Feel It
Archive for December 2010
Interview, Eyes Wide Open with John Szarkowski
“If I understand your question, you are suggesting that fecund artists are likely to be inferior to artists who produce little. According to that test, Paul Dukas should be considered at least 100 times greater than Haydn. (I am assuming that Dukas wrote at least a few things other than the Apprentice, although I don’t know what.) I doubt that you would agree to so ludicrous a proposition, but I really don’t know what else you might mean. Surely the best artists, by and large, have been very productive; it is difficult to think of one who was stingy with his talent and energy. I don’t know whether or not Eggleston is a prodigious shooter; Winogrand certainly did expose a great deal of film, and until his very last years he had an astonishing percentage of successes, even by his own high standards. The proof sheet containing the famous picture of the crippled beggar at the American Legion Convention includes three or four other pictures–never printed by Winogrand–that most photographers would count among their prizes.”
From an interview with former MOMA Director of Photography John Szarkowski. Read the whole interview here.
View From the 61st Floor of The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas
On the weekend of November 20-21, 2010, I was invited to photograph the new Cosmopolitan Las Vegas prior to their opening December 15, 2010 in Las Vegas NV.
This set of images represents my efforts that weekend to showcase this newest resort property opening up on the Las Vegas Strip. Thanks to David Scherer from The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas for showing me around, to Miiko Mentz at Katalyst Films for helping to arrange the shoot, and to my wife for modeling for me.
To learn more about The Cosmpolitan Las Vegas, check out their website here or their Facebook page here.
I’ll be adding many more photos to this set in the next few days and following up with a more detailed blog post on shooting this property as well.
Adobe Releases Lightroom 3.3 and Camera Raw 6.3 Along With New Lens Profile Downloader
From Adobe:
Adobe today announced the Lightroom 3.3 and Camera Raw 6.3 updates are available for immediate download on Adobe.com. Originally posted as release candidates on Adobe Labs, the final updates bring raw file support to 15 new popular camera models including Nikon D7000 and Canon Powershot S95, as well as lens profiles for over 60 new Nikon, Canon, Pentax and Sigma lenses. Available on Adobe Labs, the Lens Profile Downloader 1.0 – a free companion application to Lightroom 3, Photoshop CS5 and Camera Raw 6 – allows customers to search, download, rate and comment on over 300 lens correction profiles provided by the community. Photographers can create custom profiles for their own lenses and share them with the user community.
A full list of the newly added raw camera support and the new and improved lens profiles can be found on the Lightroom Journal.
Lightroom is the essential digital photography workflow solution, helping serious amateur and professional photographers quickly import, manage, enhance and showcase all their images within one application. The Photoshop Camera Raw plug-in provides fast and easy access to raw image formats produced by many leading digital cameras.
Pricing and Availability
The Lightroom 3.3 update is available as a free download for Lightroom 3 customers, and the Photoshop Camera Raw 6.3 plug-in is available as a free download for Photoshop CS5 customers. For more information and to download these updates please visit Adobe updates. To download the Adobe Lens Profile Downloader 1.0 and Lens Profile Creator visit Adobe Labs.
*Users can connect with the Lightroom team directly on Facebook and Twitter.
Newly Supported Camera Models:
Canon PowerShot G12
Canon PowerShot S95
Nikon D3100
Nikon D7000
Nikon Coolpix P7000
Olympus E-5
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2
Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2
Pentax K-5
Pentax K-r
Ricoh GXR, GR LENS A12 28mm F2.5
Samsung NX100
Samsung TL350 (WB2000)
Sony A560
Sony A580
You Know How Sometimes Businesses Like to Go On Flickr Trying to Score Photos for Free?
Dear Thomas Hawk,
My name is xxxxxx xxxxxxx and I am an editor at xxxxxx. We are currently compiling a self-guided walking tour to Bakersfield, CA, USA that will be published on out site xxxxxxxx as well as in an iPhone application.
We hereby seek your permission to use one of your photos of Aldo’s on Flickr.com as part of the tour guide in question. The photo we need is:
www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/4959547641/
Naturally, we intend to credit you fully for the authorship of this photograph.
I thank you in advance for your permission and look forward to hearing from you soon.
Best regards,
xxxxxx xxxxxx
Editor
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Hello xxxxxxxx,
Would there be compensation associated with this request?
Best,
TH
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Dear Thomas Hawk,
If you give us your kind permission to use your photo we’ll provide a link back to your flickr page and credit you fully for the authorship of this photo.
