lady's night

... and now for the ladies. Two of 'em, anyway. Getting chummy.

the male of the species

Running with scissors here, or a theme, anyway. This time just the fellas are on parade. Enjoy!

models

Sticking with the fashion shoot for awhile as I'm satisfied with a number of these pictures. Hope you enjoy them.

lingerie fashion show

I was invited to shoot a lingerie fashion show last night in Phoenix. It's been a few years since I had a chance to shoot a fashion show. Here's my first favorite. Probably more to come as I edit the batch. Stay tuned...

all the single ladies

Well, they may not ALL be single. I know the bride definitely is no longer single! Just a lovely groupshot of the bridal party from Erin and Chris' wedding just about two weeks ago.

life of the party

These two gents were the life of the party on Saturday at the Dolar wedding. Especially the fellow on the right. He nearly burned a hole in the dance floor. It was a very fun night!

Review of CameraLensRentals.com

Hello All~

Several posts ago I talked about equipment buying/selling, sharing, borrowing, and renting. Since then I had the opportunity to try out one of the rental joints, Cameralensrentals.com.

I'll save you all the suspense, the experience was good. I placed the order online. Shortly thereafter, they confirmed availability and acceptance of my order. Lens arrived on a Thursday just like they said they would. I ordered a Canon 24-70 f2.8L and the Canon 70-200 f2.8L IS. My official rental period (I chose 10 days) didn't start until the Friday. I like that.

The lenses were wrapped in bubblewrap inside softcases (with UV filters, caps, and hoods) and then packed well in lots of scalloped foam in an appropriately sized box. Also in the box was instructions, an invoice, and a return Fedex label (shipping was part of my original cost).

The price was cheaper or at least on par with the other 1/2 dozen places I shopped and CLR offered a 10% for a first-time user. Not too shabby.

The lenses seemed to be in fine shape, although I expected more out of L glass. They weren't as amazingly or consistently sharp, bright, or fast as I thought they would be. Of course, this is no reflection on CLR. Just on these lenses and perhaps my overzealous expectations.

The day before I was due to ship the lenses back, I received an e-mail reminder from CLR just as they told me they would. The day of shipping I got an email asking that I replace the return label with a new one they were sending via email (apparently to change the shipping from ground to air or express). They wanted the lens back on Wednesday rather than Friday. As long as it was their extra dime, fine by me!

Then I got a call to once again remind me to ship, but it was already happily with the Fedex/Kinko's folk by that point! So, as long as they are happy with the condition the lenses are in when they see them tomorrow (and I believe them to be the same way I got them), I'd have to give the whole experience a big thumbs-up. CLR was easy to work with and did everything they promised. Having said that, I see no reason not to use them again, but I am interested to know how the other rental joints work. So, if you have experience with other photography equipment rental outfits, please comment on this blog and let everybody know about it. Thanks!

Dolar Wedding

Just a quickshot from the end of the ceremony for Michelle and Nate this past Saturday. It was a super laid-back beautiful wedding at the Church of the Beatitudes and a rockin' party at the home of the bride's parents. Nice work, Pat and Mike! (who was the caterer? The dinner was amazing!) Everybody was having such a good time that I went an hour OT because I didn't want to miss anything!

Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Dolar!

happy couple

Another shot of Chris and Erin (I've got a wedding today, so you'll get some new faces, soon, but aren't these two just a handsome couple!??!!).

finger pointing friday: march 27, 2009

Haven't done one of these in a bit. So today we point you toward great photo info from all around cyberspace.

