Photography Schools

Modern Religion by Dick Bloom

Deciding which institution to attend to learn the skills needed to be a photographer is a chore.

The advent of digital photography has created an entire culture of Art Institutes.

Teaching digital camera techniques and digital darkroom software classes does not require the expense of operating a huge conventional darkroom.

They can teach photography online. Teach the classes, give the assignments, students shoot the assignments and upload the assignments for critiques.

Hence, less expensive class prices makes photography education more available to the masses.

How do you choose a school that fits your requirements?

You must first have an idea of what you want to do as a photographer. The profession is very broad. It includes; Art, fashion, commercial, professional portraiture, photojournalism or an array of other genres of the career.

Maybe you just want to learn more about your own camera and computer software to further your skills in photography. Many time you can find a local professional shooter that would be willing to work with you in your pursuit of the photography world!

There are many accredited online classes such as Academy of Art in San Francisco. The school was founded in 1929 and offers accredited degrees from Associate Degrees to Master of Arts degrees all online.

American Intercontinental University Online offers online degrees in Photography ranging from Associates Degrees, Bachelors, and Masters degrees in an accelerated format.

The New York University - School of Continuing and Professional Studies boasts the best online high tech classroom.

These are just a few of the top photography schools offering online education.

You may want look into two and four year schools that offer online classes for their students.

In my "links I like" there is an array of various types of photography education classes! Please check them out, one may be just your cup of tea/coffee or whatever it is you may drink.


Good luck in your pursuit of imaging.

Happy trails
Dick Bloom

Illustrious Sunset and Sunrise Photos

The Hang'n Tree by Dick Bloom

To capture award winning sunset or sunrise images remember these safety tips. First, never peer directly into the sun through the lens of your camera.

Two main reasons for this rule are it can damage your eyes. Secondly, it can damage the delicate light sensitive CCD in your digital camera. If you a using a film camera the same rules apply about peering into the direct sun no sensor to damage just your eye.

A stunning blazing sunset with its vivid colors ranging from deep blues to blazing orange and all of the rainbow mixed in can be a thrilling sight to behold.

To capture the true essences of a sunset or sunrise follow the rule of thirds.

A sunset should be part of the image not the image.

A huge expanse of ocean and sky needs to have an anchor, a foreground of some sort. It could be a tree, a structure, a person, a memorial; the object will add depth to the image.

Clouds add personality to the majestic vision of the mundane daily occurrence of the sun setting in the west or rising in the east.

To technically snap that memorable sunset the gear you need is a tripod, a long fast lens such as an 80mm to 200mm 2.8 unit, and a selection of filters to enhance the colors of the image, and a camera you can set manually.

Automatic meters will underexpose sunsets because it reads that the scene is too bright.

Get your gear set up just before sunset and begin to shoot as the sun has set and continue shooting until darkness takes over the scene.

Bracketing is recommended for the shots to assure getting the proper exposure.

Shoot lots of images and experiment with exposure and you will get an illustrious sunset image most of the time.

Remember that a photograph of a sunset or sunrise can be spectacular for sure but don’t get hung up shooting inanimate objects.

Go for the gusto and capture live bodies and the essence of the soul contained therein!! The eyes are the window to a person’s inner depths, look at the eyes!

Grab that camera and go for it.

Good Shooting!

Happy trails
Dick Bloom
Til' next time

Clean Air in Our National Parks

Did you know that air pollution is on the rise in our national parks? "Air pollution" and "national parks" shouldn't even be in the same sentence. We expect clean air when we visit national parks.

Restoring clean air to national parks is the duty of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)--a duty that has been cast aside for too long. NPCA is sending a delegation of members from across the country to Washington, DC on October 17 to tell EPA and Congress that Americans love their parks and want to see clear views and breathe healthy air now and for generations to come.

Take Action: Send your comments to EPA Administrator Jackson by October 14, adding your voice to our delegation, and urging EPA to enforce the Regional Haze Rule, the Clean Air Act program designed to improve air quality in national parks, wilderness areas, and wildlife refuges.

Thank you for speaking up for clean air in our national parks. Future generations will appreciate your action today!

Sincerely,



Stephanie Kodish
Clean Air Counsel
http://www.cleanair.org/

Edward Weston

To view the images of Edward Weston Please visit his input at

http://www.edward-weston.com/edward_weston.htm

The photography career of Edward Weston began when he received a Brownie camera in 1902 as a sixteenth birthday gift. Several of his favorite photo haunts were Chicago parks and his aunt’s farm where he found a wide variety of subjects to shoot. He always searched for images that could satisfy his out of the box style of imaging.

