the Blog of Farenell Photography

Nursing Shortage

2012-01-17T09:00:00.002-05:00

As regular readers will know, I often lampoon how idiotic the NYS legislature can be. So the following should come as no surprise.

According to the NYS Nursing Association, the state already has a nursing shortage & is expected to continue for years to come.

What is our legislature's response?

They're proposing to make the entry barrier higher for new RN's. Specifically it proposes that they be required to be a 4-year degree within 10 years, otherwise they'll no longer be able to work within NY state.

http://news.yahoo.com/ny-bill-require-bachelors-degrees-rns-073218574.html

I'm all in favor of educating a work force when its necessary & MAKES SENSE. But to me, this is reads as another way for the state to generate the much needed higher education revenue. If we want them educated, that's fine. But there's got to be a smarter way to go about doing this than removing them from a critical job field for months & often years at a time.

**********

In other news...

**********

Below is of Emily taken awhile ago. I've always like the depth of field play in that shot.

Last I heard she was putting together a homespun screen-printed clothing line, the Hidden Fox, or something like that.

Feel free to comment on any part of this if you so desire.

Speech Recognition

2012-01-05T13:30:00.001-05:00

I have an antitechnology rant inspired by both the Terminator series & Arthur C Clarke's HAL from "2001". Basically, we should just give them the nuclear codes because "those damn machines" are going to kill us off anyways. The rant usually is brought on by technology arbitrarily telling us what to do. For example if I don't buckle my seat belt within the first 10 seconds I turn on the ignition, it CONTINUES to remind me every other 15 seconds until its buckled. Sometimes I just want to warm up the dang car on a cold day.

Knowing this, fellow blogger MOFYC sent me a link to NPR's On Point broadcast tackling/promoting/discussing Apple's new speech recognition program, Siri.

After listening to program, I am not as concerned with this technological development as one would think.

Why?

The computer program is not bossing me around because it THINKS I'm doing something wrong. Its user iniated. Its like when a person asks for my opinion (usually in regards to their photo portfolio). I won't go out of my way & give my opinion (unless its in a public venue...which entirely changes this equation). But if someone ASKS for my opinion, I have no quams in actually giving it. If they don't like what I have to say, its their dang problem.

I see this as more along the lines of Star Trek technology. We've already seen it in a lot of ways: the flip communicators, those were our cell phones from 5-10 years ago. Whenever the characters were reading a book (yes, they still did that in the 23th & 24th Centuries), they were looking at what we currently call an eReader. However I'm still waiting for the development of the transporter system (the machine disassemblies your molecules on the molecular level "beams" you some great distance away & then reassembles those disassembled molecules on the spot) because it'd save me a fortune in travel & car expenses.

Which is not to say the television writers wouldn't creates stories of technology running amok or being humans misunderstanding its application. For the most part the technology was one of benevolence. It'd help, it'd assist, it'd offer suggestion. That sorta thing.

However, I'm not saying that I have ZERO concerns about this kind of technology or our relationship to it.

Our codependency on technology is one example.

I cannot begin to tell you how many times my friends bitch when they drop & break their smart phone & god forbid, the person can't function w/ it out for a few days until they can get the new one. Or they leave the phone in another jacket & actually have to chill & do nothing for a few minutes. Or *gasp* they or the person on the other end goes into a reception dead zone (read my letter to those particular people here).

These devices have become extensions of our own bodies. People, especially the young, are excel at playing-games/texting/whatever on their smart phones & not breaking eye contact. This is classroom challenge that I do not envy.

Corruption is another concern.

Knowing how the capitalist world runs. Once they've got you codependent on a product, they've psychologically convinced you that you cannot live without out. I repeat, they've convinced you that YOU CANNOT LEAVE WITH OUT IT.

Its like being a junkie in a lot of ways.

Give you a little preview of how (for example) the application works. But to get more, you have to pay X-amount of dollars. Soon they've persuaded you in getting a whole bunch of crap that you never would have gotten in a million years on your own. Its cleverly insidious in a lot of ways.

The philosphical question becomes do you ACTUALLY need it or do you THINK you need it?

So far I've been able to reject the smart phone lifestyle. But I cannot say it remain that way indefinitely.

**********
In other news...
**********

This is Zoe.

You'd never know it by the shot below but it was one of those "scattered showers" shoots. We couldn't really depend on consistent weather so we just mutually agreed to both cross our fingers & hope for the best.

Feel free to comment on any part of this entry if you so desire.

Hydrofrack Warning

2011-12-14T11:45:00.001-05:00

Saw a very disturbing article whose headline states "EPA sounds alarm on fracking in Wyoming ."

Other than being a good citizen of the world (or at least TRYING to), why am I, a resident of NY, concerned about this?

Before I get into that, hydrofracking is short for hydraulic fracturing. It uses a pressurized fluid aiming at the veins of the rock bed with the intent of releasing from the soil & then capturing untapped oil, natural gas, & coal steam.

One of the problems is that the hydrofracking companies haven't exactly been forthcoming in letting the public & regulators know what is exactly in their pressure streams. We know its a chemicalized-water mix but no one is really sure what the percentages are. How can we when the companies are protecting "trade secrets"?

This leads to a bigger question. Is & will our ground water be safe?

Officially, the journey is still out. Unofficially when I witness tap water literally be set on fire by the seeped in gas, I'd say no.

Why am I concerned?

The fracking industry has blitzed all levels of my state government to open new drilling permits in the Marcellus Shale which located in along the entire New York-Pennsylvania border. They tout that it'll bring employment to an economically depressed region. If I lived along the NY-PA border, I'd be extremely concerned about allowing fracking. Yes, you may get (altogether now) "jobs, jobs, jobs" but what good are "jobs, jobs, jobs" if one cannot rely on the drinking water even if its for everyday use (like toilet flushing, cooking, laundry). This effects not only the people but also the businesses & industries who have nothing to do with fracking.

If corporations are people & are thus deserving of constitutional rights (thank you Citizens United), how are these actions one of a responsible citizen?

If my State Government is smart & concerned about anything besides votes, they'll defeat new hydrofracking permits. Considering I know very well how functional they actually are (some would say crooked), I'm trying not to get my hopes up.

**********
In other news...
**********

This is Hannah at the bottom with her friend's child (the mother simply wasn't in the frame) & her little own little one.

Little ones I find are tough to direct, so I simply just kinda let them do their own thing & follow along. I approached the entire shoot with a "Day at the Playground" documentary shooting perspective. It was a refreshing change of pace.

Comment away on any part of this if you so desire.

Giving Thanks

2011-11-24T18:43:00.001-05:00

I am VERY thankful for each & every person that I've been blessed in working with.

Without y'alls support, I would not be remotely the photographer that I've become.

Tasers and Police Brutality

2011-11-21T07:26:00.000-05:00

I live in a small community of 15,000 at most.

Seeing the questionable tactics used by law enforcement to disperse the Occupy Wall Street, one of the better examples is the Channel 4 news video of UC Davis' response to their Occupy protests as seen below:

...combined w/ a NYCLU report naming my own localities high use of tasers (aka "stun guns"), its made me question some things.

During the mid-late 90's while serving with the Marines, the use of "deadly force" was ingrained into each & everyone of us. It was seperated into two parts. Defining "deadly force" & explaining when it can be applied (while on post as a sentry). From my US Marine Guidebook (1999 edition)...

"Deadly force is defined as that force which a person uses with the purpose of causing-or which he knows or should reasonably know, would create substantial risk of causing-death or serious bodily harm. Deadly force is justified under conditions of extreme necessity and ONLY as a last resort when all lesser means have failed or cannot reasonably be employed." (emphasis mine)

Yes specific situations & environments will vary on the when, how, & why. But basically, one has to use all possible options BEFORE they pull that trigger.

So what explains the Glens Falls Police Department's high taser usage? Back in May 2010 why did they taser a guy who reportedly had no other weapon on him besides his fists? Could they not have TRIED calming him down before they shot him? If this is how they treat one of their "Brother Officers", I'd hate to see what they do their enemies (so to speak).

Why is it that reportedly 99 out of 150 tasering incidents involved people with no weapons on them?

Granted this incident happened with a sister police department, can they & in what manner do they justify using a taser on an animal?

I'm not remotely saying tasering people is always unjustified.

What I AM promoting is that the Glens Falls Police Department step forward & explain themselves to the public. Specifically their policies on A. when their officers can draw their weapon, B. when they can pull the trigger, C. why doing so is acceptable.

I WANT to sympathize with the tough jobs the Boys in Blue have (Lord knows there are A LOT of whackos) but without having any clue as to what they're thinking, it simply reads as the leadership is promoting a culture of trigger happy cops getting their jollies off on hurting people.

Edit: Another taser fatality this time by a NC Police Department under questionable circumstances.

**********
In other news...
**********

This is Vanessa. "She makes Zombie Killing Look Good!"

You are welcome to comment about any part of this blog if you so choose.

Book Sizes

2011-09-26T09:45:00.001-04:00

I was down in Albany, NY recently where I visited the independent book store, the Book House.

As a lover of books, I saw a juxtaposition w/n the shelves that was very telling. Below are two pictures of the same book (taken from my phone).

I don't understand why the bigger book is priced at $16.99 while the smaller book is priced at $7.99. Nor are they simply different editions. Nor the interior font any bigger. Nor is there any difference in the interior art. Nor is it like there are more words in the bigger one than the smaller one.

Sh** like this is frustrating.

Its similar to what I saw in the early 2000s w/ music downloading & the lack of purchasing alternatives. If the record companies are going to discontinue music singles (a form of which that has been around in some way shape or form since the 1950s) and produce crap albums and press out barely 12 songs then expect us to be grateful we're shelling out (what was then) $15 for an album and then claim poverty while your artists are luck it they make $.50 on every album they sell, why shouldn't they be allowed to download stuff if for nothing else than to get some glimpse as to what our money is buying. Its bullsh**.

Its the same deal here.

I WANT to support traditional paper books. I prefer the tactile experience & the joy I get by passing on a good read to someone else. But if the publishing companies see nothing wrong w/ gouging us, why shouldn't the consumer look at alternative reading mediums?

This is why I support e-readers whether its the Kindle, the Nook, or any of the tablet downloadable apps.

The ones who are hurt by this greed are the local businesses (since they are essentially the middlemen) as well as the artists themselves. But whatever. Such is life & that's a shame.

**********
In other news...
**********

This is Candace participating in my Abandonment series. I was surprisingly please how well this out-take was.

Feel free & comment on any part of this if you so desire.

Ode to Red Fox Books

2011-09-09T12:45:00.000-04:00

I'm greatly saddened in hearing Red Fox Books, a small independent bookstore in downtown Glens Falls, will soon be shutting its doors.

I've gotten a number of books there. My favorite has been Joseph Heller's "Catch-22". Its sorta become my ritual to mail that to anyone I know who's deployed w/ the military.

Though I like & respect Mr Funiciello, owner of the Rock Hill Bake House, I fundamentally disagree with his public position that "the community didn't support the store." My reasoning is that that reason is to simplistic. One could say that about ANY business folding.

Sometimes there are just outside factors w/ whom the business owner have no direct control over. The dreadful state of the economy is a place to start. Choosing a bad location is another factor. Sometimes the profit margin leave little room for error. Sometimes the hired crew (or the owner) isn't up to the task. Sometimes people bungle the marketing. I'm not saying any these apply to Red Fox's closing, just trying to make a point.

Sometimes a new technology comes along that turns everything upside down. The rise of MP3's killed CD sales. The prevalence of cell phones dug hard into the profits of landline phone companies. In the case of Red Fox, the rise of the tablets & e-readers chipped away at their already small profit margins.

My point being sometimes people can do everything right & still lose.

The implications of the store's closing WILL indeed suck for this book loving fiend. I will now have to drive 20-25 minutes to my nearest Barnes & Nobles to enter any bookstore whatsoever. Nor have I been impressed w/ its selection, it "feels" very one-dimensional. Like if I went into a Barnes & Nobles in Albany, it'd be the same basic selection as the one in Saratoga.

People will adapt, life will go on, hopefully something just as good if not better will fill the void. Such is life.

I'm simply grateful for having met Sue Fox & Naftali Rottenstreich, sympathize their business endeavor didn't pan out, yet curious in seeing what the next stage in their life will be.

**********
In other news...
**********

I never get tired of working w/ Lauren.

*sigh*

Feel free & comment on any part of this if you so desire.

NY's Nanny State

2011-07-27T11:30:00.002-04:00

I do not condone texting while driving but this new recently signed NYS law is just plain stupid.

The law allows police to make texting while driving a primary offense. Meaning they can stop you just for that, whereas previously you had to make another traffic violation & then they'd tack the texting onto the other violation. According to news reports, law enforcement will be enforcing this law in unmarked vehicles.

In no particular order, why I think this law (of strengthening it) is stupid...

1. The state already has a "driving while distracted" law on the books. Making texting while driving illegal (or strengthening it) simply to makes it more sexy.

2. If texting while driving is supposedly more dangerous than drinking & driving, how come they do not also include pedestarians mindlessly walking while texting or those riding their bicycles while texting? Would not those equivalents not be the prohibition on open alcoholic containers or "driving while impaired," respectively?

I bring this up because there have been plenty of times where I've slammed on my breaks because some mindless pedesterian walks out in front traffic while they're texting. If god forbid I hit them, MY car insurance rates go up.

I walk to a lot of place locally. No fewer than 3 times since the spring has some idiot bicyclist nearly collide w/ me (or actually has) because, wait for it, he was fiddling w/ his phone.

Considering the Whitehall PD arrested a drunk guy riding a lawn mower, its not like it'd be that far of a stretch. What's the max speed on those mowers, maybe 20 mph at most? My bicycle riding fiend of a brother probably averages a faster speed than that.

3. Below is a picture of my GPS, m phone, & my iPod.

As you can see, they're all pretty much the same size. The officer can legally ticket you because he THINKS you're texting, even though you're not.

Also, two of these devices are legal while the other is not. If I were ever to be taken the traffic court, could the cop be sure that what he saw the driver doing at 65+ mph, really was texting?

4. Why single out texting?

If listening to NPR's Car Talk is any indication, people do everything from shaving w/ an electric razor to pouring coffee from their thermos to fiddling w/ the radio (I'm certainly guilty of that) to changing their clothes to painting their nails to feeding their kid (who's in the backseat) to tying their necktie to reading a map to...well, you get the idea.

All of these done were while driving. Why are the cops not cracking down on any of these practices?

5. I touched on this earlier but I have a problem w/ HOW the state plans on enforcing this measure.

If law enforcement is going by visual sight. Would that not mean they'll be targeting cars that are low to the ground & vehicles w/ nontinted windows?

6. Texting while driving is not something I condone. I admit it DOES take ones attention away from where its supposed to be, on the road.

However, I believe this new application of the law will make the practice worse. Instead of texting at 12 or 1 o'clock on the steering wheel where the driver can be sorta aware of the road using their perphieral vision, it'll be shifted down to 6 o'clock where its below the windowline & basically in the driver's lap.

I also believe we'll shortly see an entirely new industry crop up that will enable drivers to do their texting legally, just as we saw w/ the 2001 NYS law ban cell phone use w/ your hands.

7. The state is trying to change driver behavior by targeting the device that distracts them. This is the latest example of Albany's short-sightedness. Instead of cracking down on the actual behavior (not being attentive at what they're doing) & maybe even strength preexisting laws, they target the method in which drivers are being distracted.

Lawmakers & safety advocates point towards NY's 2001 law banning hand-held cell phone use while driving yet by 2004 the rate of useage was back to pre-ban levels. This simply reinforces comedian Ron White's signature phrase, "Ya can't fix stupid."

8. Its funny in that pathetic sorta way how everything gets compared to drunk driving. Cell phone use is worse than drinking & driving. Texting is worse than drinking & driving. The health effects of smoking impairs you more than drinking & driving. Transfats are worse for the body than drinking & driving.

Drinking & driving has become the bogeyman to be invoked if a DIFFERENT health & safety issue needs addressing. Think of it as someone invoking the "Nazis" or "Hitler" in a political or morality discussion.

9.Let's cut to the chase.

NY State has something to the tune of an $8 billion budget deficit. Strengthening an already silly law of prohibiting a practice people do, will generate fines. Fines generate revenue. New revenue will help close the budget gap. I'm COMPLETELY fine w/ all that.

Just don't try & give a load of BS that "its all for the public good."

**********
In other news...
**********

This was Jenni, doing a random wander-around shoot at the Albany Plaza.

Feel free about commenting on any part of this, if you so desire.

WAMC Fundraising Questions

2011-07-18T08:30:00.001-04:00

NPR's WAMC recently held their latest fund-drive for $1 million in listener donations. Considering that they run these infernal fund-drives at least once a quarter (it certainly seems like more), that'd mean they get $4 million a year.

I know they have to factor in for rate of inflation, increased programming fees, decreased financial support from Congress but would that not effect EVERY NPR station proportionally the same? Yet member stations like NCPR (based in Canton, NY) & WRVO (based out of Syracuse) have only sought 1% per quarter than from what they were asking in 2002 yet WAMC has sought a 400% increase than what they were asking over the same time period.

So this begs the question, what exactly is WAMC using all that money for?

I ask because usually when times are tough such as these, nonprofits either make do w/ what they've got (therefore making the money stretch) or they ask for a livable less or cut their bloated overhead expenses.

Because of HOW all NPR stations conduct their fund drives (they keep going whether its for 7 hours, 7 days, or 7 weeks until they meet their goals), the station isn't compelled to take a hard look at their fiances.

Considering Alan Chertock's, WAMC's CEO & Chief on-air personality, ego would put Narcissus to shame, I'd question as whether he really cares. Don't believe me, here's a 3rd party report of the station playing "We Shall Overcome" & "Imagine" when they finally met their latest fund-raising goal. Sorry but I don't think Pete Seeger & Lennon pictured greed in being something to be proud of.

**********
In other news...
**********

This is Brittany, taking part in my "Abandonment Adventure" Series.

Unfortunately, this shoot got cut short from the cops shooing us away. :(

Feel free to comment away if you so desire.

NY's Gay Marriage Vote

2011-06-17T08:45:00.005-04:00

I thought I discussed this topic before but sifting through this blog, I cannot seem to find it. Therefore I'm formally stating my position now.

As many New York State residents know, the NYS Senate is trying to muster the votes to legalize Gay Marriage. The last time it was up for a vote (back in 2009), it was decisively defeated as political payback for the then unpopular, "unelected" Governor Paterson.

I want to start by saying state government should completely get out of the marriage racket & simply give everyone who applies a "civil union." That way the religious institutions can keep the "sanctity of marriage" intact & approve or deny those they either deem worthy or not worthy as they see fit.

That's not remotely going to happen though. Religious institutions have convinced themselves that marriage is sacred yet they allow annulments & divorces.

Why do I approve of gay marriage?

If a gay or lesbian couple wish to be miserable for the rest of the lives just like a hetero couple is, who am I to tell them they can't?

Seriously though, withing the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution lies the Equal Protection Clause. The government "must provide equal protection under the law to all people within its jurisdiction." Unmarried gay couples do not have the legal right to decide next of kin medical issue in regards to their partner. They often cannot legally be put on their partners insurance plans. In many states, they are barred from adopting children. Its modern Jim Crow'ism & a wrong that needs immediate righting.

My favorite argument revolves around the revenue. NYS is facing a $6 billion budget shortfall, if not more. Married couples need a marriage license for their union to be legal. Licenses cost money. Since fickle NY'ers complain about having high taxes yet don't want their services cut, we gotta get the money from somewhere. The windfall from new marriage licenses seems like the perfect fit in helping meet SOME of those budgetary needs.

**********
In other news...
**********

This is Meagan, taken back in December.

It may not reflect in this image but she's a very creative spirit & an accomplished photographer in her own right. Nor does it hurt that her love of books has earned her a special place in my heart. :)

Feel free to comment away if you so desire.

Wasted Votes

2011-06-13T11:00:00.001-04:00

I have to chuckle.

A friend of mine is complaining about NY's Governor Cuomo's plan for a property tax cap, "reneging" on school aid, & his pro business position at the expense of the unions. These are all positions Candidate Cuomo campaigned for during the recent 2010 gubernatorial election.

Yet the friend still voted for him because "the other guy," Carl Paladino, "was a whacko."

I'm sorry. Though I love him, I have little to no sympathy for the friend. Cuomo made no secret as to what he wanted to do, yet he still voted for him.

An argument I've heard against voting for 3rd parties like Greens, Conservatives, Libertarian, & what-have you, is that its a "wasted" vote. Yet I ask, how is it any more of a waste, voting for a candidate whose beliefs one does not share?

I think that kind of voting is MORE of a waste because the candidate will take those election results as proof of "the will of the electorate", pushing through that agenda.

**********
In other news...
**********

This here is Cassie, during this past Autumn.

Feel free & comment away on any part of this if you so desire.

Payback's a Bitch

2011-05-10T12:00:00.001-04:00

Last week after 9.5 years, the US finally killed Osama bin Laden & captured his body.

The death of this individual acted as a national catharsis. Not since the fall of the Soviet Union has any one individual been immersed in our psyche as the bogeyman. Ye unlike the Soviet despots, Osama has actually killed Americans.

There are very few individuals in this world whose death I would openly cheer. Bin Laden is one of those. Though I am, nor was I one of those people who actually celebrated his death, I entirely empathize w/ where they're coming from.

I still remember as if it was yesterday smelling the chemical stench of lower Manhattan when I made my pilgrimage down there 2 months to the day after the Trade Tower attacks. I still remember persuading in vain in to getting my family to go up the Twin Towers (I know I could get a shot of them w/ Liberty Island in the background) after watching our crappy Red Sox get beat by the Yankees that very same weekend. I dreaded losing sleep over being recalled back to the Marines (I'd been "honorably discharge" 1 year minus a week on the day of the attacks). I remember drinking a beer in sorrow upon discovering that one of my Marine brothers (as well as the rest of his C-130 crew) died during a mission in Afghanistan when their plane had mechanical problems & crashed.

A part of me is disappointed we weren't able to (or willing...the reports are kinda fuzzy at this stage) capture him alive. I would have loved to have seen his ass on trial after the Eichmann model, stripping him of his mythology & revealing to the world yet again what has been called "banality of evil". Unfortunately, history will never be able to record that. However I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

All I can say is payback's a bitch. May you rot in hell, Osama.

Below is a scanned image of a print (I was shooting film back then), taken outside Trinity Church in lower Manhattan, Nov 2001:

Below is another scanned image Ground Zero looking north. Again taken in Nov 2001:

Comment away on any part of this if you so choose.

Why are we Still in Afghanistan?

2011-04-20T10:30:00.001-04:00

This October will mark the 10th anniversary of the start of the US-led war in Afghanistan.

During the debate for the Afghan troop "surge" in 2008(?), I kept hearing rhetoric about "winning the war in Afghanistan". It begs the question because no one has bothered to define it, not W's administration, nor Obama's, nor the Pentagon.

Does it mean crushing the operational capacity of al Queda? If so, we're losing pitifully if the White House's own statements is any account. The Pakistan-Afghanistan border region has the great no-man's land. Furthermore the Pakistani government is becoming more assertive in protecting its own borders from US operations.

Does it mean putting in place a functioning democracy as we know it in the West? That sure isn't it. Afghanistan is still tribally led & (arguably) has reverted back to a narco state. On top of that, international elections observers declared the latest elections held back in 2009(?) to be so flawed as to be invalid, a result of which Kharzi simply ignored.

Does it mean catching bin Laden or his #2, Mullah Omar? If so, they're still very much alive according to the countless video & audiotapes they release.

Does it mean installing a government that will ask us to leave? That sure sure hasn't happened & if the public statements by "President" Kharzi is any indication, he ain't going to. Furthermore Vice-President Biden has publicly stated that unless the Afghanis ask us the leave, US troops will be there until 2014.

