The World's Fastest Camera

Scientists have made the fastest camera ever. It can take 6.1 million pictures in a single second, at a shutter speed of 440 trillionths of a second. Light itself moves just a fraction of a centimeter in that time. Check it out HERE.

Inside the Mexican Suitcase

New Works by Photography’s Old Masters

The New York Times

Lost and found negatives from Robert Capa, Gerda Taro and David Seymour (Chim)

Photograph - David Seymour (Chim)

Just Taking Pictures? Tell it to the Judge

Watch out Street Photographers!!!

LOS ANGELES — A growing number of big-city police departments and other law enforcement agencies across the country are embracing a new system to report suspicious activities that officials say could uncover terrorism plots but that civil liberties groups contend might violate individual rights.

Photo by Keith Skelton...1980 Democratic Convention

Light Tripods Can Actually Make Images Blurrier

Light Tripods Can Actually Make Images Blurrier

Many beginning photographers use the lightest and cheapest tripod available. Most of these tripods are more trouble than they are worth. Rarely can you get anything decent for less than $200. I advise evaluating your needs and go to a good camera store to check out what is available. A few names of companies that generally make good tripods are Gitzo, Bogen, FEISOL, Manfrotto, etc. Here is a LiNK to some good stuff.

Photo by Juza

Photographs from Oregon and Washington

Photographs by Keith Skelton of Oregon and Washington shot last week while scouting for photo workshop locations.

Peering into North Korea

2 US journalists to be tried in North Korea

Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who work for San Francisco-based Current TV, a media venture founded by former Vice President Al Gore, were arrested March 17 near the North Korean border while reporting on refugees living in China. Cameraman, Mitch Koss escaped capture. Here is a link to one of Laura Ling's and Mitch Koss's stories on Current TV. http://current.com/items/89845362_narco-war-next-door.htm



Peering into North Korea - The Big Picture - Boston.com

(REUTERS/Reinhard Krause)

Bodie ghost town and Mono Lake Photo Workshop

There is still time to sign up for our Bodie ghost town and Mono Lake Photo Workshop, June18-21.

This workshop will take you to one of the world’s most photogenic locations: the landscape of the Eastern Sierra Range. We will photograph places such as Bodie, Mono Lake, Silver Lake, and more. This workshop is open to of all levels of photography, using 35mm to large format, film and/or digital. June 2009

WORKSHOP GOALS
This workshop will mostly be about practicing and perfecting your craft. We will have daily discussions about "seeing", pre-visualization, and techniques. We will also present you a few exercises to help get your creativity flowing. These will be beneficial for all levels of photography experience. We will also spend some time reviewing digital work flow, Camera RAW, and processing digital pictures.

Besides the photography, just visiting this area is a joy. For those who have not been to this part of the Eastern Sierras you will be in for a big treat. It is one of the most scenic locations in the world.

Thursday, June 18th 2009

The workshop starts Thursday , June 18th 2009. We will meet in Lee Vining at 5 pm. We will meet for dinner and discuss our plans for the next three days. After eating we will have time to shoot sunset and stars mover Mono Lake.

Friday, June 19

On Friday June 20th we will caravan over to the ghost town of Bodie. We will be there a good part of the day shooing photos. Since the days are long we can get some rest in the afternoon before heading back out again for evening photography.

Saturday, June 20

We will rise early in time for a sunrise shoot at Silver Lake which is only a few miles from Lee Vining. As the sun rises it illuminates Carson Peak casting a perfect reflection on the Lake. This makes for a classic photograph. After our shoot we will eat breakfast at the Silver Lake Resort Cafe which is a step back in time. They serve an awesome breakfast. Later that day we will have an informal critique of the photos that everyone has shot up this point. You will be able to apply some of these lessons to our shooting Saturday evening.

Sunday, June 21
Sunday is mostly a travel day but we offer another sunrise shoot near Dunderberg Meadows. The workshop will conclude at 11 am.

The Eastern Sierra is isolated. The closest major airport is Reno, NV- 140 miles away. Driving from Reno is about 2 1/2 hours. San Francisco is about a 5 hour drive through Yosemite National Park, and Los Angeles is about 6 hours away by car. It's well worth the effort to get there. If you are interested in carpooling or sharing a rental car from Reno or the Bay Area, let us know, and we will try to connect you with someone.

