I'm just printing all day. Printing, printing, printing. About 20 prints to get out. And everything was going well until - you guessed it - I couldn't find a negative. What is wrong with me? I could picture the strip it was on. It was for a 5 x 7 print ($25). And after spending two hours looking for it - I remembered that I had been in the middle of filing negs. the other day - and hadn't finished and sure enough it was in that pile. So kick me.
It's bad because it ain't the first time and I know it won't be the last that some neg. disappears. The problem is that there's always a different reason. A few weeks ago it was because I had pulled a negative from the file system (at least I have one) because so-and-so wanted a high-rez scan. Did I re-file it afterwards? No. I just left it in a pile with some other stuff.
Most probably some of these negs. end up where my socks end up. I can buy a million pair of socks at the beginning of the year but by the end of the year only two are left (I'm wearing them now).
Oh and on top of that - my healing brush cursor which used to be a nice circle just turned into the healing brush icon and I'm too proud to ask someone who knows why that happened. I changed all the cursor preferences but no luck. When you select the source with the ALT KEY you get a nice circle - and then when you go to zap something you get this stupid healing icon which doesn't show me exactly what it is healing. What did I do to deserve this fate? Must be bad karma for doing too much marketing and getting too many orders.
11/15/2005
11/14/2005
Blue Face
As I was going through the Mermaid Day shots - this one hit me again. This may be the only shot that I've done that must be in color. It was shot through a fence which gives it that misty feeling around the edges.
Misc.
I'm beginning to put back galleries organized by theme: the first one is Mermaid Day Gallery. It's getting very busy around here again (yes - orders) but the next gallery is going to be a New York Protest gallery (loads of images). Eventually, I'm thinking these would be good for calendars (the first calendar proof should arrive tomorrow).
As far as print-pricing - if you look through the for sale gallery - you'll get a good idea of the range of what works. Once you hit the $100 for a print, no matter what the size - watch out.
As far as print-pricing - if you look through the for sale gallery - you'll get a good idea of the range of what works. Once you hit the $100 for a print, no matter what the size - watch out.
11/13/2005
Faces at a Marathon
Mother and Child at New York Marathon
Ash
Untitled
When you have cut into the continuity of time you are only stealing your 1000th of a second as if the other minutes don't matter.
And I'm not talking about Heidenberg's Uncertainty Principle.
And I'm not saying, as some believe, that you've really stolen the fraction of a second from someone's soul (or possibly their entire soul) - but you have put your 1/1000th of a second forward to be looked at as if it were reality. But when you present your slice of time you are always messing with reality.
"The rose dies because you picked it," Tom Waits
Education and Art in Western Society
Julie and her husband Jude were drinking expensive ultra-premium Vodka. Jude had a paunch and was doing a comb over. The bar was dark, but Julie looked the same as in college - except her hair was all streaked silver.
They are both psychiatrists on the upper-west side - and they've been specializing on the problems of artists in Western society.
Two days later - Julie sent me a sample chapter of the book they're working on. Julie asked me to comment on it before it went to their editor. You can read the rest of their chapter here.
They are both psychiatrists on the upper-west side - and they've been specializing on the problems of artists in Western society.
Two days later - Julie sent me a sample chapter of the book they're working on. Julie asked me to comment on it before it went to their editor. You can read the rest of their chapter here.
11/12/2005
In the Trenches
I added a simple Photoshop Workflow aimed at showing how I get to a web image (after Markus') in the (Scroll down to the bottom when you get there) Cafe Forum.
* * *
Man, is anything going on in the world I should know about. I swear I've been glued to this computer for the last month or so. And lord preserve me - it's all been about selling. Last night I found myself up at 2 a.m. for no other reason than I had the brilliant idea of lowering prices and adding a few more prints to the 5 x7 section (since those are selling like the proverbial hotcakes).
Poor kitty. Doesn't know what to make of these odd hours. These are his hours for prowling and here I am with all the lights blazing clicking away on what seems to him to be - I can only guess he thinks the keyboard is a new-fangled scratching pad.
And naturally FTP connection was giving me all sorts of grief. Did some investigating after getting a no help response from the ISP and saw that I had some extra goodie for advanced FTP turned on in Dreamweaver. I haven't touched that particular goodie since I installed the thing, but now the Advanced mode was the cause of the problem because when I unclicked it - everything began to work as advertised. Someday, when I'm rich and famous I'm going to hire a webmaster to deal with these idiotic problems.
Anyway - if something important is going on outside my apartment - please let me know.
* * *
Man, is anything going on in the world I should know about. I swear I've been glued to this computer for the last month or so. And lord preserve me - it's all been about selling. Last night I found myself up at 2 a.m. for no other reason than I had the brilliant idea of lowering prices and adding a few more prints to the 5 x7 section (since those are selling like the proverbial hotcakes).
Poor kitty. Doesn't know what to make of these odd hours. These are his hours for prowling and here I am with all the lights blazing clicking away on what seems to him to be - I can only guess he thinks the keyboard is a new-fangled scratching pad.
And naturally FTP connection was giving me all sorts of grief. Did some investigating after getting a no help response from the ISP and saw that I had some extra goodie for advanced FTP turned on in Dreamweaver. I haven't touched that particular goodie since I installed the thing, but now the Advanced mode was the cause of the problem because when I unclicked it - everything began to work as advertised. Someday, when I'm rich and famous I'm going to hire a webmaster to deal with these idiotic problems.
