Joy's Odyssey

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay ~ Day 31 - 1/31/12

2012-01-31T20:06:00.001-05:00

Had a VERY cool shoot today. However, following my rule that the client sees the pix first...I have to fill in today with something else. My trip home from the shoot. # pix today - I like what I did to them. Funky.

See the full gallery on Posterous

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay ~ Day 30 - 1/30/12

2012-01-30T22:11:00.001-05:00

Took it - check back tomorrow. I'm beat.

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay ~ Day 29 - 1/29/12

2012-01-29T21:01:00.001-05:00

A line study. Without lines, there would be nothing.

See the full gallery on Posterous

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay ~ Day 28 - 1/28/12

2012-01-28T16:18:00.001-05:00

Had a plan B today in case I couldn't find anything that caught me eye.

But no worries - found something funky & cool and full of color at Jerry Rose. I love color and patterns - and this has both.

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay ~ Day 27 - 1/27/12

2012-01-27T16:36:00.001-05:00

More rain, no oil slicks! So I entertained myself with rain boots.

See the full gallery on Posterous

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay ~ Day 26 - 1/26/12

2012-01-26T16:15:00.001-05:00

It rained today. It's actually still drizzling. I thought I wouldn't find any oil slicks - because it's been wet for a while, but obviously, many of you have oil leaks...

See the full gallery on Posterous

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay ~ Day 25 - 1/25/12

2012-01-25T20:07:00.001-05:00

The sun came out today and so, there would be no oil slicks to shoot. Oh well. Instead, I walked around all day with the camera and pretty much found...nada. That was until pick up. Being still winter, regardless of the thermometer, the sun was low in the sky. This meant looonnnngggg shadows. I decided to try to improve on my image from Day 9. Below is what I came up with. Also, I included a shot in my unofficial series of "

See the full gallery on Posterous

self portraiture, but no face."

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay ~ Day 24 - 1/24/12

2012-01-24T19:37:00.001-05:00

I teach photography - I have a quite a few private students who are in various stages of learning. I just had my second session with a new student - one that has a good eye. Since the weather was unusually warm - 51F for January - so we went outside and blew off the lesson plan (on aperture) and focused on lines and point of view. Bare trees, pavement, bark - all lines, all the time. Some of the shots I took (to show examples) are here. Then later on - the sunset - not all that stunning, but still pretty. And, lastly, sharp, sometimes, is boring...

See the full gallery on Posterous

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay ~ Day 23 - 1/23/12

2012-01-23T14:14:00.001-05:00

More oil spills - this is getting freaky. Especially scine, now, we're getting into shapes - like clouds...I see a fish in this one.

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay ~ Day 22 - 1/22/12

2012-01-22T19:32:00.001-05:00

Willie Cole has irons. I have oil spills.

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay ~ Day 21 - 1/21/12

2012-01-21T19:28:00.001-05:00

Boredom is setting in with this assignment. Only 345 more pix to go! They say you need boredpm to really be creative. We'll see!

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay ~ Day 20 - 1/20/12

2012-01-20T22:56:00.001-05:00

My iTunes playlist. Scary.

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay ~ Day 19 - 1/19/12

2012-01-20T07:27:00.001-05:00

The image was taken and will be posted later this AM - being sick really messes everything up. Feeling better now.

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay ~ Day 18 - 1/18/12

2012-01-18T17:09:00.001-05:00

Still sick - but here are more pix of my co-workers. And, yes, the guest bedroom is the laundry dumping ground.

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay ~ Day 17 - 1/17/12

2012-01-18T17:06:00.001-05:00

Vicious sinus infection - watched bad tv instead of posting this last night. More pollution pix.

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay ~ Day 16 - 1/16/12

2012-01-16T20:59:00.001-05:00

My other passion - cooking.

I love carmelized onions...

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay ~ Day 15 - 1/15/12

2012-01-15T23:47:00.001-05:00

It was 18 degrees when we went out this AM - came home and stayed in for the rest of the day.

Got some shots of the frost on the window. Which is really cool from a photography POV. Not very cool from a homeowner POV - since it means there's moisture trapped somewhere where it should not be.

See the full gallery on Posterous

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay ~ Day 14 - 1/14/12

2012-01-14T22:37:00.001-05:00

Had ot work today, which is why I probably didn't take the camera out.

One shot on the way home - you can see I'm stopped.

And one of the international 'rub my belly' sign from the cat.

riviting stuff, I know!

See the full gallery on Posterous

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay ~ Day 13 - 1/13/12

2012-01-14T11:08:00.001-05:00

Sorry - forgot to post. Was catching up on the first season of Downton Abbey on Netflix.

Raw day yesterday. But it was warm in my car. Had to cover something for a hyperlocal - outside. It was cold, wet & windy. But not in the car.

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay ~ Day 12 - 1/12/12

2012-01-12T22:10:00.001-05:00

Well, it was a coold, wet day and I just love taking my camera out on this kind of day. Not. Did I also mention that I felt crappy? No? Well I did. And even with all that - I still managed to find something colorful, even if its not a good thing.

That being siad - they would look really cool printed on metal!

See the full gallery on Posterous

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay Day 11 - 1/11/12

2012-01-11T21:53:00.001-05:00

Almost forgot to post - but that's why I gave myself the option of posting later. Still need to take the pix...1st image - weird orange handprint on sidewalk - don't know the back story. Second image - I liked because every light had a different color.

See the full gallery on Posterous

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay Day 10 - 1/10/12

2012-01-10T19:06:00.001-05:00

OK, I'm only 10 days in and I'm getting image block. I'm assuming this is normal.

So, today for your viewing pleasure - one shot, 5 ways. Why, I got bored and started to play around in Lightroom and all the developing presets. On at a time and picked my fave 5.

See the full gallery on Posterous

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay Day 9 - 1/9/12

2012-01-09T21:57:00.001-05:00

Another day of running around - here's a shot taken on the run. It's not what I wanted - I wanted to actually catch the more of the shadows - but it will do. There were other images today - but this is the best one of the bunch. Hey, they all can't be winners!

