[photopress:gifts_wishlist.jpg,full,alignright] Whew!
That seemed to work. We have our two winners for last weeks giveaway:
From North America- Danelle J. of Delray Beach, Florida will be getting the UNCOVERED book by Thomas Allen,
And Eric M. of Busselton ,West Australia adds the Family of Man to his bookshelf.
Two winners on the opposite sides of the world. Nice.

Coming up on this page shortly:
A word with Jeff Vespa, official photographer for Sundance,
Real World Reviews on ShootSac, Photoshop Elements 6 for Windows, road warrior tools for the photographer, and hands on with the Nikon D300. All reviews are based on hands on usage. Checking out the goods from your perspective.

More new videos, more reviews and product demos will be posted after a trip to Photographic Marketing Association next week, where the manufacturers debut the latest and things to come.

Of course, local gallery reviews, and special items for you in our weekly giveaway.
And don’t forget our contest for the iPhone. A good reason to gather some work into a program.

And we are always looking for writers to contribute here. If you have seen an exhibit, used a product, perused a book, or just have a photographic opinion you’d like to share, contact us. If you have interest in becoming a product reviewer, let us know.

Cheers!
Damon

Here is a video from a series called MagRack we found tripping around YouTube.

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Some of the comments were right on the money. Great tips, but the genius of Joel Meyerowitz’s work is not evident in the video.
From his color imagery of the life at the shore to his huge collection of photographs made around the World Trade Center post 9/11 called “Aftermath”, you can see he is a passionate artist.
Go to his site and take a closer look at his work.

And here is another street photography video. Just the photos, ma’am, just the photos. And make sure you watch this one full screen. Some excellent images. Continue Reading »

There are many great photographers to discover on the GALLERY Page, and we intend to highlight one a week in the next while for you.
One of the latest postings caught our eye the other day: Luca Lacche. There is a dreamlike quality that allows the viewer to share the experience and bring their thoughts and possible storyline to the images. We have been promised more in the series.

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lo sguardo vago” Luca Lacche Photography © 2008

With a clear sense of self, here is Luca’s bio in his own words. And yes, you also get some tech info.

From Luca Lacche:

My photographic activity began in Italy in the early 80s. I remember borrowing a Pentax MX 35mm film SLR, with its 50mm, from a friend at the University and after a while getting my own (a Canon AE1) – I was attracted by the “glance” offered by the reflex camera plus the natural point of view of the 50mm. After a few years of practice I began doing darkroom, developing and printing black and white film.

My photo-attitude has always stayed that way ever since – even if photography has been “on and off” for me during the late-80s and 90s, perhaps becoming in certain times just a secondary side of my other interests, like music and visual arts. In the mid-90s I started travelling abroad (mainly in the US) and photography spontaneously came back – using a couple of Nikon film SLRs I developed a keen interest in the concept of travel photo, even if today I realize I’ve never been much into describing places but rather projecting my own image and idea into them. This is perhaps why, when I decided to go “pro” a few years ago and began working for stock photo agencies, I felt somehow out of place – it was not my cup of tea.

That’s why I decided to quit that activity and concentrate on the fine-art side of my photo production – only self-expression, my kind of subjects and the tech and tools of my choice (obviously having to do something else for an extra income). I began posting my recent works on the net (that was about three years ago) and, besides admiring and being inspired by the work of the likes of Mario Giacomelli, I became fascinated by a certain type of photography, first the square format then the plastic cameras like the Holga, the Diana – the blur, the subtle focus-defocus play, the light seen in a totally different way due to “imperfect” optics.

Speaking of tech stuff, I am currently exclusively using a couple of Canon EOS 5D full-frame D-SLRs (always in RAW mode), both gripped, with Canon L zoom lenses (16-35 f/2.8, 24-105is, 70-200 f/4is) and the 70-300 DO/is tele-zoom which is ideal for travelling being very small. I recently began to add to my gear some prime lenses (two Canon EF, the 50mm f/1.4 and the 15mm fisheye), but my favorite piece of equipment remains the Lensbaby lens, which as a fact I now use most of the time. Since the first shots I took with it I realized the huge potential of its selective focus feature in composition, description of details, use of light. I am today mainly using the Original Lensbaby, whose “primitive” glass lets me obtain my favorite “plastic camera” feel (read Holga), even using a last-generation digital camera. Most part of my current photographic production comes from that “symbiotic couple”, the Canon 5D and the Original Lensbaby.

Don’t miss the rest. Keep reading….. Continue Reading »

[photopress:logo_Getty_black.gif,full,alignright] The year is not starting out good for the stock photo business. Getty Images is putting it’s massive collection on the block according to The New York Times. (sure, go ahead and register to read the article. It’s free.)

As UGC (user generated content) became the tools of advertising art directors everywhere, the bottom dropped out of the market.

Here is iStock’s home page pricing module:

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From IStock (now owned by Getty Images)to Flickr. the people doing the layouts you’ll see online and in print selling you whatever you really need, have realized that the imagery that folks relate to most has been made,well, by those folks. You, your friends, lot’s of people.
And they can, and do, “borrow ” it for free from all of these sites for presentations. And when it come to finalizing these ads and bring them to market?
They are pretty darn cheap compared to what it was. Yes, they do pay, but it ain’t what it used to be.

Now there was major controversy Continue Reading »

Today in the USA, we honor Martin Luther King. An activist for peace, he was a beacon in a turbulent era, who was taken too soon.
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Here he is delivering his famous “I Have A Dream” speech.
Complete text and video of that speech here.

Now, thanks to the photojournalists then, we have this memorable image.
And that tradition continues as we begin to look back at 2007 for the most impactful images of the year.
This is just a partial list as we’ll wait for our favorite list, the World Press Photo award.

Best Photos of 2007 :
New York Times
National Geographic
Reuters News Service
Time Magazine
AFP Photos – China

Have a good week!