Wallpaper: February 2010

OK – here it is – the February 2010 wallpaper.

About this image?  Well – I was actually trying to find another angle to shoot the Sagrada Familia in Barclona – when I found these petanque courts in a little park.  And these folks didn’t seem to mind me snapping a few pics of their afternoon game.

Petanque – from what I’ve dug up – appears to be similar to bocce or boules.

And just for fun – I was playing with a modified technique for a faux tilt shift effect a couple of weeks ago.

Like it?  Don’t like it?  Let me know what you think.

Four sizes are available for download: 1920×1080, 1600×1200, 1600×900, and 1366×768.

OSU Rugby: 30 January 2010

Had  a chance today to catch some Oregon State University rugby.  Today’s A game was University of Victoria vs. OSU and the B game was Willamette University vs. OSU.

Due to the rain – games were moved from the Peavy fields to the Corvallis HS turf fields.  From  a photography perspective – I was actually hoping for a little mud.  On the other hand – I won’t have a pair of shoes sitting in the garage drying out for a week.

I don’t have scores from the first game – but it was a UVic win.  As for the second game – I left midway through – and I’m not sure how it finished up.

Had a chance to chat with OSU photography student, Ethan Erickson, also shooting on the sidelines.  Great guy – with some seriously good sports images.  Check out his blog here and his Flickr gallery here.

Pro-Life Rally: 17 January 2010 in Portland, OR

On a wet Sunday afternoon about 3000 to 4000 people gathered  in downtown Portland at Pioneer Courthouse Square to support Pro-Life.

The rally kicked off with the Portland Praise Band – and then followed with several dynamic speakers:

• Archbishop John Vlazny
• Cindy Brunk – Silent No More
• Tamra Johnson – 40 Days for Life
• Dr. Frank Rosenbloom – Oregon Right to Life
• Deacon Harold Burk-Sivers – Aurem Cordis
• Ron Sunseri – Pastor, Morning Star Church, Gresham
• Ann Cowan – University of Portland

Rally sponsors included Oregon Right to Life, The Oregon Family Council, Christian News Northwest, 40 Days for Life, Precious Children of Portland, KBVM 88.3 FM, and 93.9 KPDQ FM.

The Oregonian’s online coverage of the event can be found here.

I also stumbled onto Daniel Payne’s photography site with more images – and a write up from Pro Life Tribe.

Hot Air Balloon Photo for sale over at WozoFoto

Wozofoto offers a “deal of the day” photo – and today it happens to be one of my hot air balloon images from the Northwest Art & Air Show.  8×10’s are $10 – and 11×14’s are only $15.

And if you’re curious – more images from that weekend can be found here.

The cool thing about Wozofoto – is that every day he posts another photo at a great price.  So check his site out – and if you want to keep track of his daily deals – you can follow him on Facebook or over at his blog.

Wallpaper: January 2010

Happy New Year!

To kick off the new year – here’s the January 2010 wallpaper.   This is simply a B&W version of an earlier photo posted here on Camera 47 – which I hoped would make a good backdrop for your monitor.

The image?  Shot while in downtown Corvallis.  The lens?  Well – it’s a Lensbaby Composer with the Fisheye Optic.

Four downloadable sizes include: 1920×1080, 1600×1200, 1600×900, and 1366×768.

10 Images from 2009

Tired of the “Best of 2009 …” lists yet?  If not – here are 10 (non-rodeo) images from 2009 (if you’re looking for the rodeo-centric list – look here).

As a photographer – I think this idea of culling the annual portfolio to 10 solid images – from roughly 10,000 to 20,000 frames shot over the entire year – is a good exercise.  It forces trade-offs and discussion (at least among yourself) to why any one image made the list over another.

And – if you’ve been a regular reader of Camera 47 for the past year – you’ve likely seen a number of these images.  Sorry ‘bout that.  But in the end – here are the 10 images I chose (in no particular order).

Washington vs. Oregon State rugby match.

Yaquina Bay Bridge in Newport, OR.

Downtown Corvallis with the Lensbaby fisheye lens.

Hot air balloons.

Portland International Auto Show.

Jeremy + gig at Bombs Away Cafe + Lensbaby.

50 Million Lost rally.

Wings of Freedom tour.

The noodle cart!

Corvallis Tea Party.

Merry Christmas!

Just really wanted to drop ya’ll a Merry Christmas!  – and I hope you have the chance to slow down and celebrate with your family and friends.

Safe travels – and God bless.

10 Rodeo Photos from 2009

Well – it’s that time of year for “Top 10” lists – so I thought I’d get it started with a little rodeo.

Images are from the Philomath Frolic & Rodeo and the Benton County Rodeo.  These are listed in no particular order.  Hope you enjoy them.

Camera 47 Facebook Fan Page

OK – just a quick note to let ya’ll know that Camera 47 has now made it all the way over to Facebook.  You can check it out here.

Book Review: VisionMongers

Golly – I have a backlog of book reviews to publish – and it’s going to take some time to get through them – but let’s get started with VisionMongers.

Bottom line: If you’re either (1) a part-time photographer looking to turn a profit or (2) a part-time photographer looking to turn “pro” – then I highly recommend this book.

David duChemin’s new book, VisionMongers, is for the aspiring photographer looking to turn a passion into a business.  But – it’s not a business book.  And it doesn’t have a business plan.  And there are no step-by-step instructions listed.

So, what is it?  It’s a long cup of coffee with a friend pointing out a few bumps in the road.  Then it’s a second cup of coffee encouraging you to keep your chin up – because he knows you’re going to need to work hard to bring it all together.

There are three key sections to the book:

1. Work. This section helps ground the entire book – as he walks you through the idea that this gig will take a lot of effort – and that you’ll need to learn more than just photography to be successful.
2. Marketing. This is the longest section in the book.  And the section I keep coming back to read again and again.
3. Business and Finance – gives you even more to think about.

To balance his own point of view – duChemin adds short entries on 9 other photographers – including Darwin Wiggett, Gavin Gough, Zack Arias, and Chase Jarvis.  And the appendix is a short interview with Joe McNally.

The book is written in a conversational style – and brief sections within the chapters make it easy to squeeze in a few pages if time is short.

So, why did I like the book so much?  I think because it’s not a “get rich quick” scheme and it’s not a “one size fits all” take on the business of photography.  duChemin emphasizes – not only with his own story – but with others as well – how every photographer “makes it” differently.  But best of all – the text is straight forward, well written, and is not a lot of superfluous fluff crammed together to sell a few books.

And what exactly is a VisionMonger?  Well, in his own words – duChemin describes a VisionMonger here.