• The online photo mag PhotographyBB Magazine has just released their latest issue, #14. All their issues are print quality PDF's. Always a few good bits of info and lots of pix. This issue includes info on Photography and the Law, Ireland, post-processing, and more.
• Dslr sensor cleaning tutorial over at Camera Dojo!
• Chase Jarvis recommends going above and beyond. For your client, of course, but also to expand your own creativity.
• David Hobby (the Strobist) points us to Nick Turpin, UK street and commercial shooter. He really pulls off a great look with just snooted and boomed speedlites.
• Fancy product shooting at Lighting Essentials.
• Bunch of great stuff, once again, from Digital Photography School:Capturing Energy and Emotion in Children , 50 must-have wedding shots , Macro Photography for Beginners Part 1 , Macro Photography for Beginners Part 2

sunset at the dawn of love

One more Chris and Erin and a glorious sunset. How can you go wrong with that?

the wedding of erin and chris

Yesterday was the terrific wedding of Erin and Chris over at the Gold Canyon Golf Resort. Great place for a wedding. Beautiful grounds, gardens, etc. For some formals, the coordinator wisked us off in a golf cart partway up the mountain to get some great images near sunset. Sunset in the desert can be a beautiful thing, but I think it was trumped this time by the beautiful bride and her beaming new hubby!

first faves from the lineberry rehearsal dinner!

Just a few immediate favorites from Friday's rehearsal dinner for the Lineberry wedding. Mostly the adorable kids, but they always liven up any event. Can't wait for the real thing in just about 13 hours! Congratulations Erin and Chris!

you can't afford bad photography

Just saw this over at the PixelatedImage Blog and had to filch it.

Friends don't let friends (or relatives) shoot their weddings! Just say no! This is your wedding. This is your wedding on bad photography.

See my article Why Hire a Pro? for lots of good reasons why you are better off with a professional photographer. Thanks for reading!

san xavier mission

Beautiful, historic, San Xavier Mission in Tucson, AZ. Amazing!

a very large group shot

Here's one way to do a very large group shot, compliments of our friends over at Squeeze the Lime...


LIME012 - 800 people groupshot from Lime Photography on Vimeo.

sharing equipment & equipment rental

Equipment. Camera bodies, lenses, flashes, brackets, remote triggers, lights, stands, umbrellas, softboxes, filters, cases, computers, software, plugins, etc. etc. etc.....

Adds up. Fast and to a high sum. So what's the little guy supposed to do? For starters, most of us do what I did. Start small and trade-up, trade-up, trade-up. It's a little trickier than it sounds because in the age of digital equipment, you have to time your trade-ups, sales, and buys very carefully. Sell too soon and you're not getting all the value out of your gear. Wait too long and the equipment is fast obsolete and worth only pennies on the dollar.

Another appealing option, especially in the current economic climate is some sharing within the community. When all your photographic acquaintances are busy and perhaps feeling competitive, this proves difficult. In tougher times like we are experiencing now, I suspect that many photographers are more idle than they like and their gear is just sitting around, too. In this situation, I think sharing or even renting gear from person to person is an ideal solution.

Between the economy and the influx of newbies because of the relative ease and accessibility of digital, photography as a business is under attack. Working together in the photographic community to foster the maintainance of commerce and quality is one way to preserve our craft and our business. And renting gear from person to person (rather than from the online sources that I will discuss shortly) keeps cashflow in the hands of the photographers.

Of course, another option is online rental of equipment. There are many outlets for renting equipment. Primarily lenses and bodies, but in some cases, lights and other equipment as well.

Some options include:

• Rentglass
• LensRentals
• ZipLens
• LensProToGo
• BorrowLenses
• Calumet
• CameraLensRentals

I've heard good things about all of these. I just placed an order with the last one, CameraLensRentals. I'll post something about that experience in a few weeks after I see how that goes.

And lastly, perhaps the best option of all might very well be a rich relative that likes to spoil you or a winning lottery ticket, or some insider knowledge on the stock exchange!

Please comment with ideas about how we can maintain our business and the quality of our work in these uncertain economic times. Also, any personal experiences with the online rental joints mentioned about or any others that you recommend.

Johnson Ranch Daddy Daughter Dance

Some pix from the Johnson Ranch Daddy Daughter Dance of 2/13/09. Disks go in the mail on Monday folks!

short finger point

Perhaps I should call it a pinky point, today.

Just wanted to clue everybody in on a contest that offers an amazing opportunity.

Imagine if you dare: You devise, in that crazy Rube Goldberg mind of yours, the perfect photo shoot. Perfect location, perfect subject, props, and gear, everything - bodies, lenses, lights, PW's, powerpacks, the works. Stylists, makeup, assistants, whatever it takes. Now imagine $50,000 to make it reality!

