In celebration of getting a new camera for Christmas, here comes a photo post. Check out more after the jump.
Drinking beer on the Whidbey Island ferry
I’ve been slow to get some of the pictures up from the trip that we took down to Whidbey Island a few weeks back. Every time I look at the pictures of the ferry we took, I can’t get beyond the fact that you can drink beer on this twenty minute ride to the other side. Sure enough, there were a few people drinking while in route, and there was one guy double fisting a pair of suds. He was only half way through one by the time that we decided that the port on the other side was close enough that we should get back to the car.
The other crazy thing was the driving around the island that we did. There were numerous signs asking you to not drink and drive. Underneath each of those signs was a sign in remembrance of someone who most likely died from a drinking and driving accident. Getting into Oak Harbor, it struck me odd that the Applebee’s there had happy hour from 3-6 and 9-11. I guess that makes them happy hours.
We also recorded a bunch of audio on this trip for an upcoming episode of RadioZoom. Just need to get to editing that.
Duane’s Photo of the Day
Duane started doing something pretty cool the other day. On his site, he added a Photo of the Day feature. It’s a Flickr group that he started, but it will also be a way for him to showcase some of his HDR[wiki] work.
An example of an HDR photo:
And another:
Had to throw some samples of an HDR image, or two, of his in there. It’s truly some amazing stuff. Makes me want my own SLR so I could do that.
If you are on Flickr, you can join the group as well. Duane might even feature you on the Photo of the Day.
JPG Magazine is the way not to do things
I am not a huge contributor to JPG Magazine but have been a big fan of what they’ve been doing with overall concept of what JPG has been. In fact, I signed up for an account to vote on submission of friends so they will get published in their magazine. Kris Krug[flickr], John Goldsmith[flickr], and Mr. Jacob Stewart[flickr], better known as “Cosmo” from the Clubside Breakfast Time podcast, were the handful of people who got me to sign up, vote for their submissions to make it into the next edition of the magazine, and also check out some of the other stuff there.
I might not be the greatest photographer in the world, but time could be well wasted digging through submissions. At least I am able to recognize worthwhile work and understand the art that is presented.
Then today, Goldsmith posted this image to his flickr, which led me to this post, written by the man who co-founded JPG Mag. To the heart of the matter:
Unfortunately, issue 10 will be the last one that Heather and I will have a hand in. We are no longer working for JPG Magazine or 8020 Publishing.
Why? The reasons are complicated, and the purpose of this post is not to air dirty laundry – it’s just to let the community know why the founders of JPG are no longer there. We owe you that much.
In one evening, Paul removed issues 1-6 from the JPG website, removed Heather from the About page, and deleted the “Letter from the Editors” that had lived on the site since day one. Paul informed me that we were inventing a new story about how JPG came to be that was all about 8020. He told me not to speak of that walk in Buena Vista, my wife, or anything that came before 8020.
Here’s where the whole “not lying” thing comes in. I just could not agree to this new story. It didn’t, and still doesn’t, make any business sense to me. Good publishing companies embrace their founding editors and community, not erase them. Besides, we’d published six issues with participation from thousands of people. There’s no good reason to be anything but proud of that. [powazek]
After reading this, and you should read the entire post for the complete story, I’ve deleted my account as well. Granted that I have done very little with JPG Magazine, there’s very little making me want to increase my interaction, not to mention that all those people I listed above have done the same thing. Call it a revolt, protest, or what have you, but the reputation that once existed is quickly falling apart.
If you want to kill off a community, then this is a good example of how to do that.
NV07: PhotoCamp
Let me preface this by saying that I haven’t had lunch yet. I got too wrapped up with being social and the time escaped me. So I’m sitting here in the PhotoCamp session, but my attention is all over the place.
One thing that I realize is that I’m already experimenting with the tips that the presenters are talking about. Now, by no means do I take the most amazing photos in the world. I view my photo-taking, because I hesitate to call it photography, to be not the worst thing in the world. I approach it from the same frame of mind as podcasting. You make do with what you got, and then you try to make the best of it.
Still, it’s hard to not have a lot of envy in this room, but I take comfort in the fact that I’m not alone. My little PowerShot isn’t the worst thing in the world, even though it’s nearly four years old. Its time is coming to an end, but I keep praying that it lasts me a little while longer.
I’m completely cellphoning it today. You can check out my flickr to see what I’m uploading as I go along, but there is no post-editing going up. Point and shoot, but there will probably be some of those classic “John shots” that I apparently take. Low-level, angled shots from weird perspectives or some junk like that. I don’t know why or how I do that. I just do.
This is all really great information though. In another life, I swear I was a cinematographer or something. If there was more time in life, I would love to do that for a living. Plus, taking neat photos is pretty freaking cool.
