AW...isn't that cute...

Wonder how many people truly have no idea what this thing is supposed to be?

Not the USB functionality.. but the film canister..

http://photojojo.com/store/awesomeness/usb-film-roll/

If you stop dreaming, you die...

17 reasons you should follow your dreams (an excerpt of a post by Karol):

1. If you don’t follow your dreams you crush your dreams. Eventually you’ll stop dreaming altogether.
2. There are very few things worse than regret. What will you regret tomorrow that you didn’t do today?
3. Dreamers who took action have created everything around you.
4. Following your dreams doesn’t always turn out as planned, but that makes them even more memorable.
5. Personal growth happens when you stretch yourself. If you don’t follow your dreams you’re not stretching.
6. You want to be remembered. Everybody does. We remember those who follow their dreams.
7. Doing what you want attracts haters. This gives you a change to ignore them. They hate that more than anything. Keep doing what you do. (In case that wasn’t clear: Don’t ever engage haters. It’s not worth your time. Let them be losers.)
8. Your dreams and your actions define you. If you do what others tell you to do then you’re letting them define you.
9. Following your dreams gives you the opportunity to Ignore Everybody.
10. When people who look up to you see you following your dreams it will inspire some of them to follow their dreams.
11. When people who don’t even know you see you following your dreams it will inspire some of them to follow their dreams as well. (<– This is one of the reasons I write publicly on this website.)
12. Following your dreams makes you interesting.
13. You learn a lot from failure. Since you will fail on your path you’ll learn a lot too.
14. Someone who’s motivated to accomplish something great is instantly sexier.
15. There are no rules in life so why limit yourself to what everybody else is doing?
16. You might live forever, but you might also die tomorrow. Take a chance.
17. It’s better than watching TV.

I’m gonna continue following my crazy dreams. How about you?

Last World War I combat vet has died..

Associated Press: Last World War I combat vet dies in Australia

The man believed to have been the last living male veteran of World War I has died in Perth aged 110.

British-born Claude Choules served in the Royal Navy during World War I and witnessed the scuttling of the German fleet at Scapa Flow.

Mr Choules was born in 1901 and signed up for the Great War at just 14 years of age.

After the war, he moved to Perth and joined the Australian Navy, working as a demolition officer at the Fremantle Harbour during World War II. His military career lasted for 44 years.

Mr Choules died in his sleep in a Perth nursing home overnight.

The only other surviving WWI veteran is believed to be Britain's Florence Green, who served with the Royal Air Force in a non-combat role and is now 110 years old.

Conspiracy theory....

Interesting speculation about the chopper that crashed during the bin Laden assault..

Read more.....

Crabs in a bucket...

There’s an old parable about crabs in a bucket.

If you put a crab in a bucket and it can climb out of that bucket, it will climb out. But if you put 2 crabs in the bucket, when one of the crabs tries to climb out, the other will pull it back in. Neither will ever escape. It doesn’t matter that it’s possible to escape, the crabs will hold each other back from doing so.
We’re no different than crabs. It’s a sad part of the society we’re living in. When one independent freedom seeker tries to “climb out of the bucket” the rest of the herd will try to pull him/her back in.

• Teachers are guilty of this. (Which is why traditional schooling is a waste.)
• The media is guilty of this. (Which is why limiting or eliminating your exposure to the news and other media is essential.)
• Your parents, family members and friends may very well be guilty as well. (They don’t do it on purpose, they’ve been conditioned by teachers and the media.)

I’m not without guilt. I’ve noticed myself doing this on occasion and it’s upsetting to think about. For example, somebody brings an idea to me and I immediately shoot it down. “Ehh, I don’t think that will work.” And you know what? It might not. But who am I to shoot someone down?

I’m supposed to be supportive of my friends, family, and business partners.

So from now on, if a friend comes to me with an idea, instead of shooting it down if I think maybe it’s not doable I’ll say “Hmm, I’m not sure I can help, but don’t listen to me. What steps can you take right now to make it happen? And how do you think I can help?”

Just think of the possibilities if we all supported those close to us in this way.

While it’s obvious that the majority of the population will never cross over from the dark side, I know because of the snowball effect that the more we support each other the more we’ll support each other.

Written by Karol

Clash of the lighting titans

David Hobby...  of Strobist.com and one-light fame is the master of lighting in manual mode and Pocket Wizards...

