Check Out Doug Landreth's Web Site!

I read a story about Doug Landreth in PhotoMedia magazine, (a photographer that seems equally successful in fine art and commercial photography), and wanted to share his fine art web site with you. It's filled with unique and beautiful images that just make you smile.

Imogen Cunningham - My Heroes (cont.)

"In 1901, at the age of 18, Cunningham bought her first camera, a 4x5 inch view camera, from the American School of Art in Scranton, Pennsylvania. She soon lost interest and sold the camera to a friend. It wasn’t until 1906, while studying at the University of Washington in Seattle, that she was inspired by an encounter with the work of Gertrude Kasebier to take up photography again. With the help of her chemistry professor, Dr. Horace Byers, she began to study the chemistry behind photography; she subsidized her tuition by photographing plants for the botany department."

Imogen Cunningham went on to become one of the true pioneers of American photography with a career that mixed commercial and fine art success in a wide variety of subjects. To learn more about the life of this amazing woman click here. To see more images click here.

Ruth Bernhard - My Heroes (cont.)

"Ruth Bernhard, who photographed nude models in graceful compositions evoking sand dunes and sculpted shapes, died Monday. She was 101. She died of natural causes at her home in San Francisco, according to her gallery representative, Peter Fetterman. Bernhard got her start shooting commercial jobs for catalogues and publications, but her fine art work emerged in the 1930s as part of a movement of West Coast photographers who studied the intriguing shapes and textures of recognizable objects. Her contemporaries included Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham and Edward Weston." To read more of Darryl Lang's story for PDN click here. To see more images click here.

Fuji Kicks It Up A Notch!

Those crazy kids at Fuji are at it again! The new S5 won't be out in time for Christmas but maybe Valentines Day and at a street price of less than $2000.00 what says "True Love" more than a 12.3 Mega Pixel Digital SLR!

If you don't' mind, just give us the facts Ma'am. The facts? Sure, click here.

Alfred Stieglitz -My Hereos (cont.)

"Few individuals have exerted as strong an influence on twentieth-century American art and culture as the photographer and art dealer Alfred Stieglitz. Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1864 during the Civil War, Stieglitz lived until 1946. He witnessed some of the most profound changes this country has ever experienced: two world wars, the Great Depression, and the growth of America from a rural, agricultural nation to an industrialized and cultural superpower. But, more significantly, he also helped to affect some of these transformations. Through his New York galleries--the Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession at 291 Fifth Avenue, which he directed from 1905-1917; The Intimate Gallery, 1925-1929; and An American Place, 1929-1946--he introduced modern European art to this country, organizing the first exhibitions in America of work by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, and Paul Cézanne, among others. In addition, he was one of the first to champion and support American modernist artists such as Georgia O'Keeffe, Arthur Dove, John Marin, Marsden Hartley, and Charles Demuth." To learn more about Alfred Stieglitz click here. To see more of his images click here.

Bruce Fraser - My Heroes (cont.)

"Bruce Fraser, noted author, lecturer and “color geek”, was diagnosed several months ago with terminal lung cancer.

At that time Bruce was about to start a course of chemotherapy that offered an optimistic prognosis. Unfortunately, the treatment has not been successful and the cancer has since progressed. Bruce is now severely ill and it is the opinion of Bruce, his wife Angela and the doctors, that he now probably has but a very short time left. He is being cared for at home by Angela and support nursing staff.

For those who don’t know him, Bruce Fraser is an internationally well known author, consultant and speaker on the topics of digital imaging and color reproduction. In addition to authoring the highly successful Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS2, he has been a contributing editor for Macworld magazine and co-author of the best-selling books Real World Adobe Photoshop CS2 and Real World Color Management, Second Edition, and the recently released Real World Image Sharpening. Bruce has also penned numerous articles, most recently for CreativePro.com. Bruce is a partner in PixelGenius, LLC. where he designed PhotoKit Sharpener.

Bruce is a humble and gentle man of rare genius and dry humor who over the years has added immensely to the collective knowledge of the digital imaging industry." To read more of this PhotoshopNews story click here.

I met Bruce several years ago when I participated in his Color Management Masters Class in Las Vegas. I have never learned more in any class.

Thank you for your encouragement and kind words and the incredibly useful information you shared. You will be in my prayers; Godspeed Bruce.

FotoQuote Kicks It Up A Notch!

