Blue Planet Photography

Sometimes the simplist thing can be inspiring. Here is a quick shot of some ink I was cleaning from my printer as it floated and dispersed in a sink partially filled with water. Photos of ink in water are not new, but the reason behind this photo is that it wasn’t planned. I was doing something else when I saw the potential for a photograph, then took some time to shoot a few test shots. I’ll use this and other photos for further experimentation. There are many common tasks and objects around is every day that we ignore because they are perceived as unimportant. Looking at them in a new way can help us look at the rest of our environment with new eyes as well.

 In a very circular fashion, I learned of the True North Creative Learning Center in Eagle, Idaho. It’s an interesting story of people knowing people.

The husband of a student of mine teaches writing and poetry. I received an email from Betty one day asking if I knew of anyplace her husband, Ken, could teach his classes. I taught my classes at my studio until the building was sold and most of the tenants got kicked out by the new owner. Even then, and before, I was always on the lookout for a location to teach. I taught for a while at the gallery where I rented wall space to show my work on a regular basis. I taught out of my home. I taught outside during the warm months of the year. But, there wasn’t any place in the area that was reasonably priced and specific to the arts. I was, and still am, considering as part of my new studio/gallery space, to create a teaching/gathering space for artists and interested individuals to learn and discuss art related subjects.

So, I told Betty I didn’t know of anyplace that could accommodate Ken’s classes and wished him luck in finding a suitable location. A couple days later, I received another email from Betty that she’d found a place, a new place just getting started called the True North Creative Learning Center. Betty Gave me Anna’s (the owner) contact information and I sent off an email inquiry right away.

Well, that was mid-December or so, and I was teaching my first class at True North CLC the second week in January, even as the paint was going up and the furniture moving in. I’ve also helped Anna as webmaster to get her website up and running and other small things as she’s getting ramped up.

Well, the circle closes a few weeks later when I learn that Betty found out about the learning center from Anna directly, since she was one of Ken’s existing students! She just hadn’t announced she was putting the center together until Betty asked about a teaching space. Crazy.

So, I’ve moved my classes to the True North Learning Center, a comfortable place to learn and teach. I’m just finishing up two class sessions, Photo I and Composition I that I held during January. These will again be offered in March and each month afterwards as I can schedule them around my other activities. Other classes I have on tap for March and April are:

Photo I: camera operation (what the components do and how they interact to create the photographic image)

Composition I: Designing the photograph

Critical Feedback for Visual Artists: how to give and receive constructive feedback - not restricted to photography

Digital Photography: Before You Buy (a 2-hour informative session for people thinking of buying a digital camera),

Simple Solutions to Common Problems: a review of common issues people have with exposure, subject blur, camera movement, depth of field, etc. and ways to identify and avoid them

Basic HTML and web page design

There will be other classes as time goes on from me. Other classes offered at True North Creative Learning Center are:

writing/poetry

cooking

painting

reading group

middle and high school tutoring

and more…

For more information, class schedules, and registration go to www.truenorthclc.com

What do Aldo Leopold, E.O. Wilson, David Suzuki, Stephen Jay Gould, and Herman Melville have in common? Over the years, the message is the same: People still don’t get their connection to the planet. Since recorded history (and likely before) we humans keep striving to distance ourselves from nature and our connection, involvement, dependence upon it. We rage against it like an implacable enemy, as Ahab did against the white whale:

“He piled upon the whale’s white hump the sum of all the general rage and hate felt by his whole race from Adam down; and then, as if his chest had been a mortar, he burst his hot heart’s shell upon it.” — Herman Melville, Moby Dick

“Nature was something out there — nameless and limitless, a force to beat against, cajole, and exploit.” –Edward O. Wilson, Biophilia

“In short, a land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it.” – Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac

I’m in the process of continuing to write my photo essay “Visiting the Whale”, about my encounter with a beached humpback whale on the coast of Washington this fall and how it started out as a photo opportunity and chance to see the large mammal up close, to an uncomfortable observation of human behavior. I don’t know exactly how it will end up, yet, but it’s becoming an interesting project.

I’m also shopping for a laptop. What a dichotomy.

Photographer Hans van de Horst captured another photographer making what appears to be a death-defying leap in flip-flops from one pinnacle to another at the Grand Canyon.

This photo is the first in a series found Here on Flickr!

