Charlotte's Interweb

Tiny Polaroid Magnets | { Ambrosia Girl }

2011-05-05T17:18:00.001+01:00

via ambrosiagirl.com

Love this. Have grand plans of doing similar with my Instagram pics one day.

Efilm

2011-04-04T16:20:00.001+01:00

via design-engine.com

...which I am now reliably informed is not a new product, even though it's only a concept! This silicon film was premiered back in 2001. Thanks to @alkchan.

RE-35 | Digital cartridges for analog 35-mm cameras

2011-04-04T16:16:00.001+01:00

via re35.net

If only this was true. Got duped this morning by a late April fools. Flexible 35mm digital sensors for old film cameras.

Food Photography Portfolio : Food Photography Blog : Food Photography Articles, Tips and Techniques

2011-03-11T09:58:00.001Z

via foodportfolio.com

an absolute MINE of information. Coming back here later on.

Wall Mounted Box Prints Polaroid-style Instagr.am Photos Remotely

2011-03-11T09:19:00.001Z

via petapixel.com

brilliant. reminds me of the bedside table that also printed your instagrams. My only concern would be that the Zink printer might need constant monitoring - mine gets very lo-fi very quickly! Still, would love this.

cat scenics (via @Photojojo)

2011-02-21T11:22:00.001Z

via flickr.com

Love this idea to make the most of lazy cats - so clever!

Revolog — special effects 35mm

2011-02-09T09:14:00.001Z

via shop.revolog.net

Film with light leaks, textures, colours and more already built into each frame. Interesting idea. I guess it would technically give you lomo-style shots even if you were using a 'perfect' camera.

Colour Twelve

2011-01-20T16:19:00.001Z

the colour twelve is a small, independent zine exploring experimental photography, focussing on the aesthetic of failure, blur, saturation, medium destruction and their relationship with subject.
the zine is published online and is available for free download.

via cargocollective.com

A lovely little zine that celebrates lo-fi photography. And it's free!

Wanderlust Cameras - Pinwide

2011-01-20T16:18:00.001Z

via wanderlustcameras.com

As a keen E-P1 user this has me tremendously excited...

A Digital Holga

2011-01-20T12:17:00.001Z

via saikatbiswas.com

Superb idea. Low-fi hi-tech.

Find a Photobooth

2010-12-09T14:46:00.001Z

via photobooth.net

Shame it's US only. I love a good old timey photobooth.

Bokeh Tricks in Scott Pilgrim

2010-09-22T09:12:00.001+01:00

via lunarbovine.com

Clever! The cinematographers in Scott Pilgrim have been playing with the bokeh to assist the story telling. Amazing spot. I'll definitely be peeking at the blur in movies from now on...

Edward Pond interview

2010-09-21T09:52:00.001+01:00

A great interview with photographer Edward Pond about his recent trip to India to document the street food and eaters. Love this guy's style.

Twitter / Flickr: POTD: a rainbow of plums h ...

2010-09-01T12:09:00.001+01:00

POTD: a rainbow of plums http://flic.kr/p/8v9pXh

via twitter.com

My shot of a 'rainbow of plums' was picked as Flickr's 'Picture of The Day' on Sept 1st, 2010 - so chuffed. All the plums are now delicious chutney...

teeny tiny polaroids

2010-08-24T17:03:00.001+01:00

via petapixel.com

too cute. Also, how long has it been since I posted on here? Yowza. Life definitely gets in the way...

The Motherload: a most useful list of links, sites, blogs and other tools for calculating what to charge

2010-06-30T12:04:00.001+01:00

What to Charge", Releases, Licensing and Other Resources - Updated Regularly

via flickr.com

Good golly - this is the most useful page I've ever stumbled across on Flickr. Links for what to charge, how to charge, real life quotes, licensing FAQ and more. Cements my love of the community aspect of this photo-sharing site.

Landscape Photography in Videogames – Gizmodo

2010-06-30T08:17:00.001+01:00

via gizmodo.com

I suppose once you know the basics of landscape photography, there's no limit to where they can be applied in order to capture images. The photographer Robert Overweg is shooting striking landscapes within computer games. Nice idea.

