Les Coquettes Strikes Again

May 29, 2009

My pals from Les Coquettes are at it again, presenting a revised and updated version of The Beautiful and The Damned this Sunday. Lo and behold, Toronto Life magazine thought the event was worthy enough to grace the front page of their website… and they featured my photo! Check out The Weekender article as well with my photo credit. Here’s a screencap of the front page in case it’s gone by the time you get there:

Photo: vtography, Models: Georgie Gates and Dew Lily, Makeup: Larissa Palaszczuk, Wardrobe Styling: Matthew Stokes, Art Direction: Catherine Skinner.

 

On Women

“A photographer who doesn’t photograph women is no photographer, or only a third-rate one. Meeting a woman anywhere teaches you more about the world than reading Balzac. Whether it be a wife, a woman encountered by happenstance, or a prostitute, she will teach you about the world. In fact I build my life on meeting women and I have hardly read a book since primary school.” – Nobuyoshi Araki

Via CONSTANT SIEGE.

You suck, Rogers. You too, Flickr.

May 16, 2009

I’m a fan of Flickr. I wasn’t always. As photo-sharing websites go, I found the interface, usability, and navgiation all left a lot to be desired. I’ve warmed to it now that I’ve become familiar with it over the years, and upload most of my new work there to share with the world.

But let’s rewind a bit. Many years ago, Rogers, my internet service provider, discontinued a service known as Usenet newsgroups, citing lack of popularity. When I wrote to them to protest, they retorted that they had entered into a new relationship with Yahoo which would provide all sorts of new features to make up for the lack of newsgroups. Well, I didn’t want or need any of the new features, I just wanted my newgroups back. No dice. One of those new features, however, was Yahoo Photos.

Fast forward to October 2007. Rogers and Yahoo decided to discontinue the Yahoo Photos service and replace it with the superior Yahoo-owned Flickr instead. They bestowed all Rogers customers with a free Flickr Pro account (worth $24.95US/year), which was actually pretty cool of them. I used the service extensively since then, sharing my photos with other Flickr members, uploading hundreds of photos, posting them to my blog, etc.

And that brings us to yesterday, when I received this from Rogers:

We are writing to inform you that on July 1, 2009, your Flickr Pro account included with your Rogers Hi-Speed Internet service will change to a free Flickr account. If you enjoy the full flexibility and storage capacity of your current Flickr Pro account, you can maintain your Pro account by subscribing directly to the service for $24.95 (USD) a year.

In a nutshell: they’re canceling everyone’s memberships which were only instituted a year and a half ago.

However, as is the case with many of these things, they didn’t provide a reason. I started searching and came across this nugget on the Flickr FAQ:

Why do Rogers Internet Service subscribers no longer get free Pro?

The Flickr Pro account included with your Rogers Yahoo! Hi-Speed service will change to a free Flickr account on July 1, 2009.

They go on to detail prices and account restrictions, but nowhere do they answer exactly why we “no longer get free Pro” as stated in their own question. That they wrote. I wrote to Flickr about this and am still awaiting a reply.

Some more digging around resulted in a post at the Digital Home forums from someone claiming to work for Rogers. The reason for canceling Flickr Pro service?

A very small number of our customers (less than 2 per cent) took advantage of the Flickr Pro service.

To recap: years ago, Rogers takes away a service, citing lack of popularity. They replace it with unrelated services, one of which gets superceded by a newer and better service. They then discontinue this new service, replacing it with nothing, once again citing lack of popularity. Does any of this make sense? And if those services were indeed so unpopular, then what possible time, expense, or resources could it have been costing Rogers to keep them up? Zilch.

The silver lining in this cloud? Some time ago, I won myself a free one-year Flickr Pro account from my friends at MOO* and have been saving it for a rainy day. I engaged the gift code this morning, meaning it will become active on July 1, 2009 when my Rogers-provided account dies a sad little death, and be valid until July 1, 2010. Except for one little problem. Flickr now reports that my Pro account is only valid until May 15, 2010. WTF? It’s six weeks short.

I wrote Flickr another email to ask what was up. Extracted from their response:

Thank you for your recent email enquiry regarding Flickr Billing. I understand that you need information regarding the status of your Flickr pro account.

