FYI

Happy Thanksgiving to all those who celebrate it and in the spirit of the day I wish to say that I am grateful to all those who - just by visiting and/or contributing - continue to make The Landscapist a worthwhile underaking. Thanks a million.

FYI, I'm eating turkey in New Jersey and taking Hugo to the Macy Thanksgiving Day Parade. I'll be back in the saddle late on Friday / early Saturday at which time I will continue with the regulary scheduled programing.

FYI ~ well, well, well ... how do you do

Hey, it's not exactly what I had in mind in a 2-month-old entry regarding my desire for a camera with interchangeable sensors, but nevertheless, the floodgates have been opened by Ricoh for a camera with interchangeable sensors - much like the floodgates for a small high quality camera/sensor were opened with the Olympus EP-1.

This could get quite interesting, And, if were a prediction-making man, I might be inclined to predict that, between the ongoing developments in the micro 4/3rds arena and now this Ricoh development, what we are witnessing is the end of the digital 35mm-bodied behemoth as the standard for high quality, serious-minded picturing making - excluding pros and the ever-"perfection-driven" gear heads, of course.

civilized ku # 202 ~ a good time was had by all

Various windows • click to embiggenLast Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Aaron (the Cinemascapist) held his first photo workshop. It was a great success. Testimonials from the participants - who came from across the US of A - were many and brimming with praise and satisfaction.

Aaron did a great job and his idea for a last-evening gallery show (on Saturday) with work created by workshop participants was a great success (and lasted well past midnight). The opening was very well attended and 3 participants actually sold prints.

FYI, the last morning (Saturday) was reserved for "darkroom" work, AKA - Photoshop work, in the local community college computer lab where the participants worked on their workshop created images (2 ea.) for the show. The files were sent to me at around 12:30PM and by 4:15PM I was standing in the gallery (35 miles away) with an art case filled with 20×24' prints ready for hanging.

Also FYI, on Friday the workshop group visited me at my home primarily for the purpose of seeing Aaron's large-format gallery prints which are stored (and displayed) at my house. They were also in my village for a workshop photo location/shoot. Most of the group were followers of The Landscapist and one was surprised to find out that the Landscapist was the father of the Cinemascapist. As always, it was a pleasure and a treat to actually meet, in the flesh, readers of my blog.

One of the group, John Bailey - from the Boston area, joined me that evening for dinner in Saranac Lake. John is a Landscapist follower from way back - I presented some of his work back in December of 2006. You can see it (with a link to more) HERE.

My congratulations to Aaron for a job well done and here's hoping that the event gets even bigger and better next year. And to all of the workshop participants, it was great to meet you and spend time together, especially at the gallery show. For those of you who will continue to use my wide-format custom printing services, I look forward to building a one-on-one working relationship.

FYI ~ folios

My subjects for 4 folios • click to embiggenMy immediate folio plans are for 4 folios. The topics/subjects are seen in the composite picture above (l-r, t-b):

1. The Jersey Shore ~ Stone Harbor
2. Picture Windows
3. Decay & Disgust
4. Adirondack Life

The Jersey Shore folio is on the top of the list because that's where I'll be next week and I want to present it to a gallery. The rest will follow as soon as I return from the shore. After I return, I will also begin to flesh out the Folio website - statement of intent, the first folio gallery, a few links to folio case suppliers and the like.

I will also be setting up an FTP (file transfer protocol) site for uploading folio page jpegs for individual folio gallery display - to include specs on how to prepare those jpegs.

Hopefully, a few of you who were brave enough to get onboard will have something to upload and display at that time. If not, just keep on plugging until you do.

ku # 618 ~ folio FYI

Sun dappled sand bank and ledge ~ Bog River • click to embiggenA few of you have opted in to the folio sales/swap endeavor. A few of you have questions and suggestions -

Martin Doonan mentioned "the fear that my work isn't halfway good enough to participate". I suspect that more than a few have the same "fear". My advice relative for that "fear" is to make a folio, submit it and let the audience be the judge of whether or not your work is halfway good enough. Many picture makers are the worst judge of their own work - it's a very common fear / worry amongst artists of all persuasions. I also suspect that quite a bit of work that is more than halfway good enough never gets to see the public light of day due to that fear. More's the pity.

