but simply doing something because it is free may not be the best way to go.

2. Search Engines Love Blogs: Yep. Especially Blogger for Google (they own it) and on that point there is no argument. I will note that Google and other search engines also love well built and constructed websites with dynamic content... especially ones that are maintained well and the content is compelling. Websites can do that. Very well as fact.

But having a blog will not necessarily automatically get you any search engine love if you have nothing to say. Nothing to post. No desire to write long and wonderfully insightful posts. So they can become an albatross to the photographer who may want to do minimal writing while still maintaining a good web presence and SERP.

3. Websites can accomplish the same as a website and more... OK. But a website that can deliver a 'blog' or 'projects' section can do the same... maybe even more. It is all in the design and architecture, how efficient the code is, what tools are used to get the page seen and content content content. A Website can indeed be dynamic and provide a lot of SE love if it is constructed in a way that allows for dynamic content delivery and a photographer willing to do that. (Now there's the rub for both.)

4. Blogs offer RSS. Sites can do that as well, or integrate the blog within the site for even more RSS goodness. It is simply code and architecture. Can the kid down the street who makes websites make it happen? Actually, yeah... probably - it's us old farts that don't keep up.

5. Using industry standard tools to change and update the blog is a benefit. But those same tools can be used to update, change, modify and add to websites as well. I haven't built a 'webmaster' website since late 1998. CMS is simple to add, and with tools like SlideShowPRo, JQuery, MooTools and simple Javascript, any site can be totally and easily updated by the photographer who may know very little at all about code.

I am in no way saying that photographers shouldn't have blogs, on the contrary I am agreeing with Scott on the fact that they should... IF they have the right personality, drive, ambition and the love of writing that a blog necessitates.

(What about a photoblog, Don?)
Yeah, sure... those are fine. But without words the images are back into being placed on a life raft in an evergrowing sea of content, without any words to provide context... Context is the thing... words and pictures.

Don't bother sending me all those wonderful photoblogs that have a million loyal fans, I already know most of them and am a fan. But the way to that point is long and steep... and not a guarantee of anything at all. That sea is full of a lot of big boats who have been there a long time. And I wholeheartedly support anyone who wants to go that way. But keep in mind the word context...

Clients looking for photographers are looking for photographers who have websites... blogs drive them to the websites. Blogs attract them, the website formalizes the content into something THEY understand, and creates the context in which you show your work.

Scott's site is wonderful and his knowledge priceless, and I thought it was a great, thought provoking post. But I had to discuss my views as well.

Thanks.

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A Photo Editor - George Lois Rips Today’s Magazines A New One

In a interview with Blackbook (here) George Lois doesn’t pull any punches on the state of magazine design today. I was at the SPD awards ceremony when he received a lifetime achievement award of sorts and remember getting so charged up after listening to him talk and watching a video Fred Woodward shot. Of course once back to reality, in an office filled with editors who wanted to cram information in every nook and cranny of the magazine that energy soon drained out. I can’t wait for magazines to stop trying to become websites and go back to being magazines again. George agrees:

via aphotoeditor.com

WOW WOW WOW!!!!

This just simply rocks.

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NewMusicBox: Roger Reynolds

Back in my early music days, Reynolds was a huge influence on me and my work. Good interview.

NewMusicBox:

"But although he is nominally a West Coaster, Reynolds's Midwest upbringing and formative experiences in both Europe and Asia have given him a world view that knows no boundaries. While his music incorporates ideas from many of the stylistic paradigms that have defined the music of last half century—serialism, conceptualism, and even neo-romanticism—it is somehow not beholden to any of them. When Roger Reynolds was awarded the Pulitzer Prize twenty years ago for his string orchestra composition Whispers Out of Time, Kyle Gann quipped that it was the first time this honor had been bestowed on a composer from the experimental tradition since Charles Ives was so honored in 1947. And while experimental is perhaps the best word that can be used to describe Reynolds's overall approach to composition, it is only part of the picture."

We Should All Get It Wrong Like Apple | The Big Money

Second, brand marketing still matters—a lot. Why do teenagers prefer the iPod over countless, far cheaper imitators? Well, it’s a great product. But the terrific advertisements—on television, on billboards, and in magazines—surely have something to do with it, too. When I saw the new iPod Touch ads recently, I wanted to just reach out and grab one. And I don’t even play video games.

