OK,it's a done deal. I moved our website (definitivephoto.com) to a new service. We were with Netfirms.com and it was just a plain, build it yourself,web site. Now we are are a SmugMug webiste. Definitivephoto.com still works but because it is a SmugMug site it is specifically for photographers. The most notable addition is the ability to buy prints and digital downloads from the site. This is something that would have required extensive customization and programming on the Netfirms site. With SmugMug it is all built in.
I am in the process of building the "new" site. While it is up and you can go see it, it is not complete. There are some images to be removed. Some images to be replaced with higher resolution versions and lots of new images to add. The pages listing our services and prices is yet to be built. So, look for that in the future. I am adding a new service: Rides. Rides will be photographs, portraits, if you will, of cars or any vehicle really. They always say you should photograph what you love and I do love cars and stuff. So, I thought maybe people would be willing to pay to have professional photographs done of their cars. You might be thinking why would anyone pay money to have their '89 Camry photographs. Probably no one. But, if someone spends $40,000 fully restoring a 1953 Cadillac to original condition, they would love to have really high quality, artistically done photographs of it. That's my hope anyway.
Along with all of this will be a change in priority for this blog. My plan is to focus almost exclusively on photography and photography related topics. And I am also planning to create a Facebook page for Definitive Photography. All three the website, the blog and the Facebook page will tied together. I'm thinking the Facebook page will promote the website, print sales and getting new jobs. I plan to highlight the website and the blog on the Facebook page as well.
There is lots to pull together. Some of it I have planned out and some is still to be figured out. More to follow.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
DefinitivePhoto.com
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Photography Blog
I am seriously considering creating a new and separate blog for my photography. I've been reading about other photographers and the common view seems to be that in order to have a successful photography business you need to blog as well. Likewise they encourage heavy participation in Flickr. I do have a Flickr account (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thewellbalancedgeek/) but have not used it much. I prefer to use Smugmug (http://deanhuber.smugmug.com/). I really like the way Smugmug presents photographs but Flickr has a much bigger following which would be a real advantage. Will have to think about that.
Monday, June 1, 2009
AOR to Singles to Ring Tones
I was looking at the albums and songs that my daughter has on her iPod and I noticed she has almost no complete albums. The majority of her iPod is filled with various tracks by many artists. How different that is from when I was her age and we only could buy entire albums. Well, yes, we could buy individual tracks via 45. (anyone remember what a 45 is?) But entire albums is where it was at back then. Even on the radio. AOR, album oriented rock was the standard on the FM dial. Not so on the AM side where top 40 still reigned. But on FM all the popular stations played all the songs on an album. Not all at once, though they did that too as special events. But over the course of a day you could hear all the tracks from the new Eagles album or the new Fleetwood Mac album. So many times I remember being attacted to a certain album because of one particular song and then after listening to the whole album would come to love other tracks on that album. In some cases my favorite song from the album was not the most popular song. Had I just purchased that one song, the popular one, off of iTunes, I may never know or hear that other song that ultimately became my favorite.
Even today it is hard for me to listen to just one song from an album. To me, the entire album, from first song to last is one body of work, one unit. I can't imagine breaking it up into individual songs. Likewise, it is hard, if not impossible, for me to listen to the songs from an album out of order or in any other order than the way it was originally put on the album. Example: Frampton Comes Alive. I recently purchased a special edition of this classic album on CD. They have added more songs to the album and placed them in various places in the sequence. Thus destoying the original order of songs. Arrrggghhh! I could not listen to it that way. I had to make a playlist in iTunes that restored the original song order and eliminated the new songs. Listening to the album the hundreds of times I have over the years, it just was not right to have the songs not in the "right" order. My mind just naturally goes from one song to the next. And, on this special edition that was not the case...suddenly there was a different song following the previous song. Not right!
And now we have gone beyond individual tracks being separated out from the album whole to even complete songs being broken up into smaller pieces and used as ring tones. I can't help but wonder if bands will start to think, not in terms of albums, not in terms of songs, but in terms of small catchy sound bites, made to order for ring tones. The album, as a body of work, gone. The song crafted with a tune and thoughtful words, gone. The snappy, catchy, 24 second bit of melody, if you can have that in only 24 seconds, will be the goal.
The rantings of an old fart. Thanks for listening.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Yay GM!!
GM/Cadillac recently introduced their newest electric car, the Cadillac Converj. OK, so the name isn't the best but finally some really interesting design from GM. They used some of the design cues from the Cadillac Cien (a very good choice, see previous post :Detroit, Part 1). One can only hope the actual production vehicle will maintain the current desgin.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
An RX-7 by any other name
Dodge unveiled their first electric car: the Dodeg Circuit EV.