The only solution for that fear (aka - the fear of rejection), aside from years of very expensive psychoanalysis, is to just let it all hang out and see what happens. As the saying goes in hockey terms, "shoot the damn puck" - 100% of the shots not taken don't go in the net. If you want to score, you've got to shoot the puck.

Mary Dennis mentioned that "waiting around for a bunch of people to say they are on board with you" was a not good idea. I agree so I am plowing ahead regardless.

Mary also asked, "Would this be a site unto itself with an identity separate from The Landscapist? The answer is, "yes". It's already set up and waiting for folios at squarespace.folios.com

No One asked, "Will there be any cost involved?" The answer is, "yes". There will be a 1-time (very nominal) fee of $15 US per folio to cover page creation - each folio will have a gallery page on which to display the folio pictures and a brief description (folio/print size, print type, paper type, folio box type, any other pertinent folio info, and an artist statement).

>At this time the site will not take a commission on sales. The only cost to the artist is the page / gallery set up fee.

>All fulfillment and payment arrangements for folio sales are solely the responsibility of the individual artist. A "Contact The Artist" (email) link will be provided on each folio page.

BTW, any and all photo genres are welcome and folios will be organized by category (with artist names) on the front/home page.

That's about it for now. Please feel free to ask questions and/or make suggestions - this is truly a work in progress.

FYI - bonus offer

Chinatown seafood market ~ NYC • click to embiggenIn just over a month, my son, Aaron - The Cinemascapist, will be conducting a workshop + exhibit here in the Adirondacks.

The workshop + exhibit that offers a very unique feature:

Unlike most workshops that seem to end anticlimactically with a short review of each attendee's results, this workshop finishes with a group exhibit at a local contemporary art space [ 7444 Gallery ] complete with an opening reception, press, local artist and members of this very unique community.

FYI, the (no additional cost) prints for the exhibit will be made by yours truly.

>>>>> There are only 2 (of 8) spots left for the workshop + exhibit. I thought that some of The Landscapist crowd might be interested in this, so, to sweeten the pot, if anyone reserves a spot and mentions that they saw it here on The Landscapist, as a bonus I will make myself available to you (at the time of your choosing) for a couple hours of conversation, beer drinking, or whatever else might interest your fancy photography-wise.

Here's a chance to participate in what will undoubtedly be a very interesting workshop + exhibit, a visit to the Adirondacks - the largest wilderness in the eastern US of A, and the opportunity to let me know what you think about me, my pictures, and my blog.

How's that for an offer you can't refuse?

x#%x#%x#%x#% !!!!!!!

Today's entry has been postponed due to a colossal f**kup by Apple.

My software update software told me that there was a Safari update which, of course, offered all sorts of "improvements". So, I dutifully did the update. At the end of the installation, I was informed of an error that did not allow the update to be installed. Fine. Whatever. I could live with that.

What I can't live with is the fact that, because of some screw by Apple, the update software downloaded and tried to install a beta version of Safari that is not recommended for download.

Imagine that.

The result, I need to reinstall my system software which wipes out all the stuff on my hard drive. I now need to copy and backup all my Application folder and my Home folder to an external hard drive and start from scratch.

Adding insult to injury, I had to purchase a $50 phone support from Apple to work through the Screw up that Apple caused through absolutely no fault of my own.

So, I'll be back as soon as I get this fixed.

FYI

For those who are interested and don't know about it, Shutterfly is running a 20% off sale on photo books through March 10th. They are also throwing in 2 free 8×10 prints to the offer.

If you don't know about this, it's because you have not signed up for a free account at Shutterfly. If you had, you would have received an email from them about this offer.

If you haven't signed up and are interested in making photo books, use the link at the top of the right column and sign up - The Landscapist receives a small commission on all your transactions at Shutterfly if you do. I mean, what the hell, since I bust my ass almost everyday for you here on The Landscapist, I think it's only fair and just that you help stimulate my economy just a little bit.