Anyway - if something important is going on outside my apartment - please let me know.
COMMERCIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
I interrupt the general meandering of this blog to announce that prices have been radically and lovingly lowered in ye olde Photography Store.
The reason: sales were dismal at the old prices and the holidays seemed like a good time to do this slashing (that's an original idea - Christmas Sales).
Everyone was buying the $20 prints and a some medium sized $90 prints. So I tried to make the range from $20 - $90.
My marketing consultant advised me to remove the FREE FEDEX SHIPPING FOR ORDERS OVER $150 but I think he's skating on thin ice right now. Never hire your relatives to do your marketing, especially if they're still in junior high-school.
The reason: sales were dismal at the old prices and the holidays seemed like a good time to do this slashing (that's an original idea - Christmas Sales).
Everyone was buying the $20 prints and a some medium sized $90 prints. So I tried to make the range from $20 - $90.
My marketing consultant advised me to remove the FREE FEDEX SHIPPING FOR ORDERS OVER $150 but I think he's skating on thin ice right now. Never hire your relatives to do your marketing, especially if they're still in junior high-school.
11/11/2005
Mother and Child, Marathon
Mother and Child, Marathon
Speaking of Photoshop technique: these are almost totally unworked since I didn't have the time. They're just up as reminders to me - worth working on. Scanned at 5400, flipped down to 72 dpi in one pass; and just sharped with the Photoshop unsharp mask. They are just ideas for me right now. You can see all sorts of technical errors - bad sharpening; highlight of baby's face blown; hair of woman mixing with background, etc. And it can all and will be fixed.
Business Crap
So far I've spent about $100 on samples from Lulu and haven't seen a thing yet.
I published the first Lulu draft calendar on11/04/2005. Still hasn't shipped. And what has shipped - still hasn't arrived. Oh man - today's Vet. Day. No mail
What does Lulu mean anyway? "It's a Lulu?"
I also think Lulu was Ed Norton's childhood dog. Remember the sleep-walking episode? Poor Ed is dreaming about his pooch and starts sleep-walking - looking for his poor Lulu that he lost at Coney Island. "Loooo-looooo."
There was also a screen siren in silent films called Lulu. (Louise Brooks)
Lulu may be the bleeding edge technology of the day.
Anyway - the ftp connection was (is) unbearably slow this morning so I decided to develop two rolls of film. Ah the old technology. Can't beat it sometimes. Hope to have something worth looking at later.
I published the first Lulu draft calendar on11/04/2005. Still hasn't shipped. And what has shipped - still hasn't arrived. Oh man - today's Vet. Day. No mail
What does Lulu mean anyway? "It's a Lulu?"
I also think Lulu was Ed Norton's childhood dog. Remember the sleep-walking episode? Poor Ed is dreaming about his pooch and starts sleep-walking - looking for his poor Lulu that he lost at Coney Island. "Loooo-looooo."
There was also a screen siren in silent films called Lulu. (Louise Brooks)
Lulu may be the bleeding edge technology of the day.
Anyway - the ftp connection was (is) unbearably slow this morning so I decided to develop two rolls of film. Ah the old technology. Can't beat it sometimes. Hope to have something worth looking at later.
11/10/2005
Next Year's Wish List
First off - while I'm awaiting the calendars etc. from Lulu - I've delved into InDesign and I'm churning out PDF files with various settings. Since the shortest test book you can do on Lulu is 32 pages - I figure I might as well do a real one. What the heck.
* * *
Next year's wish list: the 35mm Leica f1.4, though I might settle for the Voigtlander 35 which I've read good things about.
A new computer; lot's of deals at Dell.
* * *
I've noticed that Christmas displays are everywhere - so I'm already behind with that in terms of specials. The main thing, is that I'm trying to get the calendar finished so people can get it from Lulu - or maybe directly from me (which might be faster).
* * *
I've been meaning to raise the prices on the 5 x 7 prints (since they're selling pretty well at the $20 price) and I want to see what happens if I go for $25. I've got to go now - the cat is giving me all sorts of troubles - climbing everywhere - demanding attention.
Now he's stepping on the remote control and switching channels. I'm trying to listen to the senate debate whether we can torture prisoners or not. Apparantly the cat wants to watch the animal channel which is what he keeps switching to.
* * *
Next year's wish list: the 35mm Leica f1.4, though I might settle for the Voigtlander 35 which I've read good things about.
A new computer; lot's of deals at Dell.
* * *
I've noticed that Christmas displays are everywhere - so I'm already behind with that in terms of specials. The main thing, is that I'm trying to get the calendar finished so people can get it from Lulu - or maybe directly from me (which might be faster).
* * *
I've been meaning to raise the prices on the 5 x 7 prints (since they're selling pretty well at the $20 price) and I want to see what happens if I go for $25. I've got to go now - the cat is giving me all sorts of troubles - climbing everywhere - demanding attention.
Now he's stepping on the remote control and switching channels. I'm trying to listen to the senate debate whether we can torture prisoners or not. Apparantly the cat wants to watch the animal channel which is what he keeps switching to.
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