rant

Warning: this is a rant. This one just left me shaking my head. Sure, there are probably times when you think the words “Photography Experience Not Required” might be completely applicable or acceptable. But how about in a job listing for a camera store?

Right, I've had enough. I want to talk to you all about guests using mobile phone cameras at weddings. I want to plead with you, and I'm going to make this very simple: brides and grooms, please have a completely unplugged wedding ceremony.

Look at the photo above. This groom had to lean out past the aisle just to see his bride approaching. Why? Because guests with their phones were in the aisle and in his way.

Talk show host James Corden went on a 4-minute rant about selfie culture on The Late Late Show earlier …

Author's note: Warning: I wrote this last night when I was sleepless, sick and snarky.

Dear Bridezilla,

It was great to meet you yesterday! I still can not believe that 6 photographers you have spoken to said they may not be the "right fit" for you! I thought you, your mother, future mother in law, and 12 bridesmaids were lovely! It was so cute that your Uncle Joe came along to take some photos of our meeting for your scrapbook. I sure hope he brings his iPad to the wedding just in case I miss something.

It took me many years to overcome the affliction known as gear acquisition syndrome. You see, I am a self-professed gear head, and I went through a period where I needed every new Nikon DSLR and I simply couldn’t get enough watt/seconds from a single strobe pack. Although there is no known cure, I have been able to curtail my purchasing habits, but not my voracious appetite for camera gear reviews.

A single review of the new 1D7s Mark 15 isn’t enough. I need to read them all. And while perusing the myriad of sites that offer gear-envious reviews of the newest 4K thingamajig with the phase detection hybrid focusing doodad and the retro-styled burled walnut tchotchke inspired by whatchamacallit, I couldn’t help but notice something that I’d like to run past you...

Just when you thought you’d seen it all... Excuse me for a moment while I climb atop my soap box. *Taps Mic* Check? Is this thing on? Okay.

This was sent to me by a friend this morning and, after I opened it, I just sat staring at it. I could see it was a Craigslist ad, that much was evident, but I had to keep reading it over and over because the words just would not register. I knew they were English, and complete sentences were formed, but what it was asking went beyond my means of comprehension.

At first, I thought it was a joke. Then I realized, it wasn’t. Then I said a very very bad word.

What in the world is going on here!?

On the off-chance you thought photo blogs had some kind of monopoly on rants about lazy and thoughtless photography practices, witness the majesty of Denver TV news anchor Kyle Clark in action.

Yesterday, Flickr announced new changes that included a free, ad-supported terabyte of storage for all Flickr users. When I heard the news, I believed that Flickr Pro account users would be given an opportunity to stay Pro going forward. I thought this because this, in fact, was my understanding of what was told to me by a Flickr Senior Manager in a briefing earlier in the morning before the announcement.

Unfortunately, I found out the hard way yesterday that this is not the case.

Last year one of my friends got married and I was so thrilled to be her photographer that day. What was even more amazing was that she had an “Unplugged Wedding” after seeing pictures and hearing my rants over the years about well-meaning guests whom have inadvertently (or heck, even completely on purpose) ruined images.

An interesting video has been going viral within the photographic community today (with a little help from Reddit). The video shows photographer Andre Bailey of Envy Me Images ranting about the state of the consumer DSLR market -- specifically lamenting over and over that "there's [sic] too many cameras on the market."

Sometimes it’s easy for photographers to take for granted our skill set. It becomes natural to forget, from time to time, all of the elements rattling around in the synapses of our visual cortexes in the few tenths of a second it takes to put in motion the mechanics that make a picture. Like any professional of a trade, eventually you get to that point where you can begin to make it ‘look easy’, like anyone can do this. And with digital cameras and software readily available everyone sure is trying. The major problem comes when they start charging for their self-perceived craft and simply can’t perform... or don’t care to for that matter.

This is how I ended up photographing my own wedding.

Photographer Richard Esposito has written an interesting …

So, from time to time, I receive requests to use my images for various purposes — like on a blog or a pamphlet or a calendar or the side of a zeppelin or for a urinal cake. Typically, if they are nice and they’re not going to be making a load of cash off where they’d like to use my image then I’ll let them use it as long as they give me credit. I’m especially generous with environmental interests and non-profits and ice cream manufacturers offering vouchers for all-you-can-eat tours.

But then there are the chumps (and chumpettes) who will be making a substantial amount of money off of the use of my image and I send them packing unless they pony up a fair amount of money. The latest version of this repetitive saga really got caught all up in my craw and so I felt the need to write a bit about it.

It might sound strange to use the verb "Love" in the title of a rant. But here goes.

I love photography.

Why am I telling you this? Isn't it self-obvious? Don't we all love photography? The answer is no. There is a percentage of photographers who hate photography. They do not appreciate photography. They do not consume photography. They don't look at photo books or photo magazines. They hate the guy with the iPhone taking Instagram shots.

Earlier today my friend and fellow photographer posted a link to a craigslist ad from a woman in Seattle looking for a wedding photographer. The woman was upset because she thought that $3,000 for a wedding photographer was “wack” because all we do “is hang out at a wedding taking tons of photos and editing them” and that we are “making so much money it's crazy.”

Apparently Nikon has decide to save some trees (and shipping weight) by no longer including user manuals in some of its digital cameras. Since most people likely never touch the manuals anyway, it's not really a problem, but the company's draconian stance towards downloadable instruction manuals has some customers grumbling.