I get excited and motivated when I run across a project that a photographer is working on which utilizes their talents and passion, as a photographer, to bring to light some social justice issue or in this case to show the positive we all have the ability to bring into this world. Take a few minutes and watch this video, then make the jump and I’ll throw some links your way so you can find out more about this great project.
Opening Our Eyes Trailer from Gail Mooney on Vimeo.
I have become involved with a wonderful event to bring awareness and support for injured, abandoned and lost animals. Back in mid-May I photographed DINO’s MISSION Adventure Race in southern Indiana. At the race I met Brent Sanders and his wife, two wonderful people. Brent asked me about my photography, what I primarily photographed and then asked if I would be interested in an event being put together for October to support animals. I dug out my iPhone to look at my calendar and with juggling some things I told him I could be there, no problem.
The event is a 5k/15k trail run and dog walk that will take place October 9, 2010 at the Tippecanoe Amphitheater just outside of West Lafayette. For those that know, and those that don’t, this is the site that the local group of the Hoosier Mountain Bike Association (HMBA) built a nice 2 mile out and back trail. The Tails-n-Trails event will use this course for the run and dog walk. I will be attending to photograph the event with prints and digital downloads available via my web site.
I encourage you to come on out, run or bring your dog and walk. This will be a great event for a great cause!
More information and registration for the Tails-n-Trails event can be found on their web site.
I hope to see you there!
~ William
As a photographer you quite often here people talking about their camera. If only I had a better camera I would take better pictures, that picture didn’t come out the way I wanted it because my camera is crap; it just seems like everything that goes wrong is the camera’s fault. A friend of mine gets so caught up with the fact that “everyone has a camera and it’s so easy for them to take a picture they think they’re photographers”. In the wedding world they would refer to this as the “uncle Bob” syndrome. Sure with the great advances in technology cameras today are pretty good at making decisions for you, they make taking a photo easier and less complicated for those without the experience and knowledge of a photographer.
There are very few photographers over the years that have reached immortal status. Photographers who’s body of work tell a story of how we’ve changed, how our society has changed, a history of us.
One such photographer is Julius Shulman, an architectural photographer who through his photography captured the greats of the modern architectural era such as Frank Lloyd Wright and Pierre Koenig.
Any time I can find a documentary about a photographer or photography in general I like to check it out. I find it very fascinating to hear how they thought, what went into their craft. One such great documentary done in 2008 regarded Shulman, his work and his story. I found excellent insight into how he began, what he thought and how he dramatically influenced architecture. He was a true pioneer in the photography field with his work showing how a photograph can cause change. His work was crucial in the startup of many an architects career.
If your looking for inspiration, if you want to see how photography can change our perceptions drastically, if you want to see how a positive attitude and the passion for your craft can change lives then check out the documentary, “Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman”. For those with NetFlix you can either stream it or get the DVD.
As a teaser here is the trailer for the documentary on this amazing photographer.
What other great documentaries or shows are out there that you would recommend for others to see? Post your recommendations!
~ William
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Two things that are great about this crew of filmmakers, one is that the equipment they use is out of some futuristic sci-fi movie, second is more personal to me but they hail from none other than Jackson Wyoming!
Curt Morgan and the crew from Brain Farm are spinning up some epic shots/films using their state of the art equipment. All HD cameras with a high tech gimbal system that is so advanced that it has to be registered with the U.S. Government. The system was originally designed to be used by the military to launch smart weapons, but Curt uses it attached to helicopters, trucks, snowmobiles, boats; you name it and they try to attache their system to it.
“I want to show a shot of a guy smoking a cigarette in LA and make it look like something you’ve never seen before. I have all these ideas, and I’m just starting to build on them. We’ve had some good success doing action sports, and these tools are amazing for shooting them. But I’m trying to figure out a way to move on.“
Check out the video to see more of what their doing and go on over to their web site to see some more of their work.
If after watching this you’re not inspired to get off that couch and go out and be creative, well then you better check yourself into a hospital because I don’t think you heart is beating.
~ William
For quite some time I’ve highlighted the emergence of video done up via HDDSLR, primarily with the Canon 5D MKII. There have been many a short film/video shot with this amazing camera. Now the game has changed, it has been taken to the next level. The entire episode of the season finale of House was shot with a Canon 5D MKII. Check out the teaser and then make the jump to hear a bit more.
Let me tell a story, once upon a time there was a photographer, who just happened to be at the right place at the right time, a major catastrophe. He grabbed his camera and went out to capture images of this major world changing event. Wanting to share these images with the world as quickly as possible he uploaded them to TwitPic and sent out the links via twitter. I mean why not, it’s the 21st century, we have these awesome social networking sites that can get news stories out to the world as quickly as it takes one to press the enter key. Anyway, he sends his images out to the world, before you know it another twitter user picks up on the images, downloads them, then resends them via twitter saying he is the owner. Then, a news service picks up on the images, grabs them, and before you know it the images are on the front of newspapers all over the world, giving credit to the supposed owner.
Now the real owner, the photographer at the beginning of our story, finds all this out and sues the news agency and others for copyright infringement. Makes sense right, but wait. The news agency turns around and sues the photographer, what did he do wrong!?
Well make the jump and I will tell you how this is a true story, what is going down and what this means to you if you’re posting to social networks.
On Saturday May 1st DINO held it’s first official race of the season in Warsaw Indiana. The race was part of the larger Fat and Skinny Tire Festival taking place that weekend. The whole community was wrapped up in all things cycling and it was great to see. Unfortunately I didn’t have enough time to really check out all the goings on for the festival as I was there to focus on the DINO race. Maybe next year I can dedicate more time to getting up to the festival a day earlier and really get to check out the entire event. Check more after the jump..
Mountain bike season is upon us here in Indiana. The first non-official race of the season was DINO’s Spring Tune-up. It is a chance for those who are considering racing to get out and test themselves and see if it is something they want to try. For those seasoned riders it’s a chance to get out and hit the singletrack in a race setting to prepare for the upcoming season. All around it was a great time with great riders and a gorgeous day.
*** UPDATE ***
Due to some people having problems getting the purchase options to appear I’ve decided to go with another vendor, Smugmug, to provide prints and download options. Smugmug will provide me with better options so I can make sure you get the things you would like in print and digital downloads. Smugmug also provides me with better options to incorporate the images into my main web site.
The images have been moved to the following address so please update your bookmarks. Images are ordered by racer number, which is displayed below the images. There are 3 unknown racers that are displayed on the last page of images, sorry I couldn’t make out your numbers.
Thank all of you for visiting and the many great comments I’ve received regarding the photos!
Enjoy and if you see me at the next race say hello!!
All the best,
~ William
What is a number, we use numbers to do many things, get us to the Moon, to count, to tell time, to mark the passage of time, to measure an f/stop or shutter speed, and many other ways. One way that we use numbers that is personal to us all is in marking our age. Chase Jarvis has started working on a campaign of a series of short films for Russell Investments that explore the topic of RISK. Check out his blog entry to learn more about his thoughts on this campaign but for me watching the first short film about skateboarder Jason Southerland really hit a personal nerve. Check out Jason’s story in the short film and then make the jump to hear my thoughts on the number game we call AGE.
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