If you were already subscribed at http://twit.tv/tvh or iTunes Link: goo.gl/ZAKd8 , then you would already have the show below. So… why didn’t you do it yet? Or better yet, why didn’t you tell your friends!?
On the final night of the Yosemite PhotoWalk, we ended up here to explore the evening. This is the Ahwahnee Hotel in and I hope I made it look as beautiful as it really is. This is also the place that Steve Jobs got married.
Karen Hutton and I arrived here very late at night after our extra-long walk! We could even see a few people camping for the night halfway up the mountain they were climbing. After going around the back side of the lodge, we saw the stars and trees and cliffs above…
This might be my strangest blog post ever… well, hey, I figured… why not? Besides, maybe some of you want to see where I have lived for the past seven years or so… and yes, we are moving to New Zealand. More info on that later, I promise!
Daily Photo – Anyone Wanna Buy a House in Austin?
Contact me at wildcard (at) stuckincustoms.com if you are interested in finding out more… this is just a little teaser with some photos.
It’s in a great area of the hill country, about 15 mins from downtown (with no traffic!) Austin. The neighborhood is called Jester, and it weaves in and out of a natural preserve. It’s mega hilly with tons of trees. Our house, as you can see below from the backyard shot (the fourth one) backs onto a natural preserve… so there is nothing for miles and miles except for little creeks and hilly forests.
The house itself is 5 bedroom, two stories, contemporary design, with all sorts of nice-to-haves. I’m even leaving the media room with the projector, big screen, and all that stuff. Anyway, here are a few photos below!
First, here is a photo from the street, looking down the hill at our house on the left.
Second, here is another view of the front of the house at Christmas time.
Below is the family room. The kids are not included with the house.
Fourth, here is a view off the back deck. The first dip you see down below leads to a quaint little bubbling brook that tumbles away on rainy mornings, like when I took this photo.
I’ll put up photos in the next week or so… But, you know, we are moving…. MORE INFO on that move later!
It’s a five-bedroom house in the Jester area, so there is a little bit o’ info for you. Drop me a note at wildcard (at) stuckincustoms.com.
I know many people will want to know more info right now… but just wait wait wait… I’ll tell you everything soon
Daily Photo – The Remarkables
If these mountains don’t have the coolest name ever, then I don’t know what does!
The mountains border the lake in Queenstown, but right before they dip into the deep water, a gentle dollop of green hills present themselves. They are those soft kind of New Zealand hills – the kind that look like you could just take a giant thumb and mush them around into one shape or another.
I was walking around a park in Beijing — and it was quite unusual. It was a city park, but it had all sorts of rides like Disneyworld. Except, it wasn’t really very good. It was quite dated and everything was spread out all over the place. To get from one attraction to the other, you had to walk for almost a mile along lonely pathways.
There would be occasional clusters of people here and there, mysteriously milling about. Inside one of the clusters was this girl, so I grabbed a quick shot with my 50mm lens on the D3s.
The studio is cool because they have a number of different “sets” there for different shows. This is the main round table where Leo Laporte does some of his biggest shows, like This Week in Tech, MacBreak Weekly, This Week in Google, and many others. He lets anyone in the area come sit in as a guest to watch the live production… and that’s a lot of fun too because of all the geeky equipment around.
On this particular day, my mom came to sit in the audience (after she got lost and needed Tony to go rescue her!). She brought a load of fudge with her and made everyone happy… she even got a hug from Leo
The new show is Monday at 7 PM PT (Your World Time). This show will be lots of fun. We’re talking about “Horror / Embarrassing / Funny stories from various photo-outings… either for a client or for yourself.” This week, the hangout will have Jeremy Cowart, Nicole S. Young, Catherine Hall, RC Concepcion, Brian Matiash, and Gordon Laing.. Joe McNally is a 50/50 chance… he’s traveling perhaps out-of-pocket, and I’m sure he has more stories than all of us combined!
Daily Photo – The Mighty Ship
I went crazy in this place with my camera!
There are so many incredible angles inside the Tokyo International Forum — it’s almost like cheating. When I’m in the middle of amazing architecture, it’s awe-inspiring and I really want to try my best to capture it in a way the architect would appreciate. I went up and down every floor of the structure and spent most of the afternoon here. It was one of the best afternoons ever… I’m still going through shots, and this is my latest.