A debunking of sorts occurs on snopes.com. The comment on Snopes is the fact of a missing out of frame at the bottom that could (or according to Snopes, “would” catch a falling leaper). This spot may be a popular hangout for canyon watchers/photographers, wayward lovers, etc. but the fact is that (if you look at the alternate angle photo on Snopes) there is still a lot of airspace between the ledge and the bottom of the canyon if there is a misstep.

The second photo in the series shows the photographer leaping with camera gear not in a backpack over his back, but clutched in his left arm. Footwear is the ever-popular rock climbing and rock leaping flip-flop, a mainstay of serious climbers everywhere.

I was just mentioning in my photo class the other day not to drive while photographing. I would add this kind of stunt to the list as well (as if I would need to mention that).

It’s a dramatic series, to be sure. I think if the photographer had stayed on the right side he would have been able to capture the best light instead of having to make his leap while it was still bright enough to see.

I’ve posted an updated review. See the link at the bottom of this First Look. 

I received my new portable storage device (PSD) yesterday after some delay with customs. The box was full of stuff: Nexto PSD, leather case, Li-ion 3.7V 2200mAH external battery (small), Li-ion 3.7V 4400mAH external battery (large), AC adapter with international plug and U.S. plug, USB cable, Firewire cable, cigarette lighter adapter, screwdriver and (2) replacement screws for the case, instruction manual and 17-in-1 compact flash adapter (for SD, miniSD, XD, and various MS and MMC cards).

The AC adapter is a little odd (photo, upper left next to case), with the need to attach 2 pieces (a slide in plug with two posts (European?) and then the U.S. two prong plug over that. There is a sliding “lock” button on the adapter which I assume is to lock the slide in plugs to the unit, but mine doesn’t seem to work. The plugs fit snugly onto the adapter, so I don’t anticipate any issues with them sliding off.

I plugged in the Nexto for its initial charge, and attached the 4400 mAH external battery to the Nexto to charge it as well. The manual states charging of the internal battery takes about 4 hours and the external battery about 5 hours (this I assume references the smaller 2200 mAH battery that comes with the Nexto (the 4400 mAH external and the 17-in-1 CF converter are included as “extras”). I started charging at 12:40pm. There is a light around the power/menu button that lights red as the unit is charging. The light goes off when charging is completed. I had to leave to teach a class at 5:45pm and the Nexto was still charging. When I returned at around 10pm it was done. So, I don’t know how long it actually took for this initial charge, but I’m guessing that charging was complete after 9pm.

The case of the Nexto is black aluminum with chrome caps at either end. The CF slot is at the top and the AC power, USB, firewire, and external battery plugs are at the bottom. There are no covers for these ports. The case is not padded and fits the unit snugly. An elastic sleeve on the side of the case holds the external battery when in use, which would otherwise dangle from the base. A belt loop on the back of the case would support up to a 2″ wide belt. The case appears to be well constructed.

Operation of the Nexto is through a single button. I initially reported that I thought I was going to be disappointed in the Nexto because the B&W LCD screen was not backlit. I was wrong. The screen is backlit while you’re navigating the menu, so operation in low light is not a problem. Menu operation is through short or long (> 1 sec) presses on the power button. I wondered about the ease of navigation, especially with multiple options, but once I tried it out the process of copying, review, deleting and transferring files to the computer is easy.

To download a memory card, press the power button to turn the unit on and insert the CF card. You’ll have 2 options, Copy or Move. Copy duplicates the files from the CF card onto the Nexto, Move duplicates the files from the CF card then erases the CF card when finished. Both options work the same way that those functions do on the computer.

** I don’t recommend using the Move function since it is better to format the CF card in your camera rather than erase or format using a card reader or other device which could lead to corruption issues.

Verification of uploaded data takes 2 forms, Sample Verify compares only the first 128 KB of each file while Full Verify is a bit-by-bit comparison. Obviously, Sample Verify takes less time than Full Verify. To verify the upload the CF card press the button once after the card is done uploading. Here you will have the option to duplicate the copy (to a different folder) or Verify. If data has already been copied from the CF card you can’t select Move if you want to create a second backup.

After the backup is completed the download time is displayed on the screen. The screen displays the amount of space remaining on the hard drive in the upper left corner, the battery level in the upper right, and menu commands take up the center and lower parts of the screen. When you power off the unit, it says “Bye!”

I did an initial upload and transfer test of a single CF card, one that I had in my camera at the time. The CF card is a Lexar Pro 2GB 133X and it had 1.34 GB of image files on it.