We the taxpayers aren't questioning why we're still spending the money on (now) 3 wars YET think nothing of cutting our own salaries, cutting money to fund our educational system, eliminating helping the poor, eliminating the social contracts the government has made w/ the American people since the Great Depression. There's something wrong with this picture.

Do we not owe it to the GI's we're putting in harms to be asking these questions?

**********
In other news...
**********

This is Ally & Nicki, enjoying some inpromptu giggle time.

Feel free to comment away on any part of this if you so desire.

Dear Smart Phone Users

2011-03-29T11:00:00.002-04:00

Dear Smart Phone Users,

Just because some of us do not answer your texts 10 seconds after they're sent, please do not use profanity or calling us names because you THINK we're ignoring you. That's like the surest way for me to start ignoring to until you're able to calm down & act like an adult.

Some of us have mundane things to do, like shower or get our laundry or *gasp* pack for a trip. There's also the fact that many of us live in dead zones (like much of the Adirondacks). Many workplaces also have policies where its a violation if you use any sort of electronic devices that does not directly pertain to your job duties.

Most importantly, my phone has 12 buttons. Don't believe me? Below is a picture:

I do not have the patience to type out a novel length text in response yours, nor would I have the inclination to do so even if I could. My phone is old, the battery is crappy, but it serves MY needs.

Got all that?

Thanks for understanding.

**********
In other news...
**********

This is Jenna & her fiance Jeremy enjoying one of their moments.

Feel free & comment away on any part of this is you dare.

No Gas Day Silliness

2011-03-22T11:00:00.001-04:00

In this age of mass media, the Internet (as well as social networking sites) can be a breeding ground of activism. We've seen this with the Iraq War protests as well as the activism w/n Tea Party wing of the Republican party. We've also recently seen where members used sites like Facebook & Twitter to organize opposition groups, bringing down the corrupt regimes in Egypt & Tunisia.

The internet can also be a venue for mass stupidity. Case in point, this "No Gas Day". It promotes "sending a message" to the greedy oil companies by not buying gas on SINGLE day.

I have to ask, how does it "send (that) message" when people will just buy gas the day before or the day after? You're also not buying your gas directly from the oil companies, you're buying it from the middle man local gas station owner simply trying to put food on his table. Additionally, profit tallies are measured on a weekly, monthly, & quarterly basis. A one-day boycott WILL NOT effect the overall profit numbers any more than a freak winter snowstorm would.

Actual change requires grunt work.

Pissed off about the gas prices (or simply wish to care more about the environment)? There are a million things you could do & w/ the search capabilities of the internet, probably a gazillion more.

Carpooling, use public transportation, ride your bicycle, actually walking are just a few things that immediately come to mind.

It also can mean writing your elected representatives (or newspaper) urging them to support Green Energy policies. It also means ending the sweet-heart tax breaks that our government gives to the oil companies. Considering companies like Exxon-Mobil made $7.5 billion in the 3rd Quarter of 2010 alone, I don't think they'll be going to the poor house anytime soon.

This "Not Buying Gas Day" is as retarded as a devout, long-time Vegan giving up meat for Lent. They don't already eat meat, so its not like its going to be missed.

Real change means doing something for the long haul & means getting your hands dirty. Not some touchy-feely delusional "I did something" when it means absolutely zilch.

Edit: MOFYC linked to a Christian Science Monitor article listing "10 suggestions in How You can Lower Gas Consumption".

**********
In other news...
**********

This here is my friend Melissa from school. Something tells me we're going to have a grand ol' photo-adventure when she comes up later this week.

Feel free & comment away on any part of this, if you dare.

NY Redistricting Reform

2011-03-08T13:00:00.000-05:00

I wish I could say that the hypocrisy w/n the NY State's legislature surprises me but it doesn't. The latest case in point, redistricting.

The Senate Democrats ran & won on a reform platform that included redistricting reform in 2008 but never got around to it. Senate Republican, then in the minority, in a rush to embarrass the opposition signed Ed Koch's NY Uprising pledge that addresses this very issue.

My how Fortuna is fickle!

W/ the 2010 elections, their positions are reversed. Senate Republicans are the ones stalling on redistricting reform & the Senate Democrats are the ones rushing to embarrass the opposition.

This would almost be comical if the consequences weren't so important to our democracy.

**********
In other news...
**********

This is Nicole, doing a helluva balancing act wearing heels. We were shooting in a place we probably shouldn't have been but thankfully went off w/o a hitch.

Feel free to comment away if you so desire.

Teachers - What I Know

2011-03-01T08:40:00.000-05:00

I've been busy lately so I haven't had much of an opportunity to follow the events in Wisconsin. The Governor out there in the guise of "fiscal restraint" is attempting to (what?) decertify the statewide teacher's union.

The Democratic minority w/o the votes to defeat the governor's legislation have used the "quorum" rule to stall & hopefully beat said legislation by literally leaving the state of Wisconsin. Considering I myself decried the buffoonery of my own state legislature using the lack of quorum tactic back in 2009, I'm not sure how I feel about it.

That being said here's what I DO know.

The Wisconsin teachers were not the ones that got the state into the fiscal mess. Nor did anyone point a gun to the administration's head when they blessed off the current contract not more than 2 years ago.

Here's what I also know. Teaching is not your typical 9-5 job.

1. When you're home veggin in front of the TV, they're home correcting papers.

2. Know that Winter Vacation you take w/ your kids, guess what those teachers are reading their student written essays in the frantic hope to get them done before the vacation ends.

3. Know that unruly employee you can fire because they're disrupting production, guess what, not teachers.

4. Try dealing w/ an unsupportive administration or parents who CONDONE cheating (like buying essays) because their child in their zeal to remain competitive is unable to manage their own time.

5. For many of these children, teachers become the defacto parents or at the very least one of the only positive role models they know.

6. They don't get paid for writing their lesson plans late at night.

7. Try dealing w/ statewide requirements & deadlines that fail to take into account the local situation (like the brutal blizzards we've had this winter)

8. Unlike the private sector where a person w/ a Masters degree can easily command $60K+ starting out, teachers consider themselves lucky if they can get even $23K/year.

If anyone in the private sector had to put up w/ this garbage, we the public would applaud them for standing up for themselves. Yet for some reason time & again, teachers are the target of a public hit job. We want them to be the best but when it comes to actual worth, we pay & treat them like crap.

Its part of this do-as-I-say culture, not do-as-I-do culture.

**********
In other news...
**********

This is Cristen, taken back in 2008.

Feel free & comment away if you dare.

Pedo Priest Conviction

2011-02-14T11:15:00.002-05:00

I originally had a blog discussing the US's historically promoting self-determination directed at our adversaries, only to turn its back on those people if they fell within the territories of our allies. But unfortunately, it was going no where. It didn't help either that events in Egypt got ahead of me...not that I'm complaining. :o)

Last week, Gary Mercure formally a pastor w/n my local church St Mary's of Glens Falls was convicted on three counts of forcible child rape and one count of indecent assault and battery on a child younger than 14.

I say good riddance.

I used to practice regularly but the divide of what they were preaching versus what they were doing was hypocritical. It didn't help that the masses bored me to tears & the sermons simply weren't speaking to me.

The Church spends so much time worrying about what two consenting adults do in the privacy of their own home (in a secular realm no less!) yet are unable or unwilling to protect their own flock from predators w/n their own ranks.

It sure doesn't sound like they're remotely close to being the Good Shepherd that Christ preached about.

**********
In other news...
**********

This is Georgia shortly before he feet froze while participating in my ongoing Abandonment project. Don't blame me, I told her to dress warm. ;o)

Feel free & comment away on any part of this if you so desire.

Egypt Riots

2011-02-01T09:30:00.004-05:00

I swear to freakin' hell! If I hear one more person theorize that the Egyptian riots are being instigated by Islamic Jihadists, I think I'm going to bang my head against a brick wall.

Not every uprising in that part of the world means that outside forces are to blame.

Tunisia politically blew up because one guy lit himself on fire because the government refused him to give him a license to sell his fruit & make a living. Iranians in 2009 were pissed off because they believed Ahmadinejad rigged his own reelection. Yet its supposedly true here. Why?

Actually that last was a rhetorical question. The $1.5 billion of US aid (much of it military) has everything to do w/ it.

When our government is inept & corrupt & not paying attention to the needs of their citizens &/or not doing something fast enough, we in the US can vote them out of office. Egyptians do not have even that choice.

Freedom of Assembly & Speech as well as Habeas Corpus (a person's right to contest their unlawful detention) have no meaning there. Free elections (as defined by the UN) is a completely foreign concept to the current Egyptian regime. Human Rights, especially considering the newly appointed Vice President ran that country's rendition program, you can forget about it.

I'm sorry but the Egyptian people have every right to be pissed & demand change.

**********
In other news...
**********

This here is Rika. She was gracious enough to indulge me in what has been described as my Superman Fetish. :)

Feel free & comment away on any part of this if you so desire.

Snow Fatigue

2011-01-21T09:30:00.001-05:00

The local daily, the Post Star, reported not more than 2 weeks ago how the local snow-mobilers & skiers were unhappy about the lack of snow.

Considering that the area is expecting its 4th major storm in 11 days, I hope this demographic is happy. I know the crappy weather comes w/ the territory of living in Northern NY but I'm kinda getting tired of shoveling it.

**********
In other news...
**********

This is Bree, yet another gracious participant to my ongoing abandonment series.

Feel free & comment away if you dare.

Whackos, Nutjobs, and Racists

2011-01-12T11:00:00.004-05:00

In 2000 Newsweek interview, the modern descendants of Franz Ferdinand (the Austrian arch-duke whose assassination) triggered the First World War remarked, "Our family had been involved in politics for over 500 years. Violence is simply a job hazard."

I'm obviously bringing this up in reference to the Tuscon, AZ shootings.

Did the rhetoric have something to do w/ it? Yes & no. Yes because its been proven that inflammatory rhetoric does have an influence on the listening/viewing audience. No because saying incendiary things alone is not enough in our justice system to attach ones guilt. Individuals are responsible for their own actions unless it can be proven that an outside party is making a documented conscience effort to effect behavior otherwise (think the Tobacco Industry).

Lord knows Manson tried blaming the Beatles for his killings. Mark David Chapman tried blaming "Catcher in the Rye" for killing Lennon. Hinkley was convinced killing Reagan would impress Jodi Foster, a person he'd never met before. Hell, Berkowitz took orders from his dog!

Yes, these shootings are tragic. Yes, they probably could've been preventable. But I don't see this as a grand conspiracy to shut certain people up. Its just one of those bizarre but meaningless acts of violence.

Will we learn anything from this? I haven't a clue.

W/ all the whackos, nutjobs, & racists out there, I'm a little surprised that violence like this isn't more prevalent...not that I'm advocating that.

**********
In other news...
**********

One of my lovable headcases Meagan persuaded to go back into the archives & take a fresh look at the material from our first shoot, shot during Aug 2005. It entailed promises of doing multiple "pretty pleases" & future promises of dirty things to come. Little does she know I would've settled for far less in the form of an Italian smack upside the head. =)

All kidding aside, that shoot felt like ages ago & at the same time just yesterday. Seeing these pictures again makes me wince in a way. Think of it like seeing at ones own baby pictures when you're an adult. You know that's you but at the same time its a completely different person.

Anyway, this is one of the shots that recaptured my attention.

Feel free & comment on any part of this if you so desire.

Enjoy.

When Writing Nonfiction

2011-01-04T11:00:00.000-05:00

I'm a visual arts person & not a copy editor, so please forgive if I weaken my case w/ bad grammar or what have you.

Its no secret I read a lot of nonfiction (among many other things). Nor is it a secret I've suffered writing many a research paper during my undergrad that quite frankly, I cared nothing about (it comes w/ the territory sometimes). I'd like to think I've picked up on a few helpful tips along the way.

If you're writing about a real event (as opposed to "historical fiction" which is a fictional narrative revolving around real event(s))...

1. Don't create dialogue between two players out of thin air. If there's enough to create a conversation, there's enough to discuss the matter in the 3rd person.

2. Constantly using words like "probably", "may have", "likely" does not inspire reader confidence.

3. If you make a claim, state why you think it & then back it up w/ something. So you think William the Conqueror black-balled Prince Harold when the latter visited the Continent. What are you basing this belief on?

4. Get your dang facts straight! If you're topic is the American Revolution and you consistently write of Charles II sitting on the English throne (as opposed to George III), then you've got problems.

5. Cite your dang sources in some way, especially when referencing documents like letters or diaries.

**********
In other news...
**********

This here is Jenifer.

I was pleasantly surprised w/ the dirth of material I got when working w/ her. She's so down to earth & easy to work w/.

*sigh*

Feel free & comment on any part of this if you so desire.

the Donald Duck Paradox

2010-12-21T11:00:00.003-05:00

I feel like discussing something irreverent today, specifically phenomenon known as "the Donald Duck paradox".

Ever notice that when Donald Duck is depicted, he's always wearing his sailor shirt, the scarf, & cap but no pants. Ok, I get it. He's a cartoon character & has no need for pants. Chewbacca from Star Wars is sorta the same way.

YET whenever Donald's depicted coming out of the bathroom, he always has a towel around his bottom.

What are the perverts at Disney trying to tell us?!

Discuss.

You can thank my friend Melissa for illuminating me on this most disturbing issue.

**********
In other news...
**********

I recently shot a dear friend's wedding & am inspired to post this keeper from a completely separate wedding from a couple years ago. This is Shiloh doing the bridal bouquet toss.

Enjoy.

the It Gets Better Project

2010-12-01T10:00:00.002-05:00

Last month, I blathered about the Spirit Day efforts & their campaign to raise awareness about the uncomfortably high suicide rates w/n the LGBTA community.

In that particular blog I discussed the sense of isolation which is a contributing factor on why many people feel compelled to take their own life. The It Gets Better Project combats this angle.

They aim to provide an example to the LGBTA community that, no, you are not alone in this world. It also provides testimonials, a searchable events section by area code, a gift shop (that sorta acts as a suicide prevention hot line fundraiser), ways to contribute. Most importantly, it offers a phone number to a suicide prevention hot line through one of their partners.

Thank Stephen Colbert's 29 Nov interview of project founder Dan Savage for tipping me off. An interview clip is below:

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Dan Savage

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

2010 Election

March to Keep Fear Alive

This is something I can get behind. It thinks through what can be done AFTER the day ends when we show solidarity, solidarity, solidarity for the LGBTA community.

**********
In other news...
**********

This here is Julie participating in my Abandonment project.

Weather'wise the day was absolute crap. I consider myself lucky we got even this but it certainly made it interesting. I'm pleased what I got though.

Feel free & comment away if you so desire.

Bristol Headaches

2010-11-23T11:37:00.003-05:00

I swear if I have to listen to people yap about Bristol Palin's horrible dancing ability & how outrageous it is she made it to the Dancing w/ the Stars finals, I'm going to turn green, rip my shirt off, muck up my hair, shout "Hulk smash puny humans", & then go on a destructive rampage.

How has this ridiculousness effected me personally? My own mother (god bless) spent 10 minutes trying to persuade me to vote for (I forget who) in this competition. All I know is is that it wasn't Bristol Palin. She went on & on about how bad she was. Quite frankly, I DO NOT CARE.

I may think the Bristol is not what I'd consider a good role model. Her only claim to fame is being an underage pregnant mother and then having the gull to promote abstinance only (how'd that work out for you, hon). I'm less than enthused how her mother, Sarah, uses her entire family as political props to further her own agenda...but that's an issue w/ the mother not Bristol.

W/ the amount of energy some people spend ripping on the Palins (whether it be Sarah herself or Bristol or young one Willow), you'd think people have money invested in this all. I'm sure some no doubt do.

Don't kid yourself. Shows like Dancing w/ the Stars (or American Idol) are NOT talent show but are glorified a popularity contest.

Its what happens when you give the audience a say in choosing a winner when they have zero expertise. American Idol went through this a couple years again w/ the infamous Sanjaya. The kid had nice raw talent but survived far longer than many thought he should have. Those kind of systems are a double-edged sword. Its great when the person you're rooting for makes it but not so great when its someone else.

To quote Simon Cowell, the former American Idol judge that everyone loves to hate, "The person who wins American Idol is not always the best singer."

Whatever but I've got bigger fish to fry. I'm just tired of hearing about it.

**********
In other news...
**********

Shooting sports photography is very tough for me. Constant movement, barely know where the plays are going, the less than ideal lenses I own, not to mention my eyes suck. LOL.

It all forces me to think on my toes. Shoot a ton & hope you get one or two keepers. Below is something I shot during the 2010 Queensbury at Glens Falls Varsity football game.

Feel free to comment away on any of this if you so desire.

Spirit Day Reflections

2010-11-16T09:00:00.003-05:00

I was perfectly willing to keep my mouth shut & remain neutral but something recent has compelled me to speak.

Facebook & other online communites started a "Wear Purple for Spirit Day on Oct 20th" in response to raising awareness about teen bullying & the recent high profile suicides surrounding the LGBTA community.

Speaking from someone who was a bully victim, I sympathize.

I graduated in the pre-Columbine school environment where bullying awareness was next to nill. I've been knocked out by a sleeper hold, pelted w/ a broom handle like its a baseball bat, hip-checked against a locker, countless bloody noses, glasses broken, name-called relentlessly, being spat-on, had another guy climb onto a locker & jump off it WWE style hitting me in the head... & those were just the guys. The girls were even nastier in their own way because they mess w/ your head w/ rumors.

What helped back then (especially in middle school) was I had a life outside of the school environment. It also didn't hurt I was ingrained to stand up for myself by my parents. But if I started shit, I was left to be high & dry where I deserved.

Many people simply don't have that support in life. When there is no hope & a person feels like no one is or willing to listen to them, suicide (among many other things) looks like a pretty attractive alternative. Lord knows I've known many a Marine brother who has at least thought about eating their weapon because they simply didn't know how to handle the transition or knew where to get help. The lack of adequate Mental Health Services has never been great for our servicemen (in comparison to standard medical aid) but that's for another story.

It saddens me that the Spirit Day promotion w/ so much potential leaves my stomach empty.

Contrary to how it was made out, bullying nor suicide is a phenomenon limited to the LGBTA demographic. I think that's what angers me the most. The event didn't try to raise money for organizations that address the bullying or suicide prevention issue. It didn't try to educate, nor point the victims to resources they could turn to in their hour of need. It didn't try to educate a victims friends on what they can do to help stop the bullying or be on the look-out if their friend is feeling so helpless they'll kill themselves.

It also neglects that just because one leaves the academic environment, it doesn't mean the bullying all of a sudden stops. Assholes are something people simply have to deal w/ ALL their lives whether its the idiot boss taking advantage of his position of power or the inconsiderate coworker refusing to use their indoor voice which effects your job performance because you cannot concentrate or the rural police officer giving you a hard time because they can or the college roommate who you despise or the boyfriend being in the mood when you're not or someone in the other department making shit up about you instead of *gasp* actually asking you in person or the wife nagging you to fix the fence when all you want to do is grab a nice cold one after working a 12-hour shift. (Some of these are hyperbole but they're all symptoms of the same thing, the application of power)

I see Spirit Day (at least how it was executed) as being similar to those bull-shitty "1-day not Buying Gas" protests. Its like people waving their arms, giving the impression they're "doing something" when what they're ACTUALLY doing is barely anything at all.

Don't get me wrong, its nice to complain an injustice but that only does so much.

If people want to address this problem, the victims really need to speak up & tell someone & keep speaking up until someone will listen AND will actually do something about it before it reaches a boiling point. They can't be subtle about it either. An argument I've heard against that suggestion is that it makes the bullying worse. I agree but in our society (especially within an academic environment), people have to be told what they're doing wrong, how inappropriate it is, & allow them to correct their actions. Think about it, if you get robbed & fail to report it to the police, you've forfeited your right to complain that the cops aren't doing anything about it. Its the same premise.

If speaking up about it does not stop it, victims needs stand up for themselves. Violence is rarely a good initial response but sometimes it IS necessary.

Furthermore if some schmuck online is relentlessly talking trash about you (trust me, there are & will be no shortage of them), get off the freakin' computer or learn about the block feature the person from your favorite social networking page. Do some activity & (try to) make friends outside of the school environment. It may be petty but take solace in making something out of your life when you graduate so you can drive the proverbial knife at your haters come the 20-year high school reunion by being rich & marrying a hot spouse. At the very least people really need to grow a thick skin.

In fairness, some of these solutions are overly simplistic but its a better start than simply "showing" solidarity, solidarity, solidarity & doing nothing about it once the day is over.

These are simply my views. If these makes me "insensitive", then, well, I'm sorry to hear but I'm hardly going to lose sleep over it.

**********
In other news...
**********

This here is an oldie but goodie of Gabrielle, messing around w/ her little brother.

Working w/ certain people just feels right regardless of the actual results. Gabrielle is in this category.

Feel free & comment away on any part of this if you so desire.

11th Day on the 11th Month at the 11th Hour

2010-11-11T11:00:00.003-05:00

92 years ago today, the Great War or what we now call World War I ended.

The conflict holds a certain fascination for me. The new weapons developed in the hope that they'd give each side a "decisive victory". The piss poor leadership sending their men to the slaughter, long after any tangible results evaporated. The major players making backrooms deals to anyone & everyone w/ no intention of keeping those promises. The horrendous living conditions both sides fought endured both in the trenches & on the homefront.

It plays out like a Greek tragedy. The character motivations compelling them one step closer to their own demise.

November 11th was originally called Armistice Day in remembrance of that conflict but has been rightfully changed in 1954 to Veterans Day. The focus shifted in honoring the World War I conflict to ALL living veteran.

**********
In other news...
**********

This is an oldie but goodie of Ceri.

She had this independent actress thing to her personality where I could just give her a set of general directions & she'd go to town w/ it. It definitely made my job as a photographer easy.

Feel free & comment away on any part of this if you so desire.

Adirondack Phantoms Offense Reported Missing

2010-11-05T08:30:00.001-04:00

I was visiting the local AHL Adirondack Phantoms Facebook "fan" page & it got me thinking.

The team recently deactivated, fired, or released their leading scorer Pat Maroon. His exact status remains vague for reason to be revealed in a bit. This would not even be noticed except for how its played out.

The parent company, Philadelphia Flyers, GM Paul Holmgren, as quoted in this article, said Maroon was removed due to "probably a pattern" of problems. If that weren't coy enough, he continues, "I'm not going to get into the whys and the how comes. From time to time you have to do things that are not nice in the interest of the team, the organization and the hockey team. And this is a decision that ultimately I made on Wednesday."

It begs the question, does anyone actually know or are they just pulling stuff outta their rear?

This probably wouldn't be an issue but Maroon was one of the lone bright spots on a truly abysmal offense. I seriously think being waterboarded is less painful than watching these guys.

The other conspiracy theory is that its a genius ploy to increase alcohol sales. Y'know w/ people drowning their sorrows as we watch the game.

Its not like management is giving us much to go on anyway.

If management wants the city of Glens Falls taxpayers to foot the bill for a new $150K+ replay board in order to blackmail **whoops!**, I mean, persuade the team to stay long-term, they've got to do a better job of explaining their decisions to the very people who support them w/ their ticket sales.

If they felt he was a problem in the locker, just say so. If he got a couple of DUI's, just say so. If he wasn't a team player, just say so. We the fans may not like it but we can understand.

This brouhaha really leads me to believe its simply a contract dispute & this is management's way of getting back at him. Ticket paying patrons are collateral damage.

**********
In other news...
**********

This here is Jenny.