The Chicago Art Institute noticed Weston’s unique style after only one year of his experimentation with photography. At seventeen, he had his first photography show at the prestigious institute.

Photography had hooked the young man. He eventually moved to California to pursue his passion of photographing the natural form.

His study of objects such as plants, vegetables, seashells, landscapes, and the nude form were important works in establishing himself in the world of fine art imaging.

In 1932, he became a co-founder of the Group f64. The group consisted of himself and his contemporaries Imogene Cunningham, Ansel Adams, John Paul Edwards, Sonya Noskowiak, Willard Van Dyke, and Henry Swift.

The Group f64 became famous for the sharp depth of field they obtained by utilizing large format cameras set at f64 enabling them to make tack sharp 8’x10” contact prints.

Despite Weston's fame he survived by marketing his images for $7 to $10 per print; recently a Weston print fetched 1.6 million dollars.

A quote from the man considered the greatest photographer of the 20th Century. "Photography to the amateur is recreation, to the professional it is work, and hard work too, no matter how pleasurable it may be."

"Even the trees have spirits - everything has a spirit." -- Mary Hayes, CLAYOQUOT

We Still Got Dem Ol’ Kosmic Blues

Charley Patton
http://mp3.com/artist/Charley%2BPatton

Blind Willie McTell recording for John Lomax in an Atlanta hotel room, November 1940. Photograph by the archivist's wife, Ruby Lomax.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_Willie_McTell

Delta blues started out with slaves doing what was called a field holler where a leader would belt out a call and the workers would holler a response it was a work song cadence and from that “call and response” came the formula that built the blues as we know it today.

A singer will belt out a blistering blues vocal such as “Ain’t had no loving since my baby done left me!” then a blues riff played originally on an acoustic guitar would be the response. Delta blues are dominated by harmonicas and slide guitars.

Charley Patton (born 1891) is the man that is attributed to giving us the Delta blues sound we know today.

Patton lived on Dockery’s Plantation near Cleveland, Mississippi this was the place where blues legends such as Howl’n Wolf, Son House, Robert Johnson, Willie Brown, and a host of others cut their blues teeth on Patton’s tutelage.

Patton is noted for penning Pony Blues, Revenue Man Blues and others.

As former southern slaves headed north so did the blues the music took on a new sound called jazz, when guitars became electrified so did the blues.

During the late forties and early fifties northern cities like Detroit, Chicago were treated to blues icons like Muddy Waters, Howl’n Wolf, Elmore James, John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon and others they played basic Mississippi Delta blues backed by piano, drums, bass and harmonica.

The sound became popular, at the same time the likes of Memphis blues man B.B. King and Houston’s T-Bone Walker were pioneering a style of blues guitar playing that brought together jazz technique combined with the tonality and repertoire of the Delta blues.

In the late forties three songs had the moniker rock and roll. Erline “Rock and Roll” Harris recorded “Rock and Roll Blues” in 1949.

Much controversy exists about who recorded the first true rock and roll song. It does not matter whether it was Jackie Brenston’s, “Rocket 88”, Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock”, or Elvis Presley’s “That’s Alright Mama”.

What matters is that the Delta blues influence and it roots are still alive and well with the likes of iconic Rock and Rollers such as Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, The Stones, Eric Clapton, The Allman Brothers or new talent such as Derek Trucks, John Mayer, Joss Stone or Susan Tedeschi.

Thank you Charley Patton, W.C. Handy and all that dedicated their lives to singing the blues.


Grab some great blues and listen to these folks that knew how to give feeling to their music as they forged their way into the heart of American culture!

Big Jack Johnson and Da Pictur' man

Howdy Friends I am "da pictur man.... Dick Bloom" I am proud of that moniker, it was given to me by a great blues man name of “Big Jack Johnson!” I met Jack when he was play’n his fantastic Delta Blues at some friends of mine’s little bar near Gettysburg Pennsylvania name of the “School House” and let me tell ya many a less’n was both taught and lern’d at the bar and in the park’n lot particularly when Jack was teach’n em’!!!

Ol’ Jack and I became fast friends, cause I was a photographer for the local rag in Hangover Pennsylvania so I would run into the blues man in my out and abouts as my job as “da pictur man!” I got to know the big man and between sets we would many times chat outside a bar and share mary as the great stories would flow from that huge man’s ever smiling face! I recall one of the last times chatting with Jack in Hanover at a bar name of “Kclingers” where Jack and his band were fairly regular guests. Everyone that ever saw Jack perform felt his wonderful warm soul come through his fingers into his guitar!