"A Life In The Day" - Canon 5D MK II video by John Mayer

2010-05-12T12:11:00.001+01:00

via vimeo.com

Beautiful, clever and inspirational way to provide a peek into a person's life.

http://videos.howstuffworks.com/discovery/29594-invention-the-first-polaroid-camera-video.htm

The birth of Instant Photography (or, how humans react to technology)

2010-03-23T12:14:00.001Z

In this video on the birth of instant photography, there’s a short piece of archive footage from the 1950s that shows partygoers gathering round the back of the first Polaroid Land camera to see the picture develop, and they have the same expressions that we use nowadays while gaggling around a digital camera’s LCD screen. Touching little echo which makes instant photography all the more endearing.

New films from the Impossible Project for SX-70

2010-03-22T15:31:00.001Z

via the-impossible-project.com

Hoorah hoorah, new films for the Polaroid SX-70 instant camera. Love the story behind this company and can't wait to get my hands on the new monochrome films, which are apparently on sale later this week – bet they sell out in hours!

Beautiful. "Raiding Eternity" by Joel Johnson

2010-03-19T15:40:00.001Z

She hands me a manila envelope, tipping it to spill old slides and prints into my hands. "Have you scanned these in?" I ask. "I don't know how," she says. "Then they don't exist," I reply. It's bedroom-level profundity, but I surprise myself by believing it more than a little bit.

I pick up a photo of her father. He's spread out on a bed with his shirt off, his infant daughter sleeping in a bundle on the floor beside him. The little tab in the corner of the print says "1982".

"My mom never liked having that picture of him in the album," she says. "She thought he looked too sexy." I tilt the picture in my hands just a bit until I can see the scratches on the matte surface. There are hundreds of little indentions, tracks from fingernails showing the many times the photo has been held.

When we scan this picture in those scuffs will disappear. The rest of the world will see only the young, bearded man smiling in some sepia living room. They'll increment the file's viewcount by one, leaving their own perfect hash mark. It won't be the same as the photo I'm holding in my hands, shifting in the light to read its physical metadata, but it won't be inferior, either.

via gizmodo.com

A very thought-provoking piece of sad-but-beautiful writing about digital memories by Joel Johnson for Gizmodo. Worth reading in full.

Hey, Put Down Your Goddamn Camera"

2010-03-19T12:23:00.001Z

Just because you can document and share nearly every moment of your life doesn't mean you should. Stop worrying so much about stealing away with an image or a clip that perfectly crystallizes the night, like a trophy to collect, another document to catalog, and just experience it. Enjoy it. There's not a camera on the planet that can capture the way a concert makes you feel. Take one picture. Mark the occasion. Then put your goddamn camera down.

via gizmodo.com

YES! This. I went to a Black Kids gig in Manchester early last year, and apart from being the oldest person in the room (not kidding) I also felt very out of place for not having a mobile or compact in my hand, filming the entire gig. What do they all do with all these videos?

I saw a factoid today that the amount of data captured/created by humans in 2009 surpasses the amount of data captured/created by humans in all years up to 2009, and I can well believe it.

Thinking about creativity – PechaKucha 20x20

2010-03-18T15:50:00.001Z

01. What is PechaKucha 20x20 ?

PechaKucha 20x20 is a simple presentation format where you show 20 images, each for 20 seconds. The images forward automatically and you talk along to the images.

via pecha-kucha.org

I'm spending a few moments between subbing the magazines' pages by exploring the interesting world of being a "digital creative". After several clicks from page to site to page, I eventually washed up on the PechaKucha website. This celebrates a form of presentation (named after the Japanese term for the sound of conversation - "chit-chat") where each individual shows twenty images, each for twenty seconds. It keeps a limit on the time-frame (stopping creative types waffling) and also helps to focus watchers on what's being said.

This would be a great way to demonstrate photography projects, either with other photographers or even just part of a group of artistic people who all have projects or hobbies to share with each other. Nice idea.

Orangette: food photography using film

2010-03-16T15:16:00.001Z

via orangette.blogspot.com

I was originally into this blog about a year ago, then restumbled across a group of old bookmarks in my browser and rediscovered it. In her FAQ she says she's shooting everything on film after falling back in love with the format (sounds familiar!) and some of these, though they look a little Poladroidy to my admittedly untrained eye, are simply stunning.

But the cost, the cost! Yeouch. As much as I would adore to shoot all my food work on Polaroid, thanks to the cost of a pack I would have to remortgage the cottage to do so. Fingers crossed that the Impossible Project brings out something cheap for my SX-70 in a few months' time..

Beautiful writing and blog though, worth poking around in.