Let me help you with your concern. I have checked your account and it shows that your Flickr pro account in [sic] valid until May 15, 2010. Please be informed that Flickr pro account is valid for one year only. Since you have activated your Flickr gift pro account dated May 15, 2009 that means your pro is valid one year from the said date which is May 15, 2010.

Um, what? I’m pretty sure they didn’t even read the sections of my email where I detailed very clearly the July 1 versus May 15 discrepancy. From their own gift page:

If your gift recipient currently has a Flickr pro account, buying them another year of pro allows them to enjoy pro status for that much longer!

Except me, apparently.

* Speaking of MOO, here’s another great deal I can share with you. If you’re a first-time MOO customer, then you can save 20% off any single MOO product as long as you order before May 29, 2009. Use referral code WETYFM. Hurry to the MOO site before it expires!

Super Awesomeness

A couple months back, my super-cool, multi-talented, crafty little friend Maya made me a super-awesome wallet from a swank old Kool & The Gang cassette tape. I’ve been mulling over what to do with it since then until I had a spark of inspiration: memory card wallet! Keeps them all together in one place and fits nicely in my camera bag. Maya sells them at her Etsy store!

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One Year Ago Today: Randall

May 13, 2009

This is my fourth post about Randall, which means I pretty much worship her.

Last year on this day, a mild spring evening, Randall was kinda enough to drive out to my hood for a few photos. We headed down to the parking lot in the beach and waited until all the cars cleared out before we began shooting. There were a few hoots and hollers from lingering folks, but nothing she couldn’t handle. This shot was done with a Nikon SB-800 on a travel tripod to Randall’s right, triggered with the Nikon CLS system in my D200. In the left shot, I find the reflecting lights in the water a bit distracting, though I like the effect. In the right shot, Randall pulled open the jacket to reveal the pattern without any prompting from me. This is what makes her an awesome model.

water-diptych

I tried to work elements from my brand new car (then a week old) into the shots, including using the headlights to light Randall. Those experiments failed, but this interior shot was a happy accident that I loved. The only lighting was from the overhead dome light.

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Bargain of the Week: Pants

May 7, 2009

pants

Check out what I just bought! Found at Urban Planet, these are 92% nylon, 8% spandex, super-stretchy pants in four fun fluorescent colours!

I was out shopping with Lauren (previously seen here) and we came across these ridiculous things by accident. Although fascinated by their absurdity, we skimmed over them at first and then doubled back due to an idea that Lauren had. I’m usually not one to share any top-secret future plans for my photos, but since Lauren came up wth it, I’ll share it. She quickly convinced me to buy a few pairs of these, gather together enough models to fill them, and have them all pose topless (but covered) against a pure white background. It would look vaguely like something from the Gap or United Colors of Benetton.

The best part? Only $5.62 each!

Now the only thing left to decide is: four tall skinny fashion models, or four busty shorties? And how on earth will I get them all in the same place at the same time? Sometimes just getting one to show up is trouble enough.

P.S. I found Urban Planet’s FAQ hilarious. Of the ten questions listed, eight of them feature answers with the words, “we do not“, “we are not“, “we are unable“, etc. I’m sure the document serves a purpose, but it’s woefully negative in every way you can think of. It’s not very endearing, warm, positive, or containing any properties which make me say, “hey, this is a cool, fun place to shop!”. So to Urban Planet’s corporate parent, YM Inc., let me say this: less no, more yes.

Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia

May 6, 2009

June 2008

7:59pm

8:59pm – Photographers perch themselves in the best vantage points to see the last rays of sunshine glimmer across the ocean.

8:00pm

9:00pm – The orange globe in the distance vanishes below the horizon. All the photographers immediately pack up and leave. I stay behind.

8:25pm

9:25pm – The sun long gone, I reposition myself without having to worry about a crowd in front of me. I fire off seven shots and blend them using the HDR technique I mentioned in the last post.

Lessons Learned

  • Don’t effing leave when everyone else does.
  • Patience is rewarding.
  • HDR can make even lifeless post-sunset scenes look beyond awesome.
  • Gloating is fun.

End!