Category: Photography
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Captured: Terre Haute Coca-Cola Bottling Company
Shortly after I moved into my Terre Haute apartment in 1989, I rode my bike around the neighborhood with my camera in my hands. The local Coca-Cola bottling plant was only four blocks away, in a great art-deco building where they filled glass bottles of Coke. They still produced 10-ounce bottles, a real throwback even…
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I was a #selfie pioneer
I took my first selfie in 1981. It was a time barren of instant photo sharing, but I pressed on with my crappy Instamatic anyway just to see what would happen. I learned immediately that the flashcube would leave me seeing spots for twenty minutes. It took another two weeks to finish the roll and another week…
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More photographer than camera collector
It feels weird, but I’m becoming less interested in buying new old cameras. Instead, I want to put more film in my favorite old cameras. I’m starting to enjoy making images more than playing with equipment. I still troll the auction sites looking for cameras on my to-buy list. But that list has gotten mighty…
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The camera you have with you
More and more, photos I share with you here come from my iPhone 5. It’s always in my pocket. My iPhone’s lens can’t match the sharpness and detail of my better film cameras or even of my go-to digital camera, the highly competent Canon PowerShot S95. The iPhone offers no optical zoom; anything you shoot at…
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Much ado about Flickr
I was shocked when I logged into Flickr last week and found an entirely new interface. My shock turned to disappointment and sadness that some of my contacts were super angry about the change, left strongly worded comments on their photostreams, and immediately moved their photos to other services. I make software products for a living;…
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To the entire Internet: Here’s how to steal my work – but be warned, I’ll steal yours in the same ways
The other day several of my friends e-mailed me congratulations that one of my photos had been published. It caught me flat-footed; I hadn’t submitted any photos anywhere! It turns out two of my photos were published that day in different online publications – without my knowledge. The first ended up being a permitted use. Indiana Landmarks,…
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I like my iPhone 5 okay I guess, but I miss my Palm Pre
I got an iPhone 5 on the day it came out. Now, I don’t normally jump on bandwagons. I’m quite anti-bandwagon, actually. So why, then, did I get the iPhone? Because I’d had it with my once-beloved Palm Pre. Shortly after I got my Pre, Hewlett Packard bought Palm – and then promptly shut down…
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Camera in hand, trying to act inconspicuous
I wish I had a cloak of invisibility. Whenever I grab a camera and head out to shoot, I don’t want to be bothered or even noticed. Because I take so many pictures along the roadside, drivers frequently stop and ask me if my car has broken down. I used to try to explain, but…
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Kodak Metal Tripod No. 1
I recently bought this Kodak Metal Tripod No. 1 so I can display some of my old folding cameras. The more old cameras I buy, the more challenging it becomes to store and display them in my little house. Cameras line the mantle of my fireplace, fill a bookcase in my office, and occupy every…