FYI ~ a new link

I've added a new link to my list of Links of Interest link in the Navigation sidebar.

This is a link to 5B4 - Photography and Books. The blog is dedicated to mini-reviews/information about photo books - books of photographs, not books about how to take photographs.

Caveat - a word of caution. If you are like me and have a love of photo books (IMO, one of the best ways to improve your own photography skills, both creating and viewing), you might want to give control of your wallet to a tightwad who won't let you go on a spending spree like a kid in a candy store.

I have also added a few descriptions to my links. More to come.

FYI ~ make them an offer they can't refuse

Lake Lila sinset • click to embiggenI have thought about this for a bit and have now decided to extend an offer - If any of you are interested in a get-together, I am willing to provide all that is needed (with a little help for food expenses) for a 3-4 day canoe trip into the Adirondack wilderness. I have all the gear for up to 10-12 of you. All you have to do is get here.

I made this offer to a group before but, for a variety of reasons, it never quite got organized.

If you are interested, please respond within the next 10 days so that there is ample time to agree on a time to do this - this was the main obstacle the last time around.

If you haven't been to the Adirondacks, why not come for a visit and see how a sustainable economy in the largest wilderness in the eastern U.S. works? Hell, you might even want to bring a camera and take few pictures.

Update on Tuesday, May 15, 2007 at 04:00PM by gravitas et nugalis

For those who have inquired so far, August is the best summer month and late August is better yet. The bugs are all but gone. My absolute favorite time is the first 2 weeks after Labor Day. Warm days, cool nights (nice for campfires), crisp mornings and the water is usually plenty warm for swimming. And, just like the bugs, most tourists are gone as well.

FYI, the reason for the 10-12 person limit is that wilderness campsites are limited to a max of 8 persons but frankly, at most wilderness sites 8 persons would be stacked like firewood. So, if we get 10-12 volunteers, I can split the tents up between 2 sites - for sleeping only. We can still eat and hangout together at the 'kitchen' site.

Hope to hear from more of you soon.

BTW, you can respond on this journal entry or use the 'email me' link on the sidebar to respond

FYI

Much thanks to Brett Kosmider for a link to an interesting interview with Richard Misrach by John Paul Caponigro. It's a good read which speaks to serveral notions which have been raised here on The Landscapist.

Read it here.

urban ku #60

Row, row, row your boat • click to embiggenThis is the reason that I left my happy home in the Adirondacks this weekend past and went down-state to Westchester and the Bronx. A glorious spring weekend just right for golfing, biking, canoeing or just finishing the clean up of the backyard's winter worth of dog piles.

FYI, I will be reintroducing the found v. contrived topic of yesterday (which vanished into the family-harmony ether) later today. Stay tuned.

FYI

Ana, Chuck and Jim answered the bell and have posted new photographs in the Guest Photographer Forum. Much thanks. Be sure to check them out and leave a comment or two.

FYI ~ the Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day

Porch pillar and red truck
Laundry basket and sun light
Pinhole photograph with 90mm lensWorldwide Pinhole Photography Day is fast approaching. Put the date - April, 29 - on your calender, poke a hole in something, mount it on your camera and pinhole away. It's fun, it's easy, it's pinhole-a-riffic.

WPPD is organized (if such a thing is possible) by pinholeday.org. If it strikes your fancy you can send your PPs to them for inclusion in their WPPD gallery. You can PP from WPPD's past on their site.

What I'd like to see is for a bunch of you guys and dolls to give it a shot (or more) and send the results to The Landscapist. I'll start a Pinhole/Alternative Process Forum if there is enough interest. I think that it's good to get out and try something different every now and again.

Come on, give it a try. What do you have to lose except your rigid adherence to photographic perfection?

BTW, re: Pinhole photograph with 90mm lens - the 90mm lens is not on the camera. It's on the porch railing along with a lupe. All photos - 4×5 Type 59 Polaroid.

FY I- my new Epson 18000000

My new Epson printer • click to embiggenA picture of me and my new Epson 18000000. It's a beauty.

The wife and kids have had to move out of the house, but now I can make 15,000 40×60 prints an hour. The ink and paper costs are a bit steep. However, at least as far as paper is concerned, I live in a forest so there are plenty of trees around to harvest. The thing that I hadn't thought of though was what a real bitch it's going to be to sign and number an edition of 60,000.

Stay tuned, though. I'll be publishing an in-depth review of the Epson 18000000 for all those who may be considering the purchase of one. BTW, I got mine at Best Buy - great sales and service. They even threw in the other guy in black as a bonus.

Update on Tuesday, April 17, 2007 at 03:59PM by gravitas et nugalis

Featured Comments: Jimmi Nuffin and Chuck Kimmerle wrote;

1. "... I was thinking about getting Epson 18000000, but, when I realized that the bonus was a "guy in black" instead of a "black guy" I had to rethink my decision."

Hey Jimmi, don't think too long. The bonus offer for the-guy-who-sleep-under-the-printer is only good until the end of April.

2. "Looks like it only has 6 or seven inks and not a roll paper holder to be seen. Ripoff."

Chuck - actually, the 'locomotive in the livingroom', as the wife has affectionately dubbed it, has 8 inks and a varnish applicator. Also, with the heat it generates, we save a bundle on heating oil.

The noise it generates is something else again. The wife won't let me print after 10pm (even though she and the kids now live in the garage).

ku for u

Covers • click to embiggen
Intro spread • click to embiggenAt times I feel a bit like Michelangelo - not just because he was often called Il Divino ("the divine one"), but because, like him, I have 'patrons' who are very supportive of my art.

I would be very remiss (and in deep s--t) if I didn't include the wife as my 'Medici Moma'. The roles of Medici Popes though are played by the prez and v. prez of the Lake Placid Convention & Vistors Bureau who, for a number of years, have left it up to me to create and present the public image of our Adirondack region to the world.

Over time, the various tourism guides, ads, trade show booths, et al which I design and produce have come to resemble a personal portolio of my ku photographs - never more so than this year's Summer Guide. So it has occurred to me that for those of you who don't wish to pop the $100 for ku, the book, you could just request a free copy of this year's Summer Guide and have a decent look at my ku in print and judge for yourself if my ku weaves a spell of the place which makes you want to come here.

In about 2 weeks time, you can visit ForeverAdirondack.com and request a free travel guide. Go for it.