Why did god give me eyes?

...and a camera?

Sorry, I had to post it. Whenever I see an ass bigger than my own, I have to post it. It is bigger than my own right?

Technorati Tags: photography, Humor

DIY Panoramic Video Tests

This clip is care of Video Thing. It is one of the coolest things I've seen in years. I've got to get one.

Technorati Tags: Video, Technology

Day Light

I was drawn to the golden color. I mean - it looks golden to me.

Technorati Tags: Photography, San Diego

A cell phone moment

She looked at peace. When I walked by she seemed pissed.

Technorati Tags: Photography, San Diego

A red window

A security window inside an old factory in China.

Technorati Tags: Photography, China, PRC

Collins and Kant

Francis S. Collins is a former Atheist, now Christian, with a interesting message. Collins believes that science and religion are compatible. Collins position is reminiscent of the 17th century philosopher Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason – which describes separate spheres of influence between the metaphysical and physical. Simply stated, science cannot be used to explain religion any more than religion can be used to explain science. The two spheres of influence are separate; one sphere can be used to explain the physical, the other to explain the metaphysical. One does not preclude the other. Therefore it is possible for the Pope to support the Theory of Evolution, and for a scientist to be a practicing Christian.

Of course, if you have no faith – well... you’ve still got a problem.

Technorati Tags: Atheism, Religion, Kant

Dobson: Gays Will Destroy the Earth

I had a conversation with a friend yesterday. He defended Dobson’s postion of defining marriage as between a man and a woman. He said that Dobson really cared about the children, which was why he worked so hard to protect marriage. I disagreed, and despite having my position called venomous, stated that Dobson was motivated by a believe that gays were actually mentally ill and therefore needed to be helped toward normalcy or cured, much like Bush’s idiotic stance on abstinence and contraception. Dobson is not protecting children; he is hurting a segment of our population that does not share his world view. Dobson does this by funding legal action and by making public statements like this one.

"Homosexuals are not monogamous. They want to destroy the institution of marriage," Dobson said. "It will destroy marriage. It will destroy the Earth."

Dobson is overselling his point. Destroy the world? It looks like his issue might be with gays after all.

I love being able to say “told you so”.

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Dobson, religion, Christianity

Tim Gruber - Visual Journalist

I found this via Digital Photograhy School in a telling stories post. In Search of the Right Road. I would like to do something like this featuring graffiti.

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Photography, journalism

RIP - Dorothy Halton

I experienced an African American religious service today at the funeral of my friend and co-worker Dorothy Halton. I must say, I was moved by the uplifting and joyous celebration led by the Baptist pastor. He nailed it. It was amazing.

About 60 coworkers arrived by bus to express the love and admiration we all felt for Dorothy. Many retirees who had not talked to her in years were also present. Dorothy cared for all us and never missed a chance to tell us.

My favorite Dorothy story: I was walking into work one morning with my head down and a bad attitude. It is quite common for me to get “bad news” support calls on my drive in. This morning it had been particularly bad. The time was 8:00 AM and I was already thinking about escaping to the park for a cigar. Dorothy stopped me as I walked by her desk and grabbed my forearm. She liked to rub the hair on my arm for some reason; it was her way of saying hi. On this day she did her normal rub, a simple back and forth motion executed with her right hand while her left hand held my mine in a light handshake. She always followed with a smile and the phrase “I love you Joseph, and Jesus loves you too”. However, that day Dorothy did something a little different, she recited a short poem.

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

I found out later it was a Wordsworth poem. She told me she had memorized it to lift the spirits of somebody she knew who was down. I guess I qualified as down that day. It sure lifted my spirits. Dorothy was good person. I will miss her.

RIP Dorothy Halton

Obama - I like this guy

I came across this while researching James Dobson Obama Says You Gotta Have Faith. What can I say? I like this guy. I suspect he will make a fine President some day.

I may be opposed to abortion for religious reasons, but if I seek to pass a law banning the practice, I cannot simply point to the teachings of my church or evoke God's will. I have to explain why abortion violates some principle that is accessible to people of all faiths, including those with no faith at all.

I recommend reading the whole speech. It is uplifting, even for a man with no faith. Why? Because a man like this will look out for my rights.

Technorati Tags: Religion, politics

Aperture 78

In 1978 I took a photography class. I failed with a solid “F”. I made no effort to learn from the photography instructor. He was a hack who coached the football team; photography was his teaching chore. He took lousy and uninspired snapshots. He taught his students the same thing. I was not interested.

