This is about one of my contacts on Flickr, a person who loves photography and makes amazing work, a person who's photographs of the volcano in Iceland that bothered everyone and disrupted the European aviation for days GOT USED WITHOUT PERMISSION BY FOX NEWS.

So how can we help?
If you got advice to give, please do so.
If you got a way to contact the right person from FOX, please share that information (attempts to contact FOX NEWS were fruitless, but the right person to contact may do the trick).
If you experienced something similar, share, it's important to bring these things to other's attention.

Here is a link to the Flickr page with the problem described. I will not post too much, you can visit this page, see the images this person takes and read the story from the original source.
Orvaratli

With hope for better,
Z.

And of course the link: The White House Flickr Stream.

Enjoy! Z.

2. I will not use the Auto setting on my camera.
No way to agree to that, maybe if I were a god of photography but we all know there are very few of those, even among the professionals. I'm sure that it can happen a lot, here I'm thinking hobbyists, to take a couple of shots and be displeased with the results only to find out that taking the same shot on Auto has better results.
I can't suggest leaving it at that though.. but rather study the settings of the shot on Auto and try to make it better on your own.

3. I will not use on-camera flash.
True.. if only I had another option available at this (or that) point in time... I guess some flash is sometimes better than none.

4. I will not be hindered by the gear I do not have.
Does talent and experience count as gear? Not?! Than yes I will not be hindered by the gear I do not have.

5. I will shoot in RAW.
This one makes perfect sense. When I first got my camera I thought that if I am to be a good (hobby) photographer than I should be able to take great shots as is, in JPG. Seriously, what's with all that computer manipulation?! Well.. as I learn better I had to change my ways, especially since you can save some amazing shots in RAW, while those JPGs are just dead hard drive waste.

6. I will learn how to process my shots.
I would not go for buying new software because for learning purposes the Canon DPP and the Nikon Capture or even in worse case scenario Picasa can do some magic. And trust me you do not need Lightroom if you're just an average Joe and just now learning about things.
Oh why I said buying? Because if you go through with the trial and learn to do things on that there is a big chance of buying it out of habit (being used to that piece of software).

7. I will share my photos with others on the web.
One of the best things you could do with your photographs. If they are good enough for Fotolia or other microstock sites or even big places like Getty, than even better, but you sure have lots to learn by sharing your shots with others like you, no matter who you are.

8. I will accept critiques of my work.
Well duh! Photography is some sort of art right.. and as such critique is part of the deal. Not to mention how helpful critique can be.

9. I will set goals and be proactive about my photography career.
Depends on who you are really. I guess this one can be ok only for some people. If you are like me and have a different career path but photography is just an important hobby, being proactive about .. is not really something that fits.

10. I will connect with other photographers.
Well if you go about sharing your shots as per point 7 and accepting critique as per point 8 than this should be more or less already implied.

By the way dear reader.. here is twiplog.

The incredible images I am writing about above show another face of tragedy and suffering but they also show that man is strong and that man can be kind and help others. I think that is also the intention or at least partially so, since the Boston Globe article is entitled "Chile, nine days later". Unlike the sensationalist news and articles all over the place these pictures show this tragedy and it's outcome from many angles. If you look through all 41 photographs you'll see, maybe how you would expect, someone under medical care but you will also see a captured looter or women making something to eat and young people sitting outside a house with electrical cables around to power their laptops.

Here is the link: The Big Picture - Chile, nine days later

Enjoy! (if I even should "say" that)

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the German company has also produced aircraft engines, motorcycles and bicycles and has brought forth many engineering solutions, for example from aircraft engines to racing engines and than from the racing track on the normal road and I have the best example for this: the 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL, the fastest production car of it's day!

The 300SL describes the 2995 cc straight-6 engine and the "SL" stands for "Sport Leicht" or put in plain English "Sport Light". The car has it's origin on the race track, being based on the highly successful 1952 Mercedes-Benz 300SL racing model, code named W194. The 1954 road model 300SL was codenamed W198.

Noteworthy is also that the 300SL was the first production car to feature direct chamber injection, technology that Mercedes took from aeroplane engines, which made the car's engine able to produce almost 230 PS, compared to the actual carbureted racetrack version which developed only 115 horse power (86kW). The direct injection was a Bosch mechanical direct fuel injection system.

This particular car was requested by the New York Mercedes distributor and official USA importer Max Hoffman. He told the Mercedes-Benz AG management in Stuttgart Germany that the market, especially the US market, is well prepared for such a car taking into account the economic boom after the Second World War. More than 80% of the vehicles produced were sold in the USA.