People don’t buy an iPod because a Google AdWords link was hawking a good deal. They buy one because their teenager wants to be cool, like the dancing figures in those ads. The lesson here is not from the Internet era, but from the Mad Men era.

via thebigmoney.com

Very interesting.

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The "Set" for the final shot at the Anna Maria Island Workshop. Magnificent sky and we brought the light. iPhone Photograph

Generally on the last shot we put the models together and use a lot of lights to make the image fun. This afternoon it was blustering and windy, but we made it work. I hope to share some of those images when they come in from the students. I have them shoot... it is their workshop. I sometimes want to break my rule so I can jump in and work with the talent and this sky really made me want to break that rule.

But I don't and I didn't.

Some of the images from this set (with three wonderful models) will really be amazing.

Image shot on 2G iPhone and processed with "The Best Camera" in camera.

Don Giannatti: Designer / Photographer / Writer

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Mustang and Flowers: Cortez, Florida on an unusual overcast day. iPhone photograph.

Mustang and Flowers: Cortez, Florida on an unusual overcast day. iPhone photograph., originally uploaded by Wizwow.

I am working on so many images from yesterday in Florida. Shot a ton of images I like. Now to get them into final presentation form.

The Visual Science Lab: Breaking the self fulfilling prophecy of a "bad year"

The Visual Science Lab: Breaking the self fulfilling prophecy of a "bad year":

"When the market comes back I hope I barely notice because I'll be submerged in the process."

Chase's Comment Nails It

"Please notice that the subject of this post is not "don't market". The quote from the burnett art buyer is a reminder that we need to have our craft NAILED before we start making slick marketing materials. Because if you have slick marketing material and no real solid work to stand on you just won't get hired even if you manage to get someones attention. Not only that, but if the visit ur brand because of some slick makeeting and your work is crap they're NEVER coming back because they filed you as crap."

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=33179552&postID=3378703589566183478&pli=1

Don Giannatti - Mobile Unit 5
www.lighting-essentials.com | www.learntolight.com | www.dongiannatti.com
Call or text: 602 434 1765
"Don't just accept your life. Create your life. Make it your way. And think big!"

Chat Google Talk: wizwow Skype: wizwow

Contact Me

--- @ WiseStamp Signature. Get it now

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Men, the Gender Wars Are Over — We Won

Well, there is that...

Pajamas Media » Men, the Gender Wars Are Over — We Won:

"Congratulations, brothers. Our day is at last at hand, a day of no responsibility and easy mating access as far as the eye can see. Best of all, women are convinced that they have done this themselves, and for their own good.

Sure, there are downsides. Civilization has now entered into free fall; those masterpieces of art and science and literature, for which men have been almost exclusively responsible, have ceased to issue forth from our minds and hands — and is it any wonder? Such pyrotechnics are no longer necessary to impress women, which, really, was the only reason we bothered. High culture seems a small price to pay, though, for the loosening of morals and duties which has brought our present Sex and the City-fueled bounty."

You Are a Brand — Start Acting Like One! | Black Star Rising Photography Blog

The third step is to hire a designer, if your budget allows, or perhaps to work with a designer for a trade of services — for example, graphic design work in return for photographic services or a print or two. The designer’s job is to take your brief and translate it into a visual identity.

Logo, color palette, and typography are all integral elements of any brand identity. You might take an approach for your logo that is type-based, such as IBM’s, or a more graphical approach such as that used by Apple.

via rising.blackstar.com

Very important information for photographers. Don't try to do this on your own... collaborate with a designer. Of course you have some excellent visual ideas, now work it out with someone who understands how to put those visual ideas on to paper and screen.

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Photographer Branding

Well, there is that...

A Photo Editor - Photographer Branding:

"... let’s be honest, it’s quite difficult to “improve your craft” and a lot easier to improve your letterhead."

Social Media Alone Won't Change a Consumer's Mind

I just finished doing an interview with someone who wanted to know what I think of Social Media and how I became famous using it. Famous?

Me?

Hardly. While I may be known to a few thousand twitterers or the thousands who visit my blog, the reality is that I am a blip on a blip of fame.

Social Media is a cool tool. It is NOT the only tool. It is not the MAIN tool, but a nice ancillary tool to help one stay connected and support the main channels of marketing.

Social Media Alone Won't Change a Consumer's Mind - Advertising Age - News:

"That's right. The problem isn't the product, it's the consumers. The truth is that other than the executives of the BCS, the sponsors who have money tied into the current bowl system and the coaches who are at the top of the BCS standings when interviewed, it's hard to find any actual fans who support the system as it now stands.