Polaroid scarves (via little doodles)

2010-03-15T10:47:00.001Z

via little-doodles.blogspot.com

You know when you get hit sideways by a screaming train of WANT? That just happened to me. Polaroid silk scarves by Philippe Roucou, made from "found" Polaroid prints. Be still, my heart.

Finches rocking out

2010-03-12T10:35:00.001Z

Céleste Boursier-Mougenot's installation at Barbican Centre, London.

Pete Dungey's Pothole Gardens

2010-03-12T10:33:00.001Z

via petedungey.com

Quite relieved to see it's not just me that's obsessed with potholes, but at least Pete is doing something with the anger. Very clever idea (and some other nice projects on his website)

Cameras made from film

2010-03-09T14:50:00.001Z

via papercams.com

So, with these cameras made from photographic paper, the camera IS the photograph?

My brain hurts. This is just fantastic.

Why I need to learn to light (via Ask MetaFilter)

2010-03-08T16:08:00.001Z

However, you will learn how to light in a dark room, which will be the single most important skill in your repertoire. If you can make it look like natural light, you will be extremely successful. Nothing personal to all the natural lighters out there, but when a big project is on the line, one rainy day and you're fu*****. Who cares if you're good with your DSLR.

via ask.metafilter.com

Wow, that says it pretty succinctly. This is part of a larger piece from AskMeFi on how to become a magazine photographer, which is chock-full of useful information and tips (most of which are those sort of tips that are "obvious if you think about it, but you probably won't think about them because they're pretty scary and involve a lot of work")

I definitely need to learn to light my food work more effectively. At the moment I'm very reliant on decent daylight, as this post points out, and tend to shut up shop as soon as the light fades – but this suits the style of imagery that I'm making at the moment. I don't have deadlines or scary photo editors breathing down my neck. However, in the dark British winter this does mean that the hours where I can take pictures are severely reduced in number. And I don't ever want to find myself in the position where I have to turn down a job because I don't have enough daylight to supply the images that the client's after!

Something to think about.

Bells Bicycles

2010-03-02T14:30:00.001Z

via bellsbicycles.co.uk

As soon as I can scrape together the cash, I am going to buy myself a bike from this gorgeously styled and terribly knowledgable little bicycle shop in Hastings' Old Town. Actually did a double take when walking past the shop window at the weekend, and lingered outside for about two microseconds before dashing inside for a lovely chat with the (bike mender? bicyclette?) hugely friendly lady running the shop. Great art inside as well, and some fab bike photographs. Love it!

Kroo Bay Fashion

2010-02-25T10:59:00.001Z

www.savethechildren.org.uk/kroobay

I'm currently researching a piece on the photojournalists/videographers who are documenting Kroo Bay in Sierra Leone. Their body of work is astounding, including 360° images with videos, interviews, stills slideshows and sound captures to help convey a sense of place. Some of the videos are also on YouTube, including this short piece on the fashion of Kroo Bay. The way the people from Kroo Bay walk and pose their clothes, as if on a catwalk in London or Paris, is just brilliant and is an exceptional piece of documentary work.

There's a huge amount of other images and "webisodes" to explore on the Save The Children site. Fascinating and well worth watching, even if as a lesson in photo/video documentary.

On "viral" marketing

2010-02-24T12:52:00.001Z

when people tell friends about a brand, they’re not trying to help the brand; they’re trying to help their friends.

via mzkagan.posterous.com

An excellent post about rethinking the use of the term "viral". I've been wondering the connotations of using a word usually associated with illness, disease and negative things for promoting businesses or services. Surely we all want our products to be associated with good/healthy things - and don't we spend a large chunk of our days killing viruses?

Am going to have lunch and a bit of a think about this.

Holly’s house stamps, at design*sponge

2010-02-22T15:24:00.001Z

via designspongeonline.com

Brilliant idea. I want one of these made for the cottage so, so much! How cute and handy, especially around Christmas...

I LEGO N.Y.

2010-02-18T16:24:00.001Z

via niemann.blogs.nytimes.com

Scenes and items from New York, modelled in Lego by Christoph Niemann. Absolutely the best thing I've seen for a very long time, and making me very away-from-homesick for the city!