I was blessed in working w/ her in NY before she chased her dreams to California. We only worked once but the rapport between us was, to put it mildly, awesome. Someday when the stars align Mr Camera will capture her visage again. :)

This here is a candid from that shoot.

Feel free & comment on any part of this if you so desire.

Howie Hawkins for Governor

2010-11-02T12:54:00.004-04:00

I was initially going to vote for Andrew Cuomo for a variety reason. The main one being Carl Paladino's kinda a loose cannon looney tune. The mentality raises concerns how he'll deal w/ things if he doesn't get his way. It reminds me a lot of former governor Eliot Spitzer's campaign about "cleaning up Albany" only to do politically stupid stuff to get his own ass in trouble (Client 9 sex scandal aside). I'm talking about Troopergate.

A couple weeks ago, I was invited by local business owner Matt Funicellio to one of those meet the candidate meetings showcasing Green Party gubernatorial candidate Howie Hawkins.

Even if my mind is made up, I traditionally want to hear opposing viewpoints in order to give them a fair shake.

Howie Hawkins won me over.

I realized Cuomo isn't campaigning whatsoever. He's got a big enough lead that he doesn't have to talk about his plans. Because of that, we're pretty much left to what he has spoken about.

He believes in cutting state funding at a moment when there's a big push for it at the national level. He's believes in cutting Health Care funds. He's proposed a state cap on property which is a great idea now but if California did that in the early 70's & as any California resident will tell you, its next to impossible to get any sort of funding to undertake capital improvements (like a recent high-speed railway system running from San Diego to San Francisco was voted down).

What concerned me the most was Cuomo's support for hydrofracking. This is a process that mines natural gas. The problem is all this is that natural gas is orderless, colorless, & tasteless as well as it seeps into the drinking water supply. At a time when there's a big push to go green renewable energies, hydrofracking is completely an outmoded 20th century ideal.

Despite what the local Post-Star daily, I think Howie is easily ready for the job. I was impressed w/ the Green Party New Deal. I was impressed w/ his command of the facts. I was especially impressed by his proposal to resurrect the Stock Transfer tax (I think that's what its called) where all transactions on Wall Street would be subject to a 1/20 of 1% tax (where if I'm understanding it right, a transaction where there's a profit $500,000, the traders(?) would have to pay $100).

I also don't see things changing by reelecting the same two parties to do the same exact thing because quite frankly, there's no incentive for them to change even when they DO have power. This is further supported by the recently revealed Aqueduct scandal that effected nearly the entire NY state legislative leadership on both sides.

I'm voting for Howie Hawkins for governor.

**********
In other news...
**********

This here is Vanessa.

At the moment I'm playfully titling this as "She Makes Zombie Killing Look Good!"

This was actually a spur of the moment shot, done at the local Mead Lumber in Queensbury. The owner gave us permission to play since he & Vanessa knew each other. :)

Feel free & comment away on any part of this blog, if you so desire.

Murphy - Gibson Debate in Queensbury

2010-10-21T10:15:00.003-04:00

The Warren County League of Women voters hosted a debate between Rep Scott Murphy & his main challenger Chris Gibson for NY's 20th Congressional seat. Contrary to its name, the goal for the League of Women Voters is to provide information to ALL voters giving them an informed choice come Election Day.

There isn't much of a substantive difference between the two candidates except on what they'd do w/ the Dept of Education (Murphy wants to reform it, Gibson wants to morph it back into the Health, Education, & Welfare Department like it was back before 1980 to reduce the bureaucracy).

There was also big difference between "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Gibson wanted to wait until after the results of Gates Commission due out in January but was inclined to see it go, which I can certainly understand. Murphy wants it repealed immediately citing what Truman did w/ integrating the military, which I also agree w/.

Considering the Obama administration's little-publicized policy changes, granting same-sex health benefits to federal employees yet challenging a judge's order that bans "don't ask, don't tell", its a damned if you do, damned if you don't kinda thing. The President probably just wants to do it on his terms as opposed to making it ballot fodder for the Republican base sending them to the polls in more numbers than his own (like they did all throughout W's administration did in reverese). But I'm digressing at the moment.

There were some telling differences between the two candidates from a political communications standpoint.

The speaker system was an early challenge. It didn't work & EVERYONE had to pass a small clip-on microphone to be heard. Even when the speaker system was fixed, there were some differences. Gibson left his microphone in its holder, forcing him to hunch & lean into it, blocking part of his face for the cameras. Murphy took his out of its holder, allowing him to sit erect in his chair, leaving the microphone low enough to be seen clearly by the cameras.

Murphy appeared to be more apt to take notes during the debate. Gibson considerably less so.

Gibson early on seemed to use filler words like "uhm" & "uh" a lot more in the first half of the debate. He also wasn't great w/ his time management being cut-off twice (out of 10 questions) by the moderator & ran long over on another. However he did seem to improve the longer the debate went on. Murphy was clear & concise & was only cut off once toward the end.

The tactical difference in sound bites was interesting. Gibson tried to link Murphy to "Speaker Pelosi" about a half dozen times during the night while Murphy mentioned the local "CR Bard" plant (they make medical catheters for those not in the know) usually in reference to some sort of policy plan of his.

The red cards were something each candidate could use to extend their time. Gibson used his as a rebuttal points to whatever Murphy would attack him w/. I was confused why Gibson choose to use them under those circumstances because A. he burned through his two w/n the first 4 questions but more importantly, B. his rebuttal statements didn't provide anything new to the discussion. He would just reiterate the same exact points he made in his original statements. Murphy waited to use his red cards at the end. One was answering an education related question. The other was during his closing arguments.

I really felt Murphy had the better grasp of the overall facts, rattling off facts & numbers quite easily. W/ the exception of what to do in Afghanistan where he descended into military jargon, Gibson struggled w/ his command of the facts & stuck to his talking points.

I was a mightily annoyed the Gibson supporters raised a ruckus while walking out on the middle of Murphy's closing arguments but at the same time it wasn't THAT surprising. I was also a little disappointed that Murphy in his closing arguments took a direct shot at Gibson, as opposed to the more subtle indirect approach he used throughout the debate. But again, that was not entirely unexpected either.

Overall, the debate was about what I expected. Aside from the microphone issue, it wasn't anywhere near the farce that the recent NYS gubernatorial debates were.

**********
In other news...
**********

This here is Elizabeth participating in my Breast Cancer Awareness project. The "RIP" & picture are in reference to her deceased Mom.

Feel free & comment away, if you dare.

Mid-Term Election Advice

2010-10-13T10:30:00.003-04:00

The election season is shaping up to be one of the more entertaining ones in recent memory. We've got:

- a witch, Christine O'Donnell
- a Nazi, Rich Iott
- a homophobe, Carl Paladino
- an incumbent US Senator running as a challenger, Kirsten Gillibrand

To the most of you...don't run from the allegations, OWN THEM! Think of it like reverse psychology.

1. For Ms. O'Donnell, here are some Witch justifications for you:

"When I was young & stupid like a lot of people, I tried out a lot of things that later on the road to self-discovery wasn't for me. Witchcraft was simply one of them."

...or she could go a completely different route...

"With the rise of Harry Potter, witchcraft isn't the social stigma that it once was. I love everything about it: the moral lessons, the devoted community surrounding it (think of it like Star Wars or Star Trek), the home-spun creativity, the Wizard Rock scene. Seriously, what is there not to like w/ the King Arthur'esque-Christ'like archtype figure?"

You could also play the "Wicked" musical angle to.

2. For Mr Iott your Nazi role-playing might be a little easier to spin:

"Yeah, I dress up as a Nazi & play war. We're the ones in all the movies you love like Saving Private Ryan or Schindler's List that train the bad guys be bad so they make the Allies look good."

...or...

"If it weren't Nazis in their uniforms, it'd probably be Star Wars Stormtroopers. Its not like anyone would have to worry about dying because they sure as hell couldn't hit the broadside of the barn anyway. The Klingons were another possibibility! Those boys not only knew how to fight but their mating rituals are quite entertaining. Just be sure to have a med kit handy."

If that doesn't work maybe Presidents Obama & Bush could give him some advice. Tons of people obviously think they are both Nazis & they have yet to be executed.

3. For Mr Paladino, I'm think you should go completely the other route.

Don't trash homosexuals & then backtrack in an Urkel'esque "Did I do that?" No, trash & then follow-up w/ "& I mean every word of it!" See how far you can go w/ it before you're tarred in effigy (which is just going to happen anyway come November). Put single mothers in your cross hairs. Same w/ leaches in the Hispanic & African-Americans for not being in their proper place, females in the board room for not doing their patriotic duty of raising a family, naive college kids trying to save the world, unemployed leaches who drain the tax dollars, Muslims (for what else?) being terrorists, labor unions for standing in the way of progress, dead Muslims for taking up our precious cemetery space, Wall Street for being greedy & having the balls to ask the taxpayers to bail them out, teachers for wanting tenure, babies for being as helpless as they are.

All the while you'd be praising country folk for protecting our 2nd Amendment rights. Servicemen should be praised too because, well, even during events like Abu Ghraib, no one should be held accountable. Porn stars should be praised to because who doesn't like a good bestiality email forwarded to them.

Why this piece of advice, many people will ask?

Mr Paladino, you can change Albany more by losing & giving your opponent Andrew Cuomo a crushing mandate to do the unpopular things that need doing. Like actually getting a budget in place on time (something that's only been done like once or twice in NY in the last 30+ years) as well as REAL ethics reform.

It also sends a message to the State Republican party that they need to develop better ideas & put up decent candidates unlike your primary opponent, the milk-toast, 1-dimensional Rick Lazio.

4. Ms Gillibrand is the only person that is following my "embracing the opposites" approach.

In her campaign commercial, she touts "(she) hasn't been in Washington long but (she's) been there long enough to know things are broken." She's been there as an elected representative/appointed senator since 2007 & previous to that she was special counsel to the HUD Secertary (Andrew Cuomo) & prior to that interned w/ staunch Republican Senator Alfonse D'Amato.

It begs the question that if she's been in & out of Washington most of her adult life, is she even trying to change "broken Washington" as much as she says or does it make for good P.R.? & if she's as transparent as she says, how come she chose to defend Philip Morris against major civil litigations & racketeering probes by the Justice Department when her firm Davis Polk & Wardwell allowed their associates to decline such work based on moral & ethical grounds? If she's as not-broken as she says, how come she didn't give back $18K to the tobacco industry during her 2008 run like many other candidates do when such donations reveal to be embarrassing to them?

I doubt we'll ever completely know. She can legitimately cite the attorney-client privilege but it certainly makes one wonder.

**********
In other news...
**********

This here is a portrait of Shylah.

I definitely liked her infectious Lois Lane type spunk. Not sure if the picture below really reflects that but that's the vibe I got while working w/ her. I hope to work w/ her again but being the busy girl, Lord only knows if the scheduling will ever present itself again.

Feel free & comment on any part of this blog, if you so desire.

Banned Books Week

2010-09-29T10:46:00.010-04:00

Last night I went to the Banned Book week read-aloud at the Rock Hill Bakehouse Cafe here in Glens Fall & was quite enjoyable. Its important to call attention to this because so many Americans are completely oblivious that stuff like this is alive & well in good ol' "free" America.

According to one of the lists brought to the gathering, I was quite proud (in that twisted sorta way) that the entire Harry Potter series has been the most heavily challenged book in the entire 2000 decade. Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickle & Dimed" was banned somewhere in PA because "it promotes economic fallacies and drug use." Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" recently rose UP the charts & banned because of "offensive language, racism, unsuited to age group." Any number of Judy Blumes remain banned at any given time. & how could we NOT ban Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye" (said w/ sarcasm). I discovered there's a certain lyricism to the work when read aloud that I never picked up on before. Might have to revisit it at some point in the future.

Here's the list if you wish to see what are the most challenged/banned this past decade or the top 10 in 2009.

This gathering also brought up some questions that I never thought to have considered. Banned Book Week was started by the American Library Association, yet so many libraries themselves simply don't acknowledge book banning or the event(s). It wouldn't surprise me in the least that they don't want to be seen as political & thus come under attack & thus lose taxpayer dollars due to community outrage. Its a shame.

Anyway, I brought Remarque's "All Quiet on the Western Front" mostly because it is a work that A. I actually owned & B. was a work that is still heavily banned in many places.

Its most notable banning was in Nazi Germany in 1933 & was publicly burned along w/ the rest of Remarque's works (sound familiar?). The Nazis produced propaganda claiming he was a descendant of French Jews, a claim that many biographies still perpetuate despite the lack of evidence.

I also chose the following passage because in my opinion it does a decent job reflecting what's going on in our society, specifically of those who have answered the call to fight. The more things change, the more they remain the same:

There are rumors of an offensive. We go up to the front two days earlier than usual. On the way we pass a shelled school house. Stacked up on its longer side is a high double wall of yellow, unpolished, brand-new coffins. They still smell of resin, pine, & the forest. There are at least a hundred of them.

"That's a good preparation for an offensive," said Mueller astonished.

"They're for us," growls Detering.

"You be thankful if you get so much as a coffin," grins Tjaden, "they'll slip you a waterproof sheet for your old Aunt Sally of a carcase."

The others jest too, unpleasant jests, but what else can a man do? - The coffins are really for us. The organization surpasses itself in that kind of thing.

Ahead of us everything is shimmering. The first night we try to get our bearings. When it is fairly quiet we can hear the transports behind the enemy lines rolling ceaselessly until dawn. Kat says they do not go back but are bring up troops - troops, munitions, & guns.

The English artillery has been strengthened, that we can detect at once. There are at least 4 batteries of 9-inch guns to the right of the farm & behind the poplars they put in trench mortars. Besides these they brought up a night of those French beasts with instaneous fuses.

We are in low spirits. After we have been in the dug-out for two hours our own shells begin to fall in the trench. This is the third time in four weeks. If it were simply a mistake in aim no one would say anything, but the truth is the barrels are worn out. The shots are so often so uncertain that they land within our own lines. To-night two of our men were wounded by them.

**********
In other news...
**********

This here is Jenny.

It was great working w/ her because she had this theater background where you could just give her some general directions & she'd completely go to town w/ it. People like that make my job easy. It also didn't hurt that the rapport I depend on was near instantaneous. This is unusual for a first time working w/ someone new.

Feel free & comment away on any part of this if you so desire.

Campaign Ads

2010-09-23T08:30:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I think I'm the only person alive who is actually enjoys election campaign commercials.

Its a form of entertainment! The deep sinister music. The deep Darth Vader'esque voice overs. The righteous indignation. The distortions. The blanket lies.

Course I'm one of those people that KNOWS that both sides distort the facts & take it as such. George W Bush (or Obama for that matter) is in no way shape or form remotely like Hitler.

& why is it always Hitler? How come Stalin, Mao, & Mussolini never get any despot love from the angered masses? Take Mussolini, he was so pathetically sinister he had to invade a backward African country to fulfill his delusions of a Neo-Roman ruler. Stalin purged & executed (what?) 25 million of his own people. & Mao! Didn't like 50 million of his people die IN PEACETIME to do his horrendous farming policies. Sorry but it takes a special kind of despot to kill that many when a war isn't going on.

***************
In other news...
***************

This here is my friend Heather. In case you haven't noticed, she's playing in her window frame.

Feel free to comment away on any part of this blog if you so choose.

Pericles versus Remarque

2010-09-11T08:30:00.005-04:00

The 9th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorists attacks have come & gone. I was going to tell about a young buck's appreciation (bordering on fealty) for my military service & my discomfort w/ being called a "hero" but I've decided to go a different route.

I'm sure there will be writers/speechwriters/yappists proclaiming the honorable & noble sacrifices provided by the people of that day. It'll take a familiar tact: remembering our forefathers, the uniqueness of our way of life, the speaker/writer/yappist's humbleness on such a solemn occasion, remembering the honored dead & urging the living to emulate those who perished. Pericles & Lincoln would be familiar w/ these themes.

Remarque, author of All Quiet on the Western Front, disagreed w/ Pericles (a significant plot point in a debate w/ the main character's school teacher). Remarque's experience through the fictionalized main character Baumer, was one of monotonous life at the front, the constant threat from artillery fire, the complete disconnect between him & the civilians on the outside, & most importantly the complete randomness of life & death.

& what of this 9th anniversary thing?

I can see both sides of this. You'd WANT to think those 2500+ that perished in the towers (plus the god knows how many casualties elsewhere) were killed to give their deaths meaning. But at the same time I'm sure the untold millions who fell on small pieces of real estate like the Somme, Dogger Bank, Caporetto, Jutland, Verdun, the Marne the Falklands, Salonika, Meuse-Argonne, & Gallipoli (to name a brief few) might disagree about if their deaths were worth it.

I also hear people chant the jingoistic, "Never forget! Never forget!" in relation to the 9/11 attacks but will we? We've certainly forgotten or perverted such "never forget" days like June 6th or November 11th or December 7th or July 1-3 or April 14th or November 22nd. I don't see why we'd all of a sudden things would change now.

Its easier for people to justify their sacrifices if they actually know WHY they're fighting. Unfortunately, we the American public were initially told we're fighting to "keep the world safe for democracy"...err, I mean "keeping the world safe from terrorism". Then we were told its because so & so "presents a clear & present danger" to America. Then the public was told we're fighting to liberate other people.

Does anyone but me think this is a load of horse manure? We haven't honored the memory of the dead, we've perverted it.

In order to have their sacrifices mean something, there has to be some sort of benefit no matter how horrible the notion they may have arisen.

We're involved in 2 separate wars, one forced into it, the other by choice. We've wasted untold billions trying to win said wars when no one can remotely come to a consensus of what "winning" actually means. Because we're at war & need an enemy, we've started fighting amongst ourselves. It started w/ anyone who disagreed w/ the viewpoints of those in power, then shifted to minority groups simply wishing for equal rights UNDER THE LAW, then it shifted to immigrant groups (legal status was an inconvenient detail to many), then it shifted to ones belief structure.

I'd almost think we all lost our heads but then I open my proverbial US History text book. Muslims are today's scapegoat, I get that. Before that it was gays, before that it was woman *gasp* wanting equal pay for equal work, before that it was the blacks, before that it was the Commies, before that it was the yellow-belly Japs, before that it was scourge of organized labor, before that it was the Italian plague, before that it was the uncivilized Indians getting in our way, before that it was Johnny Reb (or Billy Yank depending on where you lived), before that it was the damn Irish, & so on & so forth.

Again I ask, were the sacrifice of 9/11 worth it?

Make no mistake, I'm not a lovey-dovey peace at all costs kinda person. There are some fights worth fighting.

But w/ this one, I think we blew it on HOW we've chosen to fight the good fight. I think its beyond salvage. Its like being down 42-0 at the end of a (American) football game's first quarter but the odds of that are borderline nil. There's nothing wrong w/ cutting ones losses & approaching it from a fresh angle. But oh wait, we'd be a "cut & runner" which is another overally simplistic, jingoistic, perverted idea.

I honestly believe we are worse off now than the year or so after 9/11. At least then we didn't attack go after our own like rabid dogs. At least then our disagreements didn't hinder us from getting stuff done.

Maybe I'm delusional idealist. Maybe the deep seated, hysterical racism was always there & me w/ my rose-colored glasses never saw it this way before.

If so & we are unable to control our emotions, shucking reason & logic aside, & giving into our hate & fear, we as American have already lost & we're to stupid to even know it.

***************
In other news...
***************

This here is Lorraine, shot back when I was in Boston. She had this acting background that completely made my job as a photographer easy.

Feel free to comment if you so desire.

Tea Party and Tom Joad

2010-09-06T10:00:00.003-04:00

Came across some self-professed Tea-party enthusiast showing a Rage Against the Machine performance covering "Ghosts of Tom Joad". He encouraged us to emulate RATM & express our anger towards our government.

Its been close to 3 years since I took my "Politics in Springsteen" elective but from what I remember of the album (as well as the song), I do not remotely recall it being about expressing anger & discontent towards anyone, let alone our government. Did a quick reference check & sure enough my suspicions were correct. The prevailing themes of the song entail hopeless, poverty, depression, hunger, & homelessness to name a few.

I ask for a clarification in how expressing ones anger towards the government remotely relates to that song? I ask because for the life of me, I am not getting that kind of message from those lyrics. I asked also because (giving them the benefit of the doubt) rock music is hardly known for its accurate lyrical interpretations. Whether its Liz Phair discussing her "secret beauty routine"; or the GOP misappropriating Springsteen's "Born in the USA" in 1984 thinking it was an uplifting song to be proud of; or the delightfully raunchiness of the Who's "Squeezebox".

The response accused me of "being an ideologue & lacking intelligence". Its a response I fully expected but, as mentioned earlier, I like to at least TRY & give people the benefit of the doubt. If they weave their own noose, that's their prerogative.

That's unfortunately one of the many problems w/ discourse today. Everyone's shouting at each other, assuming that volume alone equals merit. No coherent message. No leadership. No attempt at understanding your opponent's perspective (if for nothing else than to counter their arguments).

Its more like a gaggle.

"Let's get together & be angry. It'll change things." Expressing ones anger is all well & good but its one step a very long & time consuming process. If you want the change bad enough, you have to spend the time doing the grunt work. Unfortunately, most people aren't willing to get their hands dirty.

Whatever, life goes on.

**********
In other news...
**********

This here is Ivory, yet another gracious participant in my Abandonment Adventure series.

I remember this being a tough shoot, more so because of the life issues on my end that I was dealing w/ at the time. She's a good person & am still glad I went through w/ it.

Feel free & comment away if you so desire.

Robbery Update

2010-08-26T09:00:00.002-04:00

As a follow up to my blog regarding questions about the validity of a local purse snatching, the local paper is reporting that it was indeed a false report. It was to cover-up, of all things, a domestic assault case.

http://poststar.com/news/local/7cf4a21a-9e89-11df-a296-001cc4c03286.html

The irony is is that had they not bothered to report the robbery that never happened. They likely would not be looking at the domestic assault charge, among a host of other charges. Course I doubt they were thinking that far ahead.

Go figure.

Glad the Glens Falls Police Department figured it out. The city isn't crime ridden but they have enough to worry about without having to waste time investigating false allegations.

**********
In other news...
**********

This here is Vron. She's a total sweetie.

Feel free to comment away if you so desire.

One Dimensional Lazio

2010-08-23T08:30:00.002-04:00

Its nice to know that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

Republican candidate for governor, Rick Lazio, is choosing the much bellyhooed construction of an Islamic Community near Ground Zero:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/nyregion/23lazio.html?pagewanted=2&hp

...a centerpiece of his gubernatorial campaign. So much for having actual ideas. So much his previously much belly-hooed pet-issue of "reforming Albany dysfunction."

I remember back during his 2000 US Senate race against Hillary Clinton where his entire platform was, "Vote for me. I'm a true New Yorker". He lost that race by 12% points & those were during relatively good economic times.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that he's still one-dimensionally bankrupt of ideas. If this is the absolute best he or the State Republican Party can do, they deserve to be crushed by 25+ points, like they are behind now.

**********
In other news...
**********

This is here is Rika participating in my Abandonment Adventure project.

Feel free to comment on any of this if you so desire.

Heroes Hypocrisy

2010-08-17T10:00:00.000-04:00

Had a recent incident w/ a former model of mine.

She's a staunch Republican who will periodically post things in her Facebook status message about her views. Y'know, "If you believe that Joe Schmuckatllie is a complete douchebag, please repost." Stuff along those lines. Whatever floats your boat, its your profile.

She was outraged how Muslims dared to open a Mosque near the hallowed grounds of the where "9/11 heroes fell."

For the record, I think this uproar is a completely phony issue. I also think its more of an outrage that the idiots in Congress failed to pass a health insurance bill for the 9/11 first responders (those very same heroes) & cited the link as a reference:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_attacks_health

I of course am accused of using an openly biased news source. Funny. I never realized that the AP was an openly biased news source. And even if it was its not like having a bias has anything bad about it, so long as they are open about it. I think its MORE honest being up-front about said bias & letting people take them into account than continually touting that they are "fair & balanced" when they are anything but.

