Seth Godin Blog Post of January 18, 2010 - Unrealized Projects

If you don't know who Seth Godin is and you are interested in business and marketing then you should.  He is the author of probably the most popular marketing blog in the world and is the author of 12 bestselling marketing books that have been translated into 33 languages.  He is a marketing genius, very entertaining, and his insight and advice really makes you  think. It's good advice to follow.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post called "Fear and Photography" and in it I mentioned that Fear was one reason by we don't complete projects that we sometimes have in mind. When I say "We" I mean myself and other photographers as a whole and other than myself no one specific. When I received this email the other day I started thinking that Seth Godin really hit the nail on the head with this post on why we need to put fear aside and as he says "ship".

Here is the Seth Godin post of January 18, 2010, Unrealized Projects in its entirety:
When I was at MOMA last week, I saw a list of director and artist Tim Burton's projects. Here's the guy who's responsible for some of the most breathtaking movies of his generation, and the real surprise is this: almost every year over the last thirty, he worked on one or more exciting projects that were never green lighted and produced. Every year, he spent an enormous amount of time on failed projects.
A few: Catwoman, Conversations With Vincent, Dinosaurs Attack!, The Fall of the House of Usher, Geek Love, Go Baby Go, Hawkline Monster, Lost in Oz, Mai the Psychic Girl, Mary Reilly, Superman Lives, X: The Man With X-Ray Eyes.
One key element of a successful artist: ship. Get it out the door. Make things happen.
The other: fail. Fail often. Dream big and don't make it. Not every time, anyway.
Tim got his ideas out the door, to the people who decided what to do with them. And more often than not, they shot down his ideas. That's okay. He shipped.
Next!

I would suggest that if you are not already a subscriber to his daily blog posting emails that you should go and sign up for them right now.  On the upper left hand side of his blog is the box where you put your email address so can subscribe. It will be we'll worth you time to read them daily.

Links referenced in this posting:
Unrealized Projects - http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/01/unrealized-projects.html
Seth Godin's Blog -  http://sethgodin.typepad.com/
Seth Godin's Website - http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/

Blog post written and posted by Seth Godin on January 18, 2010

Reposted on this blog by Al Milligan, Al Milligan Photography

Zok Vampire - Caesar Lima

Vampires seem to be very popular right now and this is a great photograph. It is on the cover of the January / February 2010 issue of Digital Photo Pro. The photograph was taken by Caesar Lima for Marzocchi Italy. This photograph was also awarded an Honorable Mention in the 2009 IPA (International Photorgraphy Awards) competition in the beauty category.

Links referenced in this posting:
Digital Photo Pro Magazine - http://www.digitalphotopro.com
Caesar Lima's Blog - http://caesarlima.blogspot.com
Caesar Lima's Website - http://www.caesarlima.com
Marzochi Italy - Marzocchi Italy - Designs and produces suspensions for motorcycles and mountain bike since 1949
IPA - International Photography Awards - IPA (International Photography Awards)
IPA 2009 Honorable Mention - Professional- Beauty category - http://photoawards.com/en/Pages/Gallery/zoomwin.php?eid=8-10324-09&uid=&code=Beauty


Posted by Al Milligan, Al Milligan Photography

California Sunbounce- The Gage video, Greg Gorman, and the latest Canon - Inside, The Story Behind The Photograph Ad - Part 2

Here is the 2nd part of the California Sunbounce video on the The Gage. In this video, Greg Gorman continues to talk about how he used it to create the photograph used in the latest Canon Inside, The Story Behind The Shot ad.



Link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UxqPmini0U

Posted by Al Milligan, Al Milligan Photography

California Sunbounce- The Gage video, Greg Gorman, and the latest Canon - Inside, The Story Behind The Photograph Ad - Part 1

I am always going out on the internet and looking for interesting photography videos. As I wrote in a posting a couple of weeks ago, California Sunbounce has a great selection on videos on their website that shows you how  famous photographers use their products.

I was in my local Borders Bookstore over the weekend and notice the latest  Canon, Inside: The Story Behind The Shot ad, featuring model Dominique Sharp, in the back of the January 2010 Issue of Photo District News. The ad was shot by Greg Gorman and the shooting of the photograph used in the ad, was featured in the video for the California Sunbounce-The Gage. It is always interesting, to me, to see how other photographers work and the equipment they use.

Below is the 1st of the 2 videos showing how to setup the California Sunbounce-The Gage and how Greg Gorman used it to create the photograph in the latest Canon Inside:The Story Behind The Shot, ad. The 2nd part of the video will be in the next post.



Link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFPvHdFZ04c

The finished shot of Dominique Sharp that appears in the latest Canon, Inside: The Story Behind The Shot ad and shot by Greg Gorman.