Jack spoke the same way, with a down home feeling in every word. While we were chatting he told me he was tired and get’n too old to be on the road all the time, all he wanted to do was be at home and take the gran’ baby fish’n. He said his wife knew that when he was home he wanted to get up at the crack of dawn to go fish’n!!

His love of fish’n came through in his music such as "Catfish Blues"

Jack is the only real blues man that I ever had the pleasure of knowing as well as I did him and feel’n he was a friend! I am sorry to say that the great blues man has passed on to sing the blues for the cosmos!

Where ever Jack was he had the most friendly smile of any one known to me, I know that he is still smil’n and singing his soulful Delta music. “Dat was Jack Da Blues Man!”

As another great guitarist and lyricist Jerry Garcia sang in a “Box of Rain”;

Just a box of rain -
wind and water -
Believe it if you need it,
if you don't just pass it on
Sun and shower -
Wind and rain -
in and out the window
like a moth before a flame

It's just a box of rain
I don't know who put it there
Believe it if you need it
or leave it if you dare

But it's just a box of rain
or a ribbon for your hair

Jerry says it all here and this is the way I feel by both Jerry and Big Jacks journey into the cosmos!

Such a long long time to be gone
and a short time to be there!

Jack! May he Rest in Peace my dear compatriot the ol’ blues man!



Visit Jacks bio at Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Jack_Johnson

Get Jack’s newest CD “Katrina” http://www.bigjackjohnson.com/

"Katrina" is Big Jack's most recent recording and is his self confessed musical "tribute to the land, people and spirit of Mississippi" to which Jack draws so much of his inspiration from. From the joyful redemption party atmosphere of "Ain't Gonna Do It No More" to the traditional mandolin beauty of "Po' Cow Boogie" and "It's All Gone" to the low down lament of "Katrina" (the "meanest storm the world ever seen"..) to Lowell Fulsom's "Too Many Drivers" theme reworked as the relentless shuffle of "Red Car", this is one of Jack's strongest recordings to date! "The Cryin' Blues" and "The Laughin' Blues" explore both sides of human emotion while displaying the simple brilliance and range of the blues to convey those emotions. These two songs also illustrate Jack's uncanny ability to tap into and convey his emotions. They are a lesson in finding the blues in the everyday emotions of us all. This new recording is his first that was recorded exactly as HE wanted-- not playing to the demands or directions of a record label but instead to his own vision.

It is pure Big Jack Johnson and will have you jumping for joy!



Get Jack’s newest CD “Katrina” at:
http://www.bigjackjohnson.com/

Cameras

A World of Light

A high flying John Malone clone on the Battlefield

The term photography comes from the Greek words meaning light and writing. Sir John Herschel came up with the terminology in 1839 when the craft was just introduced to the public. The world of photography is a sort of alchemy by where the photographer sees images and can capture them for posterity.

Painters do the same thing and it is called art.

One of the great issues since the introduction of cameras is whether photography can be considered art.

Photographers will tell you it is most certainly an art. Most folks can be taught the technical end of imaging.

The talent part is a God given skill of knowing when to push the button at the split second when an image appears.

Many a person has gone out and purchased all the most exotic photo gear available and traveled to picturesque spots only to be disappointed in the results of their labor.

A talented photographer is not laboring to get fantastic images for they see them everywhere. No fancy gear needed. A point and shoot will deliver the goods just as well as expensive high tech gear.

Understanding the world of “light writing” and its nuances is key to great images. Most photo traditionalists love the world of black and white photos. It is the true play of light and dark with every shade of gray mixed in to create an image.

No matter what line the photographer follows, portraiture, abstract images, weddings photojournalism, erotic imaging or commercial work.

Knowing light and the way in interacts with nature is the key to having fun and finding images that will make folks smile or have a tear in their eye as they are treated to the Art of a Photographer.

Let me know if you enjoy my ART!

Thanks for visiting

Happy trails
Dick Bloom

Some More Refreshment Please

This image is known as the "Moonshiners Daughter" she was watch'n the still for "PAP" I reckon!

The image comes from the Library of Congress


Please click on the title to be transported to http://www.civilwarinteractive.com/ for more ways to get as they say an oldtimey BUZZ!