That's a rant for another time though.

Anyway after she complained that my link "horribly biased" & then goes on the usual talking points rant; defeated on procedural issues because "my Democrats" wouldn't allow amendments, wanted to prevent illegal immigrants from using it, blah, blah, blah...you know the deal. "My Democrats"?! Talk about assuming statements not in evidence. I wasn't pointing fingers or giving some lame excuse why (its semantics anyway), the shit just didn't get done.

If they are the "heroes" we the public continually claim them to be, they (& by extension their families) have EARNED the right to be here regardless of purported immigration is. Its the same w/ how we treat our GIs. We put them on the pedestal & call them "heroes" but the fact of the matter is, we don't treat them as such.

It takes forever & a day to get them the equipment the need to fight the fight we've asked them to. The government for the past 9+ years refuses to tell us why exactly we're fighting the good fight. The servicemen's mental health care is woefully inadequate (& is interestingly enough starting to show in military dogs). Its like everything else in our society, we use it until we cannot anymore, throw it away, replacing it w/ some new product to start the cycle all over again.

Needless to say she defriended me. I care but at the same time I don't. I'm sorry but I'm of the type that if I say something retarded or act like a complete idiot, I'd WANT someone to call me on it. I guess I'm in the minority like that though.

Whatever, life will go on.

**********
In other news...
**********

This was a impromptu shoot w/ Emily. I would have LOVED to have spent a little more time working w/ her but the scheduling just wouldn't permit it. I'm happy w/ what I got though.

Feel free to post comments on anything here.

Enjoy.

Walkoffs Need to Take a Walk

2010-08-03T14:00:00.001-04:00

We here at Farenell Photography propose that "walkoff" should be expunged from the baseball lexicon.

We are tired of reading headlines "(Such & such team) wins in a walk-off error" or "walk-off walk" or "walk-off hit". The term should be used as an exclamation point. Use to many exclamation points & the emphasis of the entire sentence loses meaning.

The only exception to my proposed rule is the home run. Its very being IS the exclamation point. A home run to win the game is like 2-4 exclamation points.

Kirk Gibson hitting a walk-off homer in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series is acceptable. Mookie Wilson hitting into a walk-off error in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series is not acceptable. Joe Carter hitting a Series walk-off homer is MOST DEFINATELY acceptable. Edgar Renteria hitting a walk-off hit in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series is not acceptable. Carlton Fisk hitting a walk-off homer in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series is acceptable.

While we're at it, MLB should get rid of the designated hitter. No more of these over the hill sluggers whose only use left is to hit.

Same with interleague play too. I'm tried of seeing my crappy Red Sox have to play actual good teams like the Cardinals & Dodgers every year while the Yankees get to use half their interleague schedule to beat up on the Mets.

I know very well none of these proposals have a snowballs chance in hell in happening. But one has to start somewhere, right?

:o)

**********
In other news...
**********

This here is Ally, Danielle's roommate. The same Danielle whose picture I posted last entry. I was originally supposed to shoot she & Danielle the same day. Ally was in the mid-morning slot, Danielle took the afternoon.

The snag in the plan were the torrential thunder showers that day. Not quite to Noah's caliber but enough for me to request a reschedule. She was, thankfully, & as fate would have it 20 minutes after we agreed to reschedule for the following weekend, the sky cleared.

Go figure.

The new shoot day was in the high 80's (unseasonably warm is an understatement for early May), while the old shoot date was in the 50's. The incident reinforced the old adage, "If you don't like the weather here in the Northeast, wait a minute. It'll change."

Anyway, this is another of my Abandonment Adventure series. The one people sometime refer to as "Urbexing" or "Urban Exploration" or "Urban Decay."

I'm tentatively calling this shot "Leather & Lace." Whether it stays that way god willing I have a show, I haven't a clue. I'm running w/ it for now.

Feel free & comment, if you dare.

Madden Hotel Sale

2010-07-30T13:00:00.001-04:00

I'm conflicted.

A part of me wants to unleash my scorn at Jack Diamond (the Glens Falls mayor), the Post-Star, and the city system of Glens Falls for their collusionary eminent domain tactics in closing the Madden Hotel. It was clear from the start that no matter who owned it, nor how much they compiled w/ the city's request to get it in code compliance, the city was going to force a closure. The city was bound & determined to get their way, kicking out even legitimate residents like the Open Door food kitchen. I guess they are collateral damage in this tiff.

The city has spent so much tax payer dollars cracking down on the property & its residents, one has to wonder if those expenses could not have been spent more wisely. Like fixing the drainage system by Kensington Elementary School that floods everytime there's a minor rain or snowstorm.

Then there are days like today when I walk to my local library. My route takes me past the hotel. It doesn't matter what time of day it is, there is ALWAYS riff-raff in front of that place clogging the sidewalk. Furthermore, they act like I'm burdening them when I politely say "excuse me" because I'd like to pass through.

I'm not delusional in thinking that the Madden's closure will actually solve the problems of finding a place in the city for affordable housing. But if its closure (& hopefully its demolition) addresses trying to get rid of the riff-raff that's CONSTANTLY there, all I can say is good riddance.

**********
In other news...
**********

This here is Danielle.

The antcedote behind this image is that the day prior it was an unseasonably humid 80 degrees. The day this was shot it was a frigid 50 degrees. It didn't help matters that a downpour earlier that day forced me to cancel a shoot w/ her roommate. Well, that & any sort of inclement weather turns drivers into complete (expletive deleted) morons one of which nearly sideswiped her while yacking on their cell phone.

Anyway, Danielle was participating in my ongoing Abandonment Adventure series. The one people sometime refer to as "Urbexing" or "Urban Exploration." I like the visual contrast between the "dirty, blah" environment juxtaposed against the "pretty, clean" model.

Feel free & comment away if you so choose.

Enjoy.

Operation Paperback

2010-07-19T12:00:00.000-04:00

Saw an interesting blog entry by Bee Balm Gal about Operation Paperback:

http://www.operationpaperback.org/

This organization collects gently used books and sends them to American troops deployed overseas. Since 1999, they have shipped over 1.1 million books to locations around the globe. They are also specifically looking for active-duty, National Guard, Reservists, & their spouses to figure out the needs of the military community.

As a firm believer in encouraging books to have their own adventure once they're read (& thus be aggressively giving mine away), this is an organization is something that I can get behind.

**********
In other news...
**********

This here is Corey.

She came up to the area last Autumn, a little after the peak leaf season but prior to it being blistering cold.It was a fun, quick shoot that cut short by her being called into her workplace. Bummer maybe but I can't hold it against her.

After she got the results, I wasn't pleasantly tickled that she not only acknowledge receipt of the pictures but called to gush how pleased she was. That doesn't happen often (the gushing or the acknowledging), mostly because people get busy w/ their lives. I've been there, trust me. It just is what it is.

Feel free & comment if you dare.

Polanski

2010-07-14T09:00:00.000-04:00

Everytime Roman Polanski appears in the news, I always hear about how "cruel" the prosecutors are for continually dredging this up & thus causing the victim more pain.

I have to disagree.

The prosecutors bent over backward to give him a sweetheart plea deal for drugging & then anally raping a 13 YEAR-OLD GIRL to spare her the agony of going through a trial.

Supposedly he fled because the judge reneged or was going to give him a harsher than expected sentence (which is his perrogative). Let's assume that's the case & not the self-serving statement that it is. If he truly didn't like the sentencing agreement, Polanski could have withdrawn his plea agreement & taken his chances at trial.

Yes this whole thing is being perpetuated because there's a big-name attached to a high profile criminal case. Its no wonder that the 13 year-old girl 33 years later wants to just put this sordid affair behind her.

On the other hand, its also about the integrity of the entire criminal justice system. Because it is a high profile name attached to the case & they let (publicly) let him go, its telling EVERY criminal out there that if you have the means to flee; it ok not to take responsibility for ones own actions.

I empathize w/ the victim but I care more about the integrity of the system because it effects EACH & EVERY ONE OF US. If someone rapes my sister, its ok because if the case is to tough, we won't hold the perp accountable. If someone beats their wife sending her to the ER, they won't be held accountable. If someone steals my identity, that's ok because they won't be held accountable. Victims have to have faith & trust the system because A. they won't report the crimes (a problem already showing in cities as well as immigrant communities) & B. it encourages people to take the law into their own hands.

I'm also bothered by the hypocrisy. If the Polanski did not have a high-profile name attached, no one in their right mind would think its ok to let someone go who drugged & anally raped a 13-year old girl. I guess that's what having a high-profile name gets you, reasonable doubt off-the-bat regardless of what the nondisputed facts are.

**********
In other more cheerful news...
**********

This here is Vanessa.

She was looking for actor-headshots but kinda wanted a natural light kinda vibe to it. I'd like to think I did the best I could under the weather circumstances provided (bright overcast sky that kinda blinded you even when you weren't looking at it).

Feel free to comment on any part of this blog if you so choose.

Whole Lotta Nothing

2010-07-07T09:00:00.004-04:00

I had a blog planned out but I just don't feel like posting it anymore.

It ran something along the lines of ass-hat says something questionable; I challenge said notion & ask for a clarification; ass-hate opens mouth & proves they're an ass-hat (as opposed to keeping it shut & giving himself reasonable doubt).

Whatever. The schmuck isn't worth the effort.

Stuff really hasn't changed much or has been said better elsewhere.

1. The idiots in the NYS legislature still haven't reached a budget as I write this. Depsite this being, 2 months overdue if not more. God forbid they do their one constitutional duties. I'm not sure which is worse, them taking off 2 months last year because they cannot act like adults & getting paid for it or pretending to act like adults, still getting nothing done, & STILL get paid for it.

Its a shame because the Governor is the only one TRYING to get something done & is actually in tune w/ the economic reality we're in because the voters don't like him & is on the way out anyway. While the rest are to busy trying to get reelected.

If we the voters are to stupid to keep these guys in office, sometimes I think its the government we deserve.

2. I've kinda gotten into World Cup fever. Its definately not a sport that Americans are accustomed to watching (constant scoring, breaks in the action). Not to mention, most (timed) regulation games revolve around the 60 minute timeframe plus halftime, soccer (at least at that level) revolve around the 90 minute games plus halftime. But once you get passed that, its sorta like hockey in the sense that its the scoring chances & the near misses that make exciting. That & the inevitable controversies but I'm not going to get into that.

3. Its been pretty hot lately. I wish I could be sympathetic but I've lived (& worked) in a tropical juggle for a year & a half. There was literally zero difference between the sun & the shade.

Don't like the heat? Do something about it. No sense whining about it because doing so isn't going to make it any cooler. Or one could think of it this way, would you rather it be blistering hot or blistering cold? Me, I'd rather have it blistering hot because at least I can operate outside my house doing (I dunno) taking a drive w/ the windows rolled down (the original air conditioner), take a swim in any of the natural swimming spots here in the beautiful Adirondacks, hover around the air-conditioner, cool off w/ the hose.

Just have to keep things in perspective.

**********
In other news...
**********

This here is Rika participating in my Abandonment project. People sometimes refer to stuff like this as "urbexing" or "urban decay" or "urban exploration".

Anyway, this is her outfits but playing around w/ one of my fabric thingies that I always seem to have. I just kinda ran w/ it at that moment.

Feel free & comment away if you so choose.

Baseball Hall of Fame

2010-06-28T10:30:00.000-04:00

This weekend, my brother & I took my baseball-loving father to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown as a belated Father's Day present.

As a fan myself, the biggest question I had going in was how they were going to address the performance enhancing issue. I soon got my answer because of how we choose to tour the museum (visiting the most recent stuff to the least recent). Maybe I should say that I got my answer by what they weren't showing.

On the contrary, they acknowledge the steroid issue by having a big exhibit of Hank Aaron, the former holder of the all-time home run record & generally agreed upon nonsteroid user. They acknowledge the various records (most home runs, most doubles, most games played, etc) & those that hold it. But other than that, no artifacts of tainted players. No special no-hitter balls, no bats, no uniform items, etc.

Conclusion: Steroid users have no place in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

**********
In other news...
**********

This here is my dear friend, Melanie, who is participating in my never-ending abandonment project (sometimes commonly referred to as "urbexing" or "urban decay"). Locations like these, I've learned to use them as much as you freakin' can because they WILL NOT be there indefinitely.

Feel free & comment away about any part of this blog if you wish.

Bait and Switch review

2010-06-15T10:00:00.000-04:00

Just finished Barbara Ehrenreich's "Bait & Switch" .

The author goes on an undercover investigation to investigate & experience white-collar job hunting. Specifically trying to get a communications field & middle management sectors. The results are humorous & chilling at the same time.

Her conclusions are equally depressing. Actually landing a job (to say nothing about an interview) means being likable over results oriented, being a true-believer at the sacrifice of having an outside life (no hobbies or family life), & basically being a yes-man at the detriment to results.

Because SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many people are in this sector of the workforce trying to get back in, I encourage everyone to read it.

**********
In other news...
**********

This here is Ashley & her mom, participating in my Breast Cancer Awareness project while I was in Boston last summer.

Actually this was kinda the run-up to it (the building a rapport stage), the vision for BCA is more something like this. But still it was part of their journey & easily one of the most physically, mentally, & exhausting shoots I can remember doing.

Ashley's mom being a breast cancer survivor (2 weeks post-op at that) is one of the bravest people I've ever met. I am forever grateful for the oppurtunity in working w/ them both.

Feel free & comment away if you so desire.

Local Purse Snatching

2010-06-05T21:00:00.001-04:00

Saw an interesting article in today's local newspaper.

http://poststar.com/news/local/article_be434480-700b-11df-852e-001cc4c002e0.html

There's something about this where its setting off my BS detector.

The red flags:

1. "The attacker was described as a thin black male, 6 feet to 6-feet-2 tall, wearing baggy black pants, a red shirt with a black logo and a red bandana on his head. He also reportedly had gold teeth and thin mustache or goatee."

Sounds like the stereotypical "big black" man, wearing "big black man" appearal, w/ gold teeth & facial hair to make him sound more menancing. Never mind the fact that Northern NY is hardly known for its ethnic diversity. Never mind the fact that that stretch of the bike trail isn't really near any residential areas (we'll get to that later).

2. "The incident happened shortly before 2 p.m." "the man jumped out of bushes and grabbed her purse"...Jumped out of the bushes during the middle of the day?"

Jumped out of the bushes in the middle of the day? Considering biketrail stretch has a nice straight away, the victims are saying that he lay in wait specifically for them?

3. "The woman and her boyfriend struggled with him, the man punching the woman -- who is battling breast cancer -- in the chest before he was able to rip the purse away and run off."

This is the most head-scratching part. Petty crimes like purse snatching are what's called "crimes of oppurtunity." You prep, you make your attempt, & get the heck outta there. You don't stick around & fight. To many things can go wrong.

It also makes me wonder what the heck the boyfriend was doing. Did he try & run after the perp?

4. "The couple continued walking on the bike path until they got to Maple Street, where they spotted a relative who they told about the alleged attack."

Admittedly, this is less of a red flag. In today's day & age of instant & portable communication devices like cell phones, between the two of them you'd think there'd be pretty good odds that they'd have one. Where they could report the incident near the scene of the crime. Apparently, that's not the case.

Though a purse-snatching by a "big black" man is plausible, there are so many concidences. To many things don't add up for it to smell right.

*****
In other news...
*****

This here is Rika doing the relationship w/ her boyfriend.

We were playing w/ the short span of late afternoon winter sunlight while we could.

Feel free to comment on whatever you like. It'd just be helpful if a first name was left in case I choose to reply (so I know who I'm addressing).

Fair Use Doctrine

2010-05-26T12:45:00.000-04:00

As an artist, I am seriously troubled by a local restaurant's choice to host a particular artist.

Clarification: I'm bothered by the artist's choice to present original art protected under copyright law specifically Hollywood characters. For those of you not in the know, these are the characters themselves in full makeup & costume: Jack Nicholson's Joker, Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow, Clint Eastwood's Man w/ No Name, Gerald Butler's King Leonidas, & a couple others.

Some, like Shepard Fairey in the Obama "Hope" poster where he used a copyrighted AP photograph w/o proper attribution or royalties since the work is a derriative, will argue that it falls under "the fair use" exception in the copyright code (Title 17). However, I do not share that intrepretation. The keys to the exception being in the context of "criticism, commentary, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research."

But even if that weren’t the case, I am doublely concerned that the artist made no attempt to create a "significant change”. In the art world, that small change is enough to constitute the reinterpreted work as a new original. Marcel Duchamp’s “L.H.O.O.Q.” is such an example. He painted a mustache on a postcard sized Mona Lisa, retitled it, and put it in a gallery setting. Because the Dadaist movement questioned traditional notions of art AND because he took the time to make it his own, the work and its message was become accepted.

As an artist w/ an academic background, I see it as the equivalent to artistic plagiarism.

We artists have enough problem with people intentionally ripping off our works w/o our permission. It breaks my heart knowing that the restaurant owner who is a supporter of local arts scene is unintentionally helping intellectual property theft.

I'm struggling how to tactfully broach the issue w/ the restaurant owner. If you have any suggestions, let me know.

*****
In other news...
*****

I'm choosing the following image because there's an interesting rip story that goes w/ it.

Some brainiac approached the model asking to work w/ her. Since he didn't have any work on the site, she asked for samples to get an idea of his quality. Low & behold he choses this one:

Little does he know that the shot he chose is one of her favorite images...of herself...by me. She reported the rip to the site administrators who were all happy to boot the bugger from the site.

Enjoy.

My Rabbi Credentials

2010-05-12T09:00:00.001-04:00

I've been called many things in my life.

"Pornographer" because let's face it, if I photograph adult women in various states of undress even if the R-rated parts are covered, its automatically porn. A "predator" because adult women have chosen of their own free-will to shed their clothes in front of my camera. "TNT", you can thank my brother for that. A "bigot" because (as my old Marine Staff Sergeant used to say), "I'm an equal oppurtunity bigot, I just hate everybody." The "Flash" because I "move like a bolt of lightning" (the complete opposite of its context, LOL).

I'm even a self-described "fallen Catholic" because as a "smut peddler that exploits women", I'm surely going to burn in Hell. Better to laugh w/ the sinners than cry w/ the saints, I guess.

*cues evil laugh*

However, I don't think I've ever had any names given that had anything to do w/ my piety. That changed while at work a couple weeks ago.

As the story goes...

I was plugging away at the computer, minding my own business when a fellow coworker from another department comes over. She sits next to me & asks in a hushed tone, "I don't mean to be rude but (pausing) are you a rabbi?"

She was lucky & wasn't drinking my coffee because it would have sprayed out of my mouth in shock. Instead I repeated the question only louder but laughing. Still in seriousness she hushed me down again.

Once I was able to recompose myself, she explains about a swearing incident the previous day. Apparently a member of her own department & I were in the stock room moving boxes when a swearing incident came up. I never quite understood if I was the one flinging the expletative deleteds or the other guy. But she said, according to him, he was absolutely convinced I was a rabbi because of that incident as well as "how (I) carry myself."

Not quite sure what that means, is it my body-language? My Jack Webb "just the facts, ma'am" straight-laced demeanor because I'm focused on getting stuff done? W/ the beard, I could even see the Alec Guiness's Obi-Wan Kenobi thing. I dunno.

Anyways...I informed her that no, I went the complete other way, the proverbial drinking, whoring, carrowsing route.

Feeling conflicted, she next asked whether to set him straight or string him along. I of course told her to string him along. The man better pray that I never find out who he is because, oh boy, am I gonna have fun screwing w/ him. LOL

*sigh*

This is what happens when people automatically assume things w/o taking the 2 seconds to verify said information (something that I hate). Though this is a light-hearted, I've been on the receiving end of others where the effects were not so comedic.

Whatever, life goes on.

**********
In other news...
**********

This here is Brooke. She & her mom were gracious enough to indulge me w/ their participation in my ongoing abandonment series.

While shooting, Brooke accumulated a lot of dirt on her hands & then randomly started rubbing it all across her arms & face. It was one of those bizarre moments that fit what we were all doing & where I would never have planned it in a million years. It worked, so I just ran w/ it & we all still laugh about it to this day.

Feel free to comment, if you so choose.

What I Do Versus Who I Am

2010-05-05T09:00:00.004-04:00

Deep down a part of me has always known this but its been hammered in lately. Photography is simply something that I do & enjoy, its not who I am.

This has been really hit home in a variety of ways.

- being uninspired by a person's look
- a person's inability to follow freakin' preparation directions
- a subject's primma-donna'ish
- bringing outside drama which I don't need
- changing what has been previously agreed upon in advance the day of the shoot
- content being all about them & not enough giving on what I want or need

But most importantly, if you don't have a sense of humor & are overly particular about being shown a certain way, then I'm sorry, I don't care how hot you think you are, working together is just not for me.

I'm not saying all the people I have worked w/ fell in the above category, Its likely just a numbers thing. By this time last year, I'd worked w/ close to 25 people. This year (as I write this) its closer 6 or 7, so of course the usual 10% of not-so-great shoots only SEEMS more prevalent.

This funk however has extended far beyond my people photography. I haven't shot any random junk stuff in over 8 months & I haven't practiced my sports photography in longer than that. Nor have I not gone out & wandered shooting landscapes or whatever. The explorational wonder just hasn't been there.

Whatever, life will go on.

**********
In other news...
**********

This here is Sapphire. She's one of those people where having never met her previously (setting aside the less than 15 minutes sitting at the scrumpicious down-home family dinner after her sister's wedding ceremony). Yet working together simply "felt right."

That's a notion that's becoming more & more important lately (or at least it is in my own delusional mind). Quality over quantity. Doing something because I want to, as opposed to doing something just for the sake of habit.

Anyways, there are two versions of the shot below. The other version may argueablely be better but I'm choosing this one because I'm an admitted sucker for a pretty smile.

Feel free to leave comments if you so choose.

Mythologizing the Past

2010-04-29T09:30:00.002-04:00

I ran across this Washington Post news article that came out shortly after the recent passage of Health Care reforms.

I came across an interesting quote:

"I grew up in the '50s," said Hugh Pearson, 63, a retired builder from Bakersfield, Calif. "That was a wonderful time. Nobody was getting rich, nobody was doing everything big. But it was 'Ozzie and Harriet' days, 'Leave It to Beaver'-type stuff. Now we have all this MTV, expose-yourself stuff, and we have no morality left, not even by the legislators."

It makes for a great news-bite but let's look at this further. If its 2010 now & he's currently 63, that would mean he was born roughly in 1947. He was 3 when it began & 13 when it closed!

BTW, I'm doing the "face-palm" right now.

Back when I was that age, my biggest concern was catching the latest episode of the original Transformers cartoon. Or yelling at my sister for disassembling my latest Legos creation, or playing GI Joe w/ the neighborhood kids in the woods by my old house.

I guess its a testament to the effectiveness of the Madison Avenue cultural propaganda machine.

**********
In other news...
**********

This here is Ashley. We met each other many moons ago through the connection of a mutual friend. It didn't work out for quite sometime, she was coming as I was going & vice versa. That sorta thing.

Low & behold she was like 8 months pregnant or something & found herself in my area & inquired about a shoot. I made time the following week.

It was kinda tough considering Mother Nature forced us indoodrs, the limited time available, & not to mention, it was my first preggo shoot in like 7 years. I think both of us did a pretty darn good. Preggo shoots are always tough trying to hit the model at the right angle that shows off the bump (the thing everyone wants to see apparently) & remembering that the model won't have same movement mechanics.

Anyways, here's the lovely Ashley & her then pregnant self.