The flipside: or "Why I don’t need an expensive camera" by Photocritic

2010-02-17T16:36:00.001Z

Truth be told, there isn’t that much difference between a 7-year-old Canon digital SLR camera like the 300D and a brand spanking new 550D. Sure, the latter has higher resolution and better toys, but most people simply don’t need the extra resolution. What you need is a shutter that works, a mirror that will move out of the way in time, and a sensor without too many dead pixels. From there on out, it’s all about the quality of your glass (i.e. your lenses), the quality of your light (i.e. sunlight / flash / natural light / diffusers / softboxes / light filters / etc) and… You.

via photocritic.org

Great piece that's making me think about backing down from my plan to purchase a pretty high-end camera. Maybe I should get a entry level one and some seriously nice glass instead. Hum, more to think about.

Decorating Nature by Norm Magnusson

2010-02-17T16:23:00.001Z

Decorating Nature
Posted by Designaside on February 17, 2010 | Popularity: 1% | 2 Comments

via designyoutrust.com

Fab idea - love the stripey leaf!

sigh...

2010-02-15T12:50:00.001Z

This perfectly sums up everything at the moment.

Around the World by Zeppelin

2010-02-08T11:46:00.001Z

via bbc.co.uk

Possibly the most inspirational and fascinating documentary I've seen in ever such a long time. I had no idea that a Zeppelin went round the world - and the archive footage is just delicious. Plus, there was a young British female reporter on board the airship called Lady Grace Drummond-Hay, documenting her adventures for the American media. I love a good adventurer, especially when they're women battling against societal expectations.

If you're a fan of retro archive footage from all over the world, this is one to watch. You've got eight days...

A useful site for film photographers raised on digital: Negative Slide

2010-02-08T11:22:00.001Z

via negativeslide.com

Like this site a lot. Only just found it so am planning on poking through to see what goodies come up...

"Wow, that meal was delicious: you must have a great oven"

2010-02-01T17:37:00.001Z

For various reasons, today I've been thinking about the camera kit that I have at home. This morning I stumbled across a random website (that I now can't find! This is the first time this has EVER happened to me with the Internet - normally I'm straight back there) that had one of those photography sayings that says "It's not the camera, but the photographer who's using it that counts."

Normally, I'd be nodding sagely and agreeing with them - but there was something about the metaphor they used that rang bells in my mind. The little vignette that the blogger painted was of someone serving up a great meal to their friends, and one of the guests saying "Hey, that's delicious: you must have a really expensive/great oven!". The blogger then likened this to someone seeing a beautiful photograph and saying to the photographer: "Wow, that's stunning - your camera must be really expensive..."

I can see their point. I have countless mouldy cameras that I defend with the exact same idea - that it's not the quality of the image, but the content, ideas and inspiration of the photographer that matters the most. I've seen incredible images taken with crappy camera phones, and rubbish ones shot with Hasselblads – but for the first time, I'm not sure that this maxim completely works.

Let's go back into the cooking metaphor. If you're only armed with a saucepan, a knife and some average-quality ingredients, then you're going to have to really know your spices and timings to produce an edible meal. Obviously even if you're not Michelin-starred, you could probably churn out some tasty comfort food: something to fill your belly on a cold night or shovel into your mouth before work to keep you going. Food as fuel, but not food as exciting, life-reaffirming art.

So if you want your guests to be wowed, to fall to the floor and cry: "oh my God, I didn't know food could taste this good!" then you're going to need top-quality ingredients and some high-end kitchen equipment to boot. Why do you think chefs spend so much money and time on their knives? They're tools that they use every single day, and only the best blade will make their job - expressing their creativity through food - easier. Try producing molecular gastronomy with only a wooden spoon and your best intentions. Obviously, it won't work - and that's not your fault (although really, you probably should have realised before you invited your friends over...) – you just don't have the right equipment.

Equally though, if you pay out for kit but have no idea what you're doing with it, it's very likely that you'll end up phoning for pizza. You need to know how to use those gadgets and gizmos to best effect - you need to know how flavours combine and sing, how to gently and tenderly slow-roast a piece of meat to bring out its best, and how to balance courses so your guests end up satied, delighting in the clever interplay between tastes and pleasantly full rather than overblown and stuffed.

