Photomatter Blog

Latest Zine

2012-01-31T07:54:00.000-08:00

I have started a new Convozine on Landscapes. Having come across so many talented landscape photographers over the years - my hope is that some of them will contribute images to the collection. The zine still needs awards, but I put a handful of images up...check it out.....HERE

circa 1973

Sir Charles

2012-01-24T20:18:00.000-08:00

This is a clue type photo - hinting at a soon to be revealed project that I hope is successful. It is a first for me, and has taken almost one year to complete. The post-processing is deliberate, and aimed at children. I'll add more clues as time goes on...

A new way to publish

2011-11-20T16:35:00.000-08:00

Early August I began three new "Convozines". I'll write some more about them on the Photomatter.com news, but I wanted to introduce them here. Convozines are online publications that are developed on a well designed framework, and have a consistent look. In one way they are an online magazine, and in another they are a blend of a blog, and social media like facebook and twitter. The promise that they hold is that many can contribute content like wikipedia, and can become almost like a trade mag - a source - a unique collection of information on any topic. As the depth of the content grows - the value increases. The newest convo of mine is "Culinary Art". I hope more people with photographic talent can help me create a worthy food source. Have a look...

Click here to See the online mag

Are Blogs Passe?

2011-11-20T16:29:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about this quite a bit. This blog never really reached many people. It makes me question its purpose - if no one reads it, why write it. I'll stick with it a bit longer - if only as a chronology.

Photo Restorations at James Markus Photography

2011-07-23T08:59:00.000-07:00

We all have them - dog eared, stained, and cracked photos that really are family treasures, but look like old post-it notes. Well, they can be restored! Come on by the studio at 6450 28th Ave Suite C Hudsonville MI with your treasure and have it restored!

See more restored photos here

Blue Plate Special Series

2011-06-17T08:32:00.000-07:00

You can see more kitchen art at my online galleries.

Link to Galleries here

Adopted

2011-06-15T13:13:00.000-07:00

That is right - the whole family was adopted by this beautiful gray
kitty. He moved into our gazebo and begged to come into the
house until we found his owner...who was happy to be rid of him...
and in he moved. We have named him Charlie, and he is the most
wonderful cat any of us have ever known. He even won over the
crusty old cat Iggy, as well as Lucy, and Ciara.

Michigan's first Senior Odyssey

2011-05-25T10:37:00.000-07:00

Saturday I got to witness pure seasoned talent during Michigan's first Senior Odyssey held in Jenison Michigan. Senior Odyssey is meant to keep the juices flowing, wheels turning, and sharpen the mind. The Web site defines it this way...

"The Senior Odyssey project is a community-based cognitive intervention in which adults aged 60 and over participate in a program of problem solving and brain teasers."

Find out more here...

Photos from Michigan's first Senior Odyssey here...

Macro - It is a matter of perspective

2011-02-17T12:46:00.000-08:00

A common item in any studio, but what is it? Is it concave or convex? The pattern is mesmerizing, and calming.

Smoke Art @ Photomatter

2010-12-31T12:19:00.000-08:00

Last month and a few days ago I shot some smoke. Though abstract - I find the ethereal semi transparent nature of the wisps of smoke to be compelling. Hope you enjoy them. A link to my gallery of smoke images is HERE A sampling is posted on the blog.

New Kitchen Art

2010-11-12T09:24:00.000-08:00

I've been using my gels, and arranging tableware to add to my kitchen art collection. I find the lighting to be the most critical part in this process. There are more images Here in this link

Not a good idea....

2010-11-12T09:11:00.000-08:00

What were they thinking? I'm sure everyone is saying that now, but really...running an ad agency out of the jail wasn't a very good idea. The damages could be astronomical for the state of Texas with 4.5 million copies of this infringement floating around the state.

READ the Story here

Amazing waves on Lake Michigan

2010-10-27T18:31:00.000-07:00

Amazing wind and waves at Grand Haven today. This wave splashed as high as the tower on the south pier as it hit the north pier channel marker. Here is a five frame sequence of the splash

Apparently my blog won't allow animated photos - so here is linked hosted off my website where you can actually see the five frames of the wave crashing into the channel marker...

Click here for photo link

FM Theme: Inspiration

2010-10-08T14:11:00.000-07:00

I participate in various contests, and Fred Miranda's is a favorite of mine. Fred is a former model living in LA that years ago started a photography website that I think is one the finest - aesthetically. This photo is for the weekly assignment which has the theme of "Inspiration" - title is "Written Inspiration". Fred's home page is HERE and the weekly assignments are HERE

If it sounds too good to be true.....