That's what the contest is all about. You submit an idea, and if you win, you get to fulfill the dream with 50 Large!

Photocritic tipped me off to it with this blogpost

and here is the actual contest site with further information. It appears to be sponsored by Lenovo and Microsoft, so the deeps pockets are all lined up. Anywho.... it seems like too good an opportunity to let slide by. So, my brainstorming will have to start with location.... Tuscany?, Bangladesh? Patagonia? hmmm.....

Get thinking, friends!

Part 2 with Lime

Sounds like a recipe, doesn't it? Squeeze the Lime posted a follow-up video to their real engagement photo shoot video from a few weeks ago. Take a look.


LIME009 - A real life engagement session - Part II from Lime Photography on Vimeo.

spirit

It seems there was a haunted house on the outskirts of town which was avoided by all the townfolk - the ghost that resided there was feared by all.

However, an enterprising photojournalist decided to get the scoop of the day by photographing the fearsome phantom. When he entered the house, armed with only his camera, the ghost descended upon him, clanking chains and howling a terrible, tortured din.

The photographer told the ghost "I mean no harm - I just want your photograph for my newspaper." The ghost thought about it for a moment and decided that photographs might help him spread fear all the more efficiently. He posed for a number of ghostly shots.

The happy journalist rushed back to his dark room, and began developing the photos. Unfortunately, they turned out to be underexposed, completely black.

Apparently, the spirit was willing but the flash was weak.

Masters of Photography

A video about wedding photography featuring a number of the photographers whose work I follow, admire, and learn from.

Joey Lawrence gets around

Just a fun video of JoeyL shooting in Ethiopia for seven weeks or so. This kid is living the life. Be warned, the video is long (about 16 min.) and there is some nudity, profanity, and livestock slaughter, but it's not really as bad as all that. Enjoy.


Joey L in Ethiopia from Joey L on Vimeo.

Finger Pointin': Mon., 2.16.09

Big news on the wireless transmitter front. Pocketwizard has announced the Mini and the Flex and several outlets are already talking about them. As I am still on the fence about what to buy, I'll have to move Pocketwizard back to a place higher on my list. Pocketwizard, Radiopopper, and Paul C. Buff's stuff are my current top three in no particular order. On the plus side, Pocketwizard's new items are coming out in Canon compatible versions first. Nikon and pro strobes later. Here are a few links and then other news:

• For starters, Chase Jarvis is pretty excited about the PW's. Check out his post.
• Not to be outdone, David Hobby is right there with more info and a vid.
• Of course, we should post Pocketwizard themselves.
• In other news, parody site Fake Chuck Westfall is getting some flack.
• Here is a really interesting interview with Bil Zelman over on the Strobist - pay special attention to his comments on green uplighting, blur, and visual texture.
• DPS's take on indoor sports photography
• David Ziser on shooting the bouquet toss
• The Digital Trekker BlogFAQ: How do you shoot/approach people?
• Strobist: Fancy setup to shoot a hummingbird / very cool!

Enjoy these and stay tuned!

Bride's Choice Award for 2009!

WeddingWire, the nation’s leading wedding technology company, just announced that Ron Warren Photography has won the 2009 Bride’s Choice Awards™!

In its inaugural year, the Bride’s Choice Awards recognizes and honors vendors from the WeddingWire Network that demonstrate excellent quality of service, responsiveness, professionalism, value of cost and flexibility. This year’s recipients represent the top three percent of WeddingWire’s vendor community, which includes over 100,000 wedding vendors from across the US. That means Ron Warren Photography is one of the very best photographers.

Unlike other awards in which winners are selected by the company, the Bride’s Choice Awards are determined exclusively by recent newlyweds through surveys and reviews.

“We are excited to launch this annual award program to honor high-performing vendors based solely on the experiences of our WeddingWire community,” according to Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “This year’s recipients have set the bar high, exhibiting excellent service and expertise in the wedding industry.”