Feel free to comment away on anything written here, if you so desire.

Time Travel is a Sorry Excuse for Quality Storytelling

2010-04-20T09:00:00.000-04:00

I've come to the conclusion that 95% of time travel stories are a weak excuse for quality storytelling.

It seems like a good idea in theory. It allows you to introduce fun, alternate versions of the characters we all know & love. It allows you to introduce horrible environments that do not exist in the present. It allows you to reanalyze time periods that we've come to mythologize. It allows you to discuss the moral implications of mucking up the past & altering ones own present.

Why do I think time travel stories are a weak excuse for storytelling?

Its an investment issue.

When some friggin' science fiction franchise produces some villain who travels back to my character(s)'s own past & then SUCCEEDS in altering his future, its not respecting what's come before it. It makes changing the present to easy & is without consequences. If no character that "I" know, not even one, aren't going to remember the effected changes, then what's the point of telling the story in the first place?

Take Marvel Comics for example. I know you guys made a big push to get Peter Parker back to his single guy worry roots but you couldn't have thought of a better storyline than having Pete's 25-year marriage to Mary Jane Watson evaporated by a snap of the fingers? You mean to tell me you guys have never heard of, y'know, a thing called a divorce? You could've done that & have her move to Hollywood (she is an actress after-all) & then have Pete lives the single life you guys want him to. By magically erasing his marriage, you also changed Pete's bombshell of a coming out party that occurred in "Civil War" (probably your best company wide storyline in years). Whoops, sorry audience, that didn't happen either.

Or take the most recent Star Trek movie. You have a villain from Picard & Janeway's time period traveling back in time, creating havoc in Kirk & Spock's Academy days (a period of like 150-175 years in the past). Nevermind that you glossed over why he's ticked off. Nevermind that his reasons don't make sense, even to him. If they don't make sense to the character himself, why in the hell would they make any sense to the audience?

I know franchise reboots & origin stories are the rage right now but give me a friggin' break. Its one thing for some James Bond villain threatening to blow up the world, its another for him to actually do it. By telling that particular story w/o even a hint of a reset or a way to make things right. If things are not going to be fixed, why tell the story to begin w/?

There's no "Amok Time", no awesome deliciously suave evilness that is Khan, no cat & mouse hunt that is the "Balance of Terror", no "Menagerie" or "the Cage", no Borg, the entire Next Generation, DS9, & Voyager series are all shot (they all had prominent Vulcan & Romulan deeply woven into the fabric of their mythos). You get the idea.

The sad thing is is that they could have used the EXACT same plotline (pissed off villain traveling back to his enemy's past), placed it in Picard & Janeway's time period, introduce us to a familiar yet new crew (its not like it conflicts w/ any Star Trek projects going on right now because there are none), & it would have been perfectly acceptable. Hell, you could have kept Old Spock in the mix to draw roots from the Original Series. Instead we get the abortion that is the Star Trek "Reboot". Don't get me wrong, it had its moments like the different takes on old motifs: being chased by weird creatures, retarded yet fun fight scenes, new takes on old sound effects, the really nice nod to retro set designs but updating them for a unique look. *sigh*

I hope JJ Abrams someday gets stabbed by a liquid metal Terminator. Thank you for wasting like a 20-year emotional investment.

****
In other news...
****

This here is a shot of Shylah & Brad.

This shot came off more like an engagement picture than I ever intended but it still works. I particularly like how their hands are positioned because A. its all their doing & B. whenever I try to place the hands, I completely screw it up. They were both a fun bunch to work w/.

Feel free to comment away if you so desire.

Future Darwin Award Applicant

2010-04-14T08:00:00.001-04:00

I never would have thought the Census information would have been controversial but apparently I was wrong. The most sensitive information they ask for is your phone number & even that one could probably find out what it is by, I dunno, DOING A QUICK GOOGLE SEARCH!

Here's what the form asks in case you're interested:

http://2010.census.gov/2010census/how/interactive-form.php

Some like Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (Republican from Minnesota) feel its so "intrusive" that she is urging her constituents not to fill out the forms. Don't get me wrong, I know there are a lot of anti-government wackos out there but its doubly ironic since the entire basis on whether a Congressperson even has a job (aside from being elected) is based on having MORE residents in their state than the others.

It'd be poetic justice if she lost her seat from gerrymandering because her state lost population. I can just foresee idiots like these someday becoming a Darwin Award applicant.

*****
In other news...
*****

This is a semi-oldie of Nancy wearing custom jewelry by Parker Posie Designs.

Feel free to comment on any part of this blog, if you dare. (cues mischievous laugh)

I Heart Boobies Brouhaha

2010-04-07T09:00:00.001-04:00

Of all the things for a community to be outraged about, the infamous South Glens Falls "I (heart) boobies" brouhaha should not be one of them.

Is the phrasing crude? Sure it is. But it gets people to think & followup w/ why the person is wearing said bracelet. That was certainly my experience when introduced to the "Save the Ta-Tas" organization. I thought it was another silly Facebook group (much like "I want to be your derivative so I can lay tangent to your curves") but after a quick investigation they are indeed a legitimate Breast Cancer Awareness organization.

Though I applaud Ms Ballard for correcting what she perceived as a school violation, at the same time I have to wonder if this is a case of a teacher having an axe to grind? Think about it. The bracelet was never disrupting class until the teacher herself brought undue attention to it. Secondly, the student offered a reasonable compromise to turn the bracelet inside out. Thirdly, the teacher went out of her way to go after the kid the next day when the bracelet was already inside out. On this last count I have to ask...considering there are an untold number of organizations using variation of the "I heart boobies" color scheme, how did the teacher know what was on the bracelet if she never saw it inside-out to begin w/?

Ms Ballard is not the only person in society who has been effected by Breast Cancer. Had she not lost her head & taken 5 minutes (probably less) to Google the organization, she would have found all she needed to discover what the organization was about. Had she spoken to the kid in private (maybe after class or school?), she would have learned he too had a family member effected by the disease. She could have taken the time to visit the local American Cancer Society office & given the kid a more acceptable alternative braclet (they were more than happy to give away for free the one I wear away, despite my offer to pay the crippling price of $2) Instead she loses her head enforcing a zero-tolerance policy, the spirit of which was never meant for more noticeable & disruptive personal attire. As the saying goes, a "teachable moment" was lost.

Interestingly enough, by Ms Ballard & the administration acting the way they did, they've brought publicity to the "I heart Boobies" organization in ways the organization itself could never have hoped for. Call this the Law of Unintended Consequences.

The point is for all the unwise things teenagers often get themselves into. Punishing them for wanting to help improve society, should not be one of them.

Edit: If this story didn't get juicer, the SGF Assistant principle had the brains to be photographed groping the wax figures of Jessica Simpson & Jenna Jameson during a trip to a recent trip to Vegas. The story probably would have ended there but he then went on post them publicly on his Facebook page. This is the same person responsible for disciplining students for their cancer awareness's "disruptive attire."

I swear this is sounding more & more like a South Park episode. The kids are the responsible ones while the adults act like idiots.

****
In other news...
****

This is where I'd present one of the pictures from my Breast Cancer Awareness pictures but unfortunately, there aren't any ones that A. are of a PG nature that haven't been seen yet.

So, I'll just show you an oldie but goodie.

Feel free to opine if you so choose.

Pedopriests Comparing Themselves to Holocaust Jews

2010-04-04T08:00:00.002-04:00

This being Easter & all, I had an interesting cross-culture analysis about resurrections planned but something more serious arose that I felt merited my scorn.

I consider myself a spiritual person but its really hard to support organized religion when institutions like the Catholic Church make claims that have no basis in reality.

I give you the latest Vatican statement defending itself against the ongoing pedophilia charges. They're comparing their (perceived) persecution in regards to the ongoing pedophilia priest scandal w/ those of the Holocaust Jews.

These people just don't get it & likely never will. For starters, pedo-priests are the abusers not the victim. If you insist on comparing it to the Holocaust, a more appropriate analogy is that the pedo-priest are the Nazi War Criminals. "We're only following orders." Yeah, I'm sure.

If the Roman Catholic church is unable or unwilling to even investigate the matter & take appropriate disciplinary action (as opposed to shuffling them from one unsuspecting parish to another), then the accuser should stand trial in the criminal justice system. "Just protecting our institution" be damned.

Your community entrusted you not to abuse that trust. Because you violated that public trust, you should get whatever punishment that this world can meet out. I'd be saying the same for any police officer or elected official violating their oath for personal gain.

Kicking out a couple of kids out of Catholic School because their parents are lesbians is ok (as if the children have any say in who their parents are). Pimping out the choir as a de facto prostitution ring is ok. Telling women what they can & cannot do to their own bodies is ok. Doing nothing about known pedophile priests is ok. But god forbid that two people of the same sex want to love each other, that's a sin!

It just goes to show how (expletive deleted) their priorities have become. Its bullshit like this that contributes why I don't waste my time going to Sunday mass anymore.

Edit: This makes me even more angry!!!

In the two years before Father Murphy died, the bishops in Milwaukee and Superior tried to have him defrocked but were dissuaded by Vatican officials who had received a letter from Father Murphy asking for leniency. The Vatican said Father Murphy had shown “apparent good conduct” in the 24 years since he had been removed from St. John’s and sent to Boulder Junction.

The locals tried to get rid of this piece of trash & headquarters gives the guy yet another reprieve. I know they believe in the sacrament of reconciliation but apparently, enough will never be enough to these idiots.

*****
In other news...
*****

This here is Hope, a person I consider a creatively dear friend. This is an older picture that has a special place in my heart.

Feel free to comment away if you so choose.

Washington Jealous of Albany Buffoonery

2010-04-01T09:00:00.000-04:00

Nice to know the Albany legislature does not have a monopoly on buffoonery.

Thanks goes to MOFYC for emailing the following Washington Post article.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/03/maryland-basketball-measure-st.html

Summary:

Two politicians arguing over one of those symbolic, (usually) noncontroversial measures that happens all the time. Apparently the Maryland representative wanted to pass some motion wishing the U of Maryland men's basketball team good luck during their March Madness Tournament appearance (they were eventually bounced in the 2nd round). The California representative opposed it because he had his own symbolic resolution rejected earlier this year.

For those of you at home, my facial expression is the same one I used when "baby-dangling" entered the American Lexicon.

If this story wasn't already retarded, I'm sharing some comedic quotes (intentional or otherwise) that I caused me to choke on my coffee from laughing:

Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-N.H.), who was on the House floor for the whole exchange, decided to stay out of it. "I will keep myself totally neutral as a graduate of the University of New Hampshire," she said.

Here's another quote from the House Majority Leader's PR office:

Republicans are staying true to their 'Party of No' doctrine: Whether it's health care, job creation, or basketball, Republicans aren't for anything.

& no, this is unfortunately not an April Fool's joke.

*****
In other news...
*****

This here is Brittany doing her thing.

She's one of those fun, little sprites where you can just let her go on autopilot & follow along. Those kinds of people make my job easy.

Feel free to comment if you so choose.

GlobalFoundries wants more State Handouts

2010-03-28T08:30:00.002-04:00

At a time when area NY schools are considering extensive layoffs combined w/ property tax increases to meet their dwindling budgets, like the following:

http://poststar.com/news/local/article_d477e7f8-0ac4-11df-944f-001cc4c002e0.html

http://poststar.com/news/local/article_a20f6482-258e-11df-8d30-001cc4c002e0.html

http://poststar.com/news/local/article_9f2c4f42-2a38-11df-a254-001cc4c002e0.html

http://poststar.com/news/local/article_acb32dc0-2d85-11df-bd6c-001cc4c03286.html

http://poststar.com/news/local/article_af3d8bb8-337e-11df-92e6-001cc4c03286.html

http://poststar.com/news/local/article_dd41d08c-36e4-11df-8e95-001cc4c002e0.html

GlobalFoundries's request asking NY lawmakers for more "incentives" to expand their business (on top of the already approved $1.2 billion in tax breaks & cash reimbursements) to be politically tone-deaf to the entire economic climate here in the state.

http://poststar.com/news/local/article_27420224-38f7-11df-9d3b-001cc4c03286.html

Closing schools, prisons, & hospitals is considered ok (y'know those industries that actually work towards the public good) but when private business that are specifically in the business of turning profit come asking the government (regardless of what level it is) "bribes", whoops, we mean "handouts", those governments are to willing to bend over backwards & comply. Once the bribe, sorry, we mean handouts, end, what's the incentive for them to stay?

There's something wrong w/ this picture, people.

***
In other news...
***

This is an oldie but goodie of my friend Gabrielle.

She's one of those insanely smart people who is quite oblivious to how pretty she actually is. Its like there are so many character-traits that get noticed about her, the physical appearance almost is like an after-thought. Course its not like she'd care what other people think about that anyways. She's a total Ravenclaw, through & through.

If I remember right, she's doing post-graduate work in Elementary Education somewhere out at Cortland.

Anyway, she makes me laugh & is remembered for the now-famous line said in jest, "Making goofy faces is my one true talent in life."

Feel free to opine if you so chose.

Rush Backtracks

2010-03-23T09:30:00.002-04:00

I've got an update from last week's blog Rush as an Illegal Immigrant. Now that Health Care Reform actually passed a few days ago, Rush had to quickly "clarified" his vow:

http://www.rbr.com/radio/22636.html

When some interpreted that to mean he would move there permanently, he clarified that his trips there would only be temporary, when seeking medical attention.

I never expected him to keep his word in leaving the country but we had, oh, so high hopes! Oh well.

***
In other news...
***

This here is Devlin taken way back when. Life has gotten in the way & we've creatively parted ways since this shot was taken.

Feel free to opine if you so choose.

Rush Limbaugh as an Illegal Immigrant

2010-03-16T08:30:00.004-04:00

On his radio program, Rush Limbaugh decries any sort of American Health Care package as being (cue the creepy Scooby Doo organ music) as "socialized medicine". This of course is an abomination. Strange how he was perfectly fine (cues creepy Scooby Doo organ music) getting socialized medicine when complained of chest pains during his Hawaiian in Dec 2009. Its also strange how Congress is looking at very same Hawaiian health care system as a model for nationwide implementation. Then again, Rush has never been a believer in consistency or cared much about hypocrisy.

So it should come as no surprise Mr Limbaugh has threatened to go to Costa Rica for all his medical treatment if Obama's Health Care package is passed.

Personally, I say good riddance but that's not why I'm writing.

Another pet issue Rush rails against are how "illegal immigrants leach our system from hard working, tax-paying citizens."

Soooooooooooo if Health Care passes Congress, Rush becomes an "illegal immigrant leaching money & services from (another country's) hard working, tax-paying citizens."

I doubt his listeners will ever be able appreciate the irony.

***
In other news...
***

This here is Sapphire, the third sister of the Connor family that's been in front of my camera (fourth if you count R's* test shots but she went on to make the silly claim she's "not pretty enough" which is complete BS). I've gotten A LOT of mileage from all of them & they from me. Working w/ certain people just "feels right," I've come to see them as extensions of my own family.

Anyway, the luck of the draw always seems to have my Connor Girl shoots in a basement type setting. Shiloh over the Crane, Sarah in one of the Earth Science Building up in Potsdam during the middle of the day, and Sapphire down here in Queensbury. Certainly makes for some interesting stuff.

Below is something Sapphire & I produced on a recent December day.

Feel free to opine if you so choose.

* denotes the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Those Damn Dirty Apes

2010-03-09T10:00:00.003-05:00

Disclaimer: the following blog entry is meant to be light-hearted.

Things that bug me:

1. Seeing baseball players slide into first base drives me absolutely bonkers.

First base is the ONLY base you can safely overrun. Sliding slows down your body momentum. So this means when you sliding into first base you're actually HELPING the other team make their play.

Seriously, those unless that player is friggin' hurt whereby he FALLS sliding into first base, he's lucky I'm not his manager & would immediately bench his sorry ass just for being a complete dumbass. I truly pity the person that's sitting next to me when I see this happen.

2. Knowing those damn, dirty apes are gonna get their stinking smelly paws on us & use us as pets. They've already got the leashes & whips. They're just biding their time. They're biding their time I tell you.*

3. "I'm sorry, Dave, I cannot let you do that," the H.A.L. 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey

The smarter automobiles get, the stupider they become. Seriously, I turn on the ignition & less than 10 seconds later I'm getting the warning signal that my seat belt is not buckled. 10 seconds later, it beeps again. & another 10 seconds. & another 10 seconds. & media wonders why roadrage incidents are on the rise.

Nevermind the fact that it was winter & I was, I dunno, WARMING UP THE CAR!

Its only a matter of time before they start accelerating the vehicle, killing us when we them to. Oh wait a minute! Toyota's already trying to thin the herd. Nevermind.

4. Those damn, dirty apes are just biding their time to blow us all to hell.*

5. When people fail to return their free weights back to the appropriate place while in the gym. Sometimes in my testerone fueled workout, I want to put someone through a window because of it.

6. Knowing those damn, dirty apes will turn this paradise into a desert ages from now.*

7. When some Einstein who doesn't even use the gym, comes & says, "it stinks in here" & then proceeds to empty the entire air-freshener can & then leaves. Correct me if I'm wrong but, y'know, ITS A FRIGGIN' GYM NOT A FLOWERSHOP! Its supposed to stink when people are sweating up a storm.

Some idiots really need to have an anvil dropped on them.

8. Those damn, dirty apes are already turning this place into a madhouse. A madhouse I tell you!* (Just look at the NYS government.)

9. Remember that Winter Wonderland Contest I entered last month? I lost, big time. Not that I actually expected to win & its not like I actually am losing sleep over it. Its was just for fun, y'know?

Guess, what the winning image was? No really, guess? I got beat out, no, crushed by a picture of a shaggy mutt in snow storm. The runner-up were a couple of infants in their snowsuits. This just reinforces the notion that when the public has the opportunity to choose if you're up against critters or kids, you're screwed no matter how good your stuff is.

Go figure.

10. (Sorry, I ran out of "damn, dirty ape" references.)

11. When baseball managers have ALREADY GOTTEN TOSSED, why not make it worthwhile & just go ape-shit like legendary managers Earl Weaver or Lou Pinella?** At the very least, kick a whole lot of dirt on the officials shoes so he has to brush them off. Umpires if you're going to bounce a manager, don't be a wimp & give everyone of those lame-ass blink & you miss it ejections. Seriously, we paid good money for quality entertainment. Is that to much to ask?

12. To political officials...when you're retiring or choosing not to run for reelection, don't bullshit us in saying you "want to spend more time w/ your family" because no one will believe it anyway. Just be honest w/ us. "I got busted cheating on my wife" or "I simply cannot win reelection" or "My mistress is carrying my love child" or "I screwed up & was trying to help out an old friend (who just happened to be a wife-abuser) avoid some hot water" or "I was just stressed out & really just wanted a relaxing blowjob" or "my new job pays 10x better than my current one w/ 50% less man-hours." Sure you'll still get some flak but its not like opinion polls matter in your new job anyway.

13. To the mascot formerly known as Hawkeye, A- you remind me of one of those washed up athletes who never moved on in life whose pinnacle was their high school years. B- Your team, the Adirondack Frostbite, folded in 2006. Cherish the memories. Enjoy the hockey that you currently have but move on! Stop signing your letters to the editor as "Hawkeye". Which brings me to, (point) C- stop writing to the local paper railing at how terrible the current coach is as well as trashing your mascot replacement for the horrible job the current team is doing. Maybe if the Adirondack Phantoms power plays weren't consistently zero-for-a-nightmare, they might be in a better position in the standings than they are. Course then again to score goals, players actually have to make shots ON goal. Novel concept, isn't it. D- What drugs are you friggin' smoking? Do you honestly believe Phantoms are going to win the Calder Cup? Or is one of those situations where we know that you know that we know you know we know that your full of bull****? They're third from the bottom of the AHL Eastern Conference cellar. They'd be lucky to actually make it INTO the playoff, let alone actually advance.

You deserve to be either hit in the head w/ a flying hockey puck or pass me whatever it is your smoking. I haven't been able to decide which yet.

* denotes a reference to the original Planet of the Apes w/ Charlton Heston (as opposed to the crappy one w/ Marky-Mark).

** denotes suggesting it if you've made it to the Major Leagues because if you're in the minors, the ensuing fine may actually bite your wallet

---
In other news...
---

Since there is a strong sports themed current, I'll leave you w/ a journalism sports picture (always tough to pull off).

This is a V Girls Lacrosse match Queensbury @ Glens Falls & taken in May 2008. I swear some of those girls ran like gazelles.

Feel free & comment if you so choose.

Olympic Hockey

2010-03-04T09:00:00.002-05:00

"I don't see any smiles on the US (Mens Olympic) hockey team," said my mother. "I don't understand why they're not grateful in getting a silver. I constantly see the skiers who get the silver w/ smiles."

I KNOW she meant well but when I heard the above I winced & wanted to bang my head against the wall. LOL

How do you explain to a non-sports fan that in competitive team sports, coming in 2nd means losing? When it comes playoff or tournament time coming in 2nd is the difference between going home w/ a championship ring & spending the ENTIRE off-season thinking how close you came but came up oh-so-short?

I avoided this dilemma by completely dodging the question & changing the subject (not to mention, passing the buck to my father by having her ask him). :)

***
In other news...
***

I cannot remember if I've posted this shot before but below is Leeann, a sister of one of my dearest regulars Lauren. We almost didn't get this shot because Leeann was off to Softball practice. I worked w/ her earlier that day but not w/ this exquisite windowlight. I convinced Leeann to indulge me for some more shots & viola! The rest is history.

Since I've graduated I've learned to treat family members of the Farenell Girls not as any other customer (unless they're wanting wedding shots) because 90% of the time I'll creatively come out ahead. It was a lesson I learned that summer & have regretted (but have gotten over it since) w/ another of my treasured subjects. It was simply a situation where I was going as they were coming.

I know very well the Farenell Girl in question doesn't hold it against me but its one of those things that if I could turn back the clock & change things, I would. Oh well. Live & learn.

Feel free & opine if you so choose.

Catch 22 in Regards to Delusions

2010-03-01T08:30:00.002-05:00

There's a passage in Joseph Heller's Catch-22 that perfectly explains the premise:

Yossarian looked at him soberly and tried another approach. "Is Orr crazy?"
"He sure is," Doc Daneeka said.
"Can you ground him?"
"I sure can but first he has to ask me to. That's part of the rule."
"Then why doesn't he ask you to?"
"Because he's crazy," Doc Daneeka said. "He has to be crazy to keep flying combat missions after all the close calls he's had. Sure I can ground Orr. But first he has to ask me to."
"That's all he has to do to be grounded?"
"That's all. Let him ask me."
"And then you can ground him?" Yossarian asked.
"No, then I can't ground him."
"You mean there's a catch?"
"Sure there is a catch," Doc Daneeka replied. "Catch-22. Anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn't really crazy."

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, that specified that a concern for one's own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane, he had to fly them. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of the clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.

That being said I wonder if the same application is applied to delusional people? If a person knows &/or admits that they are delusional, does that mean they are really delusional or are they as sane as the rest of us? Certainly makes me wonder sometimes.

& then I see people like Plushenko & think that he gives delusional people a bad name. :-)

***
In other news...
***

This here is another Jenny embracing her silliness.

Feel free to comment away if you so choose.

Schoolhouse Rock

2010-02-23T08:30:00.004-05:00

As a followup to questions I had about NBC's Winter Olympics coverage policy, I saw a NY Times article discussing why the highly publicized US-Canada Olympic hockey matchup was regulated to its sister site, MSNBC, that may be of interest to readers:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/sports/olympics/23sandomir.html?hp

***
In other news...
***

Every so often I'll get a user questioning how I did something. I'm quite the nosey person myself, so I'm not really bothered by it.