PRESIDENT WASHINGTON

2/3 c. brandy
1 tbs. honey
1/2 c. strawberry syrup or 10 strawberries crushed and strained
juice of 1 lemon

Add the above ingredients to a soda water glass, and fill up with shaved ice. If the fruit is used, it must be brushed with the honey, crushed and strained. Serve with two straws.
From Gentleman's Table Guide by Edward Rickett, 1873

CIDER COCKTAIL

1 pint apple cider (preferably hard, i.e., fermented)
1 slice lemon
1/2 pint shaved ice or frozen soda water
1 tbs. curacao
1 drop Tincture of Columba*

Add the above to a large tumbler, mix with a spoon, and serve.
From Cooling Cups and Dainty Drinks, by Jerry Thomas, 1869

*Columba, or Calumba, is the root of the Jateorhiza palmata, a plant native to Mozambique. Although the formula for this liquid is lost, a "tincture" is usually made by soaking or dissolving the base in alcohol. If you are not inclined to go to this much trouble, a drop of bitters would be a reasonable substitute.

WHISKEY COBBLER

2 wine glasses (about 1 c.) whiskey
1 tbs. sugar
2-3 slices of orange

Fill a tumbler with ice, add the above ingredients and shake well. Imbibe [drink] through a straw.
From Bon-Vivant's Companion by Jerry Thomas, 1862

"CHAMPAGNE"

10 gallons white wine, rhine or sauterne
3 lb. rock candy, dissolved in 1 1/2 pints water
1/2 gal. grain alcohol, 190 proof
1/8 tsp. citric acid
1/8 tsp. bicarbonate of soda

Bottle, cork, wire, cap and label.
From Manual for the Manufacture of Cordials, by Christian Schultz, 1862

Note: The Manual for Manufacture was a book on how to make fake liquor for times and places when the real thing was not available. This should not kill you unless you drink the whole thing at once (note the half gallon of Everclear in the recipe!) but is NOT recommended for consumption. Really, really not recommended.

BADMINTON

1 bottle claret
1/2 cucumber, peeled
4 oz. powdered sugar
Dash of nutmeg
1 bottle soda water

Peel half of a middle-sized cucumber, and put it into a silver cup, with four ounces of powdered sugar, a little nutmeg, and a bottle of claret. When the sugar is thoroughly dissolved, pour in a bottle of soda water, and it is fit for use.
From Bon Vivant's Companion by Jerry Thomas, 1862

Note: "Cup" in this case would seem to mean a large "loving cup" sized vessel, not a small drinking cup which would hardly hold two bottles of liquid, much less that rather disgusting-sounding cucumber. This drink was named after the famous English fox-hunt, not the lawn game which was not invented until after the war.


BLACK STRIPE

1/2 c. rum
1 drop pineapple oil (optional, may be hard to find)
1/2 oz. molasses
Grated nutmeg
1 tbs. water and shaved ice OR
boiling water to fill

This drink can either be made in summer or winter. If the former season, add the above and mix in one tablespoon of water and cool with shaved ice. If in the latter, add the above and fill up the tumbler with boiling water. Add a little grated nutmeg on top.
From Cooling Cups and Dainty Drinks, by Jerry Thomas, 1869

BALTIMORE EGG NOGG

1/2 pint brandy or rum
1 and 1/2 c. madeira (wine)
6 pints milk
16 eggs, separated
12 tbs. sugar
1 tsp. nutmeg

Take the yellow [yolks] of the eggs and the sugar and beat them to the consistency of cream. Add two-thirds of a grated nutmeg and beat well together. Then mix in the rum and Madeira. Have ready the whites of the eggs, beaten to a stiff froth, and beat them into the above described mixture. When this is all done, stir in six pints of good rich milk. There is no heat used.
Egg Nogg made in this manner is digestible, and will not cause a headache. It makes an excellent drink for debilitated persons, and a nourishing diet for consumptives.
From Bon-Vivant's Companion by Jerry Thomas, 1862

EGG NOGG

3/4 c. cognac
1/2 c. rum
1 egg
1 tbs. cold water
1 tbs. fine ground sugar
Milk

Dissolve the sugar in one tablespoon of cold water, and add this mixture and the remaining ingredients to a tumbler one-quarter full of shaved ice. Fill the glass with milk, shake the ingredients until they are thoroughly mixed together, and grate a little nutmeg on top. Every well ordered bar has a tin egg nogg "shaker," which is a great aid in mixing this beverage. Egg nogg is a beverage of American origin, but it has a popularity that is cosmopolitan. At the south it is almost indispensable at Christmas time and at the north it is a favorite at all seasons. In Scotland they call egg nogg "auld man's milk."
From Bon Vivant's Companion by Jerry Thomas, 1862.