FEES: $295. There is a $50 discount for former students. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP

Photo by Keith Skelton

Panasonic LX3 and LX2 Photographs

Keith Skelton's photographs with a Panasonic HERE

Shrinking the SLR

The New York Times

Free Photo Workshops

Free Photo Workshops

Chiaroscuro Photo Workshops is offering one free workshop for our loyal participants. Attend four workshops and attend the fifth workshop for FREE. This offer applies to any of the workshops offered in California, Arizona, or Oregon and is effective from May 2009 through May 2011! As usual, ALL returning participants receive a $50.00 discount.

Check it out.

MASTER PHOTOGRAPHER SERIES: W. Eugene Smith

No other photographer influenced me more than W. Eugene Smith. There is an overload of information about him. One of the best sources is from the book Let Truth be the Prejudice By Ben Maddow.

He was one of the worlds greatest photojournalists. His technical competence was matched by very few, and his darkroom skills makes an original Gene Smith print a work of art in itself. His passion for truth places the integrity of the photograph far above such matters as monetary gain or personal safety.

There are many less published photographs of his that are worth a search including a series of his daughter "Juanita".


LIFE photographer W. Eugene Smith talking w. and giving treats to local children after battle between Japanese & American forces for control of Saipan.
July 1944
Photographer: W. Eugene Smith











"With considerable soul searching, that to the utmost of my ability, I have let truth be the prejudice." - W. Eugene Smith

Eugene Smith Archive at Magnum Photos

W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund

Universal Photographic Digital Imaging Guidelines

QUICK GUIDE

The UPDIG guidelines aim to clarify issues affecting accurate reproduction and management of digital images. These guidelines were created to establish photographic standards and practices for photographers, designers, printers, and image distributors. The guidelines cover Digital Asset Management, Color Profiling, Metadata, and Photography Workflow.

Nikon Introduces the D5000

Nikon Introduces the D5000

Here are some of the specs for the new $729 camera that will be available in a few weeks:

-12.3-megapixel DX-format CMOS image sensor
-Coupled with Nikon's EXPEED image processing and NIKKOR optics, breathtaking picture quality is assured
-D-Movie Mode with sound
-Record 720p HD movie clips enhanced by NIKKOR interchangeable lens quality and versatility
-Vari-angle color LCD monitor
-Position the 2.7-inch monitor freely for fresh shooting perspectives. Screen flips inward for safe keeping
-19 Auto-exposure Scene Modes
-Capture stunning photos in challenging picture-taking situations including Sunsets, Candlelight, Silhouette, Portrait, -Landscape, Beach/Snow, and more
-One-button Live View
-Easy Live View access offers 4 autofocus modes, including Face Priority AF
-Continuous shooting as fast as 4 frames-per-second
-Combined with fast power-up and split-second shutter response, decisive moments are captured easily without annoying shooting lag
-Low noise ISO sensitivity from 200 to 3200
-Engineered for exceptional low-light shooting
-Built-in image sensor cleaning
-Effective 4-frequency, ultrasonic sensor cleaning keeps images spot free
-Retouch image editing
-Nikon’s renowned 420-pixel RGB 3D Color Matrix Metering II, teamed with the exclusive Scene Recognition System, evaluates each scene for unmatched exposure accuracy
-GPS geo-tagging
-GP-1 GPS unit (optional) automatically identifies and records every image’s latitude, longitude and altitude, with satellite time-of-day.

Vern Miller, Brooks Institute of Photography

When I was a student 1978 at Brooks Institute, Vern Miller was one of the instructors . My condolences go out to his family and friends.

"Hello,

I'm sad to say that Vern Miller passed away last Friday morning, April 10. Mike Verbois called me over the weekend to share the news.

For those who do not know, Vern Miller was the head of the Industrial / Scientific Photography Department of Brooks Institute of Photography for many years during the 1970's and 80's. (I am not sure of the exact dates he taught here). Many of the current instructors had Vern as a teacher and will remember him fondly. He was a very bright and engaging teacher, and an expert photographer. In the 1970's Vern Miller, Barry Schwartz and others from Brooks Institute were chosen as the photographic investigation team for the Shroud of Turin project. Vern was a highly accomplished photographer and respected educator.