We'd like to thank our past clients for speaking on our behalf and helping us win the 2009 Bride’s Choice Award!

father/daughter dance

Had the privilege to shoot formals at a father/daughter dance at a local elementary school on Saturday. I had intended to shoot formals and get candids out on the dance floor, but I had a line of people for the formals the entire evening! Knocked off over 50 portraits in under three hours. Here is one of my favorites...

finger pointing sunday: 2/08/09 edition

A short finger-point to clue you into the best of the internet's recent photography material.

• Could these be any cuter/cleverer/and cuter, again? Check out Jason Lee's work.
• (referred by photojojo.com) ... where to look if your camera is lost (besides the nearest pawn shop, of course...)
• ten ways to break photographers block
• Melissa Jill recently posted part three of her blogposts on low-light/reception shooting tips, tricks, and techniques. I'll link them all again here in order. Part one, part two, and, of course, part three (and don't forget to check the links within the posts for Melissa's gear list as well as extra info on her autofocus technique.
• Pretty much anything by Digital Photography School I'd suggest adding them to any blog/rss reader you use. They have had so many informed, useful posts on their blog the last few weeks that I can't even mention them all.

And, please feel free to let me know about any great posts or sites you see. I'm always looking for the best info, imspiration, and motivation! Thank you!

engagement shoot tips

Very informative video on engagement photo shooting from Squeeze the Lime. More about relating to your subjects than technical info. Worth a watch.


LIME006 - A real life engagement session - Part I from Lime Photography on Vimeo.

Sunday macro worship

Playing around with some macro photography this time. I don't typically have a need for a dedicated macro lens, so I don't own one. But I found you can DIY to some degree.

I tried several different approaches. You can mount or even handhold a lens to your camera backwards. You can also use a magnifying glass, as I did here. Macro work means means very shallow depth of field and the magnifying glass makes it even worse, so a steady hand is required.

A less DIY approach could include extension tubes, close-up filter(s), or a true macro lens. Or even a microscope if you can mount your camera!

This two inch tall pewter Pope achieved much greater stature with the right approach. Now where can I find some bugs to make mammoth?

human stop-motion

OK, I just love this! Made by Tel Aviv photographer Eyal Landesman. More of a stop-motion creation than a time-lapse but you'll get the idea. As humans are already animated (at least in potential) this almost reverses the concept of stop-motion. Done from a series of still photographs.

part two to a recent finger point

That title sounds odd, doesn't it?

In a recent Finger-Pointing post (where I share stuff I've found around cyberspace) I pointed you to a blogpost from Melissa Jill that shares some terrific info on lighting and shooting a dim reception.

Well, the supertalented and immensely gracious Melissa Jill offers up a "part two" and I had to grab it for our readers (and she hints at a part three so stay tuned!). Thanks Melissa!

So check it out, learn a thing or two, then remember who else is looking out for you and come back to this blog!

I expect to run a short post about polarizing filters soon!

Mother Knows Best

my 30 second day

Just a 30 second sampler of some of our wedding work. Enjoy!

finger pointing monday: jan. 26. 2009

Plenty of goodies this time out the gate. Check out all this cyber plunder!

• Nice list of free adobe lightroom presets at cameradojo
• Digital Photography School posts a handy tutorial for replacing a blown-out sky
• Also from DPS, a finger-point within a finger-point. They pitch Photojojo's Magnetic Photo Rope. Cool idea. Could probably DIY it cheaper, but take a look, here.
• The strobist (David Hobby) has a terrific post on some alternative lighting ideas for specific low-light situations. A big maybe on the iphone part, but read through and it gets even more interesting.
• DIYPhotography.net tossed up this terrific lighting diagram tool from Kevin Kertz.
• DIYPhotography.net again. Extending your TTL offshoe cord.
• Lighting-essentials.com offers this wonderful tutorial on creating a simple spray light for your backgrounds
• Melissa Jill clues us all into her technique for getting great shots in the notoriously poor-lit world of the wedding reception...
  

bridesmaids

Since I shoot a lot of weddings, a think this very cute litte guide to bridesmaids is more than appropriate. Enjoy.

the last of the rodeo-hicans

I think this image will wrap up blogs about last Saturday's Equestrian Center. Force me to go shoot something new this weekend! BTW: I'm open to great ideas for subject matter! Thanks!