Get it here! We released the free version of the Android app. It’s got all the same features as the paid one, just with 50-100 photos instead of hundreds and hundreds. Enjoy!
Daily Photo – The Deep Blue Morning at Cerro Torre
I’d love to return to this place, but I’m afraid the weather would not be as clear and perfect. Many locals told me there is a 90% chance that these mighty peaks would be covered with clouds, so I felt very lucky to have everything so perfect. Surely, a return here would not be nearly as good… but maybe… just maybe… a return would have clouds, but in an awesome dramatic way.
You probably also know I’m not a fan of plain blue skies. But way up in the mountains, sometimes the sky on the opposite side of the sun is a deep atmospheric blue. I see it from planes a lot when dawn breaks. Maybe you have seen that color of blue too… and here it is again.
What’s Going On with The Professional Photographers of America?
I just now received the a rather ridiculous email from the PPA that I will post below.
It’s basically a bunch of horse-poop. Did you know the PPA is actively spending money to lobby Congress for these and bills of this nature in the future?
Consider these condescending bits from their statement:
“So when a behemoth corporate money-maker like Google attempts to stand on the backs of photographers to increase its profits, we as your association take exception.”
“Each of us must work to be more enlightened about the real issues, and encourage our friends and neighbors not to be led astray by the fear-mongering of Internet bullies.”
Infuriating! How does the PPA get off saying something so incendiary and foolish?
This photo has been used without my permission tens of thousands of times. My video tutorials have been pirated tens of thousands of times. It hasn't hurt my business -- it has done quite the contrary.
Look at me, PPA. Your association of pencil-pushing middlemen haven’t done anything for me. Google, Yahoo, Facebook, and hundreds more companies have been helping bring in the inevitable future of media. I share everything openly and freely through Creative Commons Noncommercial. This technique has enabled StuckInCustoms.com to grow to a point where we are quite profitable and about a dozen employees. Having these bills passed a long time ago would have hurt my business rather than helped it.
Creating new, innovative business models around the internet is the future (and present, I say).
Anyway, here is the email:
SOPA and PIPA – don’t be fooled
Dear Photographer,
We know that many of you have been following the developments with the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA). There has been some confusion over the proposed legislation, which frankly is the intent of the bills’ opponents. We wanted to take a moment to correct some of the bad information, and to let you know where we stand.
We were disappointed by some of the heavy-handed tactics used by opponents of the bills. The objective of those tactics was obviously to create fear and hysteria, while at the same time spreading false information about what the bills would actually accomplish. We want you to know the following:
Both pieces of legislation (SOPA in the Senate and PIPA in the House) targeted off-shore pirating of works produced in the U.S.
We do not feel that the measures were perfect—no legislation is. But the greater good demands that measures be taken to protect the rights of creators like you.
It is true that those mega-corporations opposed to the bill could possibly have been inconvenienced by the legislation. It is their job to make money, and their actions merely represented those purposes.
It is not true that the public would have been deprived of works to which it has rights, but rather, only those works that are copyrighted and being sold illegally by rogue off-shore websites.
Particularly disturbing to every photographer should be the attempts by Google, Wikipedia and others to define copyright as censorship. The tact is both offensive and intentionally false. Of course, the word “censorship” was chosen by opponents of the legislation for its obvious emotional value. Americans in particular are born with a deep-seated aversion to anything that loosely resembles censorship. Those feelings are amplified in photographers and other creators. After all, you earn a living by SHARING your work, not depriving people of it. So when a behemoth corporate money-maker like Google attempts to stand on the backs of photographers to increase its profits, we as your association take exception. (As a side note, we appreciate all of the words of support you regularly extend to us as we defend those rights.)
It is important to recognize that Google, while it claims to be a friend to copyright, is anything but. PPA is one of several associations joined together in a lawsuit against the search engine giant for illegally scanning and posting copyrighted photographs on the Internet. A similar lawsuit filed by publishers and authors is also underway. It is our opinion that following Google’s lead in defending intellectual property is something like depending on the fox to defend the hen house.
