4,664 Still Photographs Produce This Music Video

California based photographer Noah Webb (see his web site HERE) shot this video for the song "A Thousand Bees" by Sara Lov by setting 4,664 still photographs to animation. Cool, we are seeing a lot of this type of video/photography and though it may not work well in many circumstances it certainly does have its place where this style fits well and this is one of those.

Adobe CS4 Commercial_?

Well, this is just wild.

New York Times Photo Blog_LENS

The New York Times unveiled "LENS", a photojournalism blog presenting interesting visual and multimedia reporting, photographs, videos and slide shows. Lens will also draw images from the Times own pictorial archive dating back to the early 20th century. Check it out HERE.

Awkward Family Photos

When really bad photographers take portraits this is what you get, proving that portraiture requires a skill level that not everyone attains. This is really funny stuff, and amazing to me that someone can submit work to a client like this and expect a payment. For a hell of a laugh go HERE to Awkward Family Photos.com.

Official White House Photostream on Flickr

White House photographer Pete Souza has recently opened a Flickr photostream featuring behind the scenes photos at the white House, see HERE. Take a quick look at a collection of the photos put together by the Sacramento Bee photo blog, The Frame, HERE.

Time Lapse Video

Bathtub IV from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

The miniature effect on photographs is popular and very cool, and I have done some myself, see my posts from Friday, January 9, 09 and Sunday, January 11, 09. Here is a very cool video shot by Keith Loutit that uses this miniature effect along with time lapse shooting to create an unbelievable effect you will find very entertaining. Site HERE.

Che Photo_Most Popular Photograph in History

This shot of Argentine revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara, taken by Cuban photographer Alberto Korda in Havana in 1960 is the most reproduced photograph in the world. The photograph used by communists, capitalists, marxists and marketers to sell ideas can be found in all corners of the world including East Timor, Africa, Israel, Lebanon, United States and Latin America. Read more about it at CNN HERE.

Photographer_ Steven Meisel..."Three Hundred and Seventeen and Counting"

Photographer Steven Meisel has photographed every single cover of Italian Vogue for the last 20 years and nine months. That equals 317 covers and is the title of his new book, "Three Hundred and Seventeen and Counting". Lets see, my book would have to be called something like... Fifty Seven Thousand and Counting. Take a look at an interesting article about this fine photographer and see a slide show of his work and a video HERE.

Spring Clean up_ Rock, Glove and Gym Shoe

I'm looking around my garage, seeing all the junk laying around. I know I have some cleaning up to do, but I decide to take some photos of the crap in my garage. I set my lights and start bringing worthless junk from my garage to my basement to photograph it. So here is a Rock, a Glove and an old Gym Shoe for your viewing pleasure.

Photo Gallery_East Germany, Up Close and Personal

One of the subjects that we recently talked about at work was the future of Cuba. The Obama Administration is loosening restrictions and there is now talk that we (Americans) might soon be able to travel again to that island nation. We talked as photographers how it would be so interesting to photograph and document Cuba as soon as travel restrictions were lifted, because if Americans were to travel to Cuba again that island would change rapidly and forever. Here is something similar, West German photographer Karlheinz Jardner set off on a trip to the East German island of Rugen just after the Wall fell in the spring of 1990 capturing a world that would soon disappear forever. Twenty Years later he looks back and talks about his journey in a first-person account, HERE. and to see his photographs HERE.

Update_Photographer Stephen Mallon's Flight 1549 Salvage Photos

It now appears that insurer AIG and US Airways have given in to public pressure and have allowed Photographer Stephen Mallon to post his salvage photos. AIG and US Airways had previously pressured Mallon to not show these photos for which he was hired to shoot. (Scroll and see my blog posted on Friday, March 27, 2008). See his website and the salvage photos of flight 1549 HERE.

More on Dignified Transfer of U.S. Military Personnel

Boston.com presents a 25 photo picture story documenting the return of U.S. war dead. The Obama administration reversed a ban on media coverage of returning war dead and their dignified transfer implemented in 1991 by president Bush. See photos HERE.