This is a great software that I have been using for years. Each new version just gets better and better. Whether you are selling your own stock or bidding on assignments FotoQuote is an invaluable tool. You'll probably pocket enough extra profit, the very first time you use it, to pay for the software!

"When someone wants to use one of your photos, you don't just need a number pulled out of a hat, you need help. You need FotoQuote, the industry standard price guide for stock and assignment photography!

FotoQuote is the only source of pricing information for photographers that gives you powerful Coaching help in every one of its 218 pricing categories. FotoQuote not only helps you come up with a fair price for your image license, but also gives you the inside information you will need to help you close the sale."

For more info click here.

Too Cool For School - The WhiBal Card!

"Very simply, WhiBal™ combines all the best features of all available Gray cards and meets or exceeds their technical performance in a unique package that can be used conveniently in all your shooting situations. In addition, WhiBal™ provides convenient neutral White and Black reference areas for setting dynamic range in your digital capture using the Black and White Eyedroppers available within RAWShooter and other RAW conversion software, Photoshop™ and most other editing software." To learn more click here.

BTW, I do not work for, get paid by or own stock in WhiBal, wish I did.

Carl Mydans - My Heroes (cont.)

"December 7th, 1941 a day that will live in infamy!" Those words, spoken by President Roosevelt following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, heralded the start of the most devasting war the world has ever known. Of the dozen or so images that have become icons of World War II I have two favorites. The raising of the flag on Iwo Jima, by Joe Rosenthal (see the blog archive, Thursday August 25) and the surrender of the Japanese on the USS Missouri by Carl Mydans.

The surrender image is simple but elegant. General Yashijiro Umezu signs the surrender document as General Douglas MacArthur and General Jonathan Wainwright, a former POW and recipient of the Medal of Honor, look on. I had the opportunity to see this print in person and ask Mr. Mydans about the circumstances of it's making. If you would like to read the facinating story of his WWII experienes and this image in particular click here.

Mydans recorded photographic images of life and death throughout Europe and Asia during World WarII. In 1941, the photographer and his wife were captured by the invading Japanese forces in the Philippines, held for nearly a year in Manila, then for another year in Shanghai, China, before they were released as part of a prisoner-of-war exchange. To listen to interviews with this pioneering photojournalist click here.

The following is from the The Digital Journalist: MacArthur, knowing that Carl had been held prisoner by the Japanese, placed him with the first American armored regiment as it sped towards Manila. Late at night, the tanks drew up in front of the Santo Tomas prison. Carl dismounted and walked to the front gate and called out. One of his friends from the camp slowly approached, squinting in the glare of the tank lights. Carl called out..."It's Carl! Carl Mydans!" In disbelief the emaciated survivors ran their hands over his face. "My God! It is Carl Mydans!" They wept.

Leonard Freed - My Heroes (cont.)

"Photojournalist Leonard Freed, whose precisely composed pictures caught life's everyday details whether he was covering political strife and personal struggle, or parties and snowball fights, died Wednesday. He was 77 and died in upstate New York after a battle with cancer, according to his agency, Magnum Photos.

Freed's career blossomed during the American civil rights movement, when he traveled the country and produced his 1968 book Black In White America. He went on to produce over a dozen books, including a 1992 retrospective, Leonard Freed, Photographs 1954-1990." Click here to read the rest of Daryl Lang's' story for PDN. To see more images click here.

Jahangir Razmi - My Heroes (cont.)

"On Aug. 27, 1979, two parallel lines of 11 men formed on a field of dry dirt in Sanandaj, Iran. One group wore blindfolds. The other held rifles. The command came in Farsi to fire: "Atesh!" Behind the soldier farthest to the right, a 12th man also shot, his Nikon camera and Kodak film preserving in black and white a mass execution."

"Within hours, the photo ran across six columns in Ettela'at, the oldest newspaper in Iran. Within days, it appeared on front pages around the world. Within weeks, the new Iranian government annexed the offending paper. Within months, the 'anonymous photo' won the Pulitzer Prize."

To learn more about this amazing image and the photographer who captured it click here.

David Bailey - My Heroes (cont.)

Blowup, a 1960's movie whose hero is loosely based upon British photographer David Bailey, swelled the student ranks at many schools of photography within a few weeks of it's release.

The irony of Blowup is that the movie, as hedonistic as it is, pales when compared to Bailey's real life. He has been married to some of the world's most beautiful women, including the lady pictured above, Catherine Deneuve, and his private life for better or worse has been detailed in the British press for decades. He was the original jet set photographer and almost as well known as the rock stars and movie legends he photographed.