Vern passed away after a period of unspecified illness. He requested no memorial services or other acknowledgements. He will be buried in Idaho with his parents.

Please share this information with the alumni and other members of our community."

Scott Miles


Scott Miles
Professional Photography Program Director
Brooks Institute
27 East Cota Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101

L to R President Ernest H. Brooks, Vernon Miller, Bryan McNulty, Ohio University

Lumix LX3 fully loaded

Lumix LX3 fully loaded, originally uploaded by Nokton.

Here is a nice list of some of the attachments avaliable for the Panasonic LX3. Hopefully there will be a Panasonic LX4 with a wider range zoom, manual video controls, instant shutter mode, and lower noise at ISO 400-800. Regardless, this is a great little camera.

Center announces the 2008 awards competition results.

Center, formerly known as the Santa Fe Center for Photography 2008 Awards.The Project Competition honors committed photographers working on long-term documentary projects and fine-art series. This is a must look for all lovers and students of photography. Some wonderful young photographers are shown....many who use FILM.

© Hiroyo Kaneko, 2009 Santa Fe Prize for Photography winner

“An Unlikely Weapon: The Eddie Adams Story”

A Dark Glimpse From Eddie Adams’s Camera

Included is this photograph I took of Eddie Adams (left) and David Burnett at Madison Square Garden in 1980.

I photographed the 1980 Democratic Convention in NYC and I had an opportunity to sit and chat with Eddie Adams. He is iconic in the world of photojournalism.

I bought “An Unlikely Weapon" on DVD a few months ago. It is definitely worth seeing. I cannot be a critic since I thought Adams was the greatest.

The photo of police chief General Nguyễn Ngọc Loan executing a Vietcong prisoner is one photograph credited for opening American's eyes to the horror of the Vietnam War. The other photo pictured here is of Adams and Fidel Castro after a duck hunt together. Classic.

HERE is a link to the “An Unlikely Weapon: The Eddie Adams Story” web site.

Photographs taken with the Panasonic LX3

By no means is this a technical study of the Panasonic LX3. But it is a sampling how I have been using the LX3 in the last few months. It certainly isn't a SLR type digital but it can take very nice images with it's F2.0 24mm Wide Angle LEICA DC VARIO-SUMMICRON lens. It is one of the 5 or 6 "serious" digital compact cameras on the market. I have also had good success shooting it the video mode.

All the photos in this series were shot in the Panasonic RAW mode and processed in Adobe Lightroom. The very first shot in the series of the woman picking a flower is a 100% enlargement taken from the following frame. The outdoor shots were taken at ISO 80-200. The few indoor shots were taken at ISO 400.

The camera is a joy to use. Small enough for a pocket, but packs a lot of quality and functions. I can only imagine what a LX4 might be like.

A link to the photographs in HERE

All photographs copyright by Keith Skelton

The Creative Personality

The Creative Personality by David Lyman.

David Lyman's List of Behaviors that Lead to Being More Creative:

"I came up with a list of traits some time ago that seem to be common among the creative people I knew. Take a look at my list below. Highlight those that seem to apply to you, and consider those that do not. Note those that you might want to incorporate yourself. The list is in no particular order, so go and explore. Just reading them over may prove instructive, for these are the characteristics I feel that leads to being more creative."

• Creative people love putting things together . . . especially things that at first do not appear to fit, but later the arrangements appears obvious. These things can be words, images, musical notes, colors, shapes, physical objects and ideas . . . .

• Creative people are curious, they are intrigued by what they might create, they are curious about the physical world around them, relationships, and the inner world of ideas and emotions.

• Creative people are different, and they do not mind being different. My mother would tell me as a child: "Yes, David you are different, but in being different, you are special." She gave me permission to accept my "differentness"; that is the permission creative people need to give themselves. (It would helpful if those who love or work with creative people were to offer the same acceptance of this differentness.) What makes them different? Let’s take a look:

Creative people are playful and childlike. They enjoy fooling around with things, playing with ideas. They do not take things too seriously not even serious things.