I stole (actually borrowed without permission) a hardback art book called Aperture 78 from the reference material intended for the class. The work of Joel Meyerowitz was featured on its pages. Meyerowitz inspired me to start my life long love affair with photography. I had forgotten about the magazine, and about its impact on my young life, until my recent visit to Bookman Used Books. The book looked like an old friend to me, I did not know why. I paid $7.95 and took it home.

I spent the day today trying to recover from a bad case of jet lag. In my idle time, I reread Aperture 78. I don’t remember when it clicked for my, but suddenly long lost memories came flooding back in. I had spent endless hours in a darkroom and even more hours stalking images with a borrowed camera trying to produce images like Meyerowitz. High School is largely a blur for me, a hard knock on the head and many long years have chased everything but the highlight events from my memory. I remember learning to love photography now. I remember studying this book as if it held some kind of absolute truth. My teacher told me I was wasting my time – he suggested that perhaps I should take a shop class. (I had already failed shot by then)

I tried to recreate the look and the unique color of Meyerwitz’s images. In some cases succeeding, in others failing miserably. It did not matter. I had fun learning. I moved on to other things in life, but I never lost my love for creating a good image. It was nice to recapture that magic today.

I checked in on Mererowitz while writing this post. He has remained active and very productive. He was at ground zero on 9/11. His stunning images are well worth your time.

Technorati Tags: Photography

mmm... KFC

I'm suffering from a bit of the jet lag this evening. Work is going to be a bitch tomorrow.

Technorati Tags: Photography, Buena Park, KFC

Bookman used books

Bookman in the City of Orange is a great little used bookstore. I was able to find two vintage Aperture magazines at a very reasonable price in their photography section. The selection is deep. Their photography section had several rare art book publications for under $30 each. I was in heaven. Bookmans in Tucson is better, but this store is much closer.

Bookman takes trades for store credit as long as they need the books. The staff is knowledgeable and friendly. The store's best feature is its want list. You can signup for it at their website. They will notify you when a copy of the book you are interested in arrives at either of their Orange County stores. The service is pretty cool.


Technorati Tags: Bookstores, Orange County

Life Hack - Defogging a lens

I have just returned from a business tip to China. While in China, I was troubled by rapid internal fogging of my detachable Nikkor lens due to high humidity and temperatures in Shanghai. My Nikon D70 was useless for days at a time. At first, allowing the camera to acclimate took care of the problem. However, walking from building-to-building caused a series of rapid humidity and temperature changes, which eventually resulted in a fogged internal lens element. After 15 hours of waiting, the lens was still partially fogged. My camera was unusable – well it could take pictures, but the results looked like a something a 1st year art student would try to pass off as art.

I was able to fix the problem because I remembered an old life hack from years ago when I fixed a manual camera that had been dropped in a lake. I asked directions to a good photography store, and then jumped in a cab for a short ride across town. I purchased ten 10g bags of silica desiccant for 20 RNB (~about $2.25). When I retuned to the hotel, I asked for a large Ziploc style plastic bag. I detached the lens from my camera, attached both lens covers, and then placed the lens in the Ziploc bag with all ten packets of silica desiccant. I hanged the bag from a coat hanger in a dark closet so it would not be subjected to the air conditioner. After about two hours, the internal fogging was gone. I kept the whole camera in the plastic bag for the remaining two days of my trip when it was not in use. When I wanted to shoot pictures, I waited for the camera and lens to acclimate before removing them from the bag. Since acclimation allowed the lens to reach the same temperature as its surroundings without the humidity, fogging was minimal.

Technorati Tags: Life Hacks, Photography, Hacks, Tips

Construction Project - Suzhou PRC

My latest trip to China was decidedly unproductive from a photographic standpoint. The high humidity played hell with my equipment, rendering my primary lens inoperable for days at a time due to internal fogging. I was able to shoot a few photographs in Suzhou after I figured out how to defog My lens. I’ll publish my lens defogging life hack in another post. I had a chance to tour a few under construction factories in Suzhou economic development zone. I was able to shoot a few technical pictures for my work and managed to shoot a few pictures for my own pleasure too.

This shot is of a construction projects nearing completion. Construction workers are rigging the factory floor for incoming equipment. I like to try to capture the feel of place when I shoot photographs. The really-friggen-hot and too-damn-humid-to-breathe feel of the space did not come across in this photograph as much as the languid indifference of the workforce. Of course, I felt for the workers, it was too damn hot to care about much of anything.

btw - I think Suzhou translates to "the land of a million mosquitoes".

Technorati Tags: Photography, China, PRC, Suzhou