His, larger than life, career has somewhat overshadowed his contributions to photography. His, "let's peek behind the curtain," style of photographing celebrities became incredibly popular with the public and sparked a demand that has grown exponentially over the years. For me the secret to a great David Bailey image is the feeling that you are seeing something that the subject just wouldn't show to another photographer.

To learn more the life and times of this photographic icon click here.

Edward Steichen - My Heroes (cont.)

One of the giants of American photography Steichen was also a painter and a museum curator. Perhaps best known as the creator of "The Family of Man", his influence can be seen in every area of modern photography.

In February of 2006, Steichen's early pictorialist photograph, The Pond-Moonlight (1904), reached the highest price ever paid for a photograph at auction in the U.S., $2.9 million. To learn more click here.

Tristan Campbell's Very Cool Photo Blog!

I don't know about you, but I like photo blogs... well I should say that I like photo blogs that publish interesting images. This one certainly does. To check it out click here. I would love to have been present when this image was made.

Too Cool For School - Canon HV10!

Looking for a small High-Def digital camcorder? Check out the latest from Canon and just in time for Christmas. I want one! To read Chris Hurd's review at HDV Info Net and see more images click here.

Cool Web Sites - Shazeen Samad

Ran across this site while looking for something totally unrelated. Some very nice images. Check it out.

Yousuf Karsh - My Heroes (cont.)

Karsh had a gift for capturing the essence of his subject in the instant of his portrait. As Karsh wrote of his own work in Karsh Portfolio in 1967, "Within every man and woman a secret is hidden, and as a photographer it is my task to reveal it if I can. The revelation, if it comes at all, will come in a small fraction of a second with an unconscious gesture, a gleam of the eye, a brief lifting of the mask that all humans wear to conceal their innermost selves from the world. In that fleeting interval of opportunity the photographer must act or lose his prize."

To learn more about this master portraitist click here.

Nikon Kicks It Up A Notch!

It turns out the rumors were true... and just in time for Christmas! Today Nikon officially announced their latest digital SLR. The Nikon D40 is designed to be a digital SLR for the masses, striking a healthy balance between performance and price. Costing as little as $500, the D40 will combine some of the features found in the older D50 and the brand new D80. For a more in depth look check out the review at dpreview.com

Wynn Bullock - My Heroes (cont.)

"Wynn Bullock was multi-talented, beginning his artistic endeavors as a concert tenor, with success on Broadway and studies in Paris. While there, he found further inspiration in the art of the recent French masters, most notably Cezanne, and also in the groundbreaking explorations of Moholy-Nagy and Man Ray.

Back in the United States Bullock focused his artistic energies on photography, throwing himself into experiment and innovation with a rigor that resulted in two international patents.

Besides his extensive experimentation, he explored the beauty and strength of "straight" photography using an 8 & 10 camera, creating the intense and luminous images filled with mystery and metaphor for which he is best known today." To see more images click here or here.

Alfred Eisenstaedt - My Heroes (cont.)

"Photojournalist of the Century"? You can easily make the case, his images literally chronicle the twentieth century and the numbers are staggering. Close to a thousand feature stories and more than 90 covers during his six decades at Life magazine. While his V.J. day image, (the kiss felt round the world), may be his most famous, my favorite is his portrait of Sophia Loren, you'll find it here along with many more wonderful images and RealAudio interviews.

Garry Winogrand - My Heroes (cont.)

Although he didn't invent "street photography" Garry Winogrand, may have re-invented it.

"As we walked out of the building, he wrapped the Leica's leather strap around his hand, checked the light, quickly adjusted the shutter speed and f/stop. He looked ready to pounce. We stepped outside and he was on. We quickly learned Winogrand's technique--he walked slowly or stood in the middle of pedestrian traffic as people went by. He shot prolifically. I watched him walk a short block and shoot an entire roll without breaking stride. As he reloaded, I asked him if he felt bad about missing pictures when he reloaded." "No," he replied, "there are no pictures when I reload."

To learn more about this controversial and influential documentarian read Mason Resnick's "A Workshop With Garry Winogrand."

ColorVision Kicks It Up A Notch!

Would you like your prints to look more like your monitor and vice versa? The journey to "what you see is what you get" printing begins with a single step, CALIBRATE YOUR MONITOR!