• Creative people love to put things together--they love to play with colors, shapes, objects, people, ideas, words, sounds, scenes, especially things that at first do not appear to fit, but later the arrangements appears obvious.

• Creative people do not play by the rules. They enjoy being outlaws, breaking rules, and thumbing their noses at convention and conformity. They invent new ways to do old things.

• Creative people want to keep inventing, While they enjoy putting things together (or take therm apart), they do so in order to discover what’s possible. Creative people do not like to produce the same thing over and over. It’s the discovery of what’s possible that is the kick . . . that provides the “buzz.”

• Creative people are adventurous. They love to travel, to see new things, and to explore the world around them as well as the inner world of their minds, hearts and souls.

• Creative people have trouble being accurate, punctual, and proper. Other things are more important to them. Having to be accurate gets in the way of being spontaneous and trying new things. Creative people are more interested in discovery and the big picture than in the details.

• Creative people are spontaneous. They need no script to lead their lives, certainly not someone else’s script. They take direction from each day's events and from the work they do. Creative people love to respond to events, rather than perform to someone else's standards. They make up their own rules, create their own map.

• Creative people are funny, they have a sense of humor and they see humor in the world around them. They like to tell and laugh at jokes. They make fun, have fun, and are fun to be around.

• Creative people are independent. They have an ability to work alone, to be alone, and to stand alone in their convictions. They defend their vision and their projects . . . often against great odds and the objections, even ridicule from others. Creative people can be independent to the point of stubbornness.

• Creative people are sensitive to art and beauty in more than art and beauty. For them beauty is not only in the form and color of a flower, but in the function of a well-designed machine, the harmony of a political system, or the perfection of an idea.

• Creative people are enthusiastic, idealistic, responsive and passionate. They believe their passion makes all else possible. Some people consider them hyperactive, suffering from ADD, or absentmindedness or single-mindedness, or arrogance, or an inflated ego.

• Creative people are bold, they act with a confident, charge-ahead, single-mindedness of people who have important work to do and know what that work is even if others don't. They are free with their opinions because they like to test ideas and see if someone will challenge them.

• Creative people see things where others do not. Photographers will see possibilities on a rainy day, for it is then that the light is softest. Creative people put things together, on a canvas or in a stew pot. They may put two and two together and come up with 22 instead of four.

• Creative people take action. Thinking creative thoughts is not being creative. There must be an action, a product, or a performance, some work done, some creation for there to be creativity. Sitting and dreaming is fine, for it's often where ideas come from, but action is what creates. Action, even without thinking is better than waiting to think of the right thing to do. Dreamers often refuse to begin the work until they have thought up what it is they are supposed to do. They “think” too much without acting. This is not necessarily a good way to go about being creative. The old adage of “ready, aim, fire,” seldom leads to great works. The creative mantra is “Fire, aim, and now maybe you’re ready.” It takes phone calls, drawings, letters, proposals, work prints, rough drafts, a model, a note to or a conversation with someone to get the creativity started. Thinking is fine, but do not just think, act! Get started. Build momentum, even if it is the wrong direction, or you are confused about the direction. Once you see what it is you have done, or have produced, only then can you adjust your direction. Even mistakes can lead you toward your goal. It’s easier to change direction once moving than to get started, so get started.

• Creative people push beyond, around, or through the walls that confine them. Every problem is an opportunity; every obstacle is a challenge. A creative person looks at a challenge in the same way a mountain climber looks at a mountain. The higher and more difficult the climb, the greater the opportunity to grow and greater the reward at the end.

• Creative people are constantly stretching, growing and learning. To stretch myself, I seek out adventure and high risk activities, especially in sailing. For many years, I sailed, alone, the 2,000 miles from Maine to the Caribbean. For two weeks I was totally at sea, out of touch with my office, with land and my land-based life. I was forced to be self-reliant and at one with the weather, the sea, my boat and the experience. There is risk to be sure; otherwise there would be no challenge. But having made the voyage many times, the experience of overcoming the risk has raised my level of confidence and helped me stretch. The lessons learned while wrestling with hurricanes and the unknown I apply to my work ashore as a writer, educator, and entrepreneur.

