[ennuipoet]

God, photojojo is just full of precious little things that make me want to engage in an involuntary personal protein spill.

Pillows and coffee cups that look like lens, etsy style shirts with photography themes on them, macrame camera cozies…it’s like your spinster aunt got really high on hash brownies and made your Christmas present, “It’s because you like cameras!”

/my apologies to anyone who has any of the above, it’s just that I can’t handle “cuteness”.

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You do indeed recall correctly, Kes; those are boats and that is Grand Lake. The streaks of light are from the boats swaying in the water because it was so windy that night.

I had the worst problem with people bumping my tripod. I arrived early, hours early, to stake a out a spot where my pod would be out of the path of people (had I not, the park police would make me close it up). As the evening filled up people pressed in around me and kept brushing the pod during the exposure. I’ve dozens of shots all blurred to hell because someone couldn’t stand still.

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Ennipoet, do you refrain from taking photos of homeless people out of respect?

It’s more about propriety rather than respect, I have to know (or know something about) someone to respect them. Were I engaged in legitimate photojournalism or doing a art shoot about homeless people I would have no problem photographing them, either surreptitiously or with their knowledge.

For Fark…I dunno. Plus, homeless street photographs are pretty cliche.

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(The Warm Up from Mother Nature)
The Whole Set:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ennuipoet/sets/72157626997124677/with/5905717572/

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Shots from the Fireworks show last night:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ennuipoet/sets/72157626997124677/

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I will be staking out a decent spot on a Hudson River Pier trying to shoot the Macy’s Fireworks show tonight.

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(apparently north of Rye is upstate)

Heh. I’ve always imagined a line halfway between Poughkeepsie and Albany to be the demarcation between upstate and assholes… I mean downstate.

HEY! What! I Don’t Even!

No, actually, that would be accurate.

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That’s why I gave up on inkjets altogether. On the infrequent occasion that I wanted to print in color, I’d find that the ink had dried and I’d either have to replace the print head or run several cleaning cycles. I use an old LaserJet 4+ that I can stick a $99 toner cartidge in and it lasts more than a year.

That said, if you want instant gratification and/or total control of the output, I’ve seen the quality of prints those things put out and it’s pretty amazing, so congrats!

I’d be interested in an update a few months down the road to hear your feelings on actual ink & paper costs or other unexpected hassles (or lack thereof).

Tell the truth, the printer is more of business investment. To do any kind of sales you need to control the product from beginning to end. So, now I can run prints from gigs. I can deliver printed proofs and full sized prints, anything larger than 13×19 I will still have to farm out but I’ve got a start.

I also picked up a Strobist kit (two off camera flashes and remotes) to do portrait work.

I may not make any money on this, but I’m damn sure gonna try.

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Let’s put it on paper then, I will pick a train and let you know when I will be there. OK, Farktographers, anyone else in?

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I can do next weekend, and Mystic Seaport sounds awesome. I am pretty much up for whatever you guys want, drag me around and show me sights. Let’s run this up the flag pole and see…no wait, we’re civilians, lets see whose up for it.

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I can only do, well basically, next weekend. I am shooting Improv Everywhere’s MP3 Experiment 8 on the 16th and pet sitting the rest of the month. So, unless people want to do it on real short notice I may be out.

Sorry, all of the sudden the world just became rife with oppurtunity! 🙁

[ennuipoet]

My personal inspiration for the theme came from the series “Life after people”, which docu-drama’d the world if people were suddenly (and thereafter), just ‘not there’.

The series delved into the many canines and felines left behind, and what would happen to them. How many poodles would die? How many pit-bulls would make do? How various feline critters would retake up mousing, and reclaim those roots?

I do understand what you’re asking. But consider:

What a compelling image to find a dog abandoned on some lonely highway or rural road, matted, starved, dehydrated, and capture that moment on film…then post it in a contest.

Not for me. At least not in this venue–and it may violate some of the TOA in fark.com, in general. I’d have problems voting for such an image without a clear history of that animal’s rescue, and a continued and better life among caring people, providing a happy ending. I roll that way. If this were for National Geographic from something shot in a 3rd world country…another story, perhaps.

And there are homeless vets here (and abroad), and others. People abandoned by the rest of ‘quote unquote’ humanity. It’s not a light subject.

I’m reminded of a picture U-Man had a short while back; I don’t know if she was homeless, I remember him writing about how he told her she was beautiful, and asked to take her picture, and she smiled–it won the contest (the Stat’s Mgr is down for me right now, or I’d repost it); but that image gave me the feeling of abandoned, yet with hope. I don’t know that she was even homeless–but that’s the feeling I got from the image.

Because of that hope, I don’t think that sort of thing fits the theme (though, U-Man, to me it’s one of the best images I’ve ever had the joy of observing).

And without that hope–I don’t personally feel it’s appropriate for a contest in this venue, whether–God forbid–real, or ‘staged’.

In summary, I guess I’m saying “Abandon All Hope: Life After People” shouldn’t go there.

I’ll consider the mods’ weighing in, but I’d rather keep it inanimate.

//mean no offense.

Well said! I, too, felt the theme called for things not people, but the idea was ticking around in my head, so I asked.

Regarding the photographing of homeless folks, I don’t do it. OK, strike that, I do it, but only with their permission and that only rarely. There a subset of homeless in NYC that kind of make their living off being photographed by tourists. (Yeah, weird right!) They put on a big show for them and then ask for money. A few of these guys have given me a good enough show that I will take their photo and give them a few bucks, but for the most part I don’t.

That being said, I would actually like to do a serious piece on homeless vets. The guys I am used to seeing are all Viet Nam era, but a few younger people are showing up in the stream. I can speak the language but the thought of doing it damn intimidating. There but for fortune, you know.

Any way, I am good with the ruling, basically if I am asking I am expecting the answer “No” because if I think it might fly, I’ll go ahead and do it! 🙄

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Could a PERSON meet the definition of this contest? “If humanity abandoned it, it fits.” I am particularly thinking of homeless vets here. (No, I am not going to go out and shoot homeless vets for a Farktography thread, but I am thinking of shooting some self portrait work appearing as a homeless vet. Before I start smearing myself with dirt and crap I wanted a ruling.)

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+11ty to ravnostic for one genuine laugh out loud longer than 30 seconds! What can I say, I am a sucker for Airplane! jokes!!

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My prognosis – the winner will be someone who has an awesome landscape shot with a near-perfect reflection in water so that it’s difficult/impossible to tell which side is up. I have no such entries, so it won’t be me.

I expect to see a lot of those, indeed that is what I am entering but never rule out pure OMGWTF*…because that is what Fark loves!

*And there are several of you, you know who you are, that bring that!

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