That Americans have bought into the false and misleading rhetoric issued over the past few weeks by opponents of the bills is unfortunate. We were surprised that a few creators were swayed by last week’s Internet blackout. And we were disappointed that some members of Congress, who are typically more reasoned in their consideration of copyright issues, crumbled in front of the scare tactics used by the bills’ opponents.
We will continue our Capitol Hill work on your behalf to educate members of Congress. Copyright is not a “Hollywood issue.” The vast majority of copyright holders in the U.S. are small businesses. While Hollywood makes an easy target, the tactic is little more than a smoke screen designed to draw attention away from the true issue—online companies wanting to increase profits at the expense of mom-and-pop creators.
Americans have always valued and defended small-business rights. Each of us must work to be more enlightened about the real issues, and encourage our friends and neighbors not to be led astray by the fear-mongering of Internet bullies. In the meantime, PPA will continue its efforts to defend the rights of photographers now and in the future.
Best wishes for a successful 2012,
David Trust,
Chief Executive Officer
Professional Photographers of America
SOPA / PIPA (and their future iterations in Congress) – Why I’m Against It
I think that we, the architects of the internet, are able to create bottom-up solutions for current and future problems. A good example of this is Creative Commons, and here I am at Google talking about how it affects “piracy” in my world of digital photography. Jump ahead to the 7:30 min mark, when I start talking about this subject in particular.
Visit FlatBooks.com to check out Jim’s latest eBook! Here’s a little sample page… really awesome stuff. Thanks for supporting the authors over there!
Daily Photo – The Mariposa Woods
While we were at Yosemite for the big PhotoWalk, we took an evening to visit the Mariposa Woods. They were very close to our hotel, and it was an easier drive than going all the way to the main park at Yosemite. Plus, I had a feeling the sunset would be quite stunning through the trees. My feelings don’t always work out, but this time it did.
My methods still haven’t changed for these kinds of shots. Seven exposures: from +3 to -3 seems to get the job done. I end up with more than enough light for the post-processing.
The new version (iTunes Link) was released yesterday. We have 755 reviews at a 4.5 star average – that is incredible, so thank you very much. Now, what is new? We fixed many issues with Flickr and Dropbox, added memory fixes, and integrated the new Twitter for 5.0. Enjoy!
That link is to the iPad version, even though we also have one for the iPhone. I recommend the iPad version if you have a choice — it has many more features than the iPhone version… you will see what I mean!
Daily Photo – Deep into the Jungle Mists
I was many kilometers down this river away from the town. I got off my little boat to do some hiking up through the hills through the jungle. It was dense. Even when there was a little opening, it still felt like leaves and vines were pressing in on me. On occasion, I would see a wider break that let me see into the mysterious beyond.
Art is a Switzerland of sorts… a neutral ground where many vectors of interest can come together. And so it was that Sergey Brin (founder of Google, in case his name rings a bell) , Thomas Hawk, Gordon Laing, Karen Hutton, Kelli Seeger Kim, and Chee Chew all came together to talk about the joy of photography and share a few discoveries we have made.
This is the photo I discussed in the video above when we got around to the bit where we shared our own photos.
This remote lake was so icy cold. You would think it’s about 33 degrees or something, right? It felt like absolute zero. I dropped a little piece of my tripod in here and my hand almost froze off trying to retrieve it.
In the distance you can see where the glacier comes into contact with the glassy lake; it gives a sense of the epic scale here.
Art is sort of a peaceful Switzerland where people from all walks of life can come together. And I think this Switzerland of sorts is why Sergey Brin, who is also quite an enthusiastic photographer, joined the hangout last night. We had a great time talking with Sergey and Gordon Laing, Thomas Hawk, Karen Hutton, Kelli-Seeger Kim, and Chee Chew.
Watch YouTube.com/stuckincustoms for the video when it comes online! You may have to click on “Uploads” to see the most recent things. I have a number of playlists on there too.
Daily Photo – Google Doodle
The new Google offices in Los Angeles are right in the heart of Venice. After passing through some hardcore security, you walk down this hallway, which I guess is a bit like dying and going to Google heaven.
You probably know about all the various Google doodles that decorate the home page. I heard the first one was of Burning Man. I didn’t see that one on the walls… but maybe you can!
Or better yet, why didn’t you tell your friends!?
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