Spyder2PRO will get the job done quickly and easily and I recommend it to many of my students and consulting clients. It's a very good product at a very good price, and if you purchase before the end of the year there is a $60 rebate available! Click here for all the details.

BTW, I don't work for Datacolor or ColorVison, own their stock or receive compensation from them in any form.

Robert Capa - My Heroes (cont.)

On May 25, 1954, the career of Robert Capa, whose exploits as a war photographer had made him a legend in modern photography, came to an abrupt end when he stepped on a land mine on an obscure battlefield in Indochina. They found him still clutching his camera.

His funeral was held in the old Quaker meeting house at Purchase, New York. In his memory the Overseas Press Club established the Robert Capa Award "for superlative photography requiring exceptional courage and enterprise abroad."

My favorite Robert Capa quote, " If your images aren't good enough, you aren't close enough." To learn more about this photographic icon click here.

Too Cool For School - Eye-Film WiFi SD Card!

Eye-Film Beta is a media card incorporating 802.11b/g Wi-Fi and 512MB of Flash storage. Eye-Film Beta will transfer photos from within your camera to in-home destinations (PC or Mac), or directly to a supported online destination. While photos are transferred to the specified destination, the originals remain on the card. To learn more click here.

William Henry Fox Talbot - My Heroes (cont.)

While Fox Talbot didn't invent photography he did invent and patent the calotype, where the the paper negative was printed onto a sensitized sheet placed underneath. The negative meant that the print could be reproduced as many times as you wished, this process was the forerunner of the modern film negative. All this by 1835 four years before Daguerre exhibited his "Sun" pictures. To learn more about the father of modern photography click here.

SanDisk Kicks It Up A Notch!

Wow a 16GB of Compact Flash Card! Here's the offical chatter from SanDisk regarding the Extreme III series performance, "SanDisk Extreme III cards use SanDisk-developed ESP (Enhanced Super-Parallel Processing) technology that combines advanced NAND flash memory chips and controller designs, 32-bit RISC processing and leading edge algorithms for an architecture that streamlines every aspect of read and write data transfer operations. In addition, SanDisk works closely with major camera manufacturers to ensure speed and compatibility. The ESP architecture effectively removes the card as the bottleneck in data storage applications." Street price, for the 16GB card, is expected to be around $850. For more info click here.

Minor White - My Heroes (cont.)

" Minor White was one of the greatest American photographers of the period after the Second World War as well as one of the greatest teachers of the medium. One of the best-known names in photography until the end of the 1970's, his life and work has since virtually dropped out of photographic discourse.

Probably for many younger photographers his name means little or nothing. White was a deeply religious man whose whole life was a spiritual journey. His photography arose out of this and was an inherent part of this pilgrimage. It isn't an approach that has been fashionable in academic circles in recent years.

As well as his photography and teaching, White's other vital legacy to photography is the magazine 'Aperture', which has done more than any other publication to improve the quality of photographic publishing in the last 50 years."

To see more of his images click here. To read the rest of Peter Marshall's two part series on Minor White click here.

Michel Tcherevkoff - My Heroes (cont.)

Years before the advent of computer technology, Michel was creating intricate images in-camera and in the darkroom. "I always thought of photographs that were more illustrative in nature -- that told a strong story with a completely different approach."

To read more of Michel's interview with Hisaka Kojima click here. To visit his website click here.

Adobe Kicks It Up A Notch!

Adobe has released Lightroom Beta version 4.1 It addresses several issues in Beta 3 and highlights Adobe's committment to building a better software by involving photographers in the process. While it still has miles to go before it sleeps and awakens as a finalized Version 1, Lightroom is beginning to draw a lot of interest from pros and amateurs. Everyone wants a photo processing software that is quick, powerful and intuitive and Lightroom holds that promise. For more info or to download Beta 4.1 click here.

Too Cool For School - (cont.)

Samsung Electronics has begun selling the world's first 10 megapixel mobile phone! Model: SCH-B600
The B600 offers the same level of picture-taking sophistication that a 10 megapixel digital camera offers. The camera function includes 3x optical zoom and 5x digital zoom. It also has auto focus and a flash unit that performs optimally for 10 megapixel photographs. The B600 comes fitted with a LED autofocus feature which assists users to capture clear, crisp photos even in dark settings. Located next to the lens, the LED autofocus automatically determines the distance and utilizes the appropriate focus setting for optimal photo shooting. The B600 also supports white balance, manual focus, continuous picture-taking, interval picture-taking functions and Bluetooth which enables users to send pictures wirelessly to other mobile phones, printers or to Bluetooth headsets. The only draw back.. they are currently exclusive to South Korea. For more info click here.

