Why your photos aren't ready yet....

Oh hey – about those photos I took at the event that one time: I thought it might be a good idea to explain why they don’t appear immediately. Professionals (and many hobbyists like me) often take digital photos differently than you do on your phones and point and shoot cameras. We take photos in a format called “RAW” – which is a special compilation of all of the light that our camera sensors could see through the lens at the time the photo was taken. This raw format is not like a “JPEG” or “GIF” file. However, a RAW photograph can be used to produce a JPEG (or any other picture format) kind of like a film negative was once used to make prints.

Cameras that produce RAW images let you produce hundreds of differing images based on the data that the sensor in the camera provides. I can “develop” a RAW photo as if it were shot in different lighting conditions or with different exposure corrections. If I just let my camera produce a JPG instead of a RAW file, I don’t have nearly as much ability to play with the process used to "develop" the picture later.

The downside of producing a RAW file is that – since there are many hundreds of different ways that it can be developed into a JPG – it takes me a while to decide which way I want to use for that particular image. Once I make my decisions, I need to tell a special piece of software how I would like to produce a JPG from the RAW image. The JPG that the program then makes is kind of like a picture of a picture or a print off a negative. It's completely disconnected from the RAW file – and I could choose to use the RAW file again to make a different JPG that’s “developed” (or more properly, “rendered”) in a completely different way.

So those photos that I took that one time … they are not immediately uploaded to you because I haven’t done this conversion yet.

Two years and counting and I still don't understand my rights...

Ok - so I have a pension with my company; and I just looked at my "pension calculator" website to see what my monthly retirement benefits look like. Unfortunately, they have me listed as "single." Whoops. I've been married for 2 happy years.

WTF? Fortunately, there was a place on the website where I could check to see what would happen to my benefits if I were married. Boom! They almost DOUBLE. Wow. I guess it's important to have them straighten their records out.

"I'm sorry sir, that information is provided by your employer and anyway, it's not important until you start actually drawing on the benefits. When you file for your benefit withdrawal, you'll show proof of marriage and everything will be calculated on that basis." <-- This is what they told me on the phone. Um. Ok.

So I posed a question: What if my marriage is legally recognized in California, but not recognized by the federal government? After a few startled and confused minutes, the guy I was talking to asked to be excused from the phone so he could ask his supervisor.

After waiting for five or ten minutes, he came back on the phone with supervisor in tow and asked that I explain the question again so the supervisor could hear. I said, "What happens to my benefits if the State of California recognizes my marriage, but the United States Federal government does not?" This is just about as simple as I think I can say it...

The supervisor assured me that my wife would still be able to get benefits under the plan, she would only need to show her marriage certificate. Hmmm.. "What if my wife is my husband and he's not a she, but a he?"

"Well," the supervisor said, "... you wouldn't be married then. I'm not sure if your plan covers domestic partners." ... "No. We're not domestic partners, " I replied, "We are married under California law. Just not married according to the US Government. Is that a problem?"

After like 20 minutes on the phone with these losers, no one could guarantee in writing that my spouse would get the proper benefits. So, I'm now waiting for their legal staff to let me know what would happen.

See? Are you starting to see why this whole bullshit about domestic partners equaling marriage is wrong? The company administering my pension is now allowed to decide whether or not they will pay benefits to my spouse. If my spouse were heterosexual, there would be no issue. THE COMPANY DECIDES. Think about that.

Amazing Shuttle Landing Photo

This is an absolutely brilliant photo of the shuttle landing in Cape Canaveral.  Technical brilliance .... I have *no clue* how Mr Watson kept the shuttle in focus as it was moving, in the dark while being forced to blur the stationary items in the lower part of this photo.  Awesome. (Originally found this on Sacramento Bee's website)

When a photo really makes a difference

Some would say that photojournalists present an unbiased look a subject.  Exposing the literal, photographic truth about a moment in time does not mean that photojournalists use their photography to advocate a point of view; but, how does a photojournalist show a lack of bias?  A picture of a starving child shows the injustice of a world that would allow that to happen. How can a viewer of such a photo not have compassion for the child and hatred for the system that caused it to happen. How can a photojournalist engender sympathy on both sides of an issue?

Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare

Henri Cartier-Bresson was most famous for photographing everyday scenes almost surreptitiously. He was likely one on the world's first truly candid photographers and is often considered the father of modern photojournalism. One of his most famous works is Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare ... which is pictured above on the left.

So, up until I posted this, I had no clue who HCB was and further had not ever seen Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare. It's a testament to the web that a google search for "father of photojournalism" returned this artist and ... oddly the image on the right above: Yes, that's a Lego interpretation of Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare by Flickr photographer Balakov.

Lest you think that Balakov just got lucky, if you follow the link above you'll see - Balakov has lego-ized many of the classics including Tienanmen Square and Afghan Girl. Absolutely a riot. Thanks Balakov - you stole my idea. :)

I would love to know how Balakov got the lego man hanging in mid air ... I know how Henri Cartier-Bresson did it ... after all that's a real man in his photo.

Candy Shoppe 'Fringie' - Soft, Pastel Fringed, Tiny Baby Blanket For Infant Portrait Photography Business - Prop for Professional Child Photographers - Newborn Nest for Photo Session - Images by Delicate Impressions Photography

Candy Shoppe 'Fringie' - Soft, Pastel Fringed, Tiny Baby Blanket For Infant Portrait Photography Business - Prop for Professional Child Photographers - Newborn Nest for Photo Session - Images by Delicate Impressions Photography
Originally uploaded by Crickets Creations Fringies & Scarves

So, I'm looking through tons of "baby portrait" images on Flickr and this photo grabs me as being particularly wonderful. The lighting is nice and consistent with no background to speak of that gets in the way of it; but, really it's about the subject matter. I mean, this is obviously posed but what a wonderful completely shagged out look on this kid's face and honestly I have no clue what the baby has collapsed on but it looks like the perfect naptime area. Kudos to www.delicateimpressions.ca for putting together such a great portrait.

Travel town USA and Liam's First Birthday

I went to Travel Town up in the Hollywood Hills today for my friends' son's first birthday party. As usual, I documented the event in pictures ... but I wonder: is this a joyful expression of photojournalism? I mean, I was telling the story of Liam's first birthday party. At the very least, I would say that it counts as my portrait assignment for journalism class. Out of 172 pictures, I chose my 36 favorites to post on Facebook ... it's hard to say what my favorite portrait image was however cause Liam's such a friggin cutie. There were about 20 folks at Liam's birthday and nearly everyone had a camera of some type. Travel town has a "photography policy" that states that there is to be "no commercial photography" .. but, there were people running about with multiple cameras strapped to themselves, big flash reflectors, and huge lenses. I have to wonder how they enforce such a random policy.