To use a website or blog to promote your personal interests or photo business is a personal choice. Back in the Internet Days of Yore, I began building websites to play around with the new and wonderful technology. And the questions from friends came. Oh, can you do one for me? And I was off and running. Soon a few business people contacted me, and before I knew it, I had more than enough to do, and even less time to do it in. I was burning the midnight oil constantly; such an addiction! Well push came to shove, and something had to give. I had to pay more attention to my photographic work (was still shooting Nikon film at the time) and I had discovered computer illustration, Photoshop composites, and photo manipulation. By about 2001, web technology was passing me by - ...

Just this past week, I posted up a fun political Tshirt at Zazzle, one of the POD (print on demand) services on line. It got a Today's Best Award. Two days later, I had to remove it. Why? I spelled a word wrong!!! Apparently my error had gotten past the editors to ;-) Three words in the Tshirt had Capital Letters in a different color than the main text. The word "Intellegence" had a large capital "I", but then I slipped and put the whole rest of the word in, so it became "Iintelligence". Boy, what a careless error, and how embarrassing for me.

So, I lost the award because I felt it best to take the product down, but I really would not want a customer to wind up with a mispelled Tshirt. Yes, I'll redo the shirt design, but I'll definitely read my text more carefully next ...

I recently completed a photo shoot for a client that was on a tight schedule. They had purchased some discounted ad space with a fast approaching "deadline for materials" date and wanted a photo that was fresh. After the main subject is selected, I try to get the best product sample that is available. In this case, my subject was a piece of metal industrial hardware. Being that their warehouse was on site, I select the best piece available with regards to cosmetics. The reality of some industrial hardware is that it is not always "blemish free", so I aim to select a sample without scratches or cosmetic defects. When shooting any object, especially a small one, the biggest enemies can be dust and dirt. Proper preparation and cleaning go a long way in saving retouch time.

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For about 3 years, I have used one particular emal address for online purchases, like those from major retailers. The address was also used for a few email newsletters, like one from an architecture news site I favor. Well, all was going along well with this address until recently. It seems the maibots have found me. I am now starting to get the junk mail fof the Verify Your Bank Account Immediately variety, along with the usual lot of spammers and scammers. The source? I think a political site in the USA where I stupidly signed up for a newsletter using that address. Luckily, my private and primary email is still secure.

So what happens next? Well, I'll see how bad it gets. If I get bombarded again, I'll slowly shift my online commerce identities to a new address. What ...

Managing image assets has become a necessary task for photographers, and is even a more daunting task for illustrators and designers. Here I'll talk about some things on the photo end of things, in particular my ruthless photo selection and editing.

For my photo work, things for me are relatively simple. I keep a master file bin with raw camera files separated into folders with date of shoot and subject. The files are renamed and given a unique ID. Part of what streamlines my photo work is that I tend to treat my shooting as if it were film, really thinking about each shot, shooting less, and winding up with perhaps 4 raw files of a subject such as a landscape or a particular flower instead of 24. If I have to shoot that 24 for insurance, such as when there is changing ...

I find that different design projects, particularly in the corporate area, sometimes call for different approach tactics. These days, designers wear many hats, and when working on a project for even small business, you sometimes become photographer, writer, copy editor, an graphic designer all rolled into one. Being that things are so varied these days, I'll cite just one project example, the company newsletter, with possible ways to approach it.

Even small businesses these days realize the value of a company newsletter, and with the convenience of email, they are easily delivered and virtually free because there are no printing or postage costs. So faced with the task of providing the service for generating one, how do you proceed?

Designing From Scratch?

If the ...

After getting smacked by another winter windstorm in our area, I am truly in the mood for for spring. Shooting ice and snow definitely not my thing, but when the spring flowers peak, I'm out there for a few days. There are no real secrets to shooting beautiful blooms, just some planning and common sense.

Know where and when your best opportunities are. The best shots will not happen on a whim. Over the past few years, I have kept a casual "bloom calendar" of when some flowers and shrubs will peak. For heavily trafficked public gardens, go at an off peak time, and at the earliest viewing window you can get. If beds are unguarded, people will just walk where they may, trampling edge blooms and perhaps even picking their own.

Learn the language of light, and study its ...

Back in 1997 or 1998, when the web was still sort of in its infancy with regards to the mainstream, I stumbled upon a few 3D art websites. The sites contained varied pieces such as surrealistic landscapes that were highly appealing. Had a litte go round with Bryce 3D for awhile, but other obligations just didn't let me devote the time I wanted to it.

Fast forward to 2002, and I came across Strata 3D, which is more geared towards object creation. Seeing as I had a few industrial clients at the time, it enabled me to visualize in art form some machinery parts and industrial components. Strata is rather pricey, but there are other programs out there that are free or lower cost so that you can delve into it without breaking the bank.

Now in 2008, with some new found ...