One of the overriding themes of the last decade has been consumer control. That's led some major marketers to recently seek more input from consumers, some even going so far as to crowdsource everything from ads to design. The results have been mixed. And the BCS could have a point in saying a playoff system may be controversial. But the fact of the matter is, real fans of college football want change, and the powers that be have never provided a believable rationale for why it can't be done -- especially considering every other major NCAA sporting league has a playoff system."

Two new WP sites for Photographers. Comments welcome.

I have these two new Web site designs that are built on WordPress. They are fully set up as websites and have all the power of WordPress.

Don Giannatti: Designer / Photographer / Writer
www.dongiannatti.com / www.lighting-essentials.com / www.learntolight.com / 602 434 1765

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Imminent Demise of Glaciers Due to … a Typo!

Idiots. Fools. And Criminals.

Where were all the fact checkers we hear about at the LameStreamMedia? No one caught this? How many BILLIONS of dollars wasted in efforts to stave off a disaster that may be hundreds of years away? How many children and third world people DIED because funds were not available because the Main Stream Press couldn't fact check a single statement?

Shoot 'em. They should be gone.

Pajamas Media » Climategate: Imminent Demise of Glaciers Due to … a Typo!:

"According to Prof Graham Cogley (Trent University, Ontario), a short article on the future of glaciers by a Russian scientist (Kotlyakov, V.M., 1996, The future of glaciers under the expected climate warming, 61-66, in Kotlyakov, V.M., ed., 1996, Variations of Snow and Ice in the Past and at Present on a Global and Regional Scale, Technical Documents in Hydrology, 1. UNESCO, Paris (IHP-IV Project H-4.1). 78p estimates 2350 as the year for disappearance of glaciers, but the IPCC authors misread 2350 as 2035 in the Official IPCC documents, WGII 2007 p. 493!"

Ooops. Screwing Around with the Natural Environment Could Be... Well, Stupid, Stu!

Oh boy. So the liars at the heart of Global Warming and the No-Nothings at the Ozonegonnakillusall groups conspired by idiocy to screw it up even more. Cool. Can't wait for you to take over Health Care. That'll be swell!

Study Finds Ozone Hole Repair Contributes To Global Warming, Sea Level Rise | Popular Science:

"Unfortunately, a new analysis from Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) suggests that stopping ozone depletion may actually increase global warming and speed up sea level rise. This discovery pits two important environmental missions against each other, while highlighting the complexity of our effect on the planet.

SCAR's findings indicate that the extra radiation allowed through the atmosphere by the depleted ozone above Antarctica created wind patterns that cooled the eastern, more densely ice-covered, section of the continent. Those weather patterns partly protected Antarctic ice from the ravages of global warming.

Now, as the hole in the atmosphere heals, those wind patterns will shift, fully subjecting the Antarctic ice to the effects climate change. According to SCAR, that means a rise in sea levels up to 4.6 feet greater than earlier predictions."

Here is the gang from the Pittsburgh Workshop. It was a beautiful evening and colder than it looks.

A great time was had by all at the second to last LE workshop for 2009. Pittsburgh was a blast! Thanks you guys!

Don Giannatti: Designer / Photographer / Writer
www.dongiannatti.com / www.lighting-essentials.com / www.learntolight.com / 602 434 1765

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50 Helpful iPhone Apps for Web Designers and Developers - Nettuts+

Wow. Next time I gotta get a bigger iTouch or iPhone. Lots of great apps here to speed the process and save time.

50 Helpful iPhone Apps for Web Designers and Developers - Nettuts+:

"I've listed 50 iPhone apps for all you web designers and developers which covers everything from color scheme creators and font manuals to FTP and SSH clients. Also keep in mind there are many more of the same type of app."

Ethics. A lost Art.

Not that there is much left, but the ethics challenge amongst us have now gotten in a position of power. Not just Blue Power, but Red Power as well. This makes me sick.

Obama keeps his Afghan promise, but Dems crumble | Washington Examiner:

"If the base didn’t support it, then why did candidates promise it? Because Democratic voters and candidates were playing a complex game. Nearly all of them hated the war in Iraq and wanted to pull Americans out of that country. But they were afraid to appear soft on national security, so they pronounced the smaller conflict in Afghanistan one they could support. Many of them didn’t, really, but for political expediency they supported candidates who said they did. Thus the party base signed on to a good war-bad war strategy."