Printing in China

I received the first two boxes of forty books today from my printer in China. With the last printing done in the United States through the Foundry having binding problems and high prices to boot, I revisited Patricia Simon at Asia Pacific and talk about service, quality, efficiency and price. I ended up with a book that is exactly the same weight, has 4" flaps on the cover, new art and better looking photos for a price that was low enough to consider doing another book...but more on this....

One Laptop Per Child

Coffee with Donna, my long-time friend and digital buddy is always interesting. Last week, she reached into her ever-present large bag and with a triumphant smile, lofted a "one Laptop Per Child" computer. It is very cool. It is small, wireless, waterproof, energy efficient, Open Source, networkable and doubles as a nightlight! She was one of the first to order the machines.

You buy two: one is donated to a child; you get the second one for yourself. It's quite the technical marvel and we were able to access this blog in the coffee shop on the OLPC's maiden voyage into the Dupont Circle. It's lightweight, practical and is a "best of technology" product in my mind. If you are interested, you can check it out at the "One Laptop Per Child" site.

According to the site info, the OLPC "runs on Linux, a free and open-source operating system. OLPC’s commitment to software freedom gives children the opportunity to use their laptops on their own terms. The children—and their teachers—have the freedom to reshape, reinvent, and reapply their software, hardware, and content. There’s even a button located on the keyboard that allows children to view the programming behind certain applications. The XO laptop’s revolutionary interface, Sugar, also promotes sharing and learning." Have a look. I doubt we'll be transmitting images from it but then again, it's actually more sophisticated and powerful than our early imaging machines. It's also upgradeable. In fact, it's one of the first really cool technological devices I've seen in a long time.

Look Ma...no flash!

I photographed a Congressional hearing the other day and it was a blissful day of flash free heaven! I haven't been up on the hill for a long time and am not used to taking advantage of the high ISO capabilities and lovely color flexibility of the D200/300 bodies. They produce clean print quality images at 1600 ASA and higher. The flexibility of speed and color make it easier to deliver high quality work to your clients in a number of settings without changing all of your equipment for every job. This assignment was for the Military Order of the Purple Heart. You can see the results here.

Adobe...Losing its Edge!!!

I have multiple copies of Adobe's Creative Suite, reviewed the first version of the Creative Suite for Photo Techniques Magazine, own the full Macromedia Design Suite, taught Photoshop for ten years and last week was unable to do a simple upgrade to Photoshop 3 unless I upgraded EVERYTHING.  

There I was with my new cameras unable to open my Raw files unless I got the full upgrade to the Creative Suite 3. "Open Source Adobe"" has become a Kafkaesque monolith holding our files captive unless we upgrade . Adobe's purchase of Macromedia has forced it to begin enacting a business model that is as oprressive as the IRS. Too bad.  Two days to countdown on a major photo shoot and i've got some moron telling me "we are going to have to "open a ticket...." "We" never got back to me....and a week later, I'm still waiting for the upgrade package to arrive." Good thing we live in a digital world!!!

In 2001,  Adobe wanted my support in persuading Nikon to share the math behind RAW files with Adobe. When I pointed out that there was nothing to prevent Adobe from "becoming as proprietary as Nikon", they protested ..."We're Adobe and we're the good guys"!!! Bullshit then and bullshit now!  Adobe has become as avaricious and monolithic in photography and design as Microsoft with Office.  I fear the day when every photo looks like powerpoint and with Adobe's new PhotoExpress. , they soon will. Fortunately, they've revised their "rights policy" so they may still have some cred left in the Photographic world but mostly amongst the paid Evangelistas.

I have never seen a company get so far out of tune with it's customers since Kodak started it's electronic stock agency in the 90's Wow!!!  Hey there Adobe...did you think we professional photographers would be grateful if you built a direct file sharing link in the software to the cheapest and worst of stock photography on the web?

While Adobe finally dropped the "stock agency" from the Creative Suite 3, the "new Adobe" is too big to handle small problem.  Even a phone call to Julianne Kost's private cell phone resulted in silence. I'm considering going back to Capture and Quark!!!...now that's customer dissatisfaction!. According to their Lightroom Journal... "It really feels like the beta process never stopped ..." I agree Adobe should be supporting new camera formats instead of forcing upgrades.  If you buy a new camera, say hello to the Sopranos from Adobe.... "You'll never get out!!"