Posted by Al Milligan, Al Milligan Photography

Fear and Photography

I recently watched the movie "Strictly Ballroom", a great quirky Australian movie by Baz Luhmann, on DVD. There is a great line in the movie which is repeated a couple of times that goes " A life lived in fear is a life half lived".

As photographers we sometimes use fear to prevent us from taking photographs. It may be the fear of approaching someone, the fear that the picture won't come out as we envision it or any number of other reasons. The bottom line is that we need to not worry about making the perfect picture every time and we just go out and shoot. The more we shoot the better odds we are going to have of getting the picture(s) we envision.

One of my goals for 2010 is not to let fear interfere with my photography.

Here are some addition quotes concerning fear and failure:
"The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure." - Sven Goran Eriksson
"Fear of failure must never be a reason not to try something." - Frederick Smith
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." - Franklin Roosevelt

Posted by Al Milligan, Al Milligan Photography

Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® 3 public beta version

Several years ago Adobe released, to rave reviews, Photoshop Lightroom a software program that allows you to quickly import, process, manage your photographs. Adobe Labs has recently made Photoshop Lightroom 3 available as a public beta version.  I downloaded it the other day and just started playing with it. So far it seems like a great alternative to Photoshop especially for everyday normal adjustement's to your photographs.  At first try it seems pretty easy to use. I have never used Lightroom but have always heard great things about it and have considered buying it since it firsts came out.  At a list price of $299 for Lightroom 2, it's also a WHOLE lot cheaper than Photoshop CS4 at $699 for the basic edition and $999 for the extended edition .
The website states that the beta version of Lightroom 3 is scheduled to expire on April 30, 2010. I'm going to guess that the official release of Version 3 will be shortly after that date.Version 2 of Lightroom is still available and can be purchased directly from Adobe (http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshoplightroom/).
If you are intersted in downloading a beta copy of Lightroom 3 here is the link to the website: http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lightroom3/

Information posted by Al Milligan, Al Milligan Photography

VOICE OF THE PHOTOGRAPHER - Greg Gorman

I found this video on Greg Gorman talking about his style on YouTube. It is part of  nine short videos called The Voice of the Photographer, which was created for the Annenberg Space for Photography's inaugural exhibit L8S ANG3LES: Perspectives of Eleven LA Photographers, which was held March 29, 2009 - June 30, 2009.

Here is a link to the Annenberg Space of Photography's website:  http://www.annenbergspaceforphotography.org/

Posted by Al Milligan, Al Milligan Photography

Paella Pan outside Denia, Spain

Between Denia and Javea, Spain, there is a hillside that is covered with wild rosemary and ruins of old windmills. While walking around the area, we came across this house that had a Paella Pan leaning up against the outside wall.

Photograph by Al Milligan
@ Al Milligan 2009 - Al Milligan Photography

California Sunbounce

California Sunbounce  is a manufacturer of outstanding photographic reflectors and other light enhancing products.  They have an amazing website that is jam packed full of videos and other educational resources. The videos feature Greg Gorman, Guido Karp, David Mecey, Rolando Gomez and others using the product. In addition to the videos, you can find a PDF of their product catalog along with full descriptions of all their products. It is probably one of the best photographic equipment websites I have seen. Their products are easy to use and should be part of every photographers lighting kit.

Posted by Al Milligan, Al Milligan Photography

The 2009 Body Form Photo Show - Body Form Studio and Gallery - Boulder, Colorado

Photo by Richard Cummings, www.rickphoto.com

Rick Cummings is having another Body Form Photo Show at his gallery and studio in Boulder, Colorado, starting this weekend, December 4, 2009. Below are the details of the event.

The 2009 Body Form Photo Show

December 4, 5, & 6, 2009

at the Body Form Studio and Gallery

1045 Pearl Street, Boulder

contact Rick Cummings 720.352.4096 rick@rickphoto.com

www.bodyformworkshop.com

The 2009 Body Form show is an exhibition of fine art nudes from local photographers at the Body Form studio and gallery at 1045 Pearl Street in Boulder on December 4,5,6,

The opening is from 6:00 – 10:00 on Friday December 4, with viewing hours from 12:00 – 5:00 on Saturday and Sunday December 6 and 7.

See amazing work from photographers exploring the many different ways of working with the nude; from pure form with unique perspectives to a metaphor of the human experience. All the images in the show were done at the Body Form Photo Workshop, which encourages people to explore their own vision in photography with an emphasis on working with the nude.

Rick Cummings, photographer and director of the Body Form Workshops, says "there seems to be an endless ways to work with the body. I have been photographing nudes since 1988 and I still find new images all the time."

The Body Form Studio / Gallery is conveniently located in downtown Boulder at 1045 Pearl Street. The opening coincides with the first Friday gallery openings on – December 4 with viewing on Saturday and Sunday December 6 and 7 from 12:00 – 5:00.

For more information please contact Rick Cummings 720-352-4096