Ere the bonnie day was done

Smell the sea and feel the sky,
Sing and Chant in Praise,
Let your soul and spirit fly,
Free in the Sun's golden rays

Inspired by Van Morrison's beautiful song Into the Mystic

Technical Support

Well, I got my work computer back yesterday... Five weeks! Yikes! Good thing it wasn't anything more serious than replacing the hard drive. Glad to have it back.

Tatt's all folks

When the visitor rolled into town and realized that he needed help finding his way around, the town's people were eager to lend a hand and point him in the right direction.

Bravo

The new outfits for the local swim team seemed a bit cumbersome at first, but Sally applauds the first member of her team to make it across the pool.

Mojo workin

Rumor has it that I MAY get my computer back tomorrow. Only five weeks to replace a hard drive. Will wonders never cease...

Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez

I'm still sitting on the sidelines watching the Alamy Blogs. Hmmm. The good news is that I've got my first image download on SnapVillage, so people are looking there. It could take a while for them to build their image inventory, but the signs continue to indicate that there is much demand for Microstock. More news later...

Put on a happy face

Summer Solstice - a time for colour and fun. A celebration of the Season. I guess Autumn doesn't rank the same, but the light sure is nice, that is for photographers.

Soft Landing

A zoom is nice when you're trying to do something like this and not scare away your subject matter.

Carefree

Carefree are the days that you fill the most. Enjoying them to the last bit of light is gone.

technorati is open

My my my Technorati Profile....

Dream House

Late afternoon summer nostalgia all in one.

Misty

Alamy has introduced the Novel Use Scheme on the heals of Getty Images big $49.00 announcement. I think a lot of people have seen this coming for a long long time. I'm all for it. It is a changing world and I've got a day job. So, I opted in with Alamy's Novel Use Scheme. Let's see what happens. I think this will bring about lots of different opportunities and niches.

I don't hear people crying about the New IPhone.... boo hoo what about the old phones?

The next sixty seconds

I've been trying to get as far away from myself as I can
Some things are too hot to touch
The human mind can only stand so much
You can't win with a losing hand

Spare Parts

I wonder where these go? Guess you don't need them...

Last Exit to Sanity

Okay, three and a half weeks after my hard drive failed, our computer tech brings back my computer. Now, I know I mentioned it, but as said before, I don't want to let him leave. Why? Because I want my software reinstalled and working. Adobe Acrobat, no problem, Scanner Drivers, no problem, WinFax andFax/Modem Drivers.... Oh No! Crash Boom Bang! And away goes the computer AGAIN!

Yikes! What's a person to do? Ask a simple question like, do you think you could install some of the software I need on the loaner you gave me last month while your off fixing the fixed computer? Nope! Why? Well, it would take about as long to install the software as it would to fix the computer. ??? I kid you not, this is what I was told.

Now I'm thinking... hmmm it took a month the first time. Does the tech mean it would take a month to load Acrobat, or is he just trying to get the hell out of my cubical?

Now way back when, the day this all started, I could have bought a hard drive and installed everything I needed. What stopped me? Our I.S. Department is the keeper of the holy Admin Rights!

They're not worthy!

Morning on the Range

Peaceful and Serene. It's hard to say that about urban life.

Almost Blue

Waking through town at night and looking through store windows is a whole new canvas. Add in a Photoshop filter or two and...

Getty Up

This note from Getty is floating around the Internet and many of the reasons given seem valid:

There has never been such exponential growth in demand for imagery. This is a good thing. More and more imagery is needed by customers for their projects. This is excellent news. Also, customers' time and budget constraints are greater than ever. Customers need to find the broadest and deepest collections of imagery for all their communications more quickly, more simply and at appropriate price points. This is particularly the case for online usages where volumes are enormous and time constraints are acute.

As the global leader in the imagery industry, we recognize our responsibility to respond to these facts in a way that is in the best interests of photographers and customers.

Most of the growth in imagery demand today lies in online usage. How do we know? We are the major participant in every part of the market, from micropayment to assignment photography, and everything in between.

We know that in the second quarter of 2007, iStockphoto, the inventor and leader in microstock, licensed 4.25 million images - the overwhelming majority of these at a very low resolution, indicating web use. For the same period, Getty Images' web-use licenses for rights-ready and rights-managed imagery were less than 1 percent of iStockphoto's volume.

We ask, why are the best collections of imagery in the world not attracting online buyers? The answer is simple. For online usages where the volumes are very high and customers are frequently updating their communications on a daily basis, the requirements are speed, simplicity, appropriate pricing and imagery that does the trick.

Traditional rights-managed licensing does not meet these requirements and so these collections are missing a huge opportunity.Our new web-resolution product was created to address this opportunity. Quite simply, you - our photographers - were missing the exponential growth of the online market.

Our new product opens this opportunity to you by providing your imagery quickly, with greater simplicity, at a file size that is perfect for this new market and at an appropriate price point.

It is very early days, and we already know that it is working. How? Customers are telling us:“I bought an image today for web use for $49,” said a multimedia editor at a large customer in the broadcast and publishing field. “Getty Images might be trying to get the microstock users to come back to buy licensed photographs. I see it as buyers, such as myself, saying to our marketing dept, ‘Hey, I found a great pic for only $49! Do we have the budget for that?’ and they say, ‘Totally! Go buy it!’ That's exactly what happened to me today, and I feel like a new option for stock has opened for me.”In addition, our UK sales team reports the sale of 102 images at the new web-res price with an online agency customer who'd done little business with us all year, but who came to us rather than go to a micro-payment site for these web uses.