The upload from CF to Nexto took 75 seconds.

I uploaded from the Nexto to my computer using the front USB port on my computer (the instructions recommend using the rear port since the Nexto is a “high-speed device” and it may not work - or work as well, I assume, if you use the front port). The upload time to a 70GB drive installed on the computer (not a networked drive) took 4 minutes 1 second.

I moved the connection to the rear USB port and a second upload of the same file (after I had deleted the previous folder) took 4 minutes 14 seconds.

The USB connection was painless, my computer recognized it right away. I have not tried the firewire connection. Both the USB and Firewire cables are fairly short. The USB cable is 46″ long and without taking the FireWire cable out of its bag it looks about the same length. Adequate for laptop use and ok with the desktop if it’s close to your desk.

So far, I’m quite pleased with the performance and operation. I’m a little concerned about the case not being padded and the unit itself seems a bit light on shock protection. But, it’s not meant to be tossed around like a baseball. The test will come next time I’m uploading files all day on a trip or location shoot.

For the updated review following my trip go here.

This past week has been rather frustrating. Two potential clients turned down estimates because they wanted the whole enchilada for nothing. One potential client was very rude about it. I switched blogs because of a new requirement at my old blog to agree to the Terms and Conditions (T&Cs) every time I created a new post. The part of the T&Cs that caused me to move was:

” By submitting, posting or displaying Content …., you grant …. a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to reproduce, adapt, distribute and publish such Content through …., including RSS or other content feeds offered through …, and other …. services. In addition, by submitting, posting or displaying Content which is intended to be available to the general public, you grant …. a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to reproduce, adapt, distribute and publish such Content for the purpose of displaying, distributing and promoting …. services. …. will discontinue this licensed use within a commercially reasonable period after such Content is removed from ….. …. reserves the right to refuse to accept, post, display or transmit any Content in its sole discretion.”

I’ve removed the company name(s) because I’ve found that this type of statement is becoming more prevelant wherever online content is uploaded, plus, I’ve already posted about my blog.

Maybe I’m getting paranoid about the omnipresent “If you sibmit it you grant is the world-wide, royalty-free, right to use it in anything and everything we please” clause, but if anyone else has noticed it also, let me know. I get it enough with potential clients and to have to wrestle with online services as well can just be the icing on the cake.

Everyone wants a piece of what I have to offer. They want it from you, too. They obviously think there is some value in what you and I have to offer. Companies spend time and money to create this clause to knowingly or unknowingly (if you don’t read the terms of service closely you could be in trouble down the road) get you to sign over a very broad usage license to your creative works.

They want what you and I have, but they don’t want to compensate for it.

As the human population increases, it becomes more difficult for individuals to stand out from the crowd, to be recognized. It’s part of our social underpinnings to want to be important, make a difference, be famous for our 15 minutes. Technology increasingly makes it easier to distribute pictures, videos, and music around the world on phones, computers, televisions, gaming devices, you name it. Corporations look at that ocean of content and drool.

I think the trend in image marketing (since that’s what I’m most familiar with) is in “real imagery”. We’ve seen it with the popularity of reality TV shows, why wouldn’t it be any different in the print media? What’s more real than a photograph shot during a real party or outing? The lighting is not perfect (it’s real), the technical quality is often lacking, the emotion is real. Often, that look cannot be easily duplicated with a production shoot that concentrates on angles, lighting, product placement, make-up, art direction, etc., leaving little room for “realism”.

Who better to sell products than your best friend? What’s more cool than having your picture in a national advertising campaign? Many amateur photographers, graphic artists, illustrators, etc. aren’t familiar with how the industry works, what copyright is, what licensing an image means, what compensation should be given, how to protect themselves from being taken advantage of. They’ll even buy copies of the magazine to give to their friends and relatives…..

On a recent television talk show, a contest was announced where the winner would receive the cover photo of a national magazine. I’m sure there will be a “World-wide, Royalty-Free” clause in those contest rules (or something very similar, restricting compensation to the cover photo while giving the publisher/company rights to use the image wherever and whenever they please). These clauses may also be careful to mention that your copyright remains with you (sometimes not, reading the fine print may reveal that by submitting your image you are transferring your copyright, which means you have no future claim to that image…so read terms very carefully and/or seek professional help in interpreting complex rules and regulations). Also pay attention that this clause doesn’t apply just to winners, but to ALL entries. Sometimes just by entering you grant this license even if your photo isn’t selected for any prize.