SLEEPER

1/2 c. dark rum
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 eggs, yolks only
6 whole cloves
6 coriander seeds
About a pinch of cinnamon, ground
1 oz. sugar
1/2 pint water

To a gill of old rum add an ounce of sugar, two yolks of eggs, and the juice of half a lemon; boil half a pint of water with six cloves, six coriander seeds, and a bit of cinnamon; whisk all together and strain
them into a tumbler [large water glass].
From Bon Vivants Companion by Jerry Thomas, 1862

Folks if none of the other concoctions offered here for your buzzed enjoyment do the trick, a SLEEPER might just do the trick after a hard day of PIPPINFEST'n

ENJOY and have a happy Fall day!

Dick Bloom

Pippinfest of Jolly ol' Fairfield Pennsylvania

Information about moonshiners can be found in this interesting article from http://thelibrary.org/lochist/periodicals/ozarkswatch/ow502p.htm

Although this is an image from the Ozarks it is meant to be a depiction of the old homemade stills that could be found in the hills in and around Fairfield many years passed.

This weekend as dreary as it may be is Fairfield Pennsylvania's
annual "Pippinfest" celebration!

A "pippin"by the way is a type of apple brought from the old country.

So here is a recipe for some apple jack from http://civilwarinteractive.com/CookbookBuzz1.htm




APPLEJACK

Hard (fermented) apple cider

Take a quantity of hard cider, preferably several gallons at least, and put it in a cold place. Traditionally this is done in a barrel outdoors in wintertime, but improvise as your circumstances require. After it has chilled for several hours (traditionally this is overnight) inspect the barrel and see if a layer of ice has formed on top of the liquid. Remove this ice, as completely as possible, and discard. Repeat process until cider has achieved the desired degree of intoxicating qualities.

The rationale for this process is as follows: Cider, or any other wine, ferments naturally only to a certain point of alcohol content, after which it either turns to vinegar or simply goes bad. In circumstances where mechanical distillation was either impractical, illegal, heavily taxed, or unknown, the procedure above was the only means available to raise the alcohol content of the beverage any further.

The results were not elegant brandy such as distillation would have produced, but achieved the desired result of the biggest drunk for the buck.

To all you folks who like a bit o’ the Irish for drink’n laddies here is one for a remembrance!
From Bon-Vivant’s Companion by Jerry Thomas, 1862.via http://civilwarinteractive.com/cooking/?page_id=371

HOT IRISH PUNCH
1 wine glass Irish whiskey
2 wine glasses boiling water
1 tbs. fine sugar
Rind and juice of 1 lemon (optional)
This is the genuine Irish beverage. Combine one wine glass Irish whiskey with one tablespoon of fine sugar dissolved in two wine glasses of boiling water. If [making] lemon punch, the rind is rubbed on the sugar, and a small proportion of [lemon] juice is added before the whiskey is poured in.


Tis a glorious fall day to partake of some of these fine old concoctions to enliven the spirit. Please visit the Civil War Cooking website {http://civilwarinteractive.com/CookbookBuzz1.htm} for a plethora of relevant cooking, gardening and drink’n information from the Civil War Era.

Thanks to the Civilwarinteractive’s Website for this teaser for their site from dickbloom.blogspot.com

Warm your Bones

Warm your Bones

Here in Pennsylvania the place of the famous “Whiskey Rebellion" it is a cold rainy and generally dreary first day of fall, so I thought what a great day to tell my compatriots how the folks of the past may have enjoyed a way to warm their bones and chase away the cold winter chill that is just round the corner!

Wine gives courage and makes men more apt for passion. ~Ovid



Life's a waste of time, time's a waste of life so let's all get wasted and have the time of our life. ~Author Unknown

So we will present the thoughts of a “legendary Southern senator,” cited in Dr. Thomas Lowry’s classic; The Story the Soldiers Wouldn’t Tell: Sex in the Civil War*:

“Sir, you have asked my stand on the subject of whiskey. Well, if by whiskey you mean that degradation of the noble barley, that burning fluid which sears the throats of the innocent, that vile liquid that sets men to fighting in low saloons, from whence they go forth to beat their wives and children, that liquor the Devil spawns which reddens the eye, coarsens the features, and ages the body beyond its years, then I am against it with all my soul.