2010-09-28T20:46:00.000-07:00

Another buyer beware tale, but this time it has a twist. A photographer stole other photographer's work and tried to pass it off as her own. This time she got caught. If you drill down to the archived posts - you can witness the lie expanding. It also should be pointed out that Tineye was used to crack this case - mentioned in my first couple blog posts. Tineye is now able to check against a database of 1.6 billion images. Click here for whole story

ArtPrize Entries at Riverview Center

2010-09-21T19:38:00.001-07:00

Entry Title:"Hunger (the series)"
Individual subtitles below each photo

This series is to honor the hungry
Model Ron V. - Photos measure 24" x 36"

Subtitle:"When Your World Stops"

Subtitle:"Will Work For Food"

Subtitle:"Contemplating What You Have"

Subtitle:"The Face Of Hunger"

Subtitle:"When I Was Hungry"

My ArtPrize Entries are now hanging in the Riverview Center at 678 Front Ave Grand Rapids, MI 49504. The best way to get to them is enter at the south entrance and go up to the second floor. There is an empty unfinished office space (huge - about 100' x 100') by the elevator hosting many artists. Last year Riverview Center was the second largest venue with sixty some artist...this year there are 77 artist in the venue. This is a prime place to view lots of art!

Pokemon PHD

2010-08-31T18:41:00.000-07:00

Sam is a Pokemon PHD. He knows everything there is to know about Pokemon. When he comes up excitedly telling about how he got a "shiny" what-ja-ma-call-it in some trade...my eyes glaze over. It is almost like he is talking a different language. He has a dog-eared telephone book thick book about Pokemon that I swear he has memorized. I feel so ignorant about this passion of his, but I can't seem to muster any interest. So, I thought I should record this talent in a photo.

Name the tree frog contest!

2010-08-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

This lovely tree frog needs a name. The most creative entry will receive a cup of coffee, tea, or soda of your choice. She sings really loud, and is an adept climber.

Air Zoo

2010-07-21T10:03:00.001-07:00

Monday the family and I took a road trip to the Kalamazoo Air Zoo. There is a great collection of airplanes, rockets, bombs and other interesting items. The Air Zoo features free admission, but the rides do cost a little. The last surviving SR71b Blackbird (there are other models) is on loan from NASA - as well as a B25 bomber in the main campus building. The East Campus building features more planes as well as rockets, and space craft.

Magic Moon Rise

2010-07-08T08:35:00.001-07:00

During the week we had at Tom's cottage - there were magical moon rises each night. The first night the moon rose near the tip of Northport Point. Each night the moon moved closer to Paradisa Point and came up later and later. Each one started out blood red, and changed to various shades of deep orange as it arose.

ArtPrize 2010

2010-06-23T17:23:00.000-07:00

Grand Rapids second annual ArtPrize competition is under way! I have registered, and secured a venue. My entry is a conceptual series, and this image is key to the social commentary topic that it covers. I will shoot the other images throughout the summer. Meanwhile, I put some place holder images up at my ArtPrize profile here....

http://www.artprize.org/artists/public-profile/3494

My Venue is here
http://www.artprize.org/venues/public-profile/323

Quack, quack quack

2010-06-05T09:14:00.000-07:00

What do you do with a stubborn duck? About a week ago two mallards landed in my pea green pool. It was very much like that famous WKRP episode where turkeys dropped from planes splattered on the ground. The male and female mallards landed like living cannon balls, and then took up residence near the pool.

With Bridgett, and Iggy's (my cat) help we managed to chase off the female. The male - however did not leave, and proved to very difficult to corner. Four days later with the help of David, and Christopher the male was captured - then set free miles away. I keep thinking he will return...hope I am wrong.

"Tipped" - Standing out from the crowd

2010-05-28T08:16:00.000-07:00

Sam had great fun striking matches for that last shoot, and I ended up with three boxes of kitchen matches. What to do with that many matches has been on my mind. I've decided to add another series to my other image series. This image - titled "Tipped" is for the theme Standing Out from the Crowd, and will go along with the interaction image of "Striker and Match".

Photo themes - "Striker and Match"

2010-05-09T05:22:00.000-07:00

FM (Fred Miranda) has weekly and monthly assignments that I find help keep my creativity flowing. Over the last couple years i have found that participating in these assignments has spurred me to produce some of my favorite images. Here is this weeks entry under the theme of "Interaction".

Stock photo must reads

2010-05-08T11:33:00.001-07:00

Three years ago I joined Photographer's Direct, and was happy to find Chris Barton - its founder.

The photo industry is in turmoil, with giants like Getty taking advantage of it's size to screw photographers, and swallow competitors. Though that is another story, a related one is the lowering of image quality in advertising, and marketing caused by the above practices. In addition to this, there is a culture shift occurring with corporations, ad agencies, and mom and pop businesses using micro stock images - not realizing what this says about their business, or the strange bedfellows they make by sharing an image with unrelated business. Chris has written two important articles on his blog that should be must reads by corporate photo buyers, ad agencies, and any commercial photo buying client. There is an amazing free tool to help you in checking your photo choices that you will find in the second article. Please read Chris' "Microstock: why would a reputable company do this to themselves?"

http://fairtradephotographer.blogspot.com/2010/03/microstock-why-would-reputable-company.html#comment-form

Microstock: how to avoid Poisonous Pictures

2010-05-08T11:27:00.000-07:00

In this Chris Barton article you will learn how to avoid the mistake of buying cheap low quality photos, and how to determine where and how many times the same photo has been used. If you are looking for a corporate identifying image - this is vital information.

http://fairtradephotographer.blogspot.com/2010/04/microstock-how-to-avoid-poisonous.html