Landscape, Nature And Travel Photography

I just received word, as an iView Media Pro affiliate, that iView Media Pro will no longer be available after May 16th. Now that iView Media Pro is part of Microsoft the application has been assimilated into Microsoft Expression Media.

Looking at the Microsoft Expression Media page it looks as though Microsoft is finally ramping up its design and image product line to compete with Adobe’s software suite. Unfortunately I couldn’t tell if there was Apple support as the web site froze my browser. Not a good sign and odds are Microsoft is only releasing a PC version.

Microsoft Expression products include:
Expression Web – web authoring design tool
Expression Blend – “the professional design tool to create engaging, Web-connected, user experiences for Windows”… whatever that means.
Expression Design – an illustration and graphic design tool
Expression Media – “professional asset management tool to visually catalog and organize all your digital assets”
and Expression Studio – more than likely all these applications in one package.

iView Media Pro was great. I hope Microsoft doesn’t cannibalize it and ruin it.

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Expression, Expression Web, Expression Blend, Expression Design, Expression Media, Expression Studio, iView Media Pro, Adobe, Photoshop, software, design, affiliate, program

Taken back in the day when I was shooting slide film. This was one of the more memorable sunsets I’ve photographed. The rolling hills and golden hue of the Marin Headlands always provide a dramatic view.

Technorati Tags: Marin, headlands, sunset, photo, California, Golden State, hills

In previous blog entries I’ve mentioned the difficulty placed upon the National Park Service (NPS) with funding reductions by the federal government. In an attempt to make up for the shortfall visitors are now having to pay for more expensive admission fees to several national parks.

Park Fee Hikes Questioned – USA Today (4/29/07)

Unfortunately numerous National Parks are now feeling the pinch and evaluating the option to increase fees:
More news articles on rising NPS fees across the country – Google News Search Results

As bad as fee increases are something even more troubling could be on the horizon. Due to funding reductions over the past 6 years the National Park Service might seriously look into the prospect of corporate sponsorship.

Golden Arches National Park might be on horizon – National Trails Training Partnership

National Parks Seeking Corporate Sponsorship – The New Standard (10/05)

I’ve conducted a thorough search to see where the NPS stands on this and nothing appears to be imminent, but the prospect alone of corporate named trails makes me cringe. National Parks have such a rich history it would be a shame to see that tainted by Corporate America. Let’s hope that funding increases for the National Park Service and such a prospect never become a reality.

Technorati Tags: National Park Service, NPS, corporate. sponsor, fee, hike, outdoor, recreation

Up until the wee hours of the morning I’ve been searching through my archive of photos to find a set of images that match a certain style. In the process I revisited sets of photos from most every year since 1998. The common thought I had as I looked through each years photos was, “If I Only I Knew Then What I Know Now”.

The fantastic, yet extremely frustrating thing about photography is that it is a constant learning process.

Sure you might expect that I’d have this reaction after seeing photos taken nearly a decade ago. Perhaps you might even think, “Well of course you’d have that reaction the technology has changed since then.” The surprising and embarrassing thing that I have to admit, even if most might not believe it, is that I felt strongest about this with photos that were taken only a couple of years ago when the technology gap wasn’t as great. Why?
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This is one of my favorites from this past summer. Taken at an elevation of about 1750 feet looking east through Caribou Pass towards Canada. Over the ridge to the left was a view of the Arctic Ocean and to the right was a view of the Kongakut River valley. Photographed in the foreground is Arctic Phlox along with a variety of other arctic wildflowers.

Technorati Tags: Arctic Refuge, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, ANWR, Arctic Phlox, arctic wildflower, Alaska, Caribou Pass

I just came across a press release from Tuesday that announces Flickr API integration for the microstock agency 123RF. According to the release photographers now can push images to 123RF for review and upload them for sale via Flickr.

Easy Uploads from Flickr to 123RF

While photosharing sites like Zooomr languish through their troubled Mark III release (which reportedly includes the ability to sell stock) others are starting to take advantage of Flickr’s API. This is the first I’ve seen of an agency tapping Flickr’s API, but its not to say that there aren’t others.

Personally I think it’s unfortunate that the first photo sales site that I’ve seen to take advantage of Flickr’s pool of images is a microstock agency. This bodes poorly for up and coming photographers who won’t know the difference between Royalty Free stock and Rights Managed stock.

Update (5/1/07):
I’ve now confirmed that 123RF had their API Key revoked by Flickr
123RF unplugged from Flickr – abouttheimage.com

Technorati Tags: photography, digital photography, stock, stock photo, royalty free, rights managed, Flickr, API, Zooomr

I received some great feedback on various photo forums regarding my blog entry/article “The 5 Biggest Digital Photography Pitfalls“. Below are a few comments that I thought were great points along with my thoughts.
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This evening I was very fortunate in that I caught “The Greatest Good” on PBS. It reminded me of my roots and the progression of my interest into photography. With out any doubt my interest in photography is rooted in my fondness for nature and wilderness. Growing up as a small child in Alaska, the wilderness was an endless curiosity on our numerous camping trips and later throughout the rest of my life exploring the backcountry of California extended that fascination and appreciation. The foundation of my interests would not be possible with out the creation of public land policy, U.S. National Forests, the National Park Service and modern Wilderness Conservation.

“The Greatest Good” very effectively, if not poetically, covers the history and evolution of U.S. land management and conservation.

Photo: Dixie National Forest, Utah

Up until this point John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt were the icons I recognized in regard to the creation and conservation of our land, but Read more…