Photographer_Robert Adams Wins Hasselblad Award

U.S. photographer Robert Adams, who is known for documenting human impact on the American West, has won the Hasselblad Award."Robert Adams is one of the most important and influential photographers of the last 40 years," the jury said in its citation."Precise and undramatic, Adams's accumulative vision of the West now stands as a formidable document, reflecting broader, global concerns about the environment, while consistently recognizing signs of human aspiration and elements of hope across a particular changing landscape," the jury said.He was particularly interested in how human activity, including agriculture and building, had transformed the West as documented by earlier photographers such as Timothy O'Sullivan and William Henry Jackson.In his images of main streets, tract houses, trees, and waterways, Adams records two kinds of landscapes, one damaged by people and the other somehow beyond their power to harm. He asks us, through his photographs, to consider where we live and how we relate to our environment. Learn more about this photographer HERE.

PDN Virtual Trade Show

I have been to the New York Photo trade show several times in the past and I always came back with a positive experience. There is nothing like it to see new equipment, to hold it in your hands and get the feel of it, see how it operates, listen to it. You come back enthused and inspired with new ideas and a renewed position of your creativity. But its not always possible to get away either, I havn't been to the trade show in a number of years. Now PDN is sponsoring a Photographer's virtual tradeshow. It is a free online tradeshow for professional and advanced amateur photographers. You will be able to hear and interact with industry experts on the latest technologies, techniques and trends. This online event will happen on two days, May 21 & June 11 and you must also register to attend. Check it out and see their program schedules HERE.

More on Photographer_Eddie Adams

NPR has a feature story about Eddie Adams and his Vietnam images including a radio broadcast and an image gallery. Check it out HERE. Also scroll down to see my post about Eddie Adams dated Tuesday, March 10, 2009 and use the link to see a very cool trailer of a documentary made of the Eddie Adams story.

The Bigger Picture

The Bigger Picture is a blog produced by the Smithsonian Institute representing an inside look at the Smithsonian's photography collections and invites audiences to engage in an online discussion about photography's impact on our world. The Smithsonian has more than 13 million images in some 700 collections. Through this blog you get a behind-the-scenes look at their photo collections from researchers, archivists, curators, and other Smithsonian staff, updates about ongoing research and discoveries, and discussions of the latest ideas and issues in visual culture. Check it out HERE.

All Aboard...Spring Break

My son and I had a little spring break together, and decided to take our camera's and video equipment on a road trip. My son and I are really into trains and planes, this time our objective was to shoot trains. We headed for Janesville Wisconsin, home of the Wisconsin and Southern Rail Road. An interesting company, we were informed that the gentleman who started and continues to own and operate Wisconsin and Southern got his initial funding from his father who invented the wire nut and also the plastic zip lock ties. A small company by rail road standards, they do all their work in a round house that is over 100 years old and operate possibly the only full scale turnabout in Wisconsin. We headed on to Rochelle Illinois, where there is a major crossing handling the Pacific Union and BNSF lines. Rochelle sees over 120 trains pass by a day.

On our way we passed by the now closed GM plant in Janesville and I have to say that seeing a plant of this size sitting with no people or cars around was a very scary site. It had a ghost town feeling and really hit home the fact that our country is in a really bad place right now.

Badger Army Ammunition Plant

The photo's above are a few pics from the Badger Army Ammunition Plant up in Baraboo Wisconsin. My son and I were fortunate enough to be included in a tour of the plant recently. With a very long and interesting past the plant has produced munitions for three major wars, including World War II, the Korean War, and a major producer for the Vietnam war. The Plant was first built in 1942 and was decommissioned in 1999. With a new plan in place it is now being torn down and the lands and water in and around the plant are being cleaned up from hazardous toxins that are present. Some of the lands are to be given back to the original owners, the Ho Chunk nation (Winnebago tribe), who plan to raise bison there. The Wisconsin DNR also are receiving a large part of the property. I hope to have a link to all the images soon.