We are not unaware of certain concerns that have been raised. Our interests are aligned. Our new web-resolution product recognizes that rights-managed and rights-ready imagery has always and should always be licensed and priced based on usage.

The new product is just that - a new price for a new usage at a newly created file size. The new file size, which is half the size of the smallest size previously available at Getty Images, protects the value of your imagery, as well as the copyright, by making it impossible for these images to be used in any other way than online.

Customers will also want this imagery for use across other mediums, and will therefore require different licenses at higher prices, and of course, at larger file sizes. Furthermore, we will continue to protect copyright and intellectual property through our various programs to find unauthorized uses of our imagery, and to bring them into compliance.

In listening carefully to feedback from photographers, we have decided to reduce the duration of rights-ready and rights-managed web-resolution licenses to 3 months.

We believe that this serves the interests of both photographers and customers and are grateful to photographers for your assistance in improving the product.

Getty Images has introduced many new products, services and licensing models since its inception more than a decade ago. We have worked together with photographers in the interest of all participants in the industry.

We thank you for trusting us with your talent, hard work and creativity. We will continue to do our utmost to repay that trust.

I can't speak as to the veracity of this, but I looks like it came from Getty Images in response to the reaction to their new Internet pricing options.

Open Range

Alamy posted an announcement about an upcoming pricing anouncement on their blog. I think we can guess what it's about coming on the heals of Getty Images BIG price reduction. The moaning has started before we even know what Alamy has to say. I'm just going to wait. It's a changing world for us all, photographers included. Ride the open range of the Internet Age...

Call Waiting

Zelda opted for the new phone service that included Call Waiting. So, she waits...

Feelin' Alright

I love the light at this time of year and the photographic opportunities it provides.

Valley of the Dolls

Is this a dream, am I here, where are you
Tell me, when will I know, how will I know
When will I know why?

Reality Check

Change begins at home...

Perchance to Dream

The weekend in on the way, with some photography planned, perhaps even meeting up with some photowalking.org folks.

If you haven't heard, there's a big ruckus over Getty Images new pricing scheme. I'm not sure how I feel about it. It is a changing world, TV Shows now web exclusive, IPhones, Mobile everywhere you look. Getty may just be positioning themselves to take the lead. I'm going to sit on the sidelines and watch.

Anyways.... I'm tired. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

World gone wrong

A riddle or the cricket's cry
Is to doubt a fit reply.
The emmet's inch and eagle's mile
Make lame philosophy to smile.
He who doubts from what he sees
Will ne'er believe, do what you please.
If the sun and moon should doubt,
They'd immediately go out.

Say what?

So, today while using a coworkers computer to get caught up on some work, I get an email from the I.S. Department giving me the status on the repair work on my computer. Turns out that though they thought they'd ordered a replacement hard drive... oppps. They are placing the order today and should have the computer back by the end of next week.

Can you imagine these folks getting into the car repair business? Let's hope they stick to what they aren't good at.

I was kidding about the car repair thing. I just couldn't see a mechanic getting away with this. I would have done it myself, but these are the highly trained professionals and I'm not allowed to do my own repairs, let alone have admin rights to a machine I use everyday. grrrr

Life's Hazards

Events beyond Larry's control could scoop him up at any moment. Always be vigilant.

Sacrifice

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt

Fun in the sun

I don't know what the world may need, but some dancing in the streets is a good start..

Hands On

I left work early Friday, as I still don't have a useful computer there and the thought of sitting around for five hours was just too much.

Needless to say, time has been flying since then. Last night was hands on fun working on star trail techniques, looking at Jim DiVitale's work for inspiration, and seeing what Corey Barker has been up to.

Tomorrow? To sleep, perchance to dream that I get my old computer back and repaired so that I can get the software loaded and running again....

O Autumn, laden with fruit

The spirits of the air live on the smells
Of fruit; and Joy, with pinions light, roves round
The gardens, or sits singing in the trees. - William Blake

Golden Apple

Across the fields of dappled grass, she finds the golden apples of the sun...

Sunset for the birds

This is your big debut
It's like a dream come true
And when you smile for the camera
I know they're gonna love it

Soft or Lacking Definition

This one image caused over two hundred images to be rejected on Alamy. The reason, soft or lacking definition. They have a Zero Tolerance policy. They randomly look at any one of the pending images in the queue and and if they find fault with one they reject everything that's pending. I guess it's my fault as a ran a slight noise reduction filter on this image, but you'd think I was a Senator waiting to use the men's room in a Minnesota airport. Some of the batches rejected had been sitting there since July 31st, which means I mailed them in the middle of July 2007. Six weeks later - Zap! Sorry about the rant but I've been sitting in my cubicle with the non-functional computer all day. I'm venting! I'll dust myself off and try again, but if they'd have processed some of the batches sooner, I wouldn't have to resubmit everything.

The Chase

Father of the four winds fill my sails, I've got catching up to do...

Changing Tide

Sometimes we just have to believe that the tide will change. That we will be able to cross over obstacles and be rewarded with glory.

Cracking Up

Between the 100 degree Fahrenheit Heat and my lack of much sleep over the last few days... well, feels like I cracking up sometimes. emails full of typos, etc. Crazy. Just trying to get as much done before heading back to the cubical without a working computer...

Big wheel keep on turning

Parades are fun to photograph because people are having fun, being spontaneous, and taking some time to enjoy life.

Getting Away

Nothing like getting away from an urban environment and going somewhere a bit more civilized. A short overnight camping outing with a group of photographers was just what I needed to clear my mind and focus on what I love - Photography!

Little Green Man

An urban version of the Burning Man? Or just an expression about urban life...