After it was first introduced in 1954 as a closed sports car with distinctive gull-winged doors the German car company also offered the 300SL as a open roadster. Until the production of the model ended in 1963 Mercedes sold 1400 gull-winged coupe units and 1858 roadster units.

Today the value of this car is quite high being a popular collection item for car enthusiasts. In 2009 a couple of 300SL models were offered for sale from the Foxwood Collection at over $1.3 Million US Dollars.

I'm a car passionate and loved photographing this car, I think it is the car I took most of my time on from the entire Stuttgart Mercedes Museum and trust me it had plenty to offer. For most of the shots I used the available light and the on camera flash did not help as much as patience did. Why patience ? I had to wait for all the other museum visitors to pass by, to photograph the car, to try again or to listen to the guide while walking round the car.

I'll post more about other cars I have photographed during my visitation in the coming days.
Until then..

Cheers! Z.

Long story short, I got this little shot here which I really like a lot and it turns out that not just me. I decided to gave the pictures to my friend since they are his pets anyway and he placed the next one on some pet owners forums.

As you can see if you followed the link on my image above, it got a few votes in the pet image contest, reason enough to be a little bit happy, but that is not the explanation for the title at all.. no, this is a happy shot because.. well, just look at the image.

And if you want to see it larger you can check the shot on my flickr stream:

Zmurfu.

The entire commune has 16.082 residents, split among Baiersbronn village with 5.735 residents, Friedrichstal, Mitteltal, Obertal, Tonbach, Klosterreichenbach, Röt-Schönegründ, Huzenbach, Schwarzenberg, Schönmünzach and Schönmünz with only 162 residents.

With such a small community that receives plenty of tourists all year round people are cheerful and welcoming. We went there to find some ski slopes and were amazed by how trusting and friendly everyone is there.
One example is at the ski renting shop in Baiersbronn village, where they were closing shop on Sunday at noon but let us keep the skis all day with the promise to put them behind the house, with a small paper note in them stating our names, before we left. Where would you find something like this ? Complete strangers renting a couple of ski equipment sets and than walking away on promise to bring them back in the evening.
Another example is that we left our gloves and hats and a pair of snow glasses on a bench near the slope elevator when we got there and they were still there in the evening when we packed things into the car.
Not to mention that everyone on the ski trail was friendly and helpful even if at times bothered involuntarily by some of us making mistakes and falling off the cable while going up.

And at the end of the day we left for home tired, happy and with a few lovely photos from which the ones posted above. Sometimes things just go right.. happy with the photographs and the time spent there, now all that's left is to get back there before summer comes and melts the snow.

Cheers!

Enjoy!

On his blog, photographer Robert Caplin, who did the cinematography for the film, says:

I'm very excited to announce the launch of "Betrayed", a short thriller co-written and directed by Joshua Grossberg and starring Seth Gilliam (The Wire), PJ Sosko, and Cara Buono (The Sopranos). Betrayed, one of the first narrative works to be shot on the Canon 5D Mark II, follows husband and reporter James Vance (PJ Sosko) who mysteriously disappears, but not before leaving a cryptic video diary leading law enforcement to unravel the crime of his demise.

Betrayed was co-written and directed by Joshua Grossberg, who according to IMDB is also writer and producer for "A Bridge Life: Finding Our Way Home" documentary, following Katrina in September 2005.

What can I say about the short film from the trailer is that the images are incredible! And so they should, considering the great camera which the 5D Mark II is and most likely the nice lens sets that Robert Caplin and Joshua Grossberg could put together. Best if you watch it yourselves and make your own opinions on the matter (share if you dare).

If you want to learn more you can visit the official website at betrayedshort.com and read Robert Caplin's photography blog.

Enjoy!

The Nikon competitor:
"Vincent Munier - Summer Variations - Nikon D3s"

The images are very captivating and very expressive and they should be as they come through Getty, Associated Press, Reuters, etc. and that implies of course real quality. As you may have already guessed the article presents in photos people at work, but the trick is these images come from all over the world and capture a variety of professions and people in different circumstances. I think that the article, as a whole, so both Part I and Part II, is in very good spirit especially in these times of economic troubles.

My favourite images from both parts are, in no particular order: At Work Part I - image 1 - the man and the clocks, just have to love the light; At Work Part I - image 17 -
the shallow depth of field makes me wonder about the details at the tip of that pincer; At Work Part II - image 30 - the dof is great and the dark dirty hands in that light truly inspire in me the hard work of the miner.

So best if you watch and read the details yourselves.

The Boston Globe "At Work"
The Boston Globe "At Work" Part II

Enjoy!