Best regards,
xxxxxxxxx xxxxxx
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Dear XXXXXX,
This deal sounds very intriguing to me. So technically then I could tell people I was “published” then right? Do you also provide press passes for this sort of use? Would I officially become an employee of your organization?
TH
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Dear Thomas,
Unfortunately you can’t become an employee of our organization, but you will be able to tell people that you are published. When the tour is complete I will give you the link so you could see it in place. Will you give us your permission on these terms?
Best regards,
xxxxxx xxxxx
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XXXXXX
Would I be able to eat at Aldo’s for free or get some kind of free meal out of it?
TH
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Dear Thomas,
Unfortunately I don’t really know if they have such promotions for their visitors.
Best regards,
xxxxxxxx
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Dear xxxxxx
It would be cool to tell my friends that I’m now a published author.
Two additional quick questions.
1. How do I know this offer is for real? I know nothing about your company.
2. Would someone from Aldo’s be willing to actually sign the image in your book to authenticate it’s use? It could also make my own copy of the book more valuable if it was signed.
TH
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xxxxxxx,
Would you guys still like to use this image?
TH
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Dear Thomas,
Yes, we still need your kind permission to use your photo of Aldo’s. Sorry for a late reply. I would also like to make one thing clear, we don’t publish a book, we make applications for iPhones. Please visit our web-site so you could better understand how we’re going to use your photo. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any other questions and if you give us permission to use your photo of Aldo’s.
Thank you in advance.
Best regards,
xxxxx xxxxxx
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Dear xxxxxxxx,
ohhhh, I get so confused sometimes, I *totally* thought you were talking about a book.
I used to have an iPhone but I switched to Android after getting such crappy service from AT&T. So I’m not sure this would really apply to me. It’s iPhone only?
I can’t imagine a lot of people in Bakersfield have iPhones if you know what I mean.
Would I need to buy an iPhone prior to submitting a published photo?
Also are you also including Buck Owen’s Crystal Palace in your calendar app?
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Dear Thomas,
Please confirm whether you give us your permission to use your photo of Also’s or not. You shouldn’t have an iPhone to give us your permission.
Thank you in advance.
Best regards,
xxxxx xxxxxxxxxx
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I was just kidding about the iPhone. It’s close to Christmas though and so I just thought maybe if you wanted to get me something (hint, hint).
Would this permission need to be permanent, or could I just give permission for a period of time, like say 6 months or 1 year, or something?
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Dear Thomas,
This permission need to be permanent, but we’ll use your photo for our tour guide and iPhone application only. We use photos under Creative Commons license. You’ll remain the copyright owner.
Best regards,
xxxxxxx
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Dear XXXXXXX,
I hate asking this a second time, but my friend (who technically took the photo while I was driving — but don’t worry it was on my camera) wanted me to ask again if we could get paid for this.
He told me that Aldo’s is a very popular restaurant with lines down the block half the time and assured me that they’d be good for $50 at minimum.
He told me sometimes restaurants will do an all you can eat for 2 weeks only sort of thing as well. He told me to warn you though that he can eat like a Sumo Wrestler and was kicked out of the all you can eat sushi place down the street last July.
I don’t mean to ask twice but I promised him I’d try one more time.
He told me also that I need to be careful because sometimes if you give permission your photos will be used in video games. He said this happened to a friend of his once with a very popular skateboarding game. I’m not saying which one but it’s a very popular game (hint, hint, my last name).
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Dear Thomas,
Unfortunately we don’t pay for photos. We never steal them or use in video games as well. In general we need photos to help the travelers who have our applications to find the places they need and that’s all.
Best regards,
xxxxxxx
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Dear xxxxxxx,
If you used the photo would there be a possibility of putting one of those sort of “donate now” paypal button things (in red) next to it so that people could donate directly to my paypal account if they wanted to? I’m not saying I’d charge for the app or that they’d be required to donate or anything, I’m just saying maybe a donate now button might send a bit of coinage my way if you know what i mean. cha-ching.
If the app got popular this could be a win-win for both of us.
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Dear Thomas,
We can only provide a link back to your flickr page and credit you fully for the authorship of your photo.
xxxxxxxx.
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Dear xxxxx,
How do I know this isn’t “stock photography?”
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Dear Thomas,
Maybe you should visit our web-site to understand that we aren’t a stock photography agency?
Sorry, but I must leave now so I won’t be able to continue our discussion for a period of time.
Best regards,
xxxxxxxxx
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my existing license does allow for non-profits to use the image. Just a thought but is your organization non-profit? Just trying to think creatively out of the box so to speak here.
Would this be for all languages or just English?
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hello
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hello