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay Day 8 - 1/8/12

2012-01-08T19:56:00.001-05:00

I love the holiday lights at this time of year. They make me happy.

No deep thughts today - just happy lights.

See the full gallery on Posterous

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay Day 7 - 1/7/12

2012-01-07T18:55:00.001-05:00

Had work today - one year old twins' birthday party. I have never met a better natured set of twins in my life.

It was a wonderful time and I know the parnets will love the memories I captured for them. The mom thanked me and said she would have never been able to manage to take pictures. And after I said you're welcome, I went on to say, 'I am an convienance. What Napster did to the recording industry, really good point & shoot cameras has done the same thing to the photography industry. But I'm very ok with that."

What I meant by this is: The cameras nowdays take really great images, but if you're the one runing the party, how can you do both? Take the photo and be in it at the same time? I'm OK with this because things change. And that's the way it is.

When I was still in corporate, the new department head gave everyone a book called "Who Moved My Cheese?" Basically pointing out that the old way of doing things was over. Thought it was a pretty good book - and I'm not one to read buniess books. (OK - I loved this one.)

Anyway - the photography industry has changed. I'm ok with that.It works for me.

Back to the images - no images of the party. Wouldn't be fair to the mom for all of you to see any before her AND I don't show images of recognizable minors without the express permission of thier parents.

I got parrots for you today. Monk Parrots

See the full gallery on Posterous

. In Maplewood NJ.

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay Day 6 - 1/6/12

2012-01-06T20:13:00.001-05:00

A snowless winter is a challange to shoot. You have bareness and greyness, which for me, equals dullness.

I spent most of the day looking for something to catch my eye. Something to stand out from the wall of grey. The native persimmon tree? It's bark is like dinasaur skin - rough and chunky. But I've shot it before - BTDT.

The bare branches against the sky - did that yesterday.

But at about 5pm, the bare branches against the sky took on new meaning. I had my shot for the day.

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay Day 5 - 1/5/12

2012-01-05T17:06:00.001-05:00

Ok- I'm back up to 4 pix today. Had some trouble coming up with something and it wasn't until the afternoon that the images started to come. There's more - like today I spilt hot tea into my laptop - but it seems to be working - for now.

Today we have a blurry pix. I saw a shot, but seeing that it's still cold enough to wear gloves - iI missed it. But I like the blurry image - so in it goes.

Next is a chimney. I was told that Maplewood has great chimneys - who knew? Will start to pay attention to them now.

After that is a revisit to the ice from yesterday - love refrozen air bubbles.

Lastly, I love this tree. It's a Linden, probably a very rare cultivar since I've never seen the bark before - but it's not of the bark, maybe later, but of the branches.

And that's it for today!

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay Day 4 - 1/4/12

2012-01-04T10:50:00.001-05:00

Today - the shot was found at 8:30am this morning.

One of the purposes of this execerise is to push me out of my comfort zone. My comfort zone is a nice warm & comfy space! Today it was about 15F while walking to school. I so did not want to take any pix and just wanted to go back home to my comfy, warm space.

But I saw this and knew what I had to do.

I loved how the bag's handles are frozen in the ice and how the bag isn't destroyed by being in the water. It must have blown there by last night's winds and quickly froze.

But man - my hands were freezing!

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay Day 3 - 1/3/21

2012-01-03T18:36:00.001-05:00

Today I tried to get out of the house and take a photo. It was late afternoon and the sun was setting and weather crisp and very, very cold. Out and about, I made a stop and noticed the old fashioned street lamp and the afterglow of sunset reflected in the car window. So today - we have two photos.

See the full gallery on Posterous

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay

2012-01-02T20:54:00.001-05:00

Here we are at day 2 - so far a prefect run!

For your veiwing pleasure - the Xmas tree before it gets taken down. There were others - but they didn't sing - so I deleted them.

See the full gallery on Posterous

366 Days of Pix - #1PixADay

2012-01-01T18:40:00.001-05:00

Today I start my one photo a day project.

Why?

Because it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Really, why not?

The rules are simple - I need to shoot at least one shot a day - but no more than 5.

I may not actually post the photos on the day they were taken - due to work, family obligations, et al.

In the end, I will make a photo book of 366 images.

Pretty simple.

And here we go...

See the full gallery on Posterous

We only have today. There are no tomorrows. Death comes without warning.

2011-11-05T12:57:00.001-04:00

Not the most uplifting post - but in a way it is.

The reason is simple. A close friend's spouse passed away suddenly.

And with all which comes with someone dying, there was one extra thing that was over looked.

There were no recent photos of the deceased.

The friend asked me to scan a 5x7 family photo, isolate the spouse and print up a 5x7 so that the children could place the image in their lockers at school.

I did it - but the quality isn't really all that great, but it's all they have.

Being a professional photographer, hey, I would love you to come and do a session with me.

Burt that's not what this is about.

Right now - I want you to get your camera and take a picture of your loved ones. I don't care if they have bed head, braces or not at their best. And if you're the subject of the photograph - stop being a pain in the ass and smile. I don't care if you hate having your pictures taken. You're being selfish and thinking only of yourself. Your loved ones love YOU! And when you're gone, they will have nothing but images of your hand in front of your face. Is that really how you want they to remember you? Get over yourself!

Use you cell phone, get fresh batteries for the point and shoot or dust off the film. Take the damn picture. You may not be able to do it tomoorow.

Fullfilling requests such as these make me cry.

My Weekend Trip to the Great Swamp

2011-10-19T22:33:00.001-04:00

Stopped by the swamp to see what I could see. I spotted some color - but this year has been wacky. Some trees had lost all their leaves and some were still green.

Still made for some pretty shots, tho....

See the full gallery on Posterous

Free Art for your office walls...a lopsided 'deal'.

2011-08-10T18:36:00.001-04:00

I was recently was contacted by someone who has an office in need of Art.

This person loves my work and wants to hang it in their new office.

This person wants me to bring in my portfolio from which to choose the work they want hanging in their shiny new office.

I was polite and tried to explain that:

While it's really nice to know you have upscale clients with money, your office is not an art gallery and they don't come to you to buy art.