But, sir, if by whiskey you mean that diadem of the distiller’s art, that nimble golden ambrosia which loosens the tongue of the shy, gladdens the heart of the lonely, comforts the afflicted, rescues the snake-bitten, warms the frozen and brings the joys of conviviality to men during their hard-earned moments of relaxation, then I am four-square in favor of whiskey. From these opinions I shall not waver.”

These recipes are attributed to Civil War Cooking@ http://civilwarinteractive.com/CookbookBuzz1.htm

So here we go folks this is for ya’ll that think that the Southerners were cool, calm and collected here is a 1862 recipe for a Mint Julep!

3/4 to 1 cup brandy or cognac
1/2 tsp. rum
2 and 1/2 tbs. water
1 tbs. sugar
Several fresh mint leaves

Dissolve one tablespoon of white pulverized sugar in two and one-half tablespoons of water. Take two sprigs of fresh mint and press them well in the sugar and water, until the flavor of mint is extracted; add one wine glass of Cognac brandy, and fill the glass with fine shaved ice, then draw out the sprigs of mint and insert them in the ice with the stems downward, so that the leaves will be above, in the shape of a bouquet; arrange berries, and small pieces of sliced orange on top in a tasty manner, dash with Jamaican rum, and sprinkle white sugar on top. Place a straw [across the top of the glass], and you will have a julep that is fit for an emperor.
From Bon-Vivant’s Companion by Jerry Thomas, New York, 1862.


Did yall’ know that a fermented beverage similar to {apple cider} made from {pears} is called a “Perry”

So throw the first log of the fall fire in the fireplace,settle into your favorite spot kick your shoes off fill your favorite pipe FORGET your troubles and enjoy your favorite spirits to take the chill from your bones.

Happy Fall to All!!!

More recipes for spirits in the next post.

Thanks for the visit!

Dick Bloom

Howdy Folks

I want to Thank all of you folks who are visiting the blog. Please do me a favor and join my blog and comment on the posts and photos! All of the Images are taken by me except for the images pulled from the Library of Congress or other places noted by the comments or urls . Please let me know what you think and whether there are subjects you would like to see covered or if there is anything I can do to make your visits a more pleasant experience.

Thank you and have a happy day.

Happy trails
Dick Bloom

The camera world is an ever-changing theme in this digital world in which we exist, now there are cameras in the hands of everyone that carries a cell phone.

Some of the new smart phones have two cameras for face-to-face phone calls. Today’s camera is no longer just a still camera; most have video capability some even have audio capabilities. Now every image is automatically digitally time stamped and an audio tag can give the image’s details.

An Android Altek Leo, which is due to be released in Europe in 2011 has a 14-megapixel camera in a smartphone, this is superior in megapixel technology to many entry level DSLRs on the market.

As an example, a Nikon D3000, which is their entry-level digital camera, has a 10.2 megapixel, that’s costs around $550.00. The top of the line Nikon D3X now offers a whopping 24.5-megapixel FX-format D-SLR, priced at $8000.00 and purportedly offers amazing digital quality.

Canon’s offering in the DSLR market place also runs the gamut from high end to low end. The top dog of the Canon line is the 21.1 megapixel EOS -1Ds priced at $7000

The line continues down to their entry level EOS Rebel XS with a 10.1-megapixel unit priced at $550.00. These megapixel ratings are astounding considering the original Nikon digital camera was introduced in the late 1980’s at a of cost $12,000 and had a dinky 1.3 megapixel capability.

The history of the camera is repeating itself; When George Eastman introduced his inexpensive $1.00 camera to the world it seemed as though the entire world was in everyone’s viewfinder, now the world is everyone’s cell camera!

SO SMILE! You May Be on Someones not so CANDID CAMERA

The World of Digital Imaging

I KNOW I parked my hog here some where!


Digital cameras offer many advantages in the world of imaging today. The biggest advantage of digital over film is the instant gratification of viewing what you just captured thru your lens.

The digital world is in a race with technology much as the days when computers and the software would become obsolete it seemed almost overnight.

When digital cameras first came on the photography scene purists in the photography world said digital was a flash in the pan, film was king and always would be.

The original digital camera manufactured by Nikon Camera and Kodak in the late 1980s had a Kodak computer module hooked to the bottom of the case of a Nikon F3. It had a whopping 1.3 mega pixel range, the price was somewhere around $12,000.

As a photojournalist I would see the AP photographers shooting with those Nikon/Kodak blends and was envious
of the technology. I had a fantastic Nikon F5 film unit which at the time was top of the line it just wasn’t a digital.