Back in the world of photography, my metaphor stands – if you're a gifted photographer that understands the interplay of light, colour, tone and shadow, then yes - pick up any camera, no matter how crappy, and you'll create imagery that people will enjoy - but it's top-quality glass, sensors, films or camera bodies that you need in order to express your creativity most effectively and create imagery that's jaw-droppingly, awe-inspiringly world class. So unsurprisingly, most of the time you'll find that the camera the professional's using was expensive - and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

More iPad thoughts: Alex Payne — On the iPad

2010-01-29T15:10:00.001Z

The thing that bothers me most about the iPad is this: if I had an iPad rather than a real computer as a kid, I’d never be a programmer today. I’d never have had the ability to run whatever stupid, potentially harmful, hugely educational programs I could download or write. I wouldn’t have been able to fire up ResEdit and edit out the Mac startup sound so I could tinker on the computer at all hours without waking my parents. The iPad may be a boon to traditional eduction, insofar as it allows for multimedia textbooks and such, but in its current form, it’s a detriment to the sort of hacker culture that has propelled the digital economy.

via al3x.net

why I quite like Apple's iPad

2010-01-28T17:27:00.001Z

Here’s why. Apple’s not actually selling a computer. Or a flash drive or multitouch. They needed to make those things for their product, but that’s not what the product is. The product is, simply put, a magical screen that can do anything you ever want it to, no matter what that is.

via rinich.com

An excellent piece of writing that sums up the iPad's appeal (and explains its no doubt imminent success as a device). Compelling stuff...

Scanning for Sprockets

2010-01-22T17:09:00.001Z

via theplasticlens.com

An excellent guide to scanning in 35mm negatives and keeping sprocket holes. I always wondered about how people did that. Looks like I need to get myself a scanner...

Blackbird, Fly

2010-01-22T16:54:00.001Z

via blackbirdflycamera.com

Oh, I love this. I think this one might be next on my "to-buy" list, especially because it's 35mm and not dastardly 120!

Nearly bought one in Las Vegas but glad something stayed my hand at the last minute, they seem to be much cheaper in the UK. Lovely-looking thing...

Sushi Tree

2009-12-22T16:39:00.001Z

via flickr.com

Blimming brilliant. One of my aims for 2010 is to make sushi on a more regular basis – and this beautifully shot Christmas tree made by bananagranola is great inspiration!

a gingerbread house that perches on the edge of your mug

2009-12-22T13:32:00.001Z

via notmartha.org

something to keep me busy on my time off, perhaps? Love these hugely.

A Pictorial Guide to avoiding Camera Loss

2009-12-21T15:51:00.001Z

via andrewmcdonald.net.au

Clever!

The Harinezumi

2009-12-09T15:37:00.001Z

via photojojo.com

This one. Plsthks. :)

The Digital Harinezumi 2

2009-12-09T15:32:00.001Z

That is what the Harinezumi has brought back to video. It had all become too clean, to perfect. High Definition, crystal clear focus, rich sound. But just like the warmth of a vinyl record is more soothing then a compact disc- there was a need to have that warmth in the videos that you were creating of the special moments now.

via nicnichols.com

A very beautiful and convincing piece of writing that's also a review of the new Harinezumi 2 digital camera. Worth clicking through to the website as there's some beautiful videos and images on there.

It's getting tricky not to buy this camera – along with this lovely piece of writing, I'm also fending off emails from a very dear and knowlegable friend who's ordering me to sell all my film gear and buy a Harinezumi as soon as physically possible.

Ho hum. Maybe after Christmas...

An appreciation of the 50mm lens

2009-12-08T16:01:00.001Z

So what is the alternative? Well, you could do what most of today's pros and some ambitious amateur photographers do and buy a "professional" 28-70mm zoom lens with a fixed f/2.8 aperture. These lenses are reasonably fast, quite sharp and well made. But they are heavy, bulky and very very expensive. For most people I believe there is a better alternative: the classic 50mm "normal" lens.

via vothphoto.com

A great piece by the photographer Gary Voth on the wonders of shooting with a 50mm f/1.8 or f/2 – I only just started shooting with a prime about six months ago (there was one with my Olympus E-P1 that my Dad gave/loaned to me) and the difference is remarkable. 50mms are the epitome of "keep it simple". If you haven't got one, get one, and your photography will improve almost overnight.

Holga & Diana Camera Workshop @ Garage Studios

2009-12-08T15:10:00.001Z

via garage-studios.co.uk

Earlier this year I went on a course at Garage Studios where I learned the ins and outs of my LC-A camera – they've just started offering Holga and Diana courses as well. Can't recommend these Brighton-based chaps highly enough – they're friendly, helpful and you're guaranteed to come away very happy with your camera.

camera camera bag at japan exposures

2009-12-08T14:59:00.001Z

via japanexposures.com

Clever idea for a camera bag. Well, I like it, but if you were trying to be discreet about your photography it might be a giant screaming beacon that you're taking pictures.
There's several other designs on the website, including some small ones for compacts that look like Olympus Trip cameras. Nice...

