Jimmy Nelson started working as a photographer in 1987. Having spent 10 years at a Jesuit boarding school in the North of England, he set off on his own to traverse the length of Tibet on foot. via Photography Blog.
Monday, March 3, 2014
Nymph by Davide Franceschini
Sora no Otoshimono, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Suu Minazuki.Nymph is an "Electronic Warfare Angeloid, Type Beta".
www.inprnt.com/gallery/timecore/nymph
www.timecore.org
www.facebook.com/timecore.org
www.behance.net/timecore
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Concept Art by Nikita Veprikov
Ukraine based artist Nikita Veprikov creayed the awesome concept art with strong 3D effect
More inspirations
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Lost Maples Before the Fall
Lost Maples Photo by Chase Fountain
Lost Maples State Natural Area covers over 2500 acres of beautiful country in Bandera and Real counties in central Texas. It's just north of Vanderpool on the picturesque Sabinal River.
Each autumn, thousands flock to Lost Maples to admire the beauty of the fall colors in a location many have come to think of as Vermont in Texas. Unfortunately, the extremes of heat and drought this year have taken their toll on the trees at Lost Maples and it looks like the colors this fall may be short lived.
According to the Texas Parks & Wildlife folks...
"This summer's record heat and historic low rain fall has put the trees through their roughest test since weather records have been kept for this area. Due to the extreme heat and dryness this summer we are seeing a change in many of the trees already, about six weeks early. The change is stress related from the heat and dry weather. Many of the black Walnuts are turning yellow and dropping their leaves. Some of the smaller Maples have turned already due to the heat and dry weather. It has been a very rough year for the trees, as we had two storms this summer, one on June 30 and another two weeks later that had small tornados. We lost several very large Red Oaks in these storms, and one huge Cherry tree. Most of the tree varieties are showing some heat stress. Most of the very large Maples seem to be doing well and the ones back on the trails are doing good as they are close to the river and still getting some water."
I visited this beautiful park a few weeks ago and found the Sabinal river to be almost bone dry. I'm hoping to get back there later this month if I can find the time. For now, I'll have to content myself with the few nice shots I took one cloudy morning.
Lost Maples State Natural Area - Vanderpool, Texas
Copyright 2009 Jeff Lynch Photography
Shot taken with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II set on aperture priority (Av) using an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens hand held. The exposure was taken at 24mm, f/10 for 1/80th of a second using a Singh-Ray LB Warming Polarizer at ISO 100 on Lexar Professional digital film. Post capture processing was done in Adobe Lightroom 2. Click on the image above for a larger version.
Posted in Photography Tagged: Canon, Canon 5D Mark II, Landscape Photography, Lost Maples State Natural Area, Photography
Workshop Preparation – The Tripod
As many of you know this fall's Texas Landscape Safari is scheduled for later this month (October 18 - 21, 2009) and I thought I'd help folks get ready by discussing some "tools of the trade" used by every good landscape photographer. So over the next two weeks I'll be posting images of the gear I use along with some shots made possible by this gear. (Honestly, it's just plain fun to "gear geek out" every once in a while)
A set of light-weight, good quality tripod legs is an essential tool in any landscape photographer's rig. A tripod is the most important accessory a serious amateur photographer will invest in and one which should be chosen with great care. A good tripod can make the difference between a shot that "looks" tack sharp on the camera's LCD and one that "is" tack sharp when printed at 24 36 . Remember, the number one cause of soft images isn't poor focus, it's camera movement.
Good quality tripod legs are not cheap and you can expect to pay somewhere between $400 - $800 (USD) depending upon the materials of construction, size and weight.
My favorite set of tripod legs are Gitzo's GT1541T Traveller. They are made from carbon fiber and are very light-weight (2.1 lbs) but extremely strong and durable. They fold up to only 16 in length, making them very easy to carry in a backpack but will support up to 17 lbs of camera and lens, which is just about any lens of 300mm or less with my Canon 5D Mark II body.
I'm an unabashed believer in Gitzo tripods (probably the only French product I've ever bought) and highly recommend them to any photographer. My set of Traveller legs has seen the extremes of heat, humidity, mud, sand, gravel and just plain dirt and they work as well now as the first day I bought them.
At $575 (USD) they're not cheap but they're light-weight, compact and durable as hell. You may buy four or five cameras over your lifetime as a landscape photographer but you'll only need one Gitzo tripod!
Posted in Photography Tagged: Gitzo Traveller Tripod, Gitzo Tripods
Friday, February 28, 2014
Product Reviews, The FTC and Bloggers
Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission published their "Final Guides Governing Endorsements, Testimonials" in an article subtitled "Changes Affect Testimonial Advertisements, Bloggers, Celebrity Endorsements".
According to the FTC web site posting;
"The notice incorporates several changes to the FTC's Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, which address endorsements by consumers, experts, organizations, and celebrities, as well as the disclosure of important connections between advertisers and endorsers."
Furthermore it states;
"The revised Guides specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service."
"Under the revised Guides, advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect."
And if that weren't enough, the post goes on to clearly state;
"While the 1980 Guides did not explicitly state that endorsers as well as advertisers could be liable under the FTC Act for statements they make in an endorsement, the revised Guides reflect Commission case law and clearly state that both advertisers and endorsers may be liable for false or unsubstantiated claims made in an endorsement - or for failure to disclose material connections between the advertiser and endorsers."
Under these regulations the article I posted earlier this morning could be considered a testimonial for Gitzo and my claims that the Gitzo Traveller tripod "has seen the extremes of heat, humidity, mud, sand, gravel and just plain dirt and they work as well now as the first day I bought them" could be considered "unsubstantiated" and I would be legally "liable" if one of my readers were to purchase the same tripod due to my testimonial and have a different experience with it than I had. The reader could then file suit and attempt to recover damages from me.
Here's the "material connection" they talk about. I paid for the product, used the product and wrote about the product. I didn't get it "free" or accept any remuneration from Gitzo, but I am a "consumer" of the product and did write a product review advocating the use of the product. How about the "unsubstantiated" part? How do I substantiate my claims that the product has seen the extremes of heat, humidity, etc. and worked just fine? Do I have to video tape my use of every product I review on this blog?
In my opinion, the effect of these revised regulations will be to stifle the frank and honest review of new products by bloggers and forum posters throughout the United States. No longer will bloggers or forum posters be able to openly discuss their "opinion" on the merits of a new product without fear of reprisal. I can envision the day in the very near future that Canon releases a new DSLR camera and no one "dares" to post a preview, review or flame about it's features or perceived benefits for fear of being sued.
- Will folks living in "the land of the free and the home of the brave" have to read products reviews from foreign authors only?
- Do these revised regulations really help protect consumers and does the Government really think consumers are that gullible?
- Are the opinions of bloggers so controversial that we require FTC regulation?
- Is this what Freedom of Speech has come to in our country?
Posted in Photography Tagged: Bloggers, Federal Trade Commission, FTC Endorsement Guidelines
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