Revisiting Radio Triggers

OK, seems that there are some new radio triggers out there. And the old, tried-and-trues are still out there, too. Anyone have any strong opinions? As much as I'd love some Pocketwizards, I'm starting to think the RadioPoppers or the AlienBees Cybersyncs might be more bang for the buck. Please share your thoughts! My state of my creativity and checkbook depend upon them!

Alienbees

Profoto

RadioPopper

Microsync

Pocketwizard

Elinchrom Skyport

beasts of burden

Also from the ropin' competition last Saturday. These are some beautiful, well-trained horses. The cowboys sure seem to know what they are doing, too.

Anybody know a good place to get a cowboy hat? And some boots? Heck, I just might need a horse, too!

ridin', ropin', and wranglin'

Probably the most action-packed part of the Equestrian Center's grand opening (at least in an area with good light!). I was very impressed with all the skills that go into this. Riding, rope-work, strength, and probably more than a little animal psychology!

good ol' boys

These two friendly fellows also performed at the Equestrian Center on Saturday. I enjoy the way that they both just seem so very content with their lot in life. Making music and making people happy. Certainly a goal to strive towards.

he's tricky like that

Caught this fellow putting on quite a show with his lasso. He certainly made things easy for me by framing himself so nicely with the giant loop of composition.

Thanks so much! I can use all the help I can get!

racy racerson

More excitement from the world of equestrian events! You have to pay attention, because the dirt was flying!

saving the photo

This photo started with the best of intentions. Nice subject matter, pretty good composition, timed it well.... but the original was just sort of flat and lacked impact. So it all started with the general malaise of subtle disappointment.

But then, thanks to the good graces of my favorite software superhero, Photoshop!, I have not only saved the shot, but turned it into something that I am immensely pleased with. What it lost in flat reality, it certainly gained in simple visual impact.

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think. Either about this image or the more basic debate between photographic authenticity and digital manipulation.

horsin' around at the Horseshoe Park

Went to the new Queen Creek Horseshoe Park and Equestrian Center today. Big grand opening event. Place for all nature of horsey stuff. Today they had folks riding fancy, shooting fancy, roping fancy and much, much more. Right behind the main, covered arena, they had a tent set up and some wonderful live music playing. One of the acts was the Katy Creek Band.

This is Nancy from the Katy Creek Band.

You'll be seeing lots of stuff from the today's Horseshoe Park grand opening over the next few days!

finger pointing friday: 1/16/09 edition

I've been scouring cyberspace to find you the best of the best in recent photography tips, tricks, gadgets, software, websites and more. Hope some of these float your boat as they have mine.

• Terrific blogpost from digital photography school with plenty of links to posing tutorials
• Squeeze the Lime offers us a video with tips regarding directing your subjects
• Photojojo cautions us to backup our computers and suggests Backblaze. Read here.
• PhotoWalkPro talks about Pixlr, an online image editing app. It's no Photoshop, but its darned good for free!
• I want to revisit Photojojo's spylens. I just got mine! I can't wait to try it out bigtime tomorrow.
• I also got a pair of these hotshoe and umbrella brackets. Looking forward to giving these a try, too.
• A new lens that might just make you go hhmmmmm......
• Cool lighting mods from Popular Photography
• Interested in gorgeous, gigantic, photojournalism!?!?! Of course you are! Check out The Boston Globe's The Big Picture .
• Shutterbug and Photokina offer up some terrific new storage and frame options

DIY News

Recently read about a service that turns you into a photojournalist! Well, sort of. Demotix.com allow you to offer your original photos of events and they basically act as agent to sell it to established news outlets. If they sell it, you get paid. Interesting. Look at this:



And there already exists some non-paying outlets for your content, such as:

- CNN's iReport at http://www.ireport.com/index.jspa
- MSNBC's http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18616878/
- Associated Content http://www.associatedcontent.com/

I haven't tried any of these, but I just might! If I do, I'll revist the topic and give you my review. If you try them, let me know how they worked out for you.

my country, (copy)right or wrong...