Depending on how the question is asked, it can range from benevolent curiosity to annoyance. I usually give the questioner the benefit of the doubt when its asked. That is how I took the question this time around.

I was recently questioned about one of my "iconic" images, "Schoolhouse Rock" (not a Work-safe Image).

Question: It looks like there's a flash above the model and to the right of the camera and another flash at the end of the hall?

Answer: This is all natural light w/ no reflectors. There was a skylight at the top of the building where the beams shined down for about an hour onto the floor before the sun moved & repositioned it higher.

Q: Did you change your white balance to adjust for the florescent lights?

A: No, I didn't need to adjust for the florescent light. The high noon sunbeams on a mid-May afternoon & the direction it came from completely overpowered what little artificial lighting there was.

Beyond minimal cropping, the name stamp at the bottom, a little bit of level adjustments, & spot touches to clean up sensor dust...what you're seeing here is how it came straight out of the camera.

It wasn't really in this case. But it astounds me sometimes how disbelieving some people can be. "You couldn't have possibly done that outside of Photoshop" as if I have anything to gain in lying. What the heck do I care if some random schmuck doesn't believe its the real deal. LOL

All I can do is just tell them the truth & if they don't like it, just shrug my shoulders.

Feel free to comment if you so choose.

Winter Olympics Coverage

2010-02-19T08:30:00.000-05:00

For a network that has 4 separate portals to televise the Winter Olympics, I think NBC's live coverage downright pathetic.

They gave a stink back during the Beijing & the Sydney games that their ratings were crappy because of the 10-13 hour time difference (ahead of us). W/ the Vancouver Games, they are 3 hours behind & they have less coverage than than they did in 2000 (Sydney), 2002 (Salt Lake City), 2008 (Beijing).

Disclosure: I was hardly aware of the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, so I cannot say one way or the other in how it was covered.*

Course considering this is the same network that eased out the Late-Night rating leader because "it was his time" (as if there's like an expiration date that does not include death), hired his replacement, made a big tadoo about his arrival, shift the "expired" late-night's leader in a spectacular flop in prime time, only to not only fire them both, but then turn it around like it was the new guy's fault, & thus shift the flopee to his old job, the crappy sports coverage shouldn't surprise me.

Its even more pathetic when said results are plastered all over the news media before the actual event can be seen.

I was hoping to see more of the skiing events because A. I'm kinda a speed junkie, B. its just plain cool to watch, & C. its one of those things that's really cool to watch but am kinda have a phobia about doing it myself (its the breaking a leg thing that would probably happen).

*sigh*

In other news...

This here is Jenny.

She's always had this classy mom-thing going for her. Whenever she'd talk about them (or her husband for that matter), her body language would just light up. They were very endearing moments.

She's also an avid tennis player, so I decided to combine the classiness w/ my trademark randomness to get this shot.

Feel free to opine, critique, whatever. Just please leave a first name so I know who to address, if I choose to do so.

the State Government We Deserve

2010-02-15T08:30:00.000-05:00

I was struggling to come up w/ a topic to discuss in my latest blog.

NY Governor Paterson's rumored "shocking revelations" that were to appear in the NY Times, only they never materialized...but Planet Albany & MOFYC did a better job of it than me (& were quicker). The mid-Atlantic snowstorms were considered until I saw the following clip from the Daily Show:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Unusually Large Snowstorm

www.thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Political Humor

Health Care Crisis

The winner was this link provided initially by MOFYC.

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2010/02/department-of-irony-1.html#more

I just find it ironic that a couple of lawmakers get into a fight about disciplinary action over a guy who was convicted of misdemeanor assault charges for assaulting his girlfriend. I'm not sure if that's referring to (Monserrate) slashing her face w/ a piece of glass or dragging her through a hotel lobby or both.

Its doubly ironic that State Senator Parker was one of only 8 senators who voted "no" for Monserrate's expulsion when he himself pled "not guilty" in a felony assault case working its way through the courts.

W/ low lives as our elected officials combined w/ the NY State Legislature having a higher incumbency rating than Communist China, maybe its the governing body we the voters deserve.

*sigh*

In other news...

This is Corey taken near one of my outdoor haunts sometime this past Fall.

Feel free to opine, critique, whatever. Just please leave at least a name so I can address you if I choose to reply.

Transformers 2 Review

2010-02-05T08:30:00.000-05:00

There are some movies where after you are finished watching them, you come away thinking git was time well spent.

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen leaves a lot to be desired. I wasn't expecting Oscar material but I was hoping for some entertainment that would keep me distracted for a couple hours. Unfortunately, Director Michael Bay couldn't even do that. The movie was one of the most vomit-wretching flicks I've suffered through in sometime.

There are some movies that can totally sustain themselves on special effects alone (like the Tomb Raider franchise) or whose plot is so incoherant it keeps you in your seat just so you can have the gratification of have the mystery revealed (like Mission: Impossible 1). Transformers 2 was not one of them.

There was no first act. Way to many new characters that were never named. There was no glimpse of building up for the second act, nor did the creators make us care. The McGuffin, the object that means everything to the characters & drives their actions but means next to nothing for the audience, was nonexistant. When a movie spends over 15 minutes w/o releasing their foot off the gas pedal (that's not the movie's climax) & never allowing us to understand why they're fighting, its just not promising.

I gave up after the first 70 minutes. The movie might be a worthwhile movie to watch while high (especially w/ all the crazy robot creatures that transform back & forth) but even that's a stretch. About the only thing that I found remotely interesting was the Shia LeBouf/Megan Fox relationship on the rocks & the tension it creates but even that was not enough to salvage this piece of schlock.

I honestly feel dumber from having watched this movie.

*sigh*

In other news...

I unofficially call this one "the Unintentional Weston":

If you have not done so already, I encourage you to vote for my image here:

http://poststar.upickem.net/engine/Details.aspx?p=V&c=13077&s=2587904&i=1#SD

I think you can do it once every 24 hours or something like that. I'd be greatly appreciated. :)

Beyond that, feel free to opine, critique, whatever. Just please leave at least a first name so I know who I am addressing, should I wish to reply.

Winter Wonderland Contest

2010-02-03T12:30:00.001-05:00

Hey Everyone,

If you could do me a favor & vote for this image, "Winter at the Feeder Canal":

...over at the Post-Star's Winter Wonderland Contest, it'd be greatly appreciate. I'm the very first entry on the first page.

For the record, you have to register your login in the contest section even if you've already registered w/ the regular site (like if you wanted to comment on news stories).

Any help would be appreciated.

Relativity

2010-02-01T18:00:00.000-05:00

This week has been blistering cold here in Northern NY. I could complain but then I remember that I've survived through 5 Potsdam winters & am reminded that I've had worse.

I had an outdoor shoot scheduled this weekend & had to cancel. I didn't even want to walk the 10-15 paces there was to warm up the car. Thankfully, the model had the "what were we thinking" line of thoughts that I was. So we rescheduled.

I think the same way during the summertime. Surviving through 2 Okinawa summers where the temperatures routinely reached 95 & 100 while it was so humid there was literally no difference between the sun & the shade certainly puts things into perspective. However I WILL complain about the rain if need be. That's my exception to the rule. :-)

I try & remember (in 99% of the situations I find myself in) that no matter how crappy I THINK my life is, there's always someone out there who is in a worse situation than me. I'm just thankful I'm not them. Yes, its quite gallows humorous but it works for me.

Everything is relative. Its like the therapist scene from Woody Allen's "Annie Hall." Woody & Diane are seeing their therapists (split screen). The therapists ask them both how often they have sex. Diane answer, "All the time like 3 times a week." While Woody replies, "Practically never, like 3 times a week."

Again, everything's relative. :-)

*sigh*

In other news, speaking of all things relative...

This here is Nancy.

The idea in my head was to messify her up because I'm always doing her "pretty" or "presentable". Wife-beater, fishnets, undies, boots were mentioned & left it at that w/ her to come up w/ the rest. She came out looking like she does below. It was NOT remotely what I had in my head but, considering everything is relative (particularly when said idea is vague to begin w/), it was still workable & admittedly, I liked it better than whatever I had in my head. Go figure.

Feel free to comment, opine, slam, whatever. Just leave a name so I know who I am addressing if need be.

T.N.T.

2010-01-28T08:30:00.001-05:00

A part of me really wishes that I was exposed to AC/DC's music when I was 10 years old. Back then, my older brother & his friends would call me "T.N.T" in the way older siblings relentlessly tease their younger siblings. This in turn would infuriate me, reinforcing the perception of my (then) hair-trigger temper.

The song of the same name really puts a whole another spin to it. Its like walking w/ a swagger, the badassness, & harkens imagery of Clint Eastwood's legendary "the Man w/ No Name."

Wasn't it General Douglas MacArthur who once said, "The promotion, cultivation, & application of ones own mythology can be quite useful." If only I had known! Man, I should have taken that name & ran w/ it. LOL

*sigh*

In other news...

This here is Deborah, an accomplished photographer in her own right.

This entailed shooting her in brand new (to her) dress that she picked up for $20 buck. So new that it still had the tags on & hadn't had time to get it tailored for her frame.

In ever "improvise, adapt, & overcome" mentality (thank you Gysgt Highway, see Clint's "Heartbreak Ridge" for the full meaning), we did so test shots where we didn't bother to zip up the back (a nod to Marilyn Monroe in "Some Like it Hot") but it just wasn't doing anything for me. Finding some safety-wire, we corseted up her dress & commenced wandering around the apartment complex inside & out & having a grand ol' time.

Below is one of those completely random moments that still brings a smile to my face.

Feel free to opine, critique, discuss whatever. Just please leave at least a first name so I know who I am addressing if I need to.

Feel Their Pain

2010-01-25T09:00:00.002-05:00

W/o getting all emo again, all I can say is that I completely feel their pain.

http://poststar.com/news/local/article_f4330e50-0971-11df-bde5-001cc4c002e0.html

I cannot think of anyone that I graduated w/ (or those that graduated a year after) that is working in anything remotely what they schooled for or getting paid remotely comparable to those that were 2 or 3 years ahead of us.

It certainly makes me wonder if it is as it was cracked up to be. A part of me really thinks that I pursued a Bachelors more so because it was expected, as opposed to it being the best for me. Everyone I know (& some still do) immediately think that a 4-year degree will translate into a meaningful job.

That's simply not the case. I think its really more about marketing & how one sells themself & who people know than it is about the actual qualifications (though that can help).

Seriously, I've heard & see more people start wincing when they look at my resume that denotes I have a bachelors...this is even before they ask what the bachelors is in. I even heard one guy refuse to interview me because "if you're educated, you're more likely to leave for something better." & uneducated people aren't?

Then there's the other place of employment where I turned in my job app & resume & w/n 24 hours, they had already decided & snail mailed my rejection letter. There's also the super who kept putting me off for 21 straight days of followup calls, only to tell me that "I'm sorry, we already hired for that position 2 weeks ago." You couldn't have told me this when I talked to you 14 days ago? There was also the establishment that had a cattle-call of applicants, only to tell us that she'd already hired the first 15 people she took during the first cattle-call 2 days ago. Thanks for having me waste my time in filling out the paperwork as well as the drive up. I think my favorite was the workplace that flat-out offered me a job, only to have it rescinded 3 days later because HR & the applicable department weren't on the same page. Try telling that to the roommates w/o looking like your full of BS. LOL

Just trying to keep my head up but it sure can be difficult, especially after banging ones head against the wall for so long.

All I can say is thank god, I basically have only myself to worry about right now (as opposed to having a child or wife to help support).

*sigh*

In other news...

This here is Kelsey taken while I was in Boston.

Yes, you've seen this before but I took that one down because in hindsight, that entry was WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY to emo.

Granted everything is relative but it just seemed like that place in time found me in a better psychological state than I have been lately. I just feel really isolated lately as if I don't know who to trust. Or it just seems like people constantly want things from me that I cannot or am not in a position to give. Or it seems like when I go to collect favors that people owe me, they find ways to weasel out of them.

Anyways, I also like this shot because its teasing in some way & also reminds me of a time when even though I have about the same worries, they seemed half way manageable & less stress associated w/ them than they currently are.

Feel free to opine, comment, critique if you so choose.

the Day the Administration Died

2010-01-21T08:00:00.005-05:00

Am I the only one who finds it ironic that the very 2004 Massachusetts law passed to prevent Republican governor Mitt Romney from appointing a Republican to the US Senate was the very law that got a Republican candidate ELECTED to that very same governing body?

I am also amused how people are crowing that the Obama Administration is dead, this w/ just about 75% of his first term left. People seemed to say the exact same things about "Slick" Bill Clinton after the Great Washington Massacre of 1994. "His" loss seemed to strengthen him, not to mention his revised tactic of "triangulation" (for better or worse) helped win him a 2nd term. Will this have the same effect on Obama? Dang if I know.

God forbid, ya know, that the voters just didn't like one candidate & voted for the other. God forbid, ya know, the electorate expressing its frustration w/ the status quo the only way they know how...at the ballot box. God forbid, ya know, that people being fed up w/ virtually 1-party rule in the state of Massachuesetts. Can't be any of that. Those reasons just aren't sexy enough.

*rolls eyes*

What's this means for Health Care? Danged if I know. All sides agree that there's a problem & something needs to be done to alter the status quo. One side has come up w/ a host of ideas (some would say to many). While the other side has been strangely silent. There's been much of what they don't want (public option, less coverage - higher premiums, higher taxes) but have been pretty thin on what they DO want.

All I know is everyone complains about crooked doctors & lawyers, until the very moment they need it. Unfortuantely to many American do not have or cannot get access to the later (let alone being able to afford one). I can guarantee you though, if this falls apart, no one will even attempt to touch this issue for the next 20 years.

What a strange world we live in.

*sigh*

In other news...

This is Ashley participating in my ongoing Breast Cancer Awareness series. Her mom has it or had it or beat it or something like that (haven't heard from them in awhile, not that I'd expect to).

It was tough trying to showcase the tattoo because of where it was inked but I think this one works.

Feel free to opine, comment, whatever if you so choose. Just leave a name if you do, so I know who I'm talking to.

Funny Thing Happened on the Way to my Email Account, Vol XI

2010-01-14T08:30:00.001-05:00

Back before the idiot Rupert Murdoch ran MySpace into the ground, I was blessed w/ being provided comedic fodder for my ongoing series, "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to my Email Account." This particular one is in its eleventh edition.

I never thought those many moons ago, it would have expanded to its eleventh edition, but considering there's no dirth of morons on the internet, it SHOULDN'T have surprised me. LOL

For the record, I publicly disclose on my MySpace profile, "I reserve the right to publicly post any &/or all portions of emails sent that I feel fall into the 'retarded' category as well as identify who it came from." If you choose to read 'Note 1' in my profile, I go into further detail in how I define it. I'm not going to waste time here. Its rare that I even use the site anymore but that's because of how crappy their interface has become. Course the Einsteins putting 40 cajillion scrolling slideshows on their profile that use tons of RAM to operate didn't help it either. But that's another story.

As I alluded to earlier, I was blessed w/ partaking in a message string w/ this wonderful breadwinner. At the time, a name of "SEXI PICS COMMENT DUM" is interesting in itself. It also doesn't speak to highly of the American Educational system when the subject heading of the message in question reads, "heyy sexi," but that's another story. :-)

Even though the formula to these kind of messages is about as predictable as a Law & Order episode, I still find it entertaining nonetheless.

Here's how the string of messages went...

- Him: Heyy wat's up...
- Me: Not much. How about you?
- Him: Nuthin just at a resturant u!!!
- Me: Oh, how flattering! What's your entree?
- Him: Wat entrie!!!! Do u got a boyfriend??

This Wonderboy sure gets to the point. LOL

- Me: Why you at the restaurant if you're not eating? Or were you using a double entrendre? No on the BF, BTW.
- Him: I'am at da resturant because I'am meeting some1!!!!
- Me: Mind if I ask who? First name's fine.
- Him: A family member!!! Visiting Philly !!!
- Me: What possessed you to initate contact? I'm nosey.
- Him: Naw it's cool u want 2 know It's kool !!! So do u mind if I ask u a question do u want 2 be B.F!!!!

By that point, I'd lost track of what "BF" stood for.

- Me: My boyfriend or best friend?
- Him: boyfriend
- Me: That kinda depends on if you're into guys.
- Him: No I'am not gay!!! I lyk grls 100%!!!!
- Me: Might want to read up on my profile. Do so & afterwards tell me if you're still interested.
- Him: Ru gay!!!

Which is has nothing to do w/ my profile, so much for trying to tip him off.

- Me: Wrong question to ask. The better question would be, "Do you always go around asking complete strangers to be your boyfriend" or are you a "sex on the first date" kinda guy?
- Him: No I just thought u look pretty I would not have sex wit u on the first date be I don't go around asking people 2 be it boyfriend!!!!

For the record, he's referring to this picture which was my main photo at the time:

I didn't have the heart to tell the schmuck that she's blissfully married to a great guy & has started a family w/ him. Although maybe I should have because that could have made a really funny twist to the "Funny Thing-" formula. But that would have been lying because I'm not the one who's actually married & I'm trying to keep it so that the morons are the ones that walk off the cliff of their own accord, as opposed to me pushing them.

Am I making any sense?

Anyways...

- Me: Strange answer considering your subject message was "heyy sexi". & I didn't ask you to be my boyfriend. I didn't know what your referring to when you used "BF" a couple messages ago, so I asked. You were the one that answered "boyfriend."

Next time it might help to read & view people's profiles before you start flirting w/ them. It might save yourself the embarrassment.

Any last words?
- Him: So u r a writer be I'am guessing u tried 2 write stuff about me u know wat I'am calling da policeon on u!!! Any last words be4 u write something!!!

Apparently, he still hasn't taken my hint to actually READ my profile where it clearly states, "I live for photography. This profile is just another place where I choose to showcase my work." Like I'm also sure the cops will respond to schmuck being embarassed for not using the few brain cells that he actually has.

If that weren't enough, he replies back 10 minutes later:

- Him: I'am srry!!

...not to mention, there was a friend request from him. & yes, he was declined.

Falling Apart

2010-01-11T08:00:00.001-05:00

I'm remembering a conversation I had w/ a friend while out in Boston. We were walking from the friend's apartment to her local hangout. She had mentioned that she always liked going from her apartment to the hangout because everything aesthetically got nicer the closer we got there, brightening her spirits. When she returned home, it got more "depressing" because the aesthetic went from nice to scummier.

For clarification purpose, it wasn't anything remotely like crack neighborhood scummy. More like blue collar respectable.

This is an interesting contrast w/ me because I find the grime consistantly more interesting. The polished finish is what's meant to be seen. Its a boring mask that's trying to pull the wool over my eyes. May also be my mentality where I associate a mask w/ a "perception spin".

I dunno.

Anyway, people scratch their heads "why (I) enjoy tramping around in disgusting, abandoned buildings." Its because I get to find macbre stuff like this.

While we're on the topic of dilapidated man-made structures, History Channel has this pretty decent program, entitled "Life after People." It doesn't go into detail about HOW man has passed on, just for whatever reason he has, almost like we've just up & left. Its focus is illustrating what would happen to the things we leave behind & what Mother Nature would do to it. In other cases, how animals would use said structures or whatever. They often use known instances as a reference to compare & contrast it.

The program is half way decent. I just hate it when the History Channel pretends that BS pseudoscience (like aliens, Nostradamus, the Mayan 2012, or the Bermuda Triangle) should be taken seriously. The all WWII, all the time gets ridiculously annoying as well.

Was Entirely the Point

2010-01-05T09:30:00.001-05:00

Here are things that I've either read or heard that has made me want to jump onto a table & shout, "That's entirely the (expletive deleted) point!"

For your entertainment pleasure:

- "I thought the Married w/ Children show was stupid and that the character Peg was a self absorbed Narcissist."
- "I don't really like BJ's (the store) because everything comes in gigantic size or they come in packages of gazillion."
- (in reference to my ongoing series where girls dresses in fancy dresses in rundown buildings) "That dress does not fit an abandoned building, too pretty for the scene."
- "I hated the movie Knocked Up. There was absolutely nothing redeeming about (the Seth Rogan character). It didn't help that all his friends were complete assholes."

Here's one of those outfit pieces that "doesn't fit", not that I'm losing much sleep w/ what complete strangers think these days. As long as I'm pissing off a certain segment as well as a completely different segment is diggin what I do, I think its safe to say that I'm on the right track.

Feel free to comment, opine, critique, whatever. I guess I'm a feedback whore like that. *wink*

Artistic Kudos

2010-01-01T09:00:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year, everyone! May 2010 be better than the previous year.

I'm normally reluctant to have people use my work used as reference or stock material because in all honesty, I view my work as finished product. Its an intrepretation of my vision. Even when looking at samples of a prospective artist's work, it can be kinda a mystery as to what the finished product will look like.

- Will it be trashy?
- Will there be actual effort put into it? (Sorry but a crop job & playing w/ the colors doesn't cut it.)
- Will they credit me & list their source material?
- Will the finished product be demeaning to my subjects themselves?

Its always kinda a crapshoot. So long as the prospective artist asks beforehand (instead of just assuming I've already given permission), I usually give them the benefit of the doubt.

Bazzathe over on deviantART extended that courtesy. Since he took the 10 seconds it takes to fire off an email, I gave him the creative blessing.

This is the reference piece of Nancy & Nick he used:

Here is the artist's rendering in pastel:

Pastel Couple 1 by =bazzathe on deviant ART

Feel free to comment, critique, opine, whatever is you so desire.

Jason Bay to the Mets

2009-12-30T09:00:00.002-05:00

Anyone who knows me will happily testify that my crappy Red Sox have been breaking my heart since 1988. They've been punishing my psyche for so long that when they do win, I'm waiting for them to blow it somehow.

I was disappointed in hearing of left fielder Jason Bay's signing w/ the New York Mets. At the same time it doesn't surprise me, nor am I losing THAT much sleep over it. There are simply some teams out there that are so poorly run from the top down, you just kinda know that if a big free agent goes there, they're doing it simply for the paycheck. I don't blame them & it reinforces the comedic fodder in 3 years when (insert the free agent of your choice) demands to be traded because he want to win. A-Rod, I'm looking in your direction.

So w/ Bay's signing, he joins the "stellar" lineup of Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, & Carlos Delgado. This is the same team that finished 70-92, 23 games behind the division rivals & pennant winning Philadelphia Phillies.

Is anyone willing to bet against me that the Mets will still have yet another crappy season in 2010?

*sigh*

In other news...

Below is a picture of Lauren & Leeann playfully reinterpreting Gordon Park's legendary "American Gothic" where he himself was reinterpreting Grant Woods' 1930's piece of the same name.

It was a very spontaneous shot, nothing overly thought out but certainly fits into to my tongue-in-cheek creative nature.

Feel free to opine if you so choose.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-26T17:00:00.001-05:00

I do hope everyone had a great Christmas.

I've been trying to write a blog dissertation attacking the commercialization of Christmas as well as the idiots that buy into it (no pun intended) but it doesn't feel right. Besides, publishing it really defeats the purpose of the holiday season.

*sigh*

In other news, here's a picture of Jenn. As a sucker for smiles, she photographs quite well & has piercing blue eyes.

Feel free to opine, critique, whatever. Just please leave (at least) a first name so I know who's commenting.

Glass House Dysfunction

2009-12-20T18:00:00.002-05:00

I have a hard time respecting politicians beyond the local level. The lying & soapboxing for the cameras is nauseatingly transparent. If politics is theater by another means, when I go to a play, the actors actions will not effect the lives of real people beyond an emotional response.

I give you the example of State Senator Betty Little, R-Queensbury & my own representative.

She said, "(Gov't) is now beyond dysfunction. It is madness, or something."