They say:
"Dodge Circuit EV: Brand new version of all-electric sports car boasts unique, fearless Dodge design"
"The Dodge Circuit EV displays bold exterior and interior styling.."
"The Dodge Circuit EV's profile demonstrates perfect proportions for balanced handling, placing the driver and passenger midway along the wheelbase. At the front of the vehicle, the distinctive Dodge crosshair grille splits the wind, sending it over the long, low hood and cleanly over the windshield and cockpit. The body sides feature a deep scallop, providing visual depth and also a functional rear-brake air duct. At the rear, the functional elements blend with design to create a uniform finish."
I say: Quack. It's a copy of the previous model of the Mazda RX-7. Nothing new here. OK, it's a little different but not much. Come on Detroit, you can do much better.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Detroit; Part 2
What's Up With This Retro Thing?
In my opinion it started with the Plymouth Prowler in 1997
Then Ford came along with the new (old?) styled Thunderbird in 2002.
Then Ford did the same with the Mustang; pulling the '69/'70 style back into production in 2005.
Mean while GM was hot on the same path with the t he Chevrolet SSR in 2003
The Chevrolet HHR in 2006
Then Chrylser came back with the Dodge Charger also in 2006.
and the Dodge Challenger earlier this year
And now I here Chevy wants to resurrect the '69 Camaro for the 2010 production year.
Clearly there is something going on here. I think Chrysler was very creative in developing the Prowler and PT Cruiser as both were not attempts to bring back an earlier model but brand new designs. While they did mimic "hot rod" styles they were fresh enough to be very exciting. The Ford Thunderbird was OK, but not great. I can't help but wonder if the Ford designers could not come up with any "new" ideas so, trying to jump on the retro bandwagon started by Chrysler, resurrected the original Thunderbird design. It's an OK re-interpretation, but the sales were never that great indicating buyers didn't feel it was fresh enough. I think the problem was that it just looked too much like the original. If only they had taken the original design as a starting point and done something more modern with it. Take the Prowler for example. Chrysler didn't just duplicate a '32 Ford roadster. They made is much more modern yet you know what they were thinking of, what their inspiration was.
Then the 2005 Ford Mustang. Horrible. They made very little attempt to modernize the design. It is almost a carbon copy of the original '69-'70 Mustang. I will give them credit, they did pick, in my opinion, the best looking Mustang of all time to duplicate. But even that does little to ease the fact that it looks very much like Ford, like with the Thunderbird, could not come up with a fresh design so slid back into reusing a previous, successful design. Shame on you Ford.
Chevrolet started out on the right track with the SSR and the HHR. Both are not replicas of previous models but attempts to modernize a previous style. Unfortunately both are not that exciting as sales figure prove and buyers were just not that interested.
Chrysler then jumped on the bandwagon of just bringing back a previous model with a little modernization. The "new" Charger and Challenger were the result. The Charger has sold well indicating they go something right with buyers. The new Challenger is barely out there so it is hard to say how the public is receiving it.
Lastly, the Camaro from Chevrolet. Again, like Ford with the Mustang, GM at least picked, again, in my opinioin, the best looking year of Camaro to bring back. The new Camaro will not be available until the 2010 model year.
I can't help but think Detroit is just not able to come up with fresh, exciting designs to entice buyers so they dredge up previous designs that were successful in hopes that that alone will draw buyers into the showrooms with checkbook in hand. It is a desperate attempt on the part of the Big Three to stay alive in a dwindling economy where they can not seem to get any buyers coming there way. Will it work? I think it will somewhat. Babyboomers who could not afford an original Camaro back in '69 may jump at the chance to own one in 2010. Same goes for the Dodge Challenger. Born of the same stock as the Camaro, Babyboomers may buy them up.
While this may be enough to keep Detroit alive a while, I don't think there is any replacement for good, quality design. And that is something the Big Three desperately need to get back to if they want to survive long term. However, if they brought back the 1967 Impala.....oh...oh....best of all the 1958 Belair. Ahh. Now that was design. Well, at least for Detroit. Don't get me going on the rest of the world. I hope to do a blog on Mercedes Benz design next. There is the model to follow.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Nikon D3X "Sliped" out pics
The pictures only lasted a few minutes on the Nikon USA site. Nikon Rumors site was able to snag them and post them at http://nikonrumors.com/2008/11/26/breaking-news-its-here.aspx.
There have been hints for weeks that the D3X was close to being released. Nikon does have a official event scheduled for December 1st. Odds are that is when the D3X will be officially announced. Everyone seems to agree it will sport 24.4 MP sensor.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
NEW BUILDING 9