Now you can buy a disposal digital camera for $19.95 or less or a great point and shoot for a few hundred dollars or go with a pro DSLR for a few thousand and they are packing a whopping 12 mega pixels or more currently. Now you can capture 6-mega pixel images with your cell phone. Nokia phones even have high resolution Carl Zeiss lenses.

Today’s Digital technology offers photography to the masses much the way Eastman’s $1 Brownie did in 1900.

The advantage of shooting with digital cameras is the ability to purge the photos you feel do not cut the mustard.

No more paying for prints just to see that you missed the money shot.

The ability to edit your images in the digital darkroom on your computer and print your own prints gives the photographer full control from image capture to the final print in house.

The elimination of the cost of film and processing also gives the photographer the ability to be more creative without the added cost of prints in the their pursuit of the magic shot.

Photographic History

Early in the 1800s, the photography process was in its infancy. The imaging process was laboriously slow. Numerous folks were experimenting with processes for imaging.

One individual was a Frenchman Joseph Nicephore Niepce. His process would render an image but it wasn’t permanent.

Louis Daguerre, another Frenchman was also experimenting with imaging. Eventually the two Frenchmen joined forces and the Daguerreotype was born. The Daguerreotype portrait was introduced to the country.

Formal family portraits were all the rage everyone wanted one hanging in their home.

Enter Henry Fox Talbot with his negative process in 1840. Now copies could be made with his Calotype process, which produced a paper print.

Ambrotypes was yet another 19th Century photographic process it fell to the way side when Tintypes and Carte-de-Visite became popular. These two genres were both mounted on cards and had great popularity from the 1850 to 1900. They were a type of postcard.

Another invention of the era was a Hyalotype and was used in “Magic Lanterns” what was in essence the forerunner to a slide projector.

Undoubtedly photography was a popular genre in the Victorian period. It was not an amateur gig. Photography professionals did it.

Then along came George Eastman who set the photography world on its ear when he invented roll photography film in 1883.

Then in 1888, he patented a camera for using his film. Amateurs could now do photography.

His marketing idea was to have folks buy a camera for $25 shoot the film, send the camera and $10 to him. He would process 100 prints and return the camera loaded with film for another 100 photos and the 100 prints to the photographer. Then in 1900, he introduced the $1 Brownie camera and photography for the masses was truly born.

As a kid you may have had a Brownie. I know that I did, I guess that my
photography skills were born way back then!

To check out the history of the Brownie , please visit www.brownie-camera.com/

Images for your Enjoyment Friends

Ranger Doug and Too Tall Slim

Battle for the Fairfield Road

Waiting for Action

Folks Here are some images for your enjoyment!

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Millionaires are a Joke but not a funny one

This is one of those times I feel the need to speak out!

I want just one of the news commentators to ask the question as to how many congressman and senators fall into the wealthiest of those folks {Republicans and Dems} who think that the poor folk and working stiffs need to foot their extravagant lifestyles of laying on a sunny beach or playing golf at a few hundred a round. Who the hell do they think pays their salaries? If Obama wants my vote again and a lot of my friends as well he would make an across the board pay cut to those ID10T politicians who think that they are holier than thou! After all they seem to forget that we are their employers of their cushy jobs!

Content makes poor men rich; discontentment makes rich men poor.

He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything {or anything underhanded} for money.

Here are a few quotes from Ben Franklin to ponder I added the underhanded to the last quote!

In summation, We the people need to stand up to the intense forces of the rich hogs who think they are better than the folks who worked hard and didn't end up with a bundle of money. I heard one individual say that he could barely feed his family on his $400,000 a year pay check. May he and his family choke on every bite of filet mignon they hog down.

STANDUP For Yourself and all those around you.

My hats off to Warren Buffet for his stance on Paying taxes

End of RANT!!!!!!!

To learn some shocking information......Please go to

http://www.investinganswers.com/a/number-millionaire-congressmen-and-11-other-shocking-statistics-1991

Magic in the Dark

Have any of you folks ever felt the magic of processing and developing film
in the darkroom? It is not a scary place at all and it is quite exciting to see your work come to fruition before your eyes. Here is the basics of what a film aficionado needs to do their own developing and processing. So take a look at the information and decide whether you should dig out your old film camera and give it a try.

Good Luck!