I don't disagree w/ her sentiment. However, one could argue that she is just as much a part of the problem as the very people she's attacking.

Senator Little could have contributed in solving this dysfunction if she had the intestinal fortitude switched sides & would have been hailed as being above the childish fray by citing *holding hand over her heart* "for the good of the taxpayers of NY" when her own Legislative chamber couldn't act like mature adults. As was shown, that didn't even remotely happen.

Senator Little could have alleviated the state's budget crisis by voting "yes" on the State Senate's Same Sex Marriage bill. After all, people do need to pay a fee (among other things) to legalize their marriage. To say nothing about how macabre that some lowlife like State Senator Monserate who was found guilty of misdemeanor assault for slicing up his girlfriend's face w/ a piece of glass can be allowed to marry yet two homosexuals who love each other cannot. I guess "equal protection under the law" means "equal protection for some people but not others."

As the saying goes Sen Little, "Fix your own darn house before you start worrying how others are doing." If you are bankrupt of ideas or do not have the courage to put them through, you should tender your resignation for someone who is willing to step up.

Following picture I feel is quite in line w/ the theme of this blog:

Feel free to opine, critique, whatever any part of this blog so long as people can civil adults.

Carter Speech on Religion and Women

2009-12-17T09:00:00.002-05:00

Apparently, I'm not the only one questioning religion's oppression of women.

I found an excerpt of a speech by former President Carter as reported by the NY Times. The full text is here.

*sigh*

In other news, this is my butt-kicking painter friend Heather.

This was one of the rare instances where I was more decisive in selecting her wardrobe than she was. :-)

Feel free to comment, critique, opine whatever so long as you're an adult about it. Also leaving a first name at minimal is mighty helpful to.

One of Those Weeks

2009-12-14T09:00:00.005-05:00

Its been one of "those" weeks.

Last weekend's shoot got cancelled due to a snowstorm. The spot that I've been milking since God knows how long has temporarily been retired due to said snow blocking the route to get there.

Later this week, that shoot got canceled due to stress over a school final. Can't blame them for it since I've been there. We're both looking to reschedule but until we're actually shooting I'm not holding my breath. Life gets in the way sometimes.

Multiple inquires but nothing ever materializing...as of yet.

Snows again, this weekend. I know I should expect, it tis the season & whatnot but it won't stop me from venting. I'm definitely not a winter person. :-)

This week's prize was getting into an argument w/ a friend. I cracked a joke in a moment of levity that I've said a thousand times over including them. They get ticked off, which happens. When I ask why or what's changed, the best the person can come up w/ is "Quit playing dumb. If you don't know, then I'm not going to tell you." So much for getting the benefit of the doubt. As if I don't have enough real drama in my life w/o the petty, manufactured faux stuff. LOL *rolls eyes*

All I can do is shrug my shoulders. That & remain optimistic that this week will be better.

*sigh*

This here is the super sweet Alyssa which was taken this past summer during my stay in Boston. We went to one of those old pre-colonial fort tourist places down somewhere on the Massachusetts coast. It was yet another abysmally rainy day.

Feel free to comment, critique, opine, whatever. Just leave a first name at the very least.

Analysis of the Church's Relationship with Women

2009-12-10T09:00:00.001-05:00

Earlier this week, I discussed the Church's role in defeating same sex marriages. Today, I'm taking a closer look in how it treats women. I think these issues are more linked than people care to admit.

One of the Catholic Church's main missions is to promote social justice through equality on THIS world. Yet why is it that w/n their own institution, they are regulating women as being 2nd class citizens?

Think about it. They preach, "we believe in quality for all" yet how they conduct their business is anything but. There's a glass ceiling for women. They can assist in how the church is run, they can teach, they can recruit members but when it comes to actual leadership roles, sorry, they're unfit. Is this not an exploitation?

Winston Churchill during his political exile in the 1930's repeatedly denounced the Nuremberg Laws that legalized the discrimination of German Jews (among other things) "for nothing more than how they was born." Why cannot the same be applied w/ the Catholic Church & its treatment of woman? Were they any other establishment, there'd be a class action lawsuit accusing the Church of "sexual discrimination" or some sort of conspiracy to keep women down. Furthermore, the government would step in & say, "You have every right to conduct business as you see fit. But we cannot condone such actions. Therefore we will suspend the tax benefits those very same benefits that enable the status quo."

If you look closely in the Bible in how they describe Christ's conception. God created Mary free from original sin. He then later chooses Mary to carry his son (or himself, depending on your interpretation). There's a big tadoo in how God's gift to man is "free will."

At the Annunciation, Gabriel announced, "Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bring forth a son, and will call his name ‘Jesus.’" (Luke 1:30-31). Notice how its phrased, "you will" as opposed to "will you". Mary had no choice in the matter. Sure she may have been honored to have his child (or himself...didn't that whole Trinity thing split the Church at some point) but she just as well may have been revolted by the premise. So because Mary never consented of her own free will to having the baby, does this not mean God raped Mary? Where is Mary's "free will"?

Certainly has to make one wonder.

Why women still continue to support the church & its hypocrisy. My theory? Stockholm Syndrome.

Think about it. Stockholm Syndrome is "an emotional attachment to a captor formed by a hostage as a result of continuous stress, dependence, and a need to cooperate for survival."

What's the stress? Could be anything from excommunication to denial of the sacraments to the denial of the soul's acceptance to heaven. What's the dependence? The spiritual renourishment. Why the cooperation for survival? Again, the fear of being excommunicated, the denial of sacraments, &/or the souls denial into heaven. Because of this, people become dependent on its teachings & interests w/ little critical thinking. In this context, can the church not be viewed as the captor?

Until the Church starts scrutinizing its own actions & do work towards a better world on this Earth as outlined in their mission in the New Testament (peace on earth; feeding the sick, lame, & poor; leaving this world a better place than when you found it; spread the word of God; loving thy neighbor as I would love myself; to name a few...), I have a really hard time taking anything they preach at face value.

**************

This is Amanda. Taken during a very rare nonrainy moment while I was out in Boston this past summer. I swear it rained like 45 of the 60 days I was there, pretty ridiculous even by Boston's weather standards.

The shoot got cut short because we had to race outside to stop her car from being ticketed which we were successful in doing. Nonresidential parking in Boston is a pain in the rear. I recommend using their public transportation if at all possible.

Feel free to critique, opine, whatever, all I ask is that you be an adult about it. Oh yeah, & leave at least a first name if you're not a blogger member.

Church Forgetting its own Mission

2009-12-07T09:30:00.001-05:00

I am deeply discouraged by the Church's role in defeating gay marriage in both California last year, Maine this year, & a last week in the NYS Senate.

Personal opinion #1: I can care less. If a gay or lesbian couple wish to be miserable for the rest of their lives through the bonds of matrimony like any other straight couple, who am I to deny them that wish?

Its hypocritical of the church, an institution that supposedly "seeks justice on this earth", to spend so much time, energy, & money on the very opposite. The last I checked, the New Testament is about loving thy neighbor, helping those that are less fortunate, sticking up for the oppressed, doing that to which you know to be right, saving souls, being honest w/ yourself & your relationship w/ God, healing the sick, etc. Its never about keeping people in bondage, making them be 2nd class citizens in the kingdom of God.

Personal opinion #2: When the church gets seeks change through the political process & betrays its own values, does it not demean its own moral authority?

Considering the scope of the (unfortunately) STILL ongoing pedophilia scandal here in the US as well as recently revealed abuses in Ireland, I'm puzzled why we citizens should take the Church seriously. Why should they dictate how OTHER CONSENTING ADULTS conduct their own business when they cannot control or ignore abuses in theirs. This is not even including the coverups that went on for DECADES.

I guess the message they're still trying to send is that 2 men screwing each other is a no-no but if its one of their one screwing a little boy or girl, its as Martha Stewart would say, "a good thing."

Personal opinion #3: Maybe the tax exempt status of the Churches should be revoked or more scrutinized. Or maybe gay & lesbian couples should get a reduction in their tax burden.

The Fourteenth Amendment gives "equal protection under the law." It broadly defines citizenship & the constitutional rights, particularly due process. Using this argument...if gay & lesbians do not have the same rights as straight folk, why should they be obligated to pay the same amount of taxes or serve on juries or other things like that. Also using that same logic, churches should start paying taxes. Are we the taxpayer not footing the bill from public services like fire & police protection? W/ that same line of reasoning, the gay & lesbian communities are essentially subsidizing their own oppression.

I'm honestly surprised in the NYS Senate debate, nobody framed it in such a way as helping ease the state's budget crisis. They could have had a nice windfall from all the new marriage licenses being issued to the new gay & lesbian couples. But then again, this is the same government body that was in session for the entire month of June because they couldn't act like adults & get a quorum. All the while getting no work done even though there's something like a $2 billion dollar budget deficit that (to this very day still needs to be resolved).

Personal opinion #4: Government at all levels should completely get out of the marriage racket & give everyone "civil unions" for all those who apply & qualify. It doesn't matter if 2 guys want it, 2 girls, & 1 guy & 1 girl. Completely leave the marriage business to religious institutions. Who they choose & deny should have no weight or special benefit w/ man's law.

Maybe I'm just a fallen Catholic who will burn in hell anyway (I'm a "pornographer" after-all who shoots half-naked girls that are wearing more real estate than the girls in the undies section of the JCPenny's catalog) but I can't take their mission seriously when I'm more educated about their own mission & what the messages of the New Testament than they are.

*sigh*

In other news...

This is Samantha & her fiancee, Ryan, in one of their goofy moments that is supposedly "pornographic" (like I'm supposed to be ashamed that is "porn).

For some reason I keep thinking of the song, "Anything You Can Do" from "Annie Get your Gun." The lyrics go, "Anything you can do I can do better!" "No, you can't." "Yes, I can." "No, you can't." "Yes, I can." & so on.

Feel free to opine, critique, whatever. Just be an adult & leave a name when you do.

Expectations

2009-12-01T16:30:00.001-05:00

I got talking w/ a photographer friend of mine & the topic of expectations arose. For the sake of expediency, we'll call her Jane (as in Jane Doe)

Well, it didn't happen right off the get-go. Jane's an art student & got married over the summer. Her mother, apparently, was complaining that its taken her wedding photographer 4 months to get the pictures done. Nevermind the fact that the photographer in question is Jane's trusted friend. Nevermind again the fact that had Jane not offered to do the pictures to get the experience, she (according to Jane) would have been a bridesmaid. Nevermind again that Jane's mom was never privy to whatever agreement the photographer & Jane herself made.

"This is a really nice picture of the family taken by (Jane's Mom's friend)," the mother said. True, it is & it has a nice mat & frame to boot. The only problem being NO ONE'S LOOKING AT THE CAMERA because their attention is on the person who's supposed to be taking the pictures in the first place. Needless to say I smiled, nodded, & said, "It is, isn't it." Its part of that picking your battles thing & its not like Jane's Mom's opinion would changed.

But anyway, Jane made a comment that really got me thinking & is thus the inspiration of this blog. "You'd think that with a few photographers in the family," she & siblings, "she'd be able to appreciate how lengthy the process can be."

So we got talking, mostly to blow off steam to like minded individuals.

However, all people see is the end product. Unless they're involved in "the game" so to speak, its like a foreign concept to them. It'd be like my older brother trying to explain to me why some pro soccer team blows chunks or my sister explaining what to take into account when formulating a lesson plan. I can get a vague idea as to what they're talking about in better empathizing w/ their plight. But in actually understanding the topic in question, its to foreign for me to grasp maybe because I have no tangible use for it.

There's nothing wrong w/ it. It just is what it is.

So why does it happen?

Personal theory #1: Enthusiasm.

I cannot tell you how many times I've given small scale, unedited "proofs" to one of my subjects & then later seen them on Facebook or MySpace. Those are meant for their eyes only (& state it as such in the release they sign) or at least "not for public display". I wince even more when they attribute my name to it. It matters that people are seeing images that have not had my tender loving care. This is a reason why I stopped giving out proofs unless its a hire job.

They're so excited to get "something" that it overrides their good sense. Its sorta like how our old dog Buddy was. Whenever he'd see a fellow canine, he'd start barking & subsequently lose his mind in the excitement.

Personal theory #2: the "Blinders" Effect.

When something is outside of a person's knowledge orbit, there can be "fog of war" effect. Meaning the unknown is an element in & of itself that creates uncertainty. In such cases, people revert to their own knowledge base regardless if its even remotely applicable or accurate.

So if a person's political knowledge base is limited to what they've observed in NY State politics, they'd likely think that politics on all levels is dysfunctional.

Personal theory #3: Differing Perspectives.

Time & again, I see people make dreadful choices. Here's an exchange I had many moons ago:

Me: Are you sure you want (that shot)?
Subject: Yes, I do. Its one of my favorites!
Me: May I ask why? Not trying to be mean but you look constipated, not to mention caught you mid-blink.
Subject: Its alright. I just like how you captured my boobs. You made my A-cups look huge!

Considering we all look at things differently, I let the matter drop. There's like no way I could belabor the point w/o hurting her feelings.

*******************

Speaking of weddings...

Here's the something from the Connor-Filin wedding. & no, the bride isn't the aforementioned Jane Doe. She's my dear friend Shiloh, one of my earliest & treasured subjects.

It was a cute little ceremony last Valentine's Day, held up in Lake Placid. It certainly brings a smile to my face knowing that happy endings are possible & at the same time is a birth to a new beginning.

Feel free to opine, critique, or whatever, just be an adult about it.

What I am Thankful for

2009-11-26T09:00:00.002-05:00

What am I thankful for?

Simply lots. But in no particular order:

- my siblings. Though I'm sure I drive them nuts & they periodically drive me nuts, I'd rather have them than not.

- my parents. Though it can be rough at times, I'm grateful that when the chips are down I can depend on them if need be.

- my subjects. Their participation in some of my crazy ideas allow me to participate in my craft & allow me to give my unique vision to the world.

- my brushes w/ the law. As someone who has gotten numerous speeding tickets & cops questioning why I'm tramping around dilapidated buildings, none have ever gone so far as to put me behind bars for long periods of time. Maybe its because they were nice or I managed to slither my way out somehow but I'm not really sure which not that I'm going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

- my community. Not to loud. Not to crazy. Enough activities to keep me occupied when I come out of my hole. Close enough to travel places when I want. Not for everyone but it works for me. The autumns make it all worth while.

- my life. No matter how crappy I THINK my life is, I'm grateful in knowing there's always someone out there that's worth off than me. That brightens my spirits knowing I'm not as bad as them (in that perverse sorta way).

****************

This is Shannon indulging me in my love of working in forgotten spaces. The costume is her idea.

I'm tentatively calling this, "Searching for the Last Post-Apocalyptic Trick."

Feel free to comment or opine or critique, if you so desire. Just act like adults & leave a name when doing so.

Pocahontas Meets the Ridiculous

2009-11-19T08:00:00.003-05:00

I encourage my subjects to suggest ideas no matter how crazy or ridiculous they are. Because I'm quite nutty in my sensibilities.

Maybe I was dropped as a child. Well, in fairness no, I probably wasn't. However it wouldn't at all surprise me if it stems from me eating Play-doh as a kid or whacking myself in the head one to many times w/ a Matchbox car or eating paint chips or something. Yes, I was THAT kind of child.

During my most recent visit w/ Samantha, her fiancee Ryan had this idea involving a feather, a piece of twine, & a leaf. Somehow w/ just that alone, I had this vibe that me & him would get along just fine.

Stuck for specific ideas but always playing w/ relationship dynamics, I gave them a reverse Pocahontas storyline. The age old savage meets civilized man (or in this case woman), savage threatens man, man civilizes savage, man & savage fall in love. Its quite Victorian minded if I do say so myself, though that theme has been around since well before Babylonia. I just let them run w/ it & see where it took us.

I'm choosing this shot because I really like their body language.

Feel free to opine, comment, criticize so long as one can be a civil adult. As well as leaving at least a first name so I know who's commenting. :-)

Friends, Boyfriends, & Escorts, Oh My!

2009-11-16T08:00:00.001-05:00

The topic of whether one of my subjects is allowed to bring a friend, boyfriend, or escort for their own comfort level, periodically arises from prospective applicants.

**********

1. This can be a touchy subject for a variety of reasons. But here are my own personal guidelines, they are welcome to come so long as:

- they bring something to do, like a book or homework or something. My shoots are NO WHERE near as exciting as America's Next Top Model. They are often downright dull unless the person is directly involved & has something at stake in them.

- they aren't distracting for either of us. Rarely happens but I've had models trip out because THEY think their BF is subconsciously judging them while he watched. I'm not sure why they insisted on bringing them to the shoot in such instances but that's neither here nor there.

- they be willing to help if needed.

- their actions, good or bad, are ultimately a reflection on you. If they bail at the last minute & you have "no one else to come", its a reflection on you. Likewise if they assist in being aiding us by holding a reflector.

**********

2. Though I'm laid back & almost don't care (if it makes the prospect more comfortable, having someone along is fine by me), it can be an issue for other people. Their concerns may run something like this:

- equipment theft or liability issues

- what kind of personality will the friend have? Intimidating? Outgoing? Controlling? Unrealistic? Open minded? Inquisitive? They often won't know until gameday.

- limited space in the location/studio itself

- the friend's view about the shoot. Some people view it as a workplace. Their argument is is that you wouldn't take your friend to the doctor's when you get a physical or to the dentist to fill a cavity or to the day job? Why would you bring it to a shoot?

- We photographers are just as at risk "of something happening" as you models are. For all we know, you might be coming in hungover (I've had that happen once, she was sent home before she stepped in the door) or high.

- No one is allowed on set unless they're actively involved in some way. The theory is is that since they have nothing at stake, they're not going to care about getting good results.

I may not necessarily agree w/ everything stated in the above but its a viewpoint worth looking at.

**********

3. I also hear this statement on occasion:

"(You) should always bring someone with (you), because there are a lot people out there in this profession for all the wrong reason."

I often wince upon reading that.

Newsflash! There are people in it for the wrong reasons in ALL professions. A woman is 3 times more likely to "have something happen to them" (however that's defined) by someone they know than they are by a stranger. The "Photographer Rapes & Kills Blond Model" simply makes for a juicier headline & boosts ratings. Creepiness is hardly limited to ones profession or skill level.

**********

4. Though there's a certain level of trust needed when one operates in the public eye, there are ways that one can reduce the risk of "something happening" (however defined).

Sometimes I think people fall on the "I need to bring a friend standpoint" because they just don't realize what else they can do. In no particular order, here are some suggestions:

- Have you actually talked to the person over the phone? Texting & email doesn't count because you cannot get a read on tonal inflection.

- Have you met the photographer in person? This is not always practical because of distance & free time but it sometimes can happen, particularly if you both are local. Body language reading can help in these cases.

- Have you told someone where you're going & who you're w/ & for how long? Have you also given the friend the photographer's contact name & number?

- Have you asked for references? At the very least, what was the photographer's reaction?

- Do you plan on doing periodic call-ins or texts (maybe during wardrobe or set changes?) to a trusted friend that everything is still alright?

- What kind of communication vibe are you getting? If you have questions, is the other person willing to explain things? Or like in emails, are things vague or terse?

- If you still wish to have someone come w/ you & the photographer is not comfortable w/ it, have you thought about having the friend as your driver, you being dropped off wherever (most likely w/ the photographer) & then allow them to use the vehicle to go chill somewhere locally or catch a movie while you shoot?

- Have you communicated clearly to the photographer what you will & won't do prior to the actual shoot? Have they actively acknowledged it in any meaningful way? Don't assume.

- Have you asked any questions?

- I've worked w/ models/subjects who say nothing when something is making them uncomfortable? Have you spoken up? I cannot speak for others but sometimes I become tunnel blind focusing on what I'm doing that I don't notice (for instance) the model is shaking from the cold.

Taking all this into account, does your Spidey Sense still tingle?

I'm not the type to think any one of these taken alone would raise an eyebrow. However collectively, a person may want to take a second look at the applicable answers, their context, & tone. Use your situational awareness vibe, evaluate, & act accordingly. No two instances are the same.

---

Below is Shylah & her fiancee, Brad, participating in my "Critique of the Unsatisfied Relationship" series. Please let me know if I've yet to explain both the origins & what I'm trying to specifically explore in this series. I'm constantly exploring the subtle nuisances w/ relationships.

Both their body languages feel appropriate for this entry.

Feel free to opine, critique, compliment, slam, whatever so long as you act like civil adults.

Congressman Coward Votes No on HR 3962

2009-11-12T09:00:00.002-05:00

I've been following the debate over Universal Health Care trying to make sense of all the different options & form a half-way educated opinion, as I've written w/ my Sept 14, 2009 entry.

The Representative for NY's 20th district, Scott Murphy, voted "no" on HR 3962. In his press statement, he writes:

(1) "I firmly believe that health care reform is critical to strengthening our nation. However, in order to achieve this goal, we must address the fundamentally flawed system that has led to skyrocketing costs, bankrupt families and extremely profitable insurance companies. For these reasons, I voted no on H.R. 3962 tonight.”

(2)“This bill makes a number of important reforms, which I wholeheartedly support including the elimination of the lifetime caps on insurance benefits and the pre-existing condition exclusion, invests in prevention and primary care, creates a health insurance exchange to force insurance companies to compete and offers a public option for people who want to get away from for-profit insurance companies."

Ok, he's trying to be for the little guy. I get that. Yet he turns around & says this:

(3) "I have consistently said that any bill that Congress passes must curb costs and keep health care affordable in the long term. During these difficult economic times, an unacceptably high price tag will stress our already overstretched federal budget and place even more burdens on our hard working individuals, families and small businesses. We need to fix the system now, and not put off the hard choices for another generation. Furthermore, I am deeply frustrated by the last minute addition of over $50 billion in taxes on the two largest private employers in the 20th District – medical device manufacturers and paper mills."

Emphasis mine.

(4) “As a small businessman, I am also concerned that H.R. 3962 falls short of making health insurance affordable for the small businesses of the 20th District; it fails to reform the fundamentally flawed incentives in the system, which continue to drive costs upward; and it fails to restrain the monopolistic practices of private insurers, which allow them to continue to increase premiums already weighing on families and small businesses."

When comparing paragraphs 1 & 3 this begs the question, who is Congressman Murphy really for? Is he for the people who put him in power by a mere 1465 (out of over 161,000 cast) or is he simply out to protect his benefactors that give him his $$ w/ state sanctioned bribes?

It'd be one thing if he voted against it because the current plan fines people for not having health insurance or that it basically neuters the public option (all legitimate grievances). However in paragraph 3, he's against the provisions that raise taxes on the industries in his district. Let's back up for a minute. During his special election, he was perfectly fine using tax payer dollars for handouts to private industries (even after they demonstrated in screwing up their own finances) but when it rolls around for them to put back into the system, its an outrage. I guess it shows where his priorities are.

If you also take a look at paragraphs 2, he lists all the ways it attempts to fix the very problems he's concerned w/ yet flips flops on why the current bill isn't good (paragraph 4). This would've been less confusing had they appeared in two separate statements (as opposed to just the one). Or maybe they're just playing the old "if you can't dazzle them w/ brilliance, bewilder them w/ BS."

His "no" vote begs the question, what has he actually done to help align the bill w/ his beliefs? Did he propose any amendments to address his concerns? Has he given a floor speech? If not, then what exactly has he been doing since he took the oath of office? Its not like Congress has had much else on its agenda.

Murphy's Health Care position reinforces the notion of being a typical politician w/ no firm beliefs. He makes his decision by licking his finger & putting it in the air to see which way the wind is blowing. Murphy votes against the Stupack Amendment (as reported by PlanetAlbany), a provision disallowing federal funds to pay for abortions in the reform package. He wants it both ways. He pays lip-service to appease the pro-abortion segment yet votes against measures that directly effects his own campaign contributors.