What this person is proposing is basically they get free wall decor, while I have to spend time and money with absolutely no guarantee of even covering my costs.

I'm going to tell them that while honored that they like my work, the deal is really no 'deal' for me, and thank you, but no thank you.

Joy

http://about.me/joyyagid

Signature powered by WiseStamp

Vacation pix

2011-07-11T20:49:00.001-04:00

I have paid work to get to first - but here's a taste of what I did for fun.

Joy

http://about.me/joyyagid

Signature powered by WiseStamp

See the full gallery on Posterous

My Most Successful Image Yet

2011-06-22T19:14:00.001-04:00

And I had so little to do with it.

The kids did all the hard work - all I did was crawl out a window onto the roof.

It was just too much fun!

Joy

Having some fun - just a quick abstract

2011-06-13T19:44:00.001-04:00

Joy

http://about.me/

joyyagid

SOMA Artists' Tour this weekend!!!!

2011-06-01T22:05:00.001-04:00

Stop by and say hi!
I'll be at 1978 Arts Center in Maplewood.
Tix are $5 in advance and $7 (cash only) at the door!

Joy

www.joyyagid.com
http://joyyagid.zenfolio.com/
www.flickr.com/photos/joyyagid

Rain.

2011-05-18T15:11:00.001-04:00

I think we all moved to Seattle and no one told us.

What I did yesterday.

2011-05-16T09:58:00.001-04:00

Took a group of girl scouts to the Great Swamp yesterday.
Was told when we got there that the boy scout troop scheduled to go, canceled do to the weather...

We had a blast. Mucho frogs (green, bull, leopard and pickerel), a few cool birds seen and heard (veery & great crested flycatcher) and one thing that I have not seen in the wild ever, just covered in Old Bay...a crawfish. And it was a huge one at that. Very cool.

See the full gallery on Posterous

I got out and shot some pretty stuff!

2011-05-11T21:16:00.000-04:00

I really love peonies.
I just can't grow them in my backyard and have to admire others handiwork...

Joy

See the full gallery on Posterous

My mother's day pix

2011-05-10T10:52:00.001-04:00

here's what I did on mother's day - I wanted to go out an shoot.
And I did.

See the full gallery on Posterous

New Pix

2011-04-25T22:47:00.001-04:00

Today was a beautiful day and I just had to go out and shoot some of it!

Joy

See the full gallery on Posterous

Frills

2011-04-12T08:34:00.001-04:00

Love spring. So much prettiness.

Oh, there was one other bit of good news...

2011-04-02T19:44:00.001-04:00

The Raptor Trust wants to use TWO of my images in their annual report!

This calls for a slice of pie!

Joy

A very prestigious art collector

2011-04-02T19:39:00.001-04:00

JUST BOUGHT ONE OF MY WORKS!!!!!

WOO HOO!!!!

yeah, I'm happy.

Rejected. Again. We're even today!

2011-03-15T22:35:00.001-04:00

Just so we keep the world in balance...

March 15, 2011

Dear Joy,

Thank you for submitting your work for 'Considering Collage' at the SMI Gallery @ Academy Square. Fifty-four artists applied and I chose ten to give an overall view of how very differently collage artists approach their medium. It was a difficult choice but we are limited on the number of artists due to space constraints.

I regret that your work was not selected but hope that you will continue to pursue opportunities at the gallery and as a member of Studio Montclair and even consider applying to curate an exhibition there.

Once again, thank you for applying to 'Considering Collage.' Your participation is important to the ongoing vitality of Studio Montclair.

Sincerely,

Pam Cooper

Got into a juried exhibition!

2011-03-15T20:46:00.001-04:00

One of my photos was chosen to be included into the 12th Annual Gaelen Juried show.

I am very happy - but must admit that the judges' choice puzzled me. Don't get me wrong.
I am very happy! But it wasn't the image I thought would be chosen. I could submit 3 images.

I chose one color photo and 2 black and white. Each had something going for it. The color one had a sense of humor and a sense of a moment. It was of a broadwing hawk that was about to be put back into the enclosure and he didn't want to. The second one, my favorite, was of a barn owl in B&W. I tweaked it to the point of it making it more of an apparition than an owl.

But it was the B&W barred owl they chose. It was just an owl - eyes forward to meet the viewer.
It's a striking image - but not the one I would have chosen.

But that's art for you....

A really cool idea

2011-02-24T23:36:00.001-05:00

I follow a few photo blogs - one of my fav's to read - when I have time is http://www.racheldevine.com/blog/.>

With a nano-second I had free, I checked in and found Pinterest - pretty freaking cool. What an amazing idea!

A way to 'rip' out stuff on the web and have a collection. Think of going thru your favorite design mag or catalog and pinning it on a board - in a virtual world.

Check it out - http://www.beyond-snapshots.com/blog/2011/02/23/we-%E2%99%A5-pinterest/.>

Dead Hard Drives and How Not to Impress with Customer Service.

2011-02-23T11:37:00.001-05:00

Just a quick thought or two on hard drives and customer service.

Hard drives are probably the second most important piece of gear I own.

And like everything else - they will die usually at the worst time.

I have had Western Digital drives fail - 2 in the same year.

I've had issues with LaCie and Seagate HD's.

While I like both, here's where they diverge.

Emailed Seagate. After explaining the issue with their drive and confirming it was still under warranty, they emailed me a RMA# and off it went back home to them. The replacement is winging it's way to me now.

On the other hand:

LaCie had me jumping thru hoops for over two weeks at what I thought was a dead drive. Yes, it was under warranty. We're talking a $150 (at the time I bought it) drive. Over a week of emails taking up someone's time for something that would probably cost them $30 to replace. They determined it was the power cord/transformer. So they emailed me a new one.

LaCie: Fail. They didn't make me feel better. I now have a drive, that I feel, is still suspect. Do you think I'm going to put anything really all that important on that drive? No. Do you think I'm going to buy another LaCie drive again? No.

Will I buy a Seagate? You bet.

Some images - some posted before, some new-ish. Trying out a new blogging site...

2011-02-13T14:50:00.001-05:00

See the full gallery on posterous

Turning down work

2011-02-07T11:44:00.004-05:00

I did.
Turn down work.
In this economy.