If the people around you and the place you live
are interfering with your creative purpose,
do something about it

• Creative people are driven; they are passionate. What fuels the creative engine is of some importance, but it needs to be there. John Gardner, the novelist write that a psychological flaw, may be the root of creativity . . . something that provides the passion to overcome the obstacles that will stand in the way of reaching your goals.

• Creative people are not content with the obvious, the mundane, the mediocre, and the cliche. They are seldom satisfied with their first discovery. The payoff, for the person who keeps pushing, is the joy of discovery and accomplishment--the excitement of a house materializing out of a pile of boards, a story emerging from a stack of blank paper, or a print coming up in the developer tray. Failure, I've come to realize, is always not going far enough.

• Creative people know when to let go and move on. The desire to finish a project or meet a deadline can overwhelm creativity. So can a hectic or chaotic work environment. When the creativity evaporates, it's best to get away from our work for a while, if only in our heads. Another kind of letting go is just as important for being creative. We all have the power to become who we want to become. The trouble is, we often pick up the wrong script and spend years acting out someone else's life. How does that happen? We listen to guidance counselors; we try to fulfill our parents' expectations; peer pressure and fashion drive us down the wrong paths. For some people, that kind of role playing is an act of retaliation. For others it is an attempt to please. Sadly, many people play out the wrong scripts because they don't know they have become someone they are not. They do not know how to stop and turn to becoming more of who the really are. That’s where these workshops I developed over the years have been the most effective. A one-week workshop provides creative people with an opportunity to become someone else, perhaps someone they are better at being, their true self.
Acting takes a lot of energy, especially if we are acting out roles that are ill-suited to our personalities. It takes so much energy to be the people we are not, we have no energy left over to be good at being our true selves. I learned that lesson by trying to be a musician.
Everyone in my family is a musician-my father was a concert cellist, my younger brothers are accomplished instrumentalists. For seven years, I too trained on the piano and guitar. When I was 14, my father, who recognized a bad act when he heard one, said, "David, I release you from ever having to play a musical instrument again." Greatly relieved, I turned my attention to two instruments that I could master, and they ruled my life for many years . . . these two instruments were my voice and the tape recorder. I had my own radio show at age 15. I could bring music to an audience, but through the talents of others. This led to my first career as a music producer. I started a folk-music coffee house in the early 60s and was the first person to pay James Taylor to sing. Later, the camera became my instrument, and it still is, that and the written word.

• Creative people are impatient. Time is an important ingredients in creativity, but often, we expect results overnight and demand success immediately as if life were a one-hour Fotomat store.
Creative people often think there is a great deal to be done in life, and never enough time, but they also know how to be patient. They know how to wait for objectivity to return. They know how to bring an open mind to their work, for it is often the work that tells them what to do next.

• Creative people don't mind being lost. We don’t call it “being lost,” we call it taking the longer, more interesting way around. For a photographer, all roads lead to good photographs. I discovered that being lost is just not knowing where you are right now, but later you will. That takes faith, a belief that time and your process will lead you out of the woods to a place of knowing. While sailing with a friend I learned this. After a few days at sea, my friend became edgy, fearing we might be lost.
"Where are we?" he asked.
"Oh, about 100 miles some place north of Bermuda." I answered. That was not good enough for my friend. He grew rigid and uncooperative. So I went below to fuss with the charts and navigation instruments came back on deck and said. “We are here,” pointing to mark on the chart. My friend felt better and became a functioning member of the crew again. Of course I had only a vague idea of where we were, and that was fine for me, but my friend needed to believe in something, even it it was a lie, even my erroneous mark on the chart but he felt better believing in my lie, while I was still uncertain exactly where we were, but I did not need to know, not then. I’d learned years ago that a poor navigator will make a mark on a chart believing that is where they are, while a good navigator will put their out-stretched hand on the chart and say: “We are somewhere under my hand.” Of course GPS makes this all a moot point, as we now know just where we are.

• Creativity requires faith, faith in your vision, faith in your craft, and faith that the creative process is working even though our rational mind cannot see how.
In sailing I found that if I fix a position on the chart based on insufficient information, and then draw a course from that supposed position, I stand a much better chance of steering into disaster than if I wait until I am closer to my destination and more accurate information is available.