Dignified Transfer

These are some of the first images covered by the media of a Dignified Transfer of U.S. military personnel killed in action since the beginning of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars began. Previously these ceremonies were closed to the media. Air Force Staff Sgt. Phillip Myers was killed in Afghanistan on Saturday. His body returned to his family at Dover Air Force Base. Photographers from the major wire services and newspapers were there to cover the ceremony. See more of the images at Daylife, HERE.

Largest Collection of Professional Photography On The Web

Life and Getty images teamed up to provide the largest collection of professional images on the web, all free to share and print. Millions of legendary photos from the archives of Life and Getty but also adding over 3000 new images every day. Check out Life.com HERE, its worth a look.

Stephen Mallon's Flight 1549_US Airways and Insurer AIG

Remember these recovery photos of US Airways flight 1549 shot by photographer Stephen Mallon? Scroll to my post dated Monday, February 9, 2009. It seems that US Airways and AIG, who insures US Airways, yes... that AIG, does not want these photos shown, at all, ever and no one seems to be able to figure out why. Mallon was hired by Weeks Marine to photograph the full recovery of the plane from the Hudson River and had full access to the plane and the blessing from the NTSB and US Airways. After posting them on his web site the NTSB said he could not post them, so he took them down, then two weeks later released them and said he may post them. Recently he got a letter from a law firm, directed to him from insurance company AIG asserting that Mallon has no rights to the recovery photos. This story seems to be still in the development stages and I expect we will be seeing more about this in the photography world. Read more of this story at the Online Photographer, HERE. See Stephen Mallon's site HERE.

Vintage Fishing Ads from Field & Stream

Its interesting how advertising has changed, or actually we have changed. These ads contain dead fish, tobacco and things that you just will not see nowadays. Many non fishing companies cashing in on this sports advertising also. I think the two guys in the boat need a bigger net or they are just snagged and that might not be cigarettes their smoking. Check out the collection of advertisements from years past at Field & Stream HERE.

Photographer_Yousuf Karsh @ The Art Institute of Chicago

The Art Institute of Chicago has on display 100 master prints by master portraitist Yousuf Karsh. Above photos Winston Churchill, Pablo Picasso, Albert Einstein. The show, "Yousuf Karsh: Regarding Heroes", goes through the end of April. It is a rare opportunity to see such a large collection of Karsh's work on display. Karsh used a technique called "inspection" for developing his negatives, this was accomplished by developing negatives by hand under a safe light to produce optimal detail. See the Art Institute HERE for details. Also go HERE to learn more about the photographer and to see more of his images online. I am definitely going to try to catch this one, and have some fun in Chicago.

Photographer_Eddie Adams

"The image disturbed him, and he continually wrestled with the responsibility it brought," this is what his wife said in reference to the cover of his new book, "Vietnam", referring to his 1968 Pulitzer Prize winning shot of a Viet Cong prisoner being shot execution style on a Saigon street. Eddie Adams died in 2004. This is an incredible photograph considering how close Eddie must have been to the scene, this is no telephoto lens here. The photo apparently disturbed Eddie Adams for the remaining of his life, even saying he wished he never shot it. Eddie Adams photographed 13 wars, six presidents, and numerous celebrities. The officer shooting is Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan, the prisoner being shot had just murdered eight South Vietnamese. The photograph turned Americans against the war and haunted Loan for the rest of his life. See some of Eddie's work HERE. Go HERE, and this is a must, to check out a trailer of a documentary of the Eddie Adams Story.

Is This Photography, or Not

My friend Jim emailed me with this question,"Hey John, what did you think of this guy's gallery? At what point is it no
longer photography, just computer generated art? I look at this way, it is photography and the computer is one of our tools to use in the process of making images, just as the camera itself is a tool for making images. I have seen this technique before and it is kind of cool when used with the right kind of images. As you can tell from the gallery some images work better than others with this technique. The top two images are from Alexandre Duret-Lutz, a French photographer creating what he calls "wee planets" using a technique of stitching together and bending many photographs of a particular scene, see his gallery HERE. The bottom photo, done by photographer Chris Kling is called a globe, it has some of the same characteristics but is done with photoshop and only one photo, see photographer Chris Kling blog HERE. See the technique for the single image version in photoshop HERE and try it yourself.