Why?
Bad work karma.
I had a client that whenever they called, something bad would happen. Now I'm not overly superstitious, but when expensive things break and people get very sick or die, this gets my attention. Additionally, I would get a knot in my stomach whenever they would call. And I was always expanding a great deal of energy making sure they wouldn't try to get one over on me. And then there was the questionable business practices. And having me shoot something and then acting like I did it on spec.

So maybe I'm not superstitious at all. Maybe I was just looking for a reason, beyond my gut feelings, to get away from them. Hey, whatever works.

Enough about them - here's some more pix. I love Chinese New Year in NYC. The food, the bright colors on a winter's day, it was great! Hope you like them.

More writing - and a bit of shooting.

2011-01-24T20:03:00.002-05:00

Here are three stories I've done for the local online news media.

One's about a dog lost in a great place.

Another's about a great, but unknown cause.

And lastly - a few thoughts on teaching photography.

A few more...

2011-01-08T22:45:00.000-05:00

Just Photos today...

2011-01-08T22:42:00.002-05:00

Snow!

2010-12-27T16:04:00.002-05:00

Snow-i-cane!

Yes - I love snow and love taking pix of it - here's what I did between shoveling out...

Writing and Shooting

2010-11-18T21:49:00.002-05:00

I have been doing more writing as of late than shooting. And I'm ok with that. For now.
I like to write. I think I do it well enough - people actually pay me for the stuff I write - not a lot - but hey - it's still creating something. If I decide to write the great American novel - at least I won't have to go far to get a cover shot.

And speaking of shot/shooting. Us photographers need to come up with a better word to describe what we do. I mean, think of it, when I work I 'shoot' as in, I shoot a wedding, et al...definitely need a new word...

Been a bit busy as of late...

2010-11-15T18:26:00.003-05:00

And have been ignoring this. Bad Joy!

OK - here's some of the stuff that's been keeping busy - I write for the hyper local news media. Here are two pieces I'm most proud - http://patch.com/A-YpH and http://patch.com/A-H47 .

What else? I just dropped off a CD of images to Greenwood Gardens - one of my all time favorite places to shoot. They want to do a 2011 calendar to send to their members OF ALL MY IMAGES!!!!! Just how way cool is that? So join now and you'll get one of those incredibly cool calenders FULL OF MY IMAGES!!!! and be supporting a really good local cause - www.geenwoodgardens.org .

And I got to shoot at the Raptor Trust, yes, another fav place. This time the birds were out of their cages. And you were able to get in close...working on the images now.

And I found a place that prints on aluminum and, while not cheap, not hideously expensive.

And, well, that's all I can remember now. Most of the last month was a blur. Except for the dental work. I wish the dental work was a blur....

Trying new stuff -

2010-10-24T15:18:00.002-04:00

I love a deal. And I love photography and when the two happen to meet in the same place - watch out!

I've signed up for Groupon and LivingSocial - they are 'deal' websites - they offer some crazy deal on a good or service at a crazy discount. I do care much for most of it - but sometimes there some good stuff. I have gotten photo books for 50-70% off and most recently, 67% off a cnavas printed photo at CanvasOnDemand.com. I don't get anything for free from anyone to talk about them - so this is my unadulterated opinion.

I ordered my 16x20 photo printed on canvas for $45 (reg $120 inc tax&ship) They're great - I'll give them a A-.

Customer Service - A++ - I sent them a file that didn't fit the ratio of 16x20 thinking that they'd just crop it. I was fine with that. But they emailed me and told me that they were going to make it a 16x24 so not to crop the image at no charge. How cool is that. While I don't think they'll do it again for me - since I know better & they know who I am...that's pretty cool.

Quality - A - damn good rendition of my image, nice workmanship. The only thing I would have liked to see is a sealed back - but that's a nice to have. I will use them again. I put the most weight on this & the customer service.

Hanging hardware - C - They have some funky 'beehive' hanging hardware. Great idea - really poor execution. I should have just got a couple of D rings and strung framing wire between them. It would have been faster than trying to attache the 'beehive' hangers.

Take a look - it's hanging in the guest room.

The Balancing Act

2010-10-18T11:57:00.003-04:00

Yes - I'm a creative.

But I don't have a patron - so I have to pay for my art supplies - which in my case are: gear, drives, lenses, etc...

So I need to keep records and run it like a business - because it is. But some days it seems it's all business and very little creative. Yesterday was a prime example - family was a away and I was home alone. I should have gone shooting at the Great Swamp before the leaves fall. But no. I was home doing paperwork. I have even called a friend to come in sort out my piles of expenses. I have paperwork piles for each month. On the floor. Of my office. As a system - it kinda works. Sort of.

So I need to step it up. My friend will come over and take everything with her and go home. She'll parse it all and give my a nice tidy excel file.

Publish Post

She does this for other people and small non-profits - and I've known her since first grade - so I can trust her.

That's it for now - will try to get out and shoot - this is my favorite season.

Not everything's a party

2010-10-06T22:52:00.003-04:00

Today I covered the memorial service at Seton Hall for Jessica Moore. She was killed because someone didn't like being told they couldn't come to a party.

I'm a fine art photographer that does events - like weddings and birthdays - partly to pay the bills and partly because...well, it's fun. Who doesn't love a party?

But today was different. I shouldn't to have had to work today

Today left me with the following simple thought: Parents should never have to bury their children.

My Lulu Book is here

2010-09-15T16:29:00.003-04:00

I tried the online publisher/print on demand site lulu.com.

The software to create the book is OK. Would have liked to be able to apply settings globally - like font type - but no, I had to change the type on each frigging page.

I got the soft cover 8.5x8.5.

Cover printing - rich and sharp. I like it.
Glossy cover stock - which means it will get scuffed up - will look into a matte option next time.

Title page - SUCKS!!!! Why? Because I can't change it! It says "My Photo Book" in a font that doesn't match the rest of my book!

Printing inside - over all acceptable to good. There's some artifacts and junk I see - but I don't know if anyone else would see it or even care.

Back cover - lulu.com logo - didn't see an option to remove it.