The skills needed to develop negatives are easily learned with practice. You will need an area that you can make light proof; your bathroom is best because you need water for processing. The supplies needed are a developing tank with film spools, a timer, a thermometer, a stirrer, some paper towels, a can opener, and a pair of scissors. The photo chemicals needed to develop black and white film are developer, stop bath, fixer, and hypo clearing agent. Have all your supplies laid out so you can easily locate them in the darkroom.

You start by opening the film canister with the can opener then cut the film leader using the scissors. Now spool the film onto the film reel. Place the reel into the developing tank. Now the canister is light tight, turn the lights on.

Mix a solution of 1 part developer to 7 parts proper temperature water; use

the thermometer to assure the proper working temperature of 20° Celsius.

Add the water as quickly as possible to the developer tank. Start the timer.

Develop for 6 minutes more or less; set it for the proper time depending on the film you are developing.

At five minutes and 55 seconds pour the developer out and pour full strength stop bath into the tank.

Agitate in the stop bath for one minute. Then pour out the stop bath and pour in full strength fixer solution.

Agitate.

Fix for six minutes and then pour out fixer. The film is now light proof. Now add the hypo-clearing agent.

Agitate for 2 minutes.

Now rinse with 20° C. water for ten minutes.

Remove film from the reel. Now hang to dry for 3 hours.

Negatives are now ready for making prints.

If you would like to learn more here is a source that you may want to purchase and learn even more about film photography. It is a course that includes a free introductory lesson. It is {Learn Photography at Home} take a look and get the FREE Lesson! May the Photo Gods be with you!

For instant access... Click the title of this article or the tab under Learn Photography at Home on the links bar.

Do you do digital

Do you digital? What a silly question in this day and age, CORRECT.

I ask the question because I was recently told by a dear friend that their son had entered numerous images in a local Fair's photo judging and came out smelling like a rose with various images which included a black and white image and a sepia toned image. That was the question I asked were they digitally done.

Well of course. The sad situation is that no one does film anymore to speak of.

The darkroom is passe and is not appreciated with all the high tech digital manipulations that are now available by a host of companies that promote one click magic photos in a light room.

A quick remembrance of my initiation into photography. I was attending a local community college that just happened to have a top notch photography program led by a top notch photographer who at the time didn't believe in the digital format so he taught photo manipulation by the darkroom methods.
It was so cool { yea I I'm an old fart}to go and find an object to shoot and then bring it into the darkroom and process your film by hand, get a negative, edit the negative and make sure it was pristine in every way including the proper lighting, no dirt, scratches, or any flaws. After that you were ready to produce an image! That is where the alchemy of photography launched the photographer within me.

Magic happened when you watched the image appear before your eyes in that tray that contained the high grade paper with your original vision of the object that you were able to transform from vision to a grand image fit for showing off to the world. It made me understand what folks such as Margaret -Bourke White, Ansel Adams, Man Ray, and dozens of other contemporary photographers saw in their life's passion!

Although I own digital equipment and top of the line imaging programs, I still have a darkroom in my home which has been very neglected for quite some time but I am working on reviving it and giving a new focus to shooting film and processing it in my own magical alchemy room.


In the mean time if you have a desire to become a proficient digital photographer, I suggest you give this book a good look it is one person's foray into doing DIGITAL imaging.



  

Hello to all my friends

Howdy Folks

A million things have happened to my world since my last post so here I am again FINALLY!!!!!!

I am now going to be promoting this blog as it was originally meant to be!

Ya'll will be getting photo tips!

I am also going to be promoting various products for your enjoyment, as well as other blogs you all may enjoy and find wisdom within!

I No longer freelance for the Evening Sun in Hanover nor the Emmittsburg and Thurmont Chronicle newspapers.

Both of the Chronicle newspapers died a slow death thanks to the economy!

My eight year run as a freelancer came to a halt when the Evening sun of Hanover decided they would rather have non-professional interns shoot their freelance images! When I say free I mean the cheapskates didn't want to pay for IMAGES so I was told if I had another gig i should pursue it.

NOW the paper is many times barely a few much smaller format pages The local merchandiser many time is thicker than the local rag!

I know that many of you folks out there who are working stiffs like me are also suffering from the lack of cash in the economy. Lets try to help each other out by supporting each others efforts in our enterprises or just enjoy the wisdom of one another and maybe just maybe we can all profit from our
knowledge of the world at large.

It is GREAT to be BACK in the old home place. WOW it sure is dusty in these digs!!!!!

Adios for NOW but I will be Posting on a regular basis! Please stop by often!


Dick Bloom