This is entertaining...

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Lawrence Lessig

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

A Future for JPG?

A Future for JPG

Received the following e-mail this morning:

We couldn't ask for a better community. In the week or so since our last email, the outpour of support has exceeded our wildest expectations. Your efforts, such as starting savejpg.com, writing blog posts, commenting on Twitter and Flickr, and generally making your voices heard, have provided exciting new opportunities for us.

We're thrilled to say that because of you, we have multiple credible buyers interested in giving JPG a home. We will be keeping the site up after all, and hope to have a final update in the next week or so on who the acquirer will be. Thank you for making all of this possible.

Laura Brunow Miner

Editor in Chief

Time will tell. In this economy, I am skeptical, however I am always excited when the power of the people, the sheer power of multitudes, results in forward momentum, productivity, and, perhaps in this case, creative salvation.

to each skydive a landing must come...

This post will wrap up the week of skydiving pictures, videos, and oddball links, but I'll be sorry to see them go. I had great luck shooting at Skydive Arizona and there are few more exciting subject matters.

Although there is a very interesting motocross racing course not too far away..... Keep your eyes peeled!

This last one is a tandem jump. This is how Dawn and I jumped almost eleven years ago. We were each strapped to an instructor. This was the only way we could experience freefall without having many jumps or far more extensive training. From 13,000 feet we were able to freefall for about a minute to 5,000 feet. Then the chute, the grinding strain against the harness straps (they left welts on me), and a knee-first landing onto a surprisingly cushy pile of small loose, smooth rocks. Not sure if I'd ever do it again, but it was a hoot the first time.

Skydive AZ now also offers indoor skydiving (on a giant vertical wind tunnel). Wild!

'chutes to jetpacks

I considered digitally removing the parachute in this picture and putting a jetpack on the skydiver's back. The way his body sits in the harness reminded me of old footage of jetpacks, "the future of personal transportation." But I managed to restrain myself.

Take a look at what modern-day jetpacks are able to do.

briefly diverting from the skies

Attention Mac users! (many photographers are Mac users so you see why this makes a wee little bit of sense here).

Just announced: The Mac Wheel (you've got to watch this - and laugh your *ss off!)


Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

jumpsuits, not flightsuits

All week I've been calling them flightsuits. Nope, they're called jumpsuits. And here are some now. You probably can't pick it out in this reduced picture, but the fellow in the blue/green jumpsuit has a Stewie on his helmet!

skydivers and superheroes

Okay, wait a minute, just hear me out. I'm not saying skydivers are superheroes.

All I'm saying is that some of the flightsuits are so colorful and interestingly patterned that they remind me of superhero costumes. Sheesh!

It at first you don't succeed, well, so much for skydiving.

Some more of my skydive photo offerings, but be sure to scroll down for some other fun tidbits today (and, yes, darnit, I'm sticking with this theme ALL week!)




The colors in this guys flightsuit make me think of Buzz Lightyear!

For your mind I offer a history of skydiving and, alternately, some skydiving history.

And for the thrillseeker in you, I offer two rather exciting videos. Extreme skydiving:



and wingsuitin':

the whale and the wind

And wow! Hey! What's this thing coming towards me very fast? Very very fast. So big and flat and round, it needs a big wide sounding word like... ow... ound... round... ground! That's it! That's a good name - ground! I wonder if it will be friends with me?

— Douglas Adams, "Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy"

on gossamer wings

First you hear the airplane go by at 13,000 feet or higher. If you watch very carefully, you can see a smattering of black dots escape and trail behind the straining machine. They don't do much else for what seems like a long time. Just a bunch of dots against the clouds like black pepper on mashed potatoes against fine china.

Then one by one, each dot swoops away and transforms like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis and the sky is filled with a visual percussion of flourescent colors. Like a dozen unique rainbows indignant at having to share the atmospheric pallet with their siblings.

Then, before you have fully appreciated the spectacle, the butterfly storms into the landing area like a peregrine falcon on the hunt only to pull up short at the last second, legs stretched to terra firma and the canopy of colorful nylon collapses into just another fluffy pile of fabric and string, spent dreams and smoke.