Now here's the another sucky part - I can seem to load a link here with the pix of the cover like I can with blurb.com.

Overall - it's nice. But just nice. However, I just got a 35% off coupon HARVEST305 and lulu.com just started to suck a little less. I'll give them another try - with a different choice of book & paper.

Rejected again.

2010-09-10T07:51:00.007-04:00

I was rejected from a show yesterday. It's a bummer - but this one didn't sting as badly. Why? Because it didn't cost me anything. There was no entry fee. The show was "Hopperesque" - photographs that captured Hopper's use of light and atmosphere. My rejected entries are at the right.

It didn't sting as badly because you see, most shows/exhibits etc...charge a fee to enter. I don't have a problem with a fee that covers costs for the venue. Those costs can be the awards, postcards, the honorarium for the juror for their time. Those are OK. I do have a problem with places that use the fee as a revenue stream. Fees in the $10-20 range are reasonable, especially if the show gets a good number of artists entering and the venue is small and the work is juried by staff or a volunteer juror. Some of the shows I've entered have anywhere form 40 to 100 entrants - so that's $400/$1000 on the low end. That's reasonable IMHO. I have a helped out with shows and am familiar with the costs.

Now, I have a problem as the price creeps up. $25 to $35 per entry, it gets a bit more complicated. Larger venues tend to charge more - maybe it's staff overhead maybe it's a revenue stream.. Don't get me started on the $40+ fees. For the record, I have and will continue to enter a few shows at this price. They are well respected and get & give good press. But it's harder for me to think that it's just to cover cost. Figure for the last $40 fee juried show I entered - there were about 200 entries - that's $8,000. A juror can cost about $150 to $3,000 depending on their rep. The spread at the reception, another $500 and postcards, press, etc...$1000 - and $500 for awards. So that leaves $3000 to cover the rest of the "overhead". Fair? I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. I'm leaning towards the revenue stream side.

Yes we're all hurting - but please don't balance the venue's budget on the artist's backs.

Some more fun shots

2010-09-03T23:20:00.001-04:00

Took a trip out west...to PA.
Some more fun pix.

Some fun shots

2010-09-03T19:10:00.002-04:00

Downloaded the Retro Camera app for my droid - having a bit of fun...

Updated my website -

2010-08-27T08:19:00.010-04:00

Here.

And it only took about 8 hours!

This time I only broke one page!

Tech support fixed the problem while I was sleeping - got to love that!

Really - I should be better at this by now. I should make a resolution to update it every month...yeah, that's never going to happen...

It took so long because I don't update it often enough so there's a lot of 'how do I do that again?' and 'Oh, right, I need to do x first'.

But in doing so - I realized something.

I don't shoot enough for myself. I had to search back months to find stuff to post. That's bad. I need to find time to shoot just for me. But life gets in the way. I last updated the site in March 2010 - with the Lunar New Year pix form NYC.

I updated the site yesterday with 37 vacation pix with some that have various applied alternative processes. I wish I had more to choose from. This summer so far is is about a 3 on the scale of 1 to 10 - because of a variety of things . I wasn't into being really creative. But after looking thru the vaca pix - I was surprised that I did have some good ones and started to experiment.

I also updated my 'Celebrations' gallery as well. Added 10 new images to show off my event work.

I also updated my 'Shows' page - I have some! And have entered a few more and have more apps on my desk to send in.

Also - I put my rates up under 'Contact/Info'. Still have to tweak it a bit - not everything's up there and I don't have enough room - so I have to figure out what stays and what goes. Still missing headshots & classes/private instruction and the rate for design work - I've being asked by a few artists to help them do print on demand books.

Lastly, the weather turning cooler and the leaves will be turning and it will be my favorite time of the year - and I will get out and shoot more!!!!

Open letter to local shop keepers

2010-08-18T09:38:00.002-04:00

I freelance for various hyper local blogs - the pay is a small fraction of what I would have gotten in traditional media before everything came crashing down. But that's not what I want to talk about today.

Yesterday, I walked around my two towns with the assignment of taking pix of back to school sales.

Cutting edge photojournalism? Not. But not everything has to be serious. Fluff is good and hey, don't we have enough depressing news to read?

So I walked around Maplewood. Had some luck. But some places I interacted not with the owners - but with the employees. They were hesitant. And I'm not complaining about them - they were doing their job. But I explained and left my card - asking the owner to call me if they were ok with me taking some pix. So far - not one has called back.

Is the economy so good here that you don't need more eyeballs on the stuff you're trying to sell?
Every shopkeeper I did catch was falling over themselves to make the displays look great and was really, really happy to have whatever coverage they could get.

So I have 3 possible conclusions - the employees never gave them my card, the owners aren't interested or the owners are too busy.

#1 is a shame. #2 is just plain strange in this economy and #3 is completely understandable - but a bit short sighted.

As for South Orange - was able to catch one great shopkeeper - and then had to leave in frustration since they're repaving most of downtown. Will go back later today/tomorrow when I have more time.

Butterfly quest

2010-08-13T16:21:00.003-04:00

I'm on a quest to photograph butterflies - I have 2 that I managed to get yesterday. The full frontal one is a Buckeye - kinda rare. The second, side view, is a Red Admiral.

Thought I'd post a pix...

2010-08-11T22:07:00.000-04:00

since it is a photo blog after all...

Busy weekend

2010-08-05T21:53:00.003-04:00

This past weekend was busy. Very busy.
Saturday was a really big party. I shoot for party planners and this party was one of the classiest ones I've shot. Beautiful decor, great lighting and tasty food. Yes, when I work the party - I sometimes get to eat the same food as the guests. Of to the side out of view, of course.

I shot over 1600 images.

That's about average for me. I shoot a lot of stuff handheld - so there's a risk of blur. But when I shoot 3-5 frames per second, I get the shot. The downside - longer editing process. Are there more 'correct' ways of doing this? Yes. But this is the way I do it and it works for me. It is the simplest way for me to get the look I want. And we artists really go for the path of least resistance. If we can figure out a simpler way - hey, that gives us even more time to 'create'!

Alright - most of us. there are some of you that really enjoy wearing the mantle of 'giving birth' to your art with all the pain and suffering.