• Creativity requires courage and willpower to withstand the winds of objection and criticism. Sometimes objections come from those who fail to grasp our vision; the harshest criticism comes from ourselves. The first book I read that dealt with creativity (there are few and this one still is relevant) is Rollo May’s The Courage to Create. I heartily endorse it to you. It’s not easy to remain creative, spontaneous and fresh when all around are demeaning your silliness, procrastination an hair-brained ideas.

• Creativity requires the ability to concentration, and an ability to focus our energy on a single purpose. I have heard this rule from dozens of artists I have interviewed and worked with:
Work every day at what you do. Do not wait for inspiration to come and get you started. Work, so that when inspiration does come you will already be working. Working each day, regardless of how you feel. This discipline keeps your skills sharp, and as the Greeks knew Inspiration (the Muse) is more apt to visit the busy artist than the idle one.

• A word of warning. Creative People can be a Pain in the you know where . . .
It has been my experience that people who are well behaved, accommodating,predictable and cooperative lack that gene that leads to being truly creative. People who are good followers and able team players, are less likely to be creative then those who are loners. Creative people can be difficult to work with or to befriend. Many of them drive their families and loved ones crazy with their unpredictability, irrational behavior and seemingly selfish attention to their ideas and projects.

• Creative people can be inconsiderate, inconsistent, arrogant, and downright cantankerous.

• Creative people are unpredictable, they do not follow the crowd, or behave rationally.

• Creative people are usually late and they seldom finish anything. Their projects are always “works-in-process” for they feel there is always something more they can learn, or can be added. They also hate giving up the process and the thing they have made, even if only partially done. They have ownership of their ideas, and they love the process of discovery, not necessarily the process of finishing them . . .the smart ones have found that turning their projects to others is the only way to get anything published

• Creative people are irrational, they do no think straight. They think tangentially. This drives rational, Left Brain people nuts.

• Creative people may appear irreverent, as they are not usually on the same wave-length as their more rational, predictable counter-parts.

• Creative people may appear absent minded, or single-minded, out of touch with reality, and perhaps they are. They may already living in the future,a future the rest of the world will discover later.

David H. Lyman founded The Maine Photographic Workshops in 1973, he built and ran that world renowned summer school for 33 years. He has been a great educator and advised me to read Man and His Symbols
and other books that seemingly had nothing to do with photography. But I learned that they had EVERYTHING to do with making photographs.

Peter Beard in Africa

Peter Beard has been a highly successful and fascinating photographer/artist since the early 1960s. His photographs of Africa, African animals, and the journals that often integrate his photographs have been widely shown and published. Beard's collage-work and diaries are some of the most original one will ever see. In 1996, Peter Beard was skewered and trampled by an elephant.

Guillaume Bonn's documentary, Peter Beard: Scrapbooks from Africa and Beyond

Peter Beard Trailer -


Peter Beard from Feister Dills Images on Vimeo.

Link to 1996 Vanity Fair article.

Inside Peru's Cocaine War

This is a fascinating slide show by Moises Saman of the cocaine war going on in the jungles of Peru. The New York Times Photographs by Moises Saman

Moises Saman, born in Lima(Peru) in 1974, grew up in Barcelona(Spain) until his late teenage years, then moving to the United States to attend California State University, Fullerton. Shortly after graduating with a degree in Communications, Moises moved to New York and became a Staff Photographer at New York Newsday from 2000-07.

Silver Efex Pro from Nik Software now is available for Adobe Lightroom

Silver Efex Pro from Nik Software now is available for Adobe Lightroom

Just today I was moving images from Lightroom into Photoshop, to Silver Efex, and back to Lightroom. It can now be done with an easier work flow.

By the way, Silver Efex is a very cool application for those that do black and white work. The film effects are close to the actual film looks including, Kodak's former Panatonic X, Tri X, Ilford FP4, and many more.

Photo by Keith Skelton

White House News Photographers

Here is a link to the White House News Photographers Association.s web site. There is information regarding the history of White House photographers, events, member's galleries, contests, and other news.

