Quote Du Jour

Photography to me is catching a moment which is passing, and which is true.
-Jacques-Henri Lartigue

Summer Fare

Hot time summer in the city, back of my neck getting dirty and gritty......So the lyrics go to that old rock song. The city of Chicago hit over 90 degrees today so I thought I'd add a cooling summer refreshment image.... Watermelon. Now you can here Herbie Handcock's version of the song Watermelon Man run through your head. Ahhhhhhh refreshing!

Magazine Photoshopping Linked to Eating Disorders

When Adobe invented Photoshop, I bet they never expected to be attacked for being linked to eating disorders. Yes Photoshop is being used by the fashion industry and yes they take the editing to extremes. But to blame Photoshop for the problem is absurd. I never heard the AMA blame the airbrush for the same problems and the fashion industry was using that before Photoshop.

In a report from ABC news: "Photoshopping, especially as it's related to children and adolescents, gives them an unrealistic expectation of what they might expect to look like as they grow up," said Jeremy Lazarus, AMA's president-elect. "So there are adverse health consequences as a result of that." That's quite a leap. It seems to be easy to pass the blame onto others......like a computer program.

Does the fashion industry need to get it's act together... yes. Should it be pointed out ...yes. but to say "So there are adverse health consequences as a result of that." is a bit much. A lot of factors play into eating disorders, but I don't think an over photoshopped image is the cause. I fear that we will have the Fashion Police. We already have the Food Police. With this I fear the politicians will join the bandwagon to make political hay from this.

Fashion industry....get real....Fashion Police....go away......politicians you've got a lot more to worry about like the economy and the jobless problem.

One final note to my editorial photographer friends.....stay far away from this problem as you can. Keep it real and keep the news photos, other than exposure adjustments etc, well enough alone.

I wonder if Adobe expected their product to be turned into a verb and used against them and their product.

Little Village Haute Couture

Advice from Edward to Ansel

Even the greatest talk and give each other pearls of wisdom. This was from the great Edward Weston to the great Ansel Adams.
"I would say to any artist: 'Don't be repressed in your work, dare to experiment, consider any urge, if in a new direction all the better.'"
Photographic words to live by!

A Unique Photographic Perspective

Andy Ilachinski's Tao of Photography blog has some great reading material from his talk to the Church Photo Club. The talk was Physics, Tao and Fine Art Photography and his presentation slides are downloadable from his site. His photographic philosophy is unique and his images stunning. It is worth a look.

Quote Du Jour

The camera is a fluid way of encountering that other reality.
-Jerry Uelsmann

Friday ClixPix

I caught this shot in the Little Village area of Chicago. I named it Jesus Retail which I think fits the image.

Feets Don't Fail Me Now!

Photographer Scott Bourne of the Photofocus page has an enjoyable post about what to do when you don't have a zoom lens. Take a moment and enjoy it on Photofocus.

Motel Signage Modification

I really like this image of this 1950's style Motel sign. Of course they upgraded their units to suites, so what do you do, redo the sign? No you just tack on the suites part...... sorta tacky!

Vision Ebook

Photographer Scott Bourne has a free downloadable ebook on his creative vision of photography. His way of giving back to the photographic community, which is nice. It is meant to insire photographers and is well worth a read..... yes it is free, so check it out! Vision is downloadable here.

Quote Du Jour

The key is to not let the camera, which depicts nature in so much detail, reveal just what the eye picks up, but what the heart picks up as well.
-Paul Caponigro

Friday ClixPix

Steam Power

Quote Du Jour

"The illiterate of the future will be the person ignorant of the use of the camera as well as the pen."
- Lazlo Hoholy-Nagy

Believing in Yourself

I ran across a great motivational article addressed to photographers by Skip Cohen of the GoingPro website. Sometimes as photographers we beat ourselves up and we lose faith in what we do. This article is a great pick-me-up for when your needing a mental boost. Read it and enjoy!

Junk Yard Signage

Quote Du Jour

I am not interested in shooting new things -
I am interested to see things new.
-Ernst Haas

Well Crack Me Up!

Once again Designm.ag has a great free collection. This time its Photoshop crack brushes. Check it out there might be something here for your next creative project.

2000 Free Photoshop Patterns

Designm.ag has a nice group of links to 2000 Free Photoshop Patterns. Various styles to fit your projects.

Hiroshima: The Lost Photographs

The Design Observer web site has an article on a trunk load of photographs that had been found of the bombing of Hiroshima Japan. It is always chilling to see the devastation from that bombing and should remind us actions have consequences. The question will always be, has the world learned from this, or will history repeat itself. The post is worth the look.

Quote Du Jour

If you are out there shooting, things will happen for you.
If you're not out there, you'll only hear about it.
-Jay Maisel

Reality

We are all sentenced to solitary confinement inside our own skins, for life.

-Tennessee Williams

Quote Du Jour

The enemy of photography is the convention, the fixed rules of 'how to do'. The salvation of photography comes from the experiment.
-Laszlo Moholy-Nagy

With Honor

Today we honor those who served our country