Whatever floats your boat.

So from 1600 images I delivered about 700. This is high, since my 'keeper' rate runs about 25-30%. But this was a special shoot and I had a lot of ground to cover.

And the client LOVED. IT.

Sunday I shot and wrote a story for one of the hyperlocal news media. Hey, it pays the bills and I enjoy it.

Then onto a family party. I don't think I was home for more than 4 hours awake this weekend.

Also - I noticed that I haven't posted many pix of anything - I'll have to correct that in a day or tow

Working for Free!

2010-08-02T22:37:00.004-04:00

Today was a red banner day! I got FOUR, YES FOUR! requests to work for free. To get my name out there! For the exposure!

Newsflash - I'm a photographer - I got the exposure thang covered - thankyouverymuch!

Yes, I'm cranky! Do you ask the teller for free money? Do you get free haircuts? Does the bank take baked goods instead of real $$$$ for mortgage payment....no.

I know charities are hurting - but, guess what, so are small businesses.

I'm glad you like my work. But I've been shooting since I was 8 and that's worth something. They say you need 10,000 hours to become an expert. Figure I've been doing this for at least 3+ decades - so if I shot one hour a day for 30+ years - I've got that 10,000 hours more than covered. That's worth something!

How many of you go to your doctor/lawyer/financial advisor, etc...and say "hey, I got a cause...wanna donate something?" Some do - since some of these people/companies have money set aside for just this. But there are others that don't think twice of asking an artist or a small business to donate a piece of work or their time.

When I'm working for a cause - I'm not working on something that pays the bills. The bank doesn't care if I'm Dorothea Lange - they just want their $.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not Scrooge - if you can believe it. I have my causes. They touch my heart and I believe in them. Some I donate my time & skills - like Greenwood Gardens in Short Hills, others, like The Raptor Trust I donate what little $ I can. And there's the NYT's Neediest Fund at the end of the year - so I got, nature, animals and people covered.

Don't like that? They aren't your fav causes? Sorry, to each their own. That's why I live in this country. I can choose to whom I give my time & money to.

Photowalk in 90 temps...

2010-07-27T18:21:00.001-04:00

Did the Scott Kelby 3rd Annual Photowalk this past weekend.

It was fun - but too hot - people were bailing.

Pix to follow.

Miracles

2010-07-20T13:38:00.002-04:00

So the infringer states it will take a week to remove the photo. As mentioned before - I had sent the DMCA take down notice. The image was gone from their website in less than 24 hours.

I thought the ISP took it down. I was wrong.

They took it down. I bet after they looked up what the penalties for copyright infringement were (google it - it can be $150K+ and attorney fees) and that the ISP would take down their entire site - not just the image.

Amazing.

How I did I get to this conclusion? I got an email from the ISP (I was cc'd on) telling the infringer that the entire site would be taken down by Thursday if this wasn't resolved. The infringer replied. Nastily - since in their email BACK TO THEIR OWN ISP, said that we took the image down and any more emails will be considered harassment.

Nice. But they are the same people that used content with out asking or paying for it - so there's no surprise there.

The Infringer emails me

2010-07-18T11:51:00.002-04:00

No apology - no surprise since doing so would damage his defense should I choose to take legal action.

He said it would come down by 7/23. I told him that's unacceptable and that I have just sent a take down notice to his ISP.

Will now look into what my remedies are for this.

Two Things -

2010-07-17T20:54:00.002-04:00

1 - nothing new on the copyright infringement. Giving them until Monday 10am. At 10:01am the I send their ISP a take down notice. It's all written and ready to send.

Then I will go here and see if they can help.

2 - I have a few shots to post and this heat is just zapping my mojo. I will have to force myself to get creative....

Copyright Infringement

2010-07-15T13:11:00.002-04:00

If you use my image without my permission - it's stealing. No. Really.

It's not borrowing. It is really stealing.

Why can't you just understand that?

Details to follow....

Rant over for now...

Maplewoodstock

2010-07-12T21:48:00.002-04:00

This weekend I was at a great, free music festival in Maplewood NJ.

I was a vendor. As great as it was - I don't know if I'll do it again.

Cons:
It was too hot. I mean really, really hot. And humid. I was miserable.

And I didn't sell much - I covered my booth fee and the supplies used in the things I sold to cover the booth fee. After that, not much left over.

And did I mention it was hot? And humid?

Pros:
Got to meet many, many wonderful people, got my name out there and made a few good connections.

So - I'd rate it a success. I just probably won't do it again. I'm more of an indoor event person....

Too hot for a drive

2010-07-09T07:54:00.002-04:00

A hard drive that is. Had one sort of fail yesterday. I had to reformat it and then re-clone it. I started at lunch time and ended at midnight. It was one of my backup drives. I named this one drive - 'problem child' - because this is not the first time I've had to do this.

The good news - I picked up 1 x 1TB and 1 x 2TB drives for $249 less $100 in rebates. So $150 for 3TB of storage.

I need to unpack and set them up and make the 2TB the back up. Once I'm sure it all works, problem child goes home to be fixed or replaced.

Still too hot to do much

2010-07-07T20:43:00.001-04:00

Would love to go & shoot - but not in 100+ degree weather. But, DAMN! Should have cracked an egg on the sidewalk to see what would happen!!!!

Too hot to have a black background & when not to take a photo

2010-07-06T21:15:00.002-04:00

According to the car - it was 104 today. So I changed the background to a lighter color.

My chocolate covered espresso beans melted in my office. Oh well.

When not to take a photo.

On Saturday, I took a tour of the Raptor Trust out in Millington NJ. Now I have been a member for a while and pretty much know the layout and the birds - but this tour was special. They were planning on releasing a rehabbed hawk.

Hawks have a very special place in my soul. I have no idea why - but I am linked to them somehow. They draw me to them. Also the Raptor Trust is a magical place. If you've never been - go. You will see all manner of birds - but the true magic is what you don't see. A small group of very committed individuals that for the last 30 years have tried to turn around the idea of raptors as vermin (and that they should be shot) to raptors as sentinels of the food chain/ecological health. Oh, and don't forget, as magnificent creatures.