His "I need to study the issue" mantra (as he said countless times when asked about the Federal Bailouts to both the auto, bank, & insurance industries) may have served him well during his special election this past spring, yet conveniently is in favor of it when its outcome is already assured. The "I need to study the issue" doesn't carry the same weight or slack when you've been studying it for the last 6 months. This isn't like the national budget where they cram God only knows how many pieces of legislation in less than a 48-hour period (if that).

I used to be one to scoff whenever pundits said, "So & so's vote is going to come back & haunt him come reelection." The American voter has an incredibly short memory. But w/ instances like this, I understand where they're coming from. To paraphrase Musing of a Fairly Young Contrarian, "If a candidate cannot even be bothered to hold a core set of beliefs, why should I obligated to vote for him?"

Mr Murphy take a lesson from your fellow Congressman like Rep. Thomas Perriello (D-Va.), Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio), Rep. Steve Driehous (D-Ohio) and Rep. Zack Space (D-Ohio), all vulnerable freshman. "Grow a pair & actually stand for something."

---

This is another shot of Government Center when I was visiting Boston this past summer. (I'm using the clickable thumbnail version because its a little to wide)

Feel free to opine, criticize, whatever so long as said views are expressed in a civilized manner.

the Massachusetts Coast

2009-11-09T08:00:00.001-05:00

I have many topics I've been wanting to discuss lately but haven't figured out a coherently way to put them into words. Actually, that's not entirely true. I have put them into words, I'm working on a way that senses for the readers.

In a completely unrelated topic...

When I work, my aim is to get my subjects to subconsciously drop their everyday armor. This often takes the form of us simply chatting. Other times, I'll ask questions that get them to open up about whatever.

Hearing Jenny discuss her life was endearing. She had such zest in how she described her family life, her home, her kids, her neighborhood, among many other things. It turns out, her husband has North Country NY roots as well as being college buddies to my own city councilman. Small world considering Jenny's based in the Southeastern Massachusetts coast.

My shoot w/ her is another of those laid back chat, shoot, chat, break, get munchies, shoot some more, get under shelter because of the crappy weather, rinse, recycle, repeat.

I'm picking this shot below because it allows me to tell an anecdotes:

The above was taken on the MA coast in Jenny's region. A few seconds before it was taken, she is shouting (barely audible over the crashing waves) warning me of an incoming tide. I wasn't worried (& told her so) in the hopes I was able to get the shot I was looking for, specifically having the waves crash in the foreground w/ her in it. I got the shot I was looking for & my lower body was drenched in the process.

It was worth it & yes, I had the foresight to bring flip-flops & a change of pants during that trip.

*sigh*

Feel free to comment, opine, criticize if you so desire. All I ask is that you keep it civil.

Parker Posie Jewelry

2009-10-29T16:30:00.000-04:00

I get random fits of inspiration.

I was informed by a little birdie that one of my Farenell Girls, Shannon Parker, began dabbling in custom jewelry.

In one of my "what the hell" moments, I asked if she'd have any interest in starting a collaboration of sorts. She sends me the jewelry, I shoot them w/ people wearing them, all three of us (myself, Shan, & the subjects) get usage rights out of them. Viola, everyone's happy.

Shan agreed.

Flying blind (partially done by choice & to preserve maximum flexibility), I was trying to do these as 1-part portraiture (I'm a sucker for those) & 1-part jewelry showcase.

Little would I know until after the fact, that she likes 'em tough. "Fierce" (w/ a couple of exclamation points) was how she enthusiastically described them when I emailed them to her.

It was tough in a lot of ways having to position the model in a specific way so the jewelry designs were actually seen. But I'd like to think I was up to the task.

I'm not saying either of us is any more correct than the other, we're just liking different things about what was produced. But here are a couple of my personal favorites (in no particular order):

1.

2. I liked these particular creations a lot. I guess I should rephrase. I like them a lot AND my perpetually broke-ass self was able to afford them at just the right time. These were given to my mother for Mother's Day.

Shanon's favorites:

3. Seeing her "babies" w/ people in everyday clothes, was a compliment made by the jewelry creator for this one. Its something I'll have to remember if I'm blessed w/ ever working w/ her creations again:

4. Clarification, the bracelet in this shot is the piece in question:

5.

6.

Its all good though. I'm very happy to help out yet another Farenell Girl.

Feel free & opine if you so choose. All I ask is that you keep it civil.

The First Family Portrait

2009-10-26T08:00:00.012-04:00

I am quite amused at the chatter I'm seeing regarding this Annie Leibovitz picture of the First Family:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/4035513827/

Some of the comments I've heard.

1- "Its crap. She's breaking all the Photo 101 rules, chopping off hands, bad cropping, white outfits. My professor would be rolling over in his grave."

2- "That's the best she could do for the most important family in the world? That's it?"

3- "Sorry it’s a crappy shot. I could do a better job."

4- (paraphrasing) Another was bitching about how a control image freak like the Obamas could let crap like this get by.

5- "No forethought was put into this at all."

6- "Where's the dog? People trust their Presidents when they have a dog...well, except for Nixon."

My responses...

1R- There's more to an image than following the rules. There's a thing called capturing your subject's emotional connection w/ the camera & (if applicable) to each other. Lord knows if we viewed Diane Arbus's work in the same way, they'd all be thrown in the trash bin.

2R- I guess this responder has never heard of playing to your audience. In this case its Miss Leibovitz's employer, Vanity Fair, & by extension, its readers. The First Family, if they had any say in the matter to start w/, were probably looking for something that makes them look semi-normal but also showcases their familial connections to each other.

3R- I hear this a lot when people criticize Richard Avedon's work. Yes, something may be crap. If you can do a better job, put your money where your mouth is & do it. People forget (or choose to ignore) that being a good businessman is not really about producing the best product overall, its about producing the best product you can but more importantly, being the right fit for your client.

4R- Had this person said this during the 2008 Presidential campaign, I probably would have agreed. But things have changed, for better or worse. A bickering legislature, 2 wars that are still dragging on, appointees having considerable dirty laundry of their own, being embarrassed on national TV by Representative "You Lie."

5R- If no forethought was put into this image, that would mean that she got lucky. I could only dream of being even 1/4 that lucky & on a consistent basis as she. I'd also disagree about the no forethought opinion. The children are grouped closest to the parent that resembles them. Older daughter & mother dressed in predominantly a black wardrobe. Younger daughter & father dressed in predominantly white. Hands interlocking & our leaning on the parents to draw a further connection as a family.

6R- Ok, I've got no real answer for that. LOL

I'm certainly no cheer leading fan of the President but I can certainly empathize w/ him & by extension his family. Anyone who in less than 7 days can go from being vilified for "losing" an Olympic Games selection & turn around & still be vilified for "winning" a Nobel Peace Prize (decisions neither of which he had any control of whatsoever), all I can do is shrug my shoulders & shake my head.

Harvard Square Hijinks

2009-10-22T08:00:00.001-04:00

Sorry.

This past week I came down w/ some seasonal disease or whatever. I pretty much ALWAYS get something when the weather swings crazy from hot to cold & vice-versa. Gotta love livin' in the Northeast as well as being half dead & narced up on over-the-counter antihistamine while popping Vitamin C tablets likes its Halloween candy.

Going into photojournalism mode is always an adventure. I know I've said that before w/ my model shoots but on a scale of 1 to 10, my model shoots range usually range from 4.5 to 7. The more complications entailed, the higher it goes. Shooting news stuff ranges from anywhere from a 6.5 to 9, for the same reasons.

I just never know what kind of characters I'll encounter, what their reactions will be, how I'll deal w/ it, etc.

Which leads me into yet another entertaining antcedote regarding this image:

The image was taken this past summer during my stay in Boston. Its specifically at a park outside of Harvard Square.

The story behind this shot was that some old guy looking like a scraggier version of Robert E Lee was convinced I took a picture of him (I didn't). To appease him, I agreed to delete it & continued shooting. He caught on that I hadn't done so, so he asked to see me do it. I refused. He raised his voice while I continued shooting.

I pointed out that since all this was happening on public property & that I'm a taxpayer, I had as much of a right to take pictures as he does. If he doesn't like it, I encourage him to spend his time at his private dwelling.

He reminded me that he was in this neighborhood a lot & that if ever I was walking across the Harvard Campus at late at night, he wasn't going to get any help from him. W/o mentioning that I wasn't expecting to be at the Harvard campus late at night, I replied that I'd keep that in mind.

He raised his voice again insisting that I delete his phantom image. By this time, I shift my camera neck strap so its over my head & through one of my armpits because I'm thinking he's going to pull a "whoops" bump into me while slapping my camera to the ground. I continued shooting but in the end, it never came to that.

He soon left to go complain to a compatriot. I got what I was looking for, took that as my cue to go off on my own merry way.

So a refresher, while working taking pictures on the street,...

1. Knowing what one is allowed & not allowed to do will go a long way.
2. Though not applicable for this incident, acting/looking like you belong will illicit fewer questions.
3. Though not applicable for this incident, don't act like an asshole as your default position. Most people, like law enforcement, are just honestly curious as to what you're doing.
4. Hold your ground, if you think you'll go farther. Cut your losses, if you've met your personal threshold.
5. None of the above are absolute. Use your best judgement as it pertains to your situation.

I encourage you to opine, comment, whatever, so long as its civil.

Prom Dress Randomness

2009-10-16T07:30:00.000-04:00

Anyone who has ever shot w/ me will know that I am horriblely, unpicky when it comes to wardrobe choices. Unless its a super specific idea where the wardrobe is essential for my big picture idea, I almost do not care. Bring what you have, I'll run w/ it.

Even before I began shooting Deborah, the day was what I describe as "blah". Major rainstorms. Cold, like (literally) 55 degrees in mid-July! I'm hungry because I still needed to go grocery shopping. No worries because I have a shoot later that day.

To make this story more entertaining, my model sends me a text that she's passed a certain subway stop. These were per my directions so I could meet her there BEFORE she arrives. So I sat there, one train goes by...then the second, then the third. Ok, I've never had more than 4 trains run past & not have my person show. The fourth one goes by.

I'm not going to lie. I'm starting to think she's simply BS'ing me, to afraid to outright bail so I get strung along. Considering I had a subject, not 2 days prior, message me that she was on the way at 10a & still hadn't arrived by 3p, I was kinda writing Deborah off as a flake. Needless to say I was wrong. Fast-forwarding to the end, Deborah arrives on the EIGHTH subway train.

That in itself makes for comedic copy but we're not done w/ this fish story.

So we walk the 3 blocks from the subway stop to the apartment, afterwards allowing her time to show what she's brought. She pulls this really cool prom dress that she got for $20! She then explains that its so new she hasn't had time to get it tailored. The Marine "improvise, adapt, & overcome" in me, isn't to worried. She takes time to do her makeup & hair while I figure out a work-around.

Fast-forwarding again...

She's in the prom dress & the back is only zipping so far. I'm starting to wonder if I can simply shoot her w/o the dress being loose in the back. Y'know like the running gag in Marilyn Monroe's "Some Like it Hot." A few test shots later, that idea wasn't going to work. I'm looking around the apartment for SOMETHING that will help us out. Nope, clothespins weren't working. Nor did we have any saftey pins handy.

What to do? What to do?

The roommate, who likes to making jewelry in her spare time, did have safety wire in the apartment. A couple holes punched in her dress, wire slipped through, we now have a corset. Presto-improvisio! We're ready to rock & roll.

Since it stopped raining & I was sick of shooting indoors, we ran outside & shot around the neighborhood which ilicited some strange looks by the passers-by (not that we cared).

*insert sinister laugh*

Got bored w/ that & shot in the stairwell of the apartment. Again w/ more passers-by & again, neither of us really cared what they thought. We were happily off in our own little world.

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE random shoots like this. :-)

Obama's Nobel Peace Prize

2009-10-12T08:00:00.003-04:00

I like a lot of people were stunned Friday morning in learning that President Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize "for his work to improve international diplomacy and rid the world of nuclear weapons."

Congratulations to you, Mr. President.

Not to take anything away the honor (its not like Obama lobbied for it anyway) but it certainly makes people wonder what the Nobel committee was thinking, considering that the nomination deadlines were due 2 weeks AFTER he took the oath of office! Ok, many people thought it was a good inauguration speech but I doubt anyway thought it was Nobel worthy. LOL

This leads to a couple of theories.

1. There are some title holders who likely get nominated every year regardless who holds it, in the hopes they'll actually do something to warrant it. The UN Secretary General, the President of the United States, the British Prime Minister, the Dahlahi Lami, the Pope, Director of Unicef, etc.

2. It just goes to show you that EVERYTHING is relative. During last Autumn's Presidential Campaign, I told nearly everyone that either canidate could do an absolute lousey job as President but since they'd be succeeding George W. Bush, they'd come off looking like a million bucks.

Think about it. Reagan was maybe mediocre to an above average President but because he followed Carter's lousey administration (particularly the last year & a half) & combine that w/ him making everyone feel better about themselves, the Old Gipper comes out looking like gold. Same w/ Clinton in a different respect. This is not to say that Bush, Sr was a lousey President, Clinton had that unique ability to A. get people to believe in his vision & B. HELPED create the conditions for people to prosper. If people are prospering, they likely feel good about themselves & their future.

Winning something like the Nobel Prize, any of them for that matter, so early in ones career/life has gotta be pretty dang tough. Its like any author winning the Pulitzer for his debut novel. Its like how the heck does everything that follows measure up?

Good luck to you, Mr President. I certainly do not envy your job.

--

Taken this past July during my stay in Boston. Its specifically of Government Center. The day inching towards dusk.

My Loveable Headcases

2009-10-08T08:00:00.001-04:00

I was reading Jaimeibarra's blog over on deviantART & it got me thinking.

One will detect an element of reverence, affection, &/or love when I speak about many of my subjects. I've periodically blabbed about my own photo-relationships & it caused me to expand upon the theme.

My style of shooting contains A LOT emotions. I'm almost entirely dependent on developing & establishing a rapport w/ my subjects. This means talking w/ them, getting to know them. Its a buildup in getting them to trust me while also revealing something wholely unique about themselves that they (in many cases) never knew existed. More importantly, I need honesty. Combine the uniquness & honesty, w/ pouring every last ounce of creativity that I can muster and I'm left drained upon a shoot's completion.

Contrary to Hollywood's portrayal, its not sexual. "Clinical" would be better description for I personally work. The bulk of what I do entails people being able to trust me as well as my crazy ideas. Its a waste of energy to hit on them because quite frankly, the creation process takes precedence. I certainly wouldn't be opposed if my subjects hit on me...but that's like different. At least how I'm viewing things, I am the one in a position of trust & I can't be the first one to blink.

Course I'm usually lost in my warped little world so if any girl was interested in me, they could walk up & shake my hand & I probably wouldn't notice. In all seriousness, it likely not THAT bad. It just makes for great comic relief. I am a tragic Red Sox fiend & they've been breakin' my heart since 1988.

There are also "my" headcases which are different than "the" headcases. "My" headcases are those I simply want to wring their necks (& they sometimes mine). They are the ones who no matter how hard we both try, nothing EVER goes as planned. Either the situation sucks; the weather's crappy; Plans A, B, C, D, & E get thrown out the window & I'm basically making it up as I go; Residual friend drama creeping in; whatever. There's often so much stress & intense emotions involved, I usually leave feeling like the entire shoot was a complete waste of time. This is why I like to decompress (2 weeks is usually good) because once said emotions subside, "my" headcase shoots are NO WHERE near as bad as I ever initially think.

"The" headcases are simply the aforementioned problems plus we're just not jiving for any reason. Could be crappy communication; one side simply "isn't feeling it"; something's put one of us in a foul mood; they look nothing like the test pictures they sent &/or those that are in their profile...the list goes on. These are the type of shoots that you remember, learn from them, mention them for comic relief but ultimately, let them die w/ dignity.

Isabel (shown below):

...is one of lovable "my" headcases. Don't worry, I'm not insulting her because we've discussed this very topic long ago. I'm choosing this picutre because of her reaction. "Its so simple, I love it! To many people makes things so elaborate, making (the images & my job) a complete bore."

Our first shoot, she was pregnant & I just didn't get her personality. Left thinking, "Man, this broad is bitchy" & vowed to never work w/ her again. This was my first meeting w/ her baby's father who didn't impress me (more on him later)

Second shoot, I was passing through & she inquired if we wanted to work again. I remembered her initial bitchiness, chalked it up as a hormonal pregnant women, gave her the benefit of the doubt, & shot her again. Our initial plan never made it out the door but as usual leaving me to pull something out my rear.

Another entailed me being like 2 hours late. I swung by a local photographer's place to talk shop over coffee. I was expecting to be in & out in under an hour, maybe 2 tops. Low & behold 4 hours later, I left. I got the tale end of her group shoot thing (its not like I was doing anything that day anyway).

Another one driving through an unsuspecting snowstorm & thus having my vehicle slide off the road. That was fun. *rolls eyes*

The most memorable was the baby's father creating a stink (no pun intended) in the hopes of getting her custody agreement revoked. The claim was "we all were smoking weed in front of the little one." This is quite curious because I was shooting Izzy outside in the backyard) & had formally turned over the baby's visitation to the father. If he stormed out like he testified in court, how was watching the baby?

This resolution entailed me leaving work at 4a (I was working an overnight at the time), driving 2 hours, dressing for the family court hearing in case they wished to have me testify (I volunteered). I didn't "need" to be there but in my book, the possiblity of losing ones kid is a big thing, so I willingly made the sacriface. As Murphy's Law would have it, my transmission died (ah, gotta love beater cars) which required a rescue from one of my friends.

I think we had a few other shoots scattered hear & there but I've kinda lost count.

Its pretty safe to say that Isabel's personality is an acquired taste.Our work relationship has become more than the usual model-photographer relationship, we consider each other friends. This is not a term I throw around lightly.

I adore all my Farenell Girls but especially "my" lovable headcases.

Breast Cancer w/ Ashley & Ann

2009-10-05T08:00:00.000-04:00

As stated in my 1 Oct blog, I'm involved in a Breast Cancer Awareness series. Knowing how I operate this will probably be a lengthy process...I'm not complaining considering the circumstances.

While I was in Boston this past summer, I was blessed in being approached by Ashley. She was enthusiastic about the series because the issue was very much in the moment.

Somewhere along the way, I discovered her mom had a mastectomy & in one of my WTH moments, I invited her mom presuming she felt up to it. Maybe they'd be interested in doing some mother-daughter stuff. Maybe she was more interested in staying in the background offering emotional support to her daughter. I dunno.

A reason why I like my editorial projects is that EVERYONE has their own story. It can be cathartic for them. But simply having them describe their struggles, helps me brainstorm, not to mention, its interesting to hear the variation in details.

At the time we shot, Ann was 2-weeks post-op. As she described it, she was just starting to get back on her feet but because of the recovery, she hadn't quite gotten a sense of her own limits. As sometimes happens, I was mesmerized by my subject, Ann, & thankfully Ashley called put a stop to things due to her mom's shaking. When I get mesmerized & intensely focused, I kinda have a situational awareness blindspot.

We soon called it a wrap. I got what I was looking for & was grateful they allowed me to be a part of their journey.

The shoot left me emotionally drained in a good way for a couple of days. Reflecting on Ann's bravery & how she carried & still carries herself, still leaves me in awe & leaves me a little ashamed.

Working w/ them & experiencing their battle reinforces the notion that there's more to life than materialistically, ephemeral things.

Feel free to comment, suggest, opine, whatever as you see fit, so long as you keep it civil.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

2009-10-01T09:00:00.007-04:00

As many of you may know, I often have random thoughts (particular when alcohol is involved). "Why do we drive on parkways & park on driveways?" "How did military intelligence get its name when it seems like its anything but?" "Why do people knock masturbation when its at least sex w/ someone you love?" "What are the mythological archetypes between today's heroes & what links do can be made drawn upon established heroes from the distant past?" "Where can I find directions & the supplies to build a working Star Wars lightsaber?"

In fairness, none but the last are a Farenell Photography original but it does kinda illustrate how scatter-brained my mind works.

All kidding aside, my editorial instincts were reignited recently in wanting to do something w/ a social message. I'm still actively working on my "Critique of the Unsatisfied Relationship" series...

...& my "Grip of Anorexia" series...

...but either my ideas, my subjects personal stories, or my ability to translate them to a visual medium is not speaking as clearly as they used to. Whatever the deal is, I'm in a holding pattern. Stuff like this happens all the time, so I'm not to worried about it.

Somewhere along the way I got thinking about cancer. According to my mom, my maternal grandmother was constantly afraid of that while growing up. I think it had something to do w/ it running in the family. Not sure exactly. Then my thoughts drifted to she & my little sister. Then I got thinking about all the people I worked w/, 95% of them being women. This is not to say I don't mind working w/ men, its just a numbers thing.

My shoots are more like a social exercises &, for better or worse, I start to care about what happens w/ them afterwards. Granted they are free-willed individuals & whatnot but I care about their well being long after I've delivered what I was supposed to deliver. This is another reason why I have to actively control my exuberance. Because I'm like one of those knuckleheads who has a one-track mind. If I weren't told to go (expletive deleted), every now & then. I'd probably drive people nuts.

Because I work w/ so many women, it got me thinking about Breast Cancer. If you think about it, the breasts are as much of a physical manifestation of their gender identity as their genitalia is. The difference being breasts can be seen (whether they're covered w/ a bra over a shirt or in a bikini top or bare-chested) in some respect. Just think of how many women get implants in the hopes upsizing will improve their self-esteem. Yes, its overally simplistic but I bring it up to prove a point.

My original idea for this series is to illustrate taking the simplicity of a Richard Avedon BW portrait, combine it w/ selective coloring for the pink bow, combine my models being topless to drive the point home, & viola, Breast Cancer Awareness!

Like my Ana series, the overall hope is that the more people discuss a taboo subject, the more likely that an individual will be brave enough to take the treacherous first steps they may need to get said help. Again, probably overally simplistic but that's the premise I'm running under.

In terms of this project...I've tried playing w/ the ribbons as stand-alone cuffs (like how the old school Playboy bunny waitresses) but were dropped due to me sucking when it comes to figuring out what to do w/ hands. The toplessness was also dropped as a prerequisite when I continued to ran into the complication of having volunteers who were gun-shy about baring their breasts for a good cause. Considered everything & left the toplessness simply as an option if they were open to doing so. Nice to have to drive home the point but not completely necessary.

All that being said, I used Nancy (shown below) was my first volunteer.

This entire series is a work in progress. Hopefully, its one I'm able to do more regularly if I can get more volunteers.

If anyone has any suggestion in actually recruiting Breast Cancer patients, I'm all ears. I was blessed w/ working w/ one & her daughter while out in Boston & it was one of the most worthwhile draining shoots I've ever done (you'll be seeing some of those later this month).

Feel free to opine about any part of this entry if you wish to do so. Just keep it civil.

Enjoy.

Daron

2009-09-28T09:00:00.001-04:00

Daron is subject that found me through one of my local Craigslist ads.

That site can be extremely hit or miss. Get loads & loads of inquiries, even descending into the kicking around ideas stage. However for every 10 people that approach me, I consider myself lucky if I get 1 shoot to materialize. The ratio is pretty consistant across the board, regardless of where the inquiries are coming. It just is what it is, y'know?

Anyway, Daron was one of those ten percenters & we set something up in my local area. I distinctly remember having a Plan A but I just wasn't feeling it. This happens periodically because of my intuitive shooting style. After that we went to a local park & got some good stuff there. Finally headed to another local venue down by the river.

Though the previous ones were good, this one I feel was the keeper & torpedoes all the others out of the water. I just like how everything just kinda fell into place.

Feel free to comment, opine, suggest, whatever...just keep it civil.