Jerry Uelsmann - Heroes (cont.)

Before there were computers, before there was Photoshop, there was Jerry Uelsmann. In my opinion he is the greatest darkroom magician to ever draw a breath.

To learn more about Jerry Uelsmann and see more of his amazing images click here.

Leaf Kicks It Up A Notch!

Leaf launches the world’s fastest digital camera back at Photokina 2006. The new Leaf Aptus 75S camera back can deliver shooting speeds from 0.8 seconds per frame - or as many as 75 frames per minute - with unlimited burst depths. The camera back in the new S-series uses advanced, accelerated image-processing hardware, incorporating a new, lossless image-compression engine, designed to achieve record-breaking speeds. Leaf has doubled the CCD sensor readout speed in order to accelerate shooting speeds, and has doubled the buffer size, resulting in unlimited burst depths. The new Leaf Aptus 75S will maximize the newest Sandisk CompactFlash Extreme IV card technology for portable shooting, and incorporates the new Firewire 800 communication for maximum speed. For more info click here.

Edward Weston - My Heroes (cont.)

What list of photographic heroes would be complete without Edward Weston, a man many consider "The most influential photographer of the twentieth century". His images and day books should be a part of any photographic curriculum. To learn more about this photographic icon click here.

Eric Meola - My Heroes (cont.)

"Equally at home in the most remote and exotic corners of the world as he is in his Manhattan studio, photographer Eric Meola has led two lives in photography. For more than two decades as a commercial shooter, he has created some of the world's most recognizable and striking advertising images. And as one of the world's foremost adventure photographers, he has brought his personal vision to some of the most far-flung locales on earth: Ethiopia, Niger, Papua New Guinea, Burma and Cambodia - sharing with the world places and events rarely witnessed by outsiders."

Some images just burn themselves into your brain, their impact never fades, for me, "Promised Land" (the image above) is one of those images.

For more info click here.

Elliot Erwitt - My Heroes (cont.)

How much we would have missed if Elliot Erwitt had decided not to become a photographer. His images give us a visual record of a life rich in humor, irony and compassion.

To learn more about this legendary Magnum photographer click here.

Need To Send A Big File? Check Out Dropload!

Recentlyl I had to send a very large Jpeg file to an editorial client in France. The image was going to run full bleed, double truck, (approx. 11" X 17") at 300 dpi. The digital file was far too large to email and the timeline wouldn't allow for physical delivery sooo... I uploaded it to my free Dropload account and Dropload notified my client, (by email), and my client downloaded the file. The entire scenario played out in about 30 minutes. My upload was very quick and my client had a broadband connection so the slowest part of the equation was the notification. If you don't abuse the service it will continue to be free. You can send up to a 100 MB file. I use the service no more than once a week and have never had a problem. Check them out at www.dropload.com

Henri Cartier-Bresson - My Heroes (cont.)

Considered by many to be the father of modern photojournalism, he was master of the "decisive moment" and one of the most prolific photographers to ever pick up a camera.

"Henri Cartier-Bresson is the great glory of twentieth - century photography. His poetic vision is reflected in the eyes of most photographers today, whether they realize it or not. In an age of vulgar photographic arrivistes, he remains the benchmark of profound eloquence and insight... We will not see again that kind of touching beauty in our lifetime." Duane Michals

To learn more click here. To see more images click here.

Too Cool For School! - The Leica M Goes Digital!

I still remember my M4-2, black, very sensual. You could feel the quality. I know this will sound silly but it just felt like you could make great images with it. If the M8 has the same craftsmanship and a similar feel, it should be a big hit with Leica fans.

"The dream of many Leica photographers has come true: the Leica M system is now open for professional digital photography. Breaking completely new ground, the LEICA M8 doesn't only look like an M - it utilizes all the benefits of the analog Leica M system for sophisticated and creative digital photography. It is the only digital camera for professionals to incorporate the rangefinder system with its advantages of discreet and quiet operation, speed and precision. And the no-compromise quality criteria of the M system continue to apply to the M8. Full compatibility with nearly all M lenses means that their unique imaging performance is now available for digital photography, too. The low-noise CCD image sensor with a resolution of 10.3 megapixels has been specifically matched to the compact lens design to guarantee superlative photographic quality. The controls and functions of the digital M still concentrate on the essentials. The proven M concept is complemented by the intelligent extra functions that digital technology has to offer. The LEICA M8 is the first timeless digital camera "Made in Germany". Fascinatingly new and yet still a real Leica M. (The LEICA M8 will be available from the end of November 2006 on.) "

To get more info click here.