Anyhoo...

Walked thru the compound with our guide - but she informed us that there would be no hawk release today - the hawk wasn't ready. But there would be a release - she just wasn't sure what it would be until we got to the end of the tour.

Got to the end - one of the volunteers brings over a wine box - not the wine in a box variety - but a white cardboard box - that at one time held maybe 6 bottles of wine.

Our guide made an announcement.

Saying that she'd like to give the opportunity of releasing the two red bellied woodpeckers to a long standing member of the Raptor Trust. A very special person to the Raptor Trust. She then corrected herself by saying that all the members are special - but that she'd like to offer this to one particular person.

Well, I looked around and there were plenty of people older than me. I positioned myself in front to get a good, clear shot of the box - since the birds were going to take off as soon as the box was opened.

And then she said my name.

I'm sorry, what? Me?

I'd be honored!

So I took the box, and followed her instructions.

I set two red bellied woodpeckers free.

And I don't have a single shot of any of it and that suits me just fine. Some moments are meant to be lived and not captured in anything but our memories.

Blog comment problem

2010-04-28T15:38:00.001-04:00

Neems - your comment as disappeared! But to answer your question - I went to blurb.com and clicked on widgets fro my books and followed the instructions. It's free.

Pricing Quandry

2010-03-18T10:37:00.002-04:00

Working on my pricing.

It seems that I need to change it up and charge differently. That is to say - for my portrait work - I was only charging for my time on site - not for anything else. Not for the post processing, not for the wear & tear on the gear, my creative skill in the posting...all of it. So now I charge a creative fee for my time on site and a per image fee.

So I tried it out on a new customer and...nothing. No response. Did they not like the pricing? Don't know. Should I change it - or give it a while - after all - it was only one possible client...

Or do I now just charge a ridiculously high creative fee and include all the images?

Have to think this one out more....

Trying out a widget....

2010-03-15T14:14:00.001-04:00

Old Barns by Joy Yagid

MyPublisher & Pickaboo photobook

2010-03-12T07:28:00.004-05:00

I got the two photobooks yesterday.

That was fast.
On to my ratings:

Software:
I really liked the Picaboo software - once I figured it out. It has some controls I like zooming in/out with image size. The MP - I can remember being annoyed - but now can't remember why...

Both shipped in well. Both were packaged securely. Both came in plastic. The MP book came in a re-closable plastic sleeve with the adhesive on back and not on the flap. This is a nice touch - it allows the book to be put back into the sleeve without catching on the adhesive. The Picaboo book came shrink wrapped.

Cover:
Picaboo is photo printed on the front/back. I like this. One issue - no spine printing.
MP - dust jacket. Don't like this. Since they can get torn, lost or damaged.
Also on the MP book - they don't let you do knock out type. There was a text box - so I have a white box over the image I chose to the cover.

Construction - well made - but neither is 'lie flat'.

Printing - Picaboo - good - but I can't rave about it. I paid $9 for shipping. The book was free. The colors could be richer. It's a bit on the dull side. That being said - I'm not unhappy with it.
MyPublisher - very good. I sent saturated colors and got back what I sent.

Really like the printing with MyPublisher - don't like the cover. Picaboo has the cover I want. Both of these are at the lowest price point for each. I'm guessing they'll let me spend more to get more...but these are just tests to see what the printing is like.

More Photo Books

2010-03-10T17:11:00.001-05:00

Now the My Publisher book has shipped. I ordered it last night. It's shipping UPS ground and is coming from Valhalla NY - so it will be here tomorrow. Wow.

I'm now wondering what the quality is like....

Photo Books

2010-03-10T11:06:00.001-05:00

So - the picaboo.com book is already on it's way - 2 days after I uploaded it.

Uploaded the MyPublisher book last night.

Waiting for a sale on some of the others....

Photo Books part 1

2010-03-08T14:41:00.003-05:00

Trying out new photo book software - right now get a free book from pickaboo - offer ends 3/31/10.

Have more to try - will try to do one book from each of the major (and not so major) online photo book makers.

Have done so far:

Blurb.com
Shutterfly.com
Kodak.com
Adoramapix.com

Really like Blurb and Adoramapix. Shutterfly is very good. Kodak, IMHO, sucks.

2010-03-02T15:08:00.003-05:00

Rejected.

Again.

Oh well....

Dear New Jersey Arts Annual Applicant:

Thank you for submitting your entry to the 2010 New Jersey Arts Annual: Fine Art.

Your work has not been selected for inclusion in the exhibition. Your materials will

either be forwarded to the New Jersey State Council on the Arts for inclusion in their

Visual Arts Registry or returned to you as you indicated on your Entry Form.

Additionally, you may contact the State Council on the Arts to learn which institution

will host the next New Jersey Arts Annual in Fine Art.

I encourage you to continue with your endeavors and wish you the very best for

your future success.

Change in color...

2010-01-04T19:04:00.000-05:00

The B&W of the original blog was hard on my eyes - so we'll try blue...

Digital Asset Management

2010-01-04T14:06:00.003-05:00

Or DAM for short. In laymen terms - what you do with your digital assets - in this case - your pictures.

You back up all your pictures - right? You don't just keep them on your camera or print them out and then delete them - right?

And you back them up offsite - right?

Didn't think so. Yes - you need to back up your images. The easiest way to do this is to upload them to a photo sharing website - like Kodak or Shutterfly, etc...you could also get an external hard drive and copy them there.

You simply don't want to have only one copy of your images.

Now for professional photographers - things get a bit more complicated. We have more images and some of them are client images. And the reason I'm writing this is because of a client. An old client - one I have no current business relationship with and haven't had one in over a year. It seems that this client lost the work I did for them. Now mind you, with few exceptions - current clients that have told me they need access to the old files for marketing services - I don't tend to keep most client work on my active drives. There is only so much space and space costs money. I'm not being paid to store old images. While I archive images on DVD as soon as they're tweaked - I also wipe them off the active hard drives within 6-8 months after the job is completed.

