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Quote of the Week:

Photo Shoots are the best

Engineer Pass, Above Lake City, Colorado

Some of my more regularly shooting photo friends may disagree, but I love photo shoots, especially ones on location. I'm heading out for a couple of days to make images of a client out in the field, working. In this case, doing water sampling. I'll be down in Lake City, if anyone needs me. Cell service is actually not bad in town, or you could just call the post office--there are so few people there at the end of the summer, that they could probably just stand out in the street and yell my name and I'd hear them.

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8.25.2006

The List

This list was something my dad used to remind himself how to get things done. I don't know if he came up with it, or got it from somewhere else, but I read it almost every day:

• Unpleasant FIRST
• Say NO
  
• REST
• Delegate--not only unpleasant tasks
• Organize--one thing at a time
• Uninterrupted worktime
• Don't procrastinate
• Clean up
• Make lists
• Leave it here

For all of the lifehack/GTD/organizing noise in the air, this little list has helped the most. Thanks, dad!

posted at 4:21 PM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

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8.22.2006

that time of year again

...where I go to Pueblo and set up the exhibit for the State of Colorado's Division of Reclamation, Mining, and Safety (formerly the Division of Minerals and Geology) at the State fairgrounds. It's a sweaty day, despite the two or three large air conditioning units that are installed in the former agricultural exhibition hall. The cinderblocks hold in a lot of that Puebloan heat.

The exhibit has grown from a tabletop Nimlok display to rollups (single and double-sided), dioramas, huge wall-covering photo-montages, and a three-sided interactive kiosk, some 9 feet high. All of the exhibit items show off the state's efforts at mined land reclamation, active mining, and mine safety--all important topics in a place where a large portion of the economy still runs on mining.

Here's a shot of the displays in-process, before it's all "put together" and ready for prime-time.

All of the items, even though designed and produced over the course of seven years or so, have an integrated look, feel, and message. Consistent use of typography, image styles and applications, and copywriting have resulted in a modular set of exhibit materials that, when not in use at the Fair, can be taken on a moment's notice to conferences, education events, and conventions on behalf of the division.


Here's a shot from last year, when we set up the interactive display for the first time. I am pressing buttons on the map, showing periods of mining history light up at the touch of a button.

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8.18.2006

War and Peace

Some weeks I just want to stay in bed and read a really long book. This was not one of them. Lots learned this week, including:

• All about networking (the human, not the router-based, kind) at AIGA/Colorado's BuzZ event on Tuesday;
• the joys of remote-controlled browser testing environments;
• discussing the nature of photographic projects with fellow Utatans;
• always save your blog entries when you are working on them, lest your browser crash and you lose everything (bah);
• and the joys of creating sticky footers.

Now it's time for the weekend, and even though I feel like I should be at the office all weekend working, I'm going to take at least a little time off to recharge the batteries and relax. Maybe I'll even have time to finish my latest book.

posted at 5:22 PM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

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8.08.2006

Composites, or, Reconstructing the visible

I made this image the other day. While I've been to this very spot, I never took a picture of it. This is a composite of ten images shot by other members over at Flickr. The interesting thing to me is how similar all of the images that form the composite are to each other: they were all shot within feet, if not inches, of each other; the only real difference lies in the (subtle) shift in focal lengths used.

The unvaribility in the images is perfect for this sort of re-construction, in that it allows the subtle differences in the equipment and the photographer's choice in framing and focal length to show through the archetypical choice of subject matter.

(legal note: all of the images are licensed for uses just like this one under a Creative Commons license...which, by the way, means you need to credit all of the artists whose work you''re using in the piece. You can see that on the image's Flickr page. It also means you need to abide by the same rules of use when you use or display it. so please play nice with this image!)

posted at 3:44 PM Leave your comments here: 0 comments

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8.03.2006

UTATA

I've joined Utata, the online photographic salon, and can't be happier. There are all sorts of good photographers, discussions, and group projects going on over there. Check out my member page, and see what's happening.

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