George Hurrell - My Heroes (cont.)

"The man dubbed the "Grand Seigneur of the Hollywood Portrait," was born in Covington, KY, across the river from Cincinnati, in 1904. By the time he was eight, young George Hurrell had developed an interest in painting and drawing. He fell into photography almost accident, originally learning how to use a camera so that he could photograph his paintings.

Hurrell photographed every star at M-G-M, from Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and Greta Garbo to Wallace Beery and Marie Dressler. His work set a new standard for Hollywood portraits. It even inspired a new name for the genre - glamour photography"... to learn more about George Hurrell's life click here. To see more of his images click here.

Pete Turner - My Heroes (cont.)

And speaking of Jazz... PT's latest book "The Color of Jazz showcases 100 covers and their art in close to original size; many of the covers are rare and out-of-print, now collector's items, and connect to a who's who of musical legends—from Count Basie, John Coltrane, and Stan Getz, to Quincy Jones, Freddie Hubbard, and Steely Dan. Turner's covers set new standards for this medium and transformed albums into art objects, sought after both for the music they contain and the cover art they display."

Through his constant exploration of bold color combined with bold graphics Pete Turner has earned a special place in the history of photogrpahy. To learn more about him click here.

Art Kane - My Heroes (cont.)

"You're looking at the single most significant jazz portrait taken in the 20th century. No one believed anyone could gather this many talents and temperments so very early on a summer morning but it all happened like magic, and the world was immediately smitten when this picture was published in Esquire magazine January 1959. This was Art Kane's first assignment as a professional photographer."

To learn more about this image and many others created by this gifted photographer click here.

Epson Kicks It Up A Notch!

I'm a big Epson Inkjet fan, I own six of their printers and you may be looking at number seven!

"Designed from the beginning to exceed all expectations in the area of photographic image quality, the Epson Stylus® Pro 3800 incorporates a brand new, compact, 17-inch wide printer design, a radical, new, photographic screening technology and Epson UltraChrome K3 Ink.

Epson UltraChrome K3 Ink technology has produced some of the world’s greatest images. Inspired by our past generations of pigmented ink technology, Epson UltraChrome K3 incorporates a three-level Black, along with new color pigments that raise the bar dramatically for professional color and black-and-white prints. The standard has been set.

Our 1-inch wide print head now incorporates a new Auto-sharing Black ink technology, allowing both Photo and Matte Black ink to be installed simultaneously, facilitating automatic switches without any user intervention.

Capable of handling virtually any type of cut-sheet media up to 17 inches wide, the Epson Stylus Pro 3800 incorporates a high-capacity paper feeder that accommodates sizes ranging from 4 x 6 up to 17 x 22. We’ve developed four different ways to load media, including a front-loading, straight-through path capable of handling media up to 1.5 mm thick and even a second, top-loading, single-sheet feeder optimized for fine art paper.

To learn more check out the info at Inkjetart.com

Robert Frank - My Heroes (cont.)

As a student in the photography program at Phoenix College I would often spend hours in the library looking at books by famous photographers. I remember my first encounter with Robert Frank. The images I found in "The Americans" gave me an uneasy feeling. The kind of feeling you get when you don't quite have your balance.

"The Americans" was the antithesis of the America found in most magazines, newspapers and on television. He was showing us ourselves and in a way that could not be misunderstood. As Kerouac writes in his introduction, Frank's photographs had "sucked a sad, sweet, poem out of America"

At the time of it's first publishing "The Americans" didn't sell well and certainly didn't get good reivews. Sales and reivews have changed dramatically over the years. To learn more about Robert Frank click here.

Too Cool For School!

"When we first spotted this new cam from Seitz, our jaws hit the floor and rebounded a few times. No, it's not the highest megapixel count we've seen, but this megalith of a camera shoots at 160 megapixels to create a native 6 x 17-cm image, is packed with an ISO range from 500 to 10,000, a read-out speed of 300MB per second, and a shutter speed of 1/20,000th second. So the next question is, how are you going to store such huge image files (nearly 1 GB per uncompressed full panorama), certainly not on your off-the-shelf 16GB SDHC card, nor the upcoming 64GB CompactFlash cards -- but rather via gigabit Ethernet to Seitz's "state-of-the-art computer system", which translates to a decked out Mac mini. So what will this much imaging power cost you? 45,500 Swiss francs ($36,266) for the "mobile version" and 42,300 Swiss francs ($33,715) for the "studio version", and we're assuming that the Mac mini is included for that price." Click here for more info.