Joe McNally... a veteran of LIFE, Nat Geo, Sports Illustrated, Time and many other famous mags and is the Grand Master Flash of multi-light setups using the whiz-bang technology of Nikon's Creative Lighting System..  (If you have an interest in photography and haven't read Joe's The Moment it Clicks and The Hot Shoe Diaries, you're doing yourself an injustice)

Mix them together and what do you get?

Murphy's Law... never more on target....

When traveling on a multi-lane highway, the lane you move into, will immediately become the slowest moving lane...  If you move back, your new, old lane will stand still.

I've proven this one over and over.

In keeping with the photographic theme of my blog..

The nature shots invariably happen on two occasions:
- when animals are ready

- the moment you take your eye away from the viewfinder

Murphy's Laws are an endless source of chuckles for me.


That is all......

Cloud Storage, my newest solution...

I have officially become 100% reliant on the cloud for all of my important data backup. Within a few years everybody will be working this way, but because of my mobile lifestyle I needed to transition a little quicker.

Let me tell you how this came about …

~ Today's Shave, November 21st, 2010 ~

Cream/Soap: P.160 Tipo Morbido
Brush: Made Rite, Finest Badger
Razor: Gem 1912
Blade: Gem
Balm: Kiehl's

The Single Edge razor is a sweet close shave, but seems to demand some special attention.  Though it is smooth and ultra close, you can get too much of a good thing and shaving with this on two consecutive days is a challenge.  This is the Gem 1912 manufactured in Brooklyn, New York.  It is loaded with a standard single edge blade, such as what you would use to scrape your vehicle registration sticker from the windshield of your car.  Scary sharp.

The Made Rite brush, refitted with a Finest Badger Fan shaped knot, is absolutely superb.  Not a single complaint!

P.160 carries a wonderful almond scent that lasts through out the shave.  It lathers thick and slick and although I was initially challenged with getting a good lather from it, we have come to an agreement..  This soft soap is no longer available, but I have plenty left and also have two more tubs in my inventory.

Sweet shave today!!

Image from the Nikon D3, 70-200 f/2.8 VR,.  Oddly, this superb lens doesn't allow for focusing on subjects closer than about five feet.  When fitted with a 12mm extension tube you can focus on subjects as close as inches away.  Extension tubes are hollow tubes that simply move the lens further away from the camera's sensor.  They don't have optics and most don't have electrical contacts, but the set used here, made by Kenko, do communicate electronically with the camera body and as such, auto focus and all aspects of metering are retained.  Light is provided by one Nikon SB800 speed light camera right, with a Lumiquest soft box and one SB-800 camera left and slightly behind the setup with a Wescott Apollo soft box.  Lights were triggered by Nikon SU-800 controller.  

Working with small speed lights is a joy.  This setup was shot in the brightly lit home studio, but by properly controlling the exposure settings for the ambient light, the background can be rendered black while the two flash units bring the light back to an appealing composition.  This allows for control of two distinct zones of light...Zone one, the area behind the subject ,can be fully balanced from a brightly lit scene to dark shadows without impacting the light in zone two, that which is falling on the subject.

Next time you question whether you can...

....consider the determination and will it takes to achieve greatness in the sport of fencing.. while confined to a wheel chair.

"I can't..." isn't in the vocabulary of these extreme athletes.

This image is from photographer Jacky Naegelen/REUTERS,  who covered the 2010 World Fencing Championships held in Paris France.

A collection of images from this event can be viewed at The Big Picture, by The Boston Globe.

  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  Edit  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  

Got to thinking about the notion of...   "I can't.."  This is some seriously destructive self-talk.  In a conversation with a friend and fellow photog, I was amazed at the number of times he described himself and his work as "just okay", or "not all that good", and as extreme as "..I suck at..".

At one point I asked that if our conversations were to continue I would prefer that he change this to.. "I did my best, but..." or, "..the result didn't match my vision.."  or, "I am making progress..".  The fact is, he is pretty good and he has made huge progress but it isn't apparent to him.  I asked..  "When you say your image sucks, what are using as a base for comparison?  Who is so good, in your eyes, that they make your work look, just okay?"  I never got an answer.

Those who have followed my blog from inception will remember one of the first posts..  It's Not How Good You Are, But How Good You Want To Be!  This was a huge philosophical shift for me when I was first exposed to it but once I had a chance to live with the idea, it became something that I rules all that I do.  If the idea resonates with you, read the book of the same title, by author Paul Arden..

I just ordered a copy for my friend....