So this is the issue - this old client asked me for an image from 2007. It's somewhere - on a DVD - but I couldn't find it in the time frame they needed it. They also couldn't pay me for researching or restoring the file and burning them a new one. They asked during the busiest time of the year when even sleep was sacrificed to the deadline gods. Do I feel guilty that I couldn't help them - as a human being, yes - as a business owner - no. I completed the assignment and delivered the goods - over two years ago. The client never backed up their data. Am I responsible for for their lack of business continuity planning? No, I am not.

Do I have the file - yes - but figure I need to pull the DVD's, screen them and then burn a copy. But I should be paid for my time.

Is that so wrong?

Rejected!

2009-11-11T09:41:00.005-05:00

I was rejected from a juried show!

The NJ Photography Forum's annual show at the Watchung Arts Center.
The exclamation point is more out of confusion that surprise. It happens. You get used to it.

Yet - I was included in the EssexExposed6 show at the Pierro Gallery in South Orange.

Go figure. How the jurors go about picking their choices - is a mystery. One show was juried by jpgs the other by actual pieces. One had a professional curator that worked at prestigious museums. One of the others was a prestigious professional photographer.

I've been to panel discussions on how to enter juried shows, how jurors work, etc...and everyone has a different take.

Oh well.

I'm Famous!!!!

2009-10-31T21:14:00.005-04:00

I'm Famous! I'm on TV! Local, public access TV - but it's still TV! I was interviewed on Meet the Artsit with Nancy Heins-Glaser, that airs on the SOMAtv. If you're in NJ and have FiOS - it's Ch 22. If you're in Maplewood or South Orange NJ - it's Ch 19 in SO/Cablevision & Ch 35 in Maplewood/Comcast. Truth be told - I'm more comfy behind the camera than in front - but it's good PR. You can watch it on 11/1 - 10am, 11/2 - 4:30 & 9pm, 11/3 - 12:30pm, 11/4 - 10am, 11/5 - 9:30pm, 11/6 - 1pm, 11/8 - 3:30pm and 11/10 - 4pm. I'm on a panel discussing EssexExposed6 - a juried exhibition at the Baird in South Orange. I'm there with follow artists and friends - Sarah Petruziello & Rick Parker.

We had a good time!

I've been so busy - that I have not updated my website or Zenfolio - working on that next...

Pet Peeve

2009-09-07T09:56:00.002-04:00

My pet peeve of the moment:

Photo contests that seem to be in existence for the sole purpose of not paying for stock photography. You want good shots - pay for them.

Just pisses me off.

2009-08-09T20:49:00.000-04:00

2009-08-09T20:42:00.000-04:00

Took a class today on lighting a portraiture. And yes - while I know this stuff - I like revisiting it because you can learn new things or better yet remember old things you forgot.

I've also decided to force myself out of the comfort zone - and use a prime lens - 50mm - for a while.

I have to rethink how I shoot - since my 'style' is to shoot with a telephoto/zoom. Using a prime forces me to look at stuff differently...

2009-08-06T20:26:00.000-04:00

Got to love Nikon and Lowepro!

Nikon - Sent out a lens that needed fixin' - and got the emails stating it was received AND under extended warranty! Cost - $0!!!!

Lowepro - My AWS200 Sling shot camera bag had a busted zipper - in other economic times - I would have just gotten a new one. In these economic times - I sent it back - under it's limited lifetime warranty...just got the replacement!

Kudos to 2 companies that know customer service!

2009-07-31T22:21:00.000-04:00

I need a waterproof camera - not because I'm going diving.
Because it just won't stop raining.
It's like Seattle - without the mountain ranges...ok, maybe not Seattle - since they are having a heat wave at the moment.

I need to take a ride out to the Great Swamp - to see if it's become the Great Lake...

2009-07-19T13:39:00.000-04:00

I'm wiped. I shot a party at a really cool spot last night. I was there from 4 to 11pm. It was really warm and I was wearing black. I think I'm wiped from being dehydrated. More ice coffee is needed!!!

I've backed up all the pix into three places - not including the card they were on nor the online back up service.

I can't even look at them now. I'll do that tomorrow. I shot over 1600 images. I figure less than a third will make the cut. Yes that's alot and yes - some of them will be not technically perfect. But the reasons most of them won't make it is:
1 - I shoot many different versions of the same scene - and I'm not about to go by what I see on a 3" LCD to check to see if I got 'it'. It's even smaller if I'm checking histograms.
2 - I overshoot. Because I can. Because there are 'happy accidents' - like when grandma gets up and spontaneously break-dances - or the like. So I crank up the frames per second to 4 or 5.
3 - I like to experiment. I get creative. Sometimes it works - sometimes, not so much.
4 - Memory is cheap. Unlike film & the assorted costs.
5 - I'm shooting, not writing down who I've taken a pix of and who I haven't. I'd prefer to take 2 pix of Aunt Ethel than none at all.

So tomorrow I will make the first pass. Take out what I feel isn't technically up to snuff. Then I will weed out multiplies of a basically the same scene. This takes the longest time - going thru really, small, minor, teeny differences between multiple shots. After that comes the adjustment phase. Cropping, color & contrast adjustments. The more I work the faster this part goes. It's a feedback loop. I find something that worked/didn't work in post and remember to do that/not do that in the field. Then I go thru it once (or twice) more before exporting the 'keepers' to disc.

Cape Cod Pix

2009-07-01T15:20:00.000-04:00

It rained. And rained. And rained some more on our yearly vacation.
Yes - that was depressing - but as the Scots say - there is no bad weather - just wrong clothing choices...

We bought with us our foul weather gear and we used it. A lot. The sun did poke it's head out towards the end of the week. Briefly. It was better than nothing.

Now I should have used the time as a time to challenge myself and my photographic skills - but I'm sorry. It was cold and wet. When it wasn't wet - it was damp. The camera is weather proof - the lenses are not. So did I want to challenge myself creatively (and financially)? No - but I still managed to shoot over 1k images...go figure!

They are being uploaded to flickr and zenfolio as I type - so I will send out a link soon.

2009-06-11T21:34:00.000-04:00

Here' s a pinhole camera pix - Not bad for my first wack at it.
The 2 orange bumps on the left are my fingers and the dark edge on the
right is probably my knee...