Ansel Adams - My Heroes (cont.)

What list of photographic heroes would be complete without Ansel Adams. It is not hyperbole to say that he had a profound influence on every area of photography. Best known for his beautiful landscapes of the West, he was an early and prolific contributor of color images to Arizona Highways Magazine. To visit his website click here. To learn more about his life click here or here.

High Quality Full Color Short Run Printing - Very Cool!

I believe I've seen the future of the digital full color printing press. Recently Dennis Mortensen at DesignItPrintIt.com took my Photoshop for Photographers class workbook and printed it in full color with a perfect bound wrap cover, Wow!

He did a beautiful job and at a price that I couldn't come close to matching online. Dennis has been producing our full color business cards and jumbo post card series for awhile, always producing a beautiful product at a great price.

The beauty of his new full color, digital press is that I can order one or a hundred and get a great looking product without having to print 2500 units to get a reasonable per unit price.

If you have need of full color printing and don't want to turn your business into a storage facility or take out a bank loan to print your next run of full color letterhead then Dennis is definitely worth checking out.

Need A Little Help Getting Things Done?

Who doesn't? The book is titled Getting Things Done - The Art of Stress-Free Productivity and although I'm still on Part 1 of this three part book I'm giving it "Both Thumbs Up"! It's well written and offers a step by step approach to becoming better organized. Just what the doctor ordered, at least in my case, and I found at my local library... I love a deal. Check it out here.

Too Cool For School! - Photokina

Photokina in Cologne, is the world's largest toy store for photographers. It happens every two years and if you get a chance to attend don't pass it up. You may have already heard about this 1700 f/4 telephoto from Carl Ziess if you'd like to know more click here. I was really excited until I realized it was a f/4, I might buy one if they made a f/2.8 ;-)

The Perfect Portrait? - My Heroes (cont.)

The first time I saw it, I thought so. I was a student at ASU and it was hanging, as part of a show by Arnold Newman, in North Light Gallery. I don't remember the total number of prints that were hung, but it was a most impressive group of portraits. Then I came to the portrait of Igor Stravinsky. It was stunning, the most beautifully constructed portrait I had ever seen. Stravinsky the composer mirrors the piano lid and has become part of the piano and the piano lid has become a musical note and the background is divided in thirds... I could go on but I'm sure you'd much rather look at some wonderful portraits, read some great stories and watch interviews with the master himself by clicking here.

And yes, I still think of it as "the perfect portrait."

Two Special People Remembered

It's hard to believe that 911 was five years ago. At times it seems like it happened last year and other times, a dozen years ago.

I want to share with you the story of two of the 3000 people who perished that Tuesday; two exceptional people, Joe Ferguson and Ann Judge. This is their 911 story.

"Two staff members of the National Geographic Society, along with three Washington, D.C., teachers and three students they were traveling with, were among the victims of the terrorist attacks in the United States on Tuesday, officials of the Society announced on Wednesday.

Ann Judge, director of the Society's travel office, and Joe Ferguson, director of the Geography Education Outreach Program, were accompanying the three teacher-student pairs on an educational trip to California.

They were all killed along with the other passengers of American Airlines Flight 77 after it was hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon at about 9:45 Tuesday morning.

Teacher James Debeuneure and student Rodney Dickens were representing Ketcham Elementary School; teacher Sarah Clark and student Asia Cottom were from Backus Middle School; and teacher Hilda Taylor and student Bernard Brown were from Leckie Elementary School. All the students were 11-year-old sixth graders.

They had been selected to participate in a program at the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary near Santa Barbara, California, as part of a Society-funded marine research project known as Sustainable Seas Expeditions."

"Through our educational outreach program, Ann and Joe were going to make geography and the environment come alive for these committed, talented teachers and their star students by putting them into the field with scientists and researchers," said John Fahey Jr., the Society's president and CEO.

"The D.C. School District has lost six extraordinary people, and we at the Society have lost two treasured colleagues," he added.

Today our thoughts and prayers are with all the victim's families, and this commitment we make to them, we will never forget.