I had great luck on Saturday. Enough to fill the bloggin' coffers with skydiving pictures all week. So I'm going to string you along a bit.

skydive arizona

Yesterday Dawn and I went explorin'. Down through Coolidge, past Casa Grande, and into Eloy, which some of you might know, is where we willingly jumped out of an airplane almost 11 years ago. So we revisited Skydive Arizona, thinking that it would be good for some colorful pictures. We both got lots of great pictures that I'll be posting over the few days.

But for now, you get the wacky Dawn triplets. They're a fun-lovin' bunch, you bet!

jpg no more

Well it seems that JPG Magazine is no more. At least in three days it is. I received the following e-mail today:

JPG Magazine says goodbye

Today is a particularly sad day for all of us at JPG and 8020 Media.We've spent the last few months trying to make the business behind JPG sustain itself, and we've reached the end of the line. We all deeply believe in everything JPG represents, but we just weren't able to raise the money needed to keep JPG alive
in these extraordinary economic times. We sought out buyers, spoke with numerous potential investors, and pitched several last-ditch creative efforts, all without success. As a result, jpgmag.com will shut down on Monday, January 5, 2009.

The one thing we've been the most proud of: your amazing talent. We feel honored and humbled to have been able to share jpgmag.com with such a dynamic, warm, and wonderful community of nearly 200,000 photographers. The photography on the website and in the magazine was adored by many, leaving no doubt that this community created work of the highest caliber. The kindness, generosity, and support shared among members made it a community in the truest sense of the word, and one that we have loved being a part of for these past two years.

We wish we could have found a way to leave the site running for the benefit of the amazing folks who have made JPG what it is, and we have spent sleepless nights trying to figure something out, all to no avail. Some things you may want to do before the site closes:

- Download the PDFs of back issues, outtakes, and photo challenge selections. We'll always have the memories! www.jpgmag.com/downloads/archives.html

- Make note of your favorite photographers. You may want to flip through your favorites list and jot down names and URLs of some of the people you'd like to stay in touch with. You may even want to cut and paste your contacts page into a personal record.

- Catch up with your fellow members. Our roots are in this humble flickr forum and we recommend going back to find fellow members, discuss the situation, or participate in another great photo community. www.flickr.com/groups/jpgmag/

- Keep in touch. This has always been much more than just a job to each of us, and we'll miss you guys! We'll be checking the account jpgletters@gmail.com in our free time going forward. We can't promise to reply to every email (since we'll be busy tuning up our resumes) but we'd love to hear from you.

- Stay posted. Although the magazine is ceasing publication, we'll be updating you on what's happening with your subscription early next week.We're soggy-eyed messes, but it is what it is. At that, JPGers, we bid you goodbye, and good luck in 2009 and the future.

Laura Brunow Miner

Editor in Chief

Well, sad as it is, it is just another indicator of where the economy is. And the "non-essentials" like art (note heavy sarcasm) are usually hit first in these situations. So long, JPG Mag.

finger pointing thursday

This finger pointing Thursday is all about technology. Gadgets, websites, and presets. Take a look, hop a link, zip into photoland, and tell us what you think!

• Free Actions and Presets??? Freebies for you and a place for you to share your custom presets with the photographic community.
• Pro-Optic 500mm f/6.3 Mirror Lens - I haven't seen any reviews of this lens, but it sounds like it could very well be the budget conscious answer to a wildlife photographer's dilemma
• Free? flash-based gallery/portfolio site...... WIX. Again, I have yet to try it, but it sounds promising and at free, what have you got to lose?
• 12 speedlite "ring light" contraption....egads! This is a fascinating sunlight killer and very clever for the DIY element but only presented here for the novelty. The actual cost to put together something like this with a dozen speedlites and a dozen triggers would probably be far more than just using some decent AlienBees, but you've gotta see this thing!
• Professor Kobre's lightscoop -- this little gadget claims to take your on-camera flash to a whole new level. Basically just another way to mod (read: bounce) your flash. I have to think you'd still be under-powered in most situations, but for size and price, you might want one in your gearbag.