For now, I'm on a search for some real Open Source software and think Adobe might want to rethink its relationship with it's customers.

First Pitch: The Washington Nationals for the Post

I got a nice call last week from Ken Babby of The Washington Post Advertising Group with a nifty assignment. The gig: photograph the traditional "first pitch" at the Nationals new stadium, transmit it to the Washington Post printing plant where they would print up 50,000 posters and deliver them to the stadium before games' end! I began a challenging technical week which preoccupied me completely. The POST/NATIONALS project team was SUPREMELY competent and did a great deal of prep to ensure a good outcome!

We tested for color, ISO, stability, the length of a pitch. We finally decided on three cameras firing alternately so the buffers would overlap in case I prematurely fired the cameras. On the Press side, Costa Bugg and his team had already prepped the layout files and preset the color from the transmission tests the night before. I chose the new 3G AT&T wireless modem should the stadium internet go out. The Press Box view not only allowed us secondary transmission facilities but also because the President was throwing the "ceremonial pitch", kept us away from the Secret Service and the Presidential Press Corps.

Naureen Kandar and Ken Babby of the Post oversaw a steady schedule of testing and organization. The prep paid off. About twenty minutes before the first pitch, two of the large rolling windows in the Press Room window collided in front of us and one shattered. Fortunately, it was safety glass and we didn't lose more than two minutes as it was moved out of the way. Then as the pitcher stepped to the mound, two inevitable (... we had actually planned for "something" at the critical moment) "morons" started pressing against me and the camera rig. Jeffrey kept them at bay while I made the shot.

I made two frames showing the pitcher poised and the ball speeding to the batter. Ah...serendipity! John G. of the Nationals chose one of the two shots that showed pitcher poised perfectly and the ball in the air. The image took about thirty seconds to move to the Post. Should you attempt this feat, it takes 25 minutes to print 50,000 posters, 15 minutes to "palletize" them, and forty minutes to drive them into the city where the truck driver was sent "this way and that" with some chaotic security measures. Lauren Pober--the most determined woman I've ever met-- took off into the darkness, found the truck and got it right to the front of the Stadium where teams distributed the posters. The fans had posters just as the last home run of the ninth inning closed down the game. "Photography is 90 percent preparation and 10 percent serendipity" (Gjon Mili) or "Photography is 90 percent furniture moving and 10 percent serendipity." (Arnold Newman) In any case, it worked and my ulcer is for rent once again!
Fans hold poster up with the new bigger billboard behind them.
Lauren Pober (far right) and Nationals Team distribute poster

***George Cosmo posted a link about the poster's impact with fans. Seemed like it worked for everyone! Thanks George!

"It Needs More Salt"....the Gefilte Fish chronicles

Don't just stand there, Cook!"
"Don't Just sit there, Eat!"

I had a cup with my brilliant cousin Dave Burnett last Thursday to see his latest production: "The Gefilte Fish Chronicles", an hour-long film on family, values, cooking and cooking. Iris Burnett's mom was one of seven sisters who met annually to cook for 75. David has been documenting the event for the past eight years on video. Dick Swanson did the editiing. So the Burnetts have a hit! They've put together a touching tribute to the generation of "strong minded" women. It's nice to see our friends producing and controlling their ideas. David's work has just been getting more interesting and he's always cooking!! It's also nice to commiserate about pushing ideas and those frustrating trips to the Post Office.

There's an accompanying cookbook and they are both available at the Gefilte Fish Website. The show is currently scheduled for nine PBS stations and it's good to watch Dave and Iris continually produce and control their material. The book and video are available as a set for $40.00. Support your local artist!!!! And I will get to Iris's book "So You Think You Can Be President" in a future post.

Context

This blog is about independent publishing. Are we going to get rich? Maybe. More importantly, I think we'll all be happier and more creative if we have a financial stake in the projects we are working on. It's something most publishers have forgotten and they are left wondering why their content sucks.... The best minds are certainly not giving their content away and our new publishing paradise certainly makes distribution easy. Not to pick on any publisher in particular....but when the NY Times has yet another plagiarism scandal on their hands, is it any wonder they are not getting original content from their staff? Their best freelance writers left them long ago over the right to their materials. Cross platform publishing is routine. We're living in a digital age and the publishers are acting like financial and legal cavemen.