Snarkmarket - The Tidal Bore of Meaning

2009-12-07T12:51:00.001Z

Stanislas Dehaene tries to explain how when we read a word, the brain gathers and relays information to multiple networks:

Take the verb “bite.” As you remember what it means, your mind briskly evokes the body parts involved: the mouth and teeth, their movements, and perhaps also the pain associated with being bitten. All of these fragments of gesture, motion, and sensation are bound together under the heading “bite.” This link works in both directions: we pronounce the word whenever we talk about this peculiar series of events, but to hear or read the word brings on a swarm of meanings…

Perhaps the easiest way to describe how activation spreads through the dozens of fragments of meaning dispersed in the brain is to compare it to a tidal bore. Some rivers are subject, twice a day, at high tide, to a peculiar phenomenon whereby the leading edge of a massive wave reaches deep into their estuaries. If conditions are right, the wave can travel dozens of miles upstream. No salt water ever reaches this far inland—the tidal bore simply relays a distant rise in water level that spreads in synchrony into the river’s entire system. Only an airplane or satellite can get the true measure of this beautiful natural phenomenon. For a few minutes, a whole network of streams is simultaneously swollen by a powerful surge of water, simply because they all flow into the same sea.

A written or spoken word probably activates fragments of meaning in the brain in much the same way that a tidal bore invades a whole riverbed.

via snarkmarket.com

Just stumbled on this seemingly excellent blog and the top post (quoting a blog quoting a book, so many frames of reference) refers to the idea that thoughts are like ripples in water, rebounding off objects and other memories - made-up words don't mean anything, but resonant words will grow in magnitude and impact, depending on your own personal experiences.

Fascinating idea. Must go make more tea and ponder.

Sugru

2009-12-07T12:42:00.001Z

via sugru.com

This is such a brilliant idea for a product! Sugru allows you to "hack things better" and fix objects or add new appendages to make them work better for your life. My first thought is improving on cameras' grips – adding finger slots, etc – or maybe just fixing my graphic tablet's pen... wow. Mind expanding...

via @brokenbottleboy, again

Newspaper Club

2009-12-07T12:07:00.001Z

via blog.newspaperclub.co.uk

Brilliant idea of a website that lets you make your own newspapers. This'd be really fab for local (I mean REALLY local) papers – might put the team in charge of our village magazine in touch with them.

I also like their hugely honest blog. Yup, call me a fan! Now all I need is someone to make a magazine with..

The Polaroid Book

2009-12-04T16:00:00.001Z

via amazon.com

This looks like a cracking stocking filler...

Beware Social Media Snake Oil - BusinessWeek

2009-12-04T12:17:00.001Z

Over the past five years, an entire industry of consultants has arisen to help companies navigate the world of social networks, blogs, and wikis. The self-proclaimed experts range from legions of wannabes, many of them refugees from the real estate bust, to industry superstars such as Chris Brogan and Gary Vaynerchuk. They produce best-selling books and dole out advice or lead workshops at companies for thousands of dollars a day. The consultants evangelize the transformative power of social media and often cast themselves as triumphant case studies of successful networking and self-branding.

The problem, according to a growing chorus of critics, is that many would-be guides are leading clients astray. Consultants often use buzz as their dominant currency, and success is defined more often by numbers of Twitter followers, blog mentions, or YouTube (GOOG) hits than by traditional measures, such as return on investment. This approach could sour companies on social media and the rich opportunities it represents. "It's a bit of a Wild West scenario," blogs David Armano, a consultant with the Dachis Group of Austin, Tex. Without naming names, he compares some consultants to "snake oil salesmen."

via businessweek.com

Interesting comment piece on the dangers of throwing money at social media. I like the comparison between social media and high-risk investments, that may pay off but also may backfire.

I've never been entirely happy with being billed as a "social media expert" and prefer to describe myself as someone who understands and uses social media to network. Jonathan Worth's piece about how social networking is just the 21st century version of standing awkwardly in a room, holding a cocktail glass, reassured me that it's definitely worthwhile using these tools, but over the past couple of months, I've lost focus somewhat and have had the creeping feeling that spending time on Twitter and Facebook is literally just a form of procrastination.

