File this rant under “You know that civilization is in deep trouble when…” A normal morning routine for me includes turning on the local news on here in the Bay Area. (KTVU) After grabbing some coffee and keeping an ear out for the weather, I usually start right in working….
Picture: Crushed rock due to mechanical weathering, near Badwater, Death Valley National Park, California While talking with a friend today, he reminded me that it had been almost exactly a year since we were in Death Valley. Like so many others, we were caught in the spring wildflower bloom fever…
I was reading the recent blast of entries over at StockPhotoTalk, especially the ones that discussed Bill Gates and his initial view of where the market would go when he founded Corbis. Also, there are the considerations that have played out in the Big Agency marketplace, and the evolution of…
The winners of the 63rd annual Pictures of the Year International (POYI) Photography Competition for 2006 have been announced. There is some really great images, and while I haven’t seen all the winning entries, there were a few that really caught my attention. In addition to a fun look at…
Photo: Orion Nebula as seen from Hubble courtesy of NASA. Tuesday evening was a really cool evening for me. My mom has tickets for the Oakland Speakers Bureau, and I got to attend a great lecture given by Brian Greene, author of The Elegant Universe. I’d seen his Nova series…
Picture: Sunrise light through storm clouds at Rocky Creek State Scenic Area, Oregon Coast. I realize that I haven’t done this blog stuff for too long. I can say that I have some real complex rationale for the process of choosing what photos get posted here. I mean – I…
For anyone curious about how most digital cameras differ from more traditional SLR’s, the smaller sensors apply a ‘crop factor’ – essentially zooming in on every scene. Photographer Bob Johnson has a great explaination of the technical aspects on his Tip of the Week. Additionally, he promises more on the…
I was supposed to be on an assignment today, but alas, the clouds have rolled in again. Now I can catch up on a few items that have come to my attention recently. This one I’ve known about for a while; and while I tend to shy away from talking…
Does anyone else have trouble getting Technorati to recognize the Embedded Code that links to your Technorati Profile? I’ve been finding it to be a complete PITA – everytime saying “we’ve encountered a problem.” Well I’m getting to be the one with the problem, especially if this alternate method doesn’t…
Picture: Sunset light at the base of Cathedral Rock in spring, Yosemite Valley, Yosemite National Park, California. This image is about as far off as possible from how the Valley looked today. I’d been watching the Valley Live Cam for several hours this afternoon, and due to a series of…
It’s certainly a nice photo. It should be. It just set a record. Selling at Sotheby’s auction house in New York for nearly $3,000,000.00, this 1904 Edward Steichen print titled, The Pond-Moonlight became the most expensive photograph ever sold. The CBC reports that the print, purchased by a private collector,…
Talk about a cool name for a scientific discipline. Take a look at these photos of biological petri dish specimens, and you’ll immediately have a better understanding of what’s at the root of this scientific branch. If you like those and want to see even more, check out the artful…
Picture: Two birds in flight through a solar ice halo, San Francisco, California Last year I was testing out a new camera next to a parking lot near the San Francisco Int’l Airport. I was actually there to do some quality tests on a lens that was on loan from…
Alpenglow is a term that photographers (and artists) use to describe a type of light that was often seen at the end of the day in the Alps, turning the snow-covered peaks a bright crimson red. A recent question posted over at Photo.net prompted me to reply, and I thought…
What do you do if you’re getting railroaded by a railroad company? Well one answer, according to a photographer in Vancouver British Columbia, is to make a stand against the oncoming legal locomotive. According to a report in Trans Talk, a specialty blog on Vancouver transportation issues, The Union Pacific…
And speaking of clouds; These are mammatus clouds taken at sunset from the deck of my old apartment. The San Francisco Bay Area is not known for powerful thunderstorms in the same way as the Great Plains, or for the monsoons of the Southwest. However, on some rare occasions, we…
I’m one of those people that whenever I fly, I try to get a window seat. As long as it’s not picth black night, or flying through clouds, my nose (or camera) is glued to the window. On a couple cross-country flights, I’ve actually gotten a stiff neck and cramps…
When can you make money selling photo prints of another person for tens of thousands of dollars, not pay the subject anything in return, get sued by an elder New York City Orthodox Jewish man, and win? Why, when you’re selling ART, of course! At least, so says Manhattan Supreme…
Digital photography offers some wonderful capabilities over traditional analog film counterparts. One of the main areas many people like to tout is the extended dynamic range of digital vs. film. Photoshop has a tool called “Merge to HDR” where you can take a series of images at different exposure values,…
The last few years have seen a real intrusion on my love for taking pictures; Keywording. It’s a hate thing, really. I call it the bane of my (professional) existence. But it is the necessary evil in the stock photo industry. I have a hard time feeling like anyone else…
Picture: Coastal Pier and fog, Wm. R. Hearst Memorial State Beach, San Simeon Bay, Central Coast, San Luis Obispo Co., California This image was taken while on one of my first trips to the Cambria / San Simeon Coast while shooting for my California Coast book. This pier sits below…