Photographer Collection: Emilio Morenatti

Check out these amazing photographs by Photographer Emilio Morenatti of the Associated Press. Photos published by The Denver Post. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Photography Workshop to Mono Lake, Bodie ghost town, and more.

This is a reminder that California Photography Workshops has a photography workshop to Mono Lake, Bodie ghost town, Silver Lake, and other areas. There is still space available for the June 18-21 weekend trip.

You will travel to one of the world’s most photogenic locations: the landscape of the Eastern Sierra Range. This workshop is open to of all levels of photography, using 35mm to large format, film and/or digital.

The workshop will mostly be about practicing and perfecting your craft. We will have daily discussions about seeing, pre-visualization, and techniques. We will also present you a few exercises to help get your creativity flowing. These will be beneficial for all levels of photography experience. We will also spend some time reviewing digital work flow, Camera RAW, and processing digital pictures.

Besides shooting photos, just visiting this area is a joy. For those who have not been to this part of the Eastern Sierras you will be in for a big treat. It is one of the most scenic locations in the world.

The price is a very reasonable $295 plus food and lodging. There is a $50 discount for previous workshop participants.

Here is the LINK for more information.

Caravaggio - The photographer?

Caravaggio was early 'photographer'

"Caravaggio used an early form of photography to create his masterpieces - 200 years before the invention of the camera, a researcher has claimed."
"Roberta Lapucci said the Italian artist - noted for his chiaroscuro (light and shadow) paintings - used "techniques that are the basis of photography". From The BBC.

The iPhone Gold Rush. The New York Times

IS there a good way to nail down a steady income? In this economy?

Advanced color to black and white conversions.

There are many ways to change color images into black and white using Photoshop, Lightroom, Raw, etc. Here is a movie from Photoshop News with a method using Channels for detailed work.

Canon Professional Services has revamped it's program.

The new Canon Professional Services (CPS) program is designed to strengthen membership for true working professional photographers. When introduced, some of working professional photographers were being left out because of the equipment requirements. Canon has listened and responded positively.

Audio slideshow: Ana's story. From The Los Angeles Times

From The Los Angeles Times

I've been reading the Los Angeles Times for nearly 30 years and the staff photographers have always been some of the finest.
Photography and audio by Allen J. Schaben.

Mount Redoubt erupts again.

http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/photos/2009/04/021222.html?mi_atom=The%20Frame

Dave Brubeck: Composing Ansel Adams

Dave Brubeck: Composing Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams' stunning black-and-white photography inspired Dave Brubeck's new piece, "Ansel Adams: America." Pictured here: Winter Sunrise, the Sierra Nevada from Lone Pine, California (1944)

BlinkBid

This is an informative and useful site application for photographers to help manage and apply bids for assignments.

Keith Skelton Photo

Picturing a Recession

Picturing a Recession - New York Times Readers share their photos from around the world.

Photo by Keith Skelton

Photography and the Recession

Photography and the Recession

Thom Hogan from "byThom" Nikon expert has some great advice for photographers during this recession. Check it out.

"Meanwhile, the economy may be helping you as a photographer. If you're a landscape photographer, like me, then the fact that air travel is down means the airlines are back to discounting fares again. And hotels are offering discounts, too. Gas for the rental vehicle to get you to Gee Golly Gosh National Park is back to pocket change levels (though I'd still encourage you to drive a bit less and hike a bit more). If you're into wildlife, did you realize that the South African rand has dropped 30% against the dollar? True, a trip to Kruger or Sabi Sands is not exactly inexpensive, but the current conversion rates make it more palatable than it was last year. Those with the dough can bake up some real fun."

APA -GOOGLE BOOK SEARCH SETTLEMENT

APA -GOOGLE BOOK SEARCH SETTLEMENT

APA (Advertising Photographers of America) wants you to be aware of the Google Book Search Settlement and how it may be a benefit to you. If you are an author or publisher and the copyright holder of a book or of a book and the photographs in the book, this is valuable information for you. A Class Action lawsuit was filed against Google for scanning-in copyrighted books, inserts, and displaying excerpts without permission. Google denies the claim but a settlement has been reached.