Lolo has a new job, and I got new sunglasses
Laura[lolod] is a mighty fine chick in my book. She got herself a new job and had her farewell gathering last night with, now former, co-workers and me last night. I wanted to take a moment to wish her congratulations on the new job.
More importantly, I also want to thank her for being super cool and giving me these new sunglasses. My old pair busted the other day, almost a year to the day that I bought them. I’m a big fan of buying cheap because the less I spend on shades, the longer they last.
She got these for herself not long ago, but found other ones she liked better. They’re mine now, and I really dig ’em. Gave them the full test today. Passed with flying colors.
Thanks, Laura! And congrats!
And by the way, I took a bunch of pics today while taking care of some errands. Check them out here.
Here, there, and I swear I’m forgetting something
This week has been full of various projects and events. For starters, the concert at the former home of Matthew Good is still having some ripple effects. More so, the podcast Rebecca and I did to document the occassion after the fact is still going strong in terms of downloads. It was the most downloaded episode that I have released in a single day, on the day that it was published. A lot of that is in part from Good linking RZ#109 that from his website. Can’t thank him enough.
The Flickr Vandigicam meetup was a resounding success, and it appears that many of the past meetups are just as much so. There was nearly 30 people who showed up for the Portrait Throw Down III, and Rebecca even got in on the fun[miss604:post] while I recorded audio for a podcast to released next week. Lots of really fun people and just as many pieces of camera equipment. Be watching the RadioZoom website for that episode on Tuesday.
Darren Barefoot also put a call out to Vancouver bloggers to go check out his play[db:post], Bolloxed, during the Vancouver Fringe Festival. I sent him an email, and he graciously put Rebecca and I on the list. Being that we’re getting in for free, Barefoot is asking that we blog a review of the play. Of course, I offered to do some podcasting about it as well. I’ll take the mobile rig along with, capture what audio I can during the play, and even try to get Darren, the playwriter himself, on the mic.
I also want to encourage people to check out the “Fringecast” that is being put on by xpodradio.com. It’s a podcast about, you guessed it, the Vancouver Fringe Festival. Darren sent me a quick note to also inform me that he’d be appearing on there.
I’m also in the process of planning a new podcast, and that’s, once again, another hint drop. We hope to launch the project in the next few weeks, but everything is still in the planning stages. Listeners of RZ won’t be too surprised when it does land, but the scope of the podcast goes a little beyond what many podcasts are doing. Keep checking back as we get things off the ground.
Needless to say, without having any source of income coming from anything of what I just listed, I’m keeping busy.
Beyond Robson is using some of my photos
Well, ok, as far as I know, it’s just one. Beyond Robson was looking for submissions for rotating header photos to run on their site, so I submitted a few shots.
As far as I know, they’re only using the shot of Sapperton Station[wiki] that I took some months ago. I have a bunch more from months back that I should upload to my Flickr. It’s just a matter of making the effort.
Still, it’s pretty sweet to have my something of mine featured on BR. Mark that as a first. Well, at least that I know of. Afterall, I did give my permission.
Give, take, and then you sue
Around seven last night, Rebecca was in front of her computer when she told me about an ongoing issue that Kris Krug was dealing with. It might not be so truthful to saying it has been long running or constant, but it quickly escalated last night. I’m incredibly intrigued by the situation, so allow me to explain a little.
Krug made this post back in February that details how Kevin Corazza had stolen photos on Flickr and claimed them for himself. In fact, the photos in question belonged to Krug, and when contacted, Corazza removed the disputed photo sets almost as soon as he was discovered. Then yesterday, Kris got a cease and desist from lawyers representing Corazza.
I checked out the post and went wandering around the photo sets of Kevin Corazza to see if I could find the disputed photos. That’s when I clicked the next picture to view only to have “kcorazza is no longer active on Flickr” pop up, big and bold in the middle of the window, all of this happening within a twenty minute time span.
This makes little sense, and it really pains me to some extent. I often run into the stereotype that Americans (Kevin Corazza) are quite content with pursuing legal action (suing) in order to get their way (money). You won’t hear me disputing this, and the whole situation at hand makes it even more apparent.
It almost makes me curious about getting Kris on the podcast to chat about this a little. The implications from this could fizzle or really try the creative commons license[wiki, flickr] that everyone falls under when they sign up and post on Flickr. There are some copyright issues to hash through on this one.
Update: This has made its way to Digg, and the discussion is getting very interesting. Join the photo hunt on Flickr and see if you can match other people’s photos there to Corazza’s personal website. Amazing…
Not Exactly What I’d Do At a Stop Sign
Street art[wiki] is interesting(thanks to Don pointing out this fact to me during his time here). I never made too much of an effort to stop and appreciate it until recently. However, I’m not sure what this is or was apart off. This was on the street at a stop sign in the west end. Simple randomness or more?