As a result, I've started setting myself goals for each time I log in to one of the sites – four more followers for Photo Pro, contact a certain photographer, get retweeted by ten people, etc. As this excellent article in Business Week winds up summarising, having a fixed idea of what you're trying to achieve through your online efforts will definitely help keep you on the straight and narrow path towards your own vision of success.

an amazing home page

2009-12-03T14:37:00.001Z

via giacavalli.co.uk

very simple, but ever so effective. Reminds me of JKRowling's desk-in-the-shed...

Pictory

2009-12-03T10:27:00.001Z

via pictorymag.com

Pictory is a new online photomagazine from Laura Brunow Miner, former Editor-in-Chief of JPEG magazine. This is brand new, but it's already easy to see that it's a beautifully designed piece of work and a fantastic way to display images.

Digital cloud set to hover above 2012 Olympics

2009-12-02T17:17:00.001Z

via news.cnet.com

When technology meets architecture. Love this..

what's inside a Polaroid picture

2009-11-25T14:18:00.001Z

via bestoflife.tumblr.com

Great photo from The Best of LIFE (via @brokenbottleboy's tumblr) that shows the different layers in a Polaroid.

la photocabine

2009-11-25T12:15:00.001Z

My new favourite online toy!
http://laphotocabine.com/

Dinner, last night

2009-11-24T15:30:00.001Z

via justcookit.blogspot.com

Beautiful pictures of beautiful food. The man's learning well...

Behind The Scenes

2009-11-24T14:44:00.001Z

via olympususer.com

Our "Behind the Scenes" video where I interview Kevin Spacey. Crazy stuff

Good god

2009-11-24T14:21:00.001Z

via crave.cnet.co.uk

Love it when Olympus does this to their cameras – apparently this is going to cost £2000. Youch!

did you ever take a photograph that looks like a memory?

2009-11-23T17:23:00.001Z

And if you look closely, you can see me reflected in his eyes just around 0.24. Kidding, natch, but I was definitely there...

these are two of my favourite things

2009-11-20T17:08:00.001Z

via todayandtomorrow.net

MUJI & LEGO make sets together – what's not to love? Only on sale in Japan, mind... *frantically books tickets pre-Christmas*

via http://www.twitter.com/webponce

a couple of stonkingly great photography and social media blog posts

2009-11-13T13:07:00.001Z

an extract from “Getting paid to give things away” by Jonathan Worth (@Jdubbyah on Twitter)

“Up to now, I'd always always thought "Networking" to be a hollow and crap term, which summed up what vacuous Trustafarian Socialites did and whose sole motivation was personal gain in a fashionably fair-weather world of parasitic exploitation.

“I've never understood it as a variable sifting through, of all the friends, colleagues and acquaintances one had come across, to find those who, at that particular moment you have the most in common with. I don't now think there's anything sinister in this practice as I did before. It's just great.”

http://jonathan-worth.blogspot.com/2009/10/getting-paid-to-give-things-away.html

And a bit from “In The New Media World, Photographers who Embrace Change Will Succeed” by Wayne Ford

“Working in the business, it’s easy to get despondent about all this — because change is hard. But once you move beyond denial to acceptance, it can also be energizing. We are entering an era in which the photographer and art director can explore many more creative opportunities and visual solutions, no longer limited to just print or television.

“Not all of our explorations will end in success. Like Edison, we may fail 10,000 times for every victory. But there is a thrill in the challenge.”

http://rising.blackstar.com/visual-creativity.html

New media, Old media (tags:quotes, social media)

2009-11-12T17:29:00.001Z

“Being the first is old media, while being to the point is new media.”

The Guardian’s Mercedes Bunz <http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2009/nov/11/rules-if-boss-follows-you-on-twitter-etiquette>

A photo a day with Shuttercal

2009-11-12T11:48:00.001Z

Another brilliant photography project site where you can post a picture every day and have it turned into a calendar for the next year – lovely gift idea or just something to do for yourself. I tried to take one photo a day for a week and failed miserably around day four, and am currently failing to get to photography class once a week, so I don’t think this is for me, but love the idea never the less. Definitely worth a peep.

http://shuttercal.com/

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/40324

welcome home

2009-11-11T17:22:00.004Z

Or, why I really really need a dog. These videos of dogs greeting their soldier owners make me smile and want to cry at the same time.