However, if you agree to the terms, granting a world-wide, royalty-free license is nearly the same as giving up your copyright. No further compensation will be due to you. The company makes money selling advertising, products, magazines, etc. and even the winners will purchase items to give away to friends and relatives and to keep as mementos. Isn’t it sad that you would give away your photo to help promote a business then have to purchase copies so you have a record of it?

It’s great to be recognized by a local, regional, or national company. It’s great to have a “trophy” of a printed cover or feature story. But, you should be fairly compensated for it. Just remember, you have what they want. Don’t make it too easy for them to get it.

Well, I was excited about receiving my new portable storage device yesterday, but when I checked the tracking I saw it marked “clearance delay”. Stuck in customs. Yesterday afternoon I received a call from FedEx asking me a bunch of questions about the device, “what is it?”, “does it connect to a computer?”, “what does it do?”, etc. I answered these questions and asked my own. Apparently, EastGear failed to properly identify the device and rather than calling them, FedEx called me. Like I would know about importation laws. I just ordered the thing.

Well, FedEx ended up faxing me an FCC form “statement regarding the importation of radio frequency devices capable of causing harmful interference” that I had to fill out and fax back. I think they thought I was a company purchasing one item for resale rather than just a guy ordering a new toy.

This morning I checked the tracking status, hoping it had been released and was on the truck for delivery. It’s still being held. Another call to FedEx was not much help. They changed the status of the order to a sole proprietor which made the issue go away, I guess, but it’s now still stuck in customs and won’t be delivered until they decide to release it.

It won’t be delivered today. Maybe tomorrow, maybe Monday. Maybe next month. I’m at the mercy of customs now. I think I’ll be writing a letter to EastGear to ask them to make sure they fill out all the proper paperwork in their highly efficient workflow to get products out the door.

It’s the Users versus the Providers when it comes to the net neutrality issue. What’s that, you ask? Net neutrality is a concept that helps ensure that no single entity or group can have control over access to the internet either through content control or bandwidth control. The internet was developed with an “open source” philosophy, whereas anyone could create applications for the web without asking “permission” from ISPs, governments, (see also here for comments by Tim Berners-Lee).

That concept continues to come under fire by the big providers in the U.S. trying to take control over who has priority access to internet content and bandwidth through essentially a “pay for play” system that has the potential to give priority access or preference to the highest paying customers or to allow content providers to control access, bandwidth, and content based upon preferential treatment of the “level” of customer.

“If I pay to connect to the Net with a certain quality of service, and you pay to connect with that or greater quality of service, then we can communicate at that level.” — Tim Berners-Lee

In the 1/8/2007 issue of Information Week, J. Nicholas Hoover writes about AT&T’s buyout of BellSouth which includes a discussion of concessions made by AT&T regarding net neutrality. While AT&T agreed to adhere to the principle of net neutrality, the agreement didn’t cover aspects such as IP television, Virtual Private Networks (VPN and VLAN) or even the internet backbone, only the bandwidth from the consumer to the nearest point on the network. According to the article, AT&T is free to provide preferential treatment to its own IP Television traffic, for example, or to backbone clients willing to pay for the priviledge. Also, while T1 and DS3 access lines are expected to be charged the same, business DSL may not be included in the concession.

Again today (1/12/07), Information Week discusses net nuetrality from another angle. With increasing techologies utilizing internet bandwidth resources, how will the pipelines be enlarged to handle the load? Who will pay? Internet providers are saying (could be a valid reason, could be a smokescreen) fees would go to improving infrastructure and providing better service. However, I like many others, aren’t very trustful of big businesses who exist primarily to make profits for themselves and shareholders. Whether internet providers honestly improve their internet infrastructure and service will remain to be seen if given the chance to take control. Using past performance as a guide, I’m skeptical. Some will benefit (those who can pay), the rest will flounder.

Net neutrailty is an issue to pay attention to. There are enough users to create a strong voice. So, if you are concerned, write your representatives in the legislature, check out the various websites with information, and get involved as much as you think necessary.

The internet is a great informational resource, just like television. It’s a dominant force for information-gathering. Like television, we would rather have the “open source” option than have our information filtered by a corporation, government or other entity that is making the decisions about what is “good for us”.

Think about it.

I recently transferred over to WordPress from Blogger, but I’m waiting for WP to release the conversion application for the new Blogger format. Until then, you can view my older blog posts at www.blueplanetphoto.blogspot.com.