New Set in Flickr

New set I've been working on for a while.

Thank you, more later

Go ahead, steal my images, I dare you...

This idea started to develop based on conversations with a fellow photographer who firmly refuses to upload his pictures to Facebook/Flickr/etc. In the firm believe that if he does, somebody could/will steal them.

Now, while that “might” be potentially true (as it has happened before), my position is that if I don't put them on the web, or share them, the pictures will be just a bunch of ones and zeroes in my computer. The way I see it, is that if anybody likes your image enough to use in commercial usage, they will pay you for it, this off course, is not always the case, but as long as they ask for permission to use my image (and thrust me, there are ways to make them pay if they don't), and they give me credit for the image, I don't need to get money for the image, advertising and exposure are just as good alternatives for me.

See? If the images can help me in any way, why keep them so close to my chest?

Do I run the risk of somebody downloading them and using them as wallpapers for their desktops? Yes, totally, but so what? At least they are out there, the metadata is attached to my files, if that image touches somebody, they can find me, if somebody want to use it for commercial use, the metadata will let them know that the image is either available or not for commercial usage and where and how to find me to discuss details.

You, as a photographer, need to take steps towards securing those images (Metadata is a must, watermarking [something subtle, don't paste your name in the middle of the fucking image], only upload low-res copies of your images, etc.), but this is a game of self advertising, long gone are the days when you could get by with just the prints of your work, and you need to get out there and promote yourself with the tools available to you.

In closing, images that only I can see in my computer, help me in no way and they will be only occupying space in my HDDs; images out there, while easy for somebody to steal them, will also open up the chances that somebody will see them and potentially hire me, if not, at least they're out there creating a web presence for me. <rant over>

Merry F-ing Christmas

I swear, the older I get, the harder it is to get into the whole “Christmas Spirit” thingy...

Ok, it doesn't help that I've been sick for almost a week, and I miss my buddies back in the country (Venezuela), I'm remembering times of drinking and vandalizing, etc. and and it makes me miss the old days.

Anyway, going to a friend's house today to spend the Christmas Day, so not much going on, I'm also finishing with some old pictures I hadn't publish before, so they should be up live sometime next week, until then.

Damn, I hate being sick

I've been busy

So I've been busy with the holidays and work, but I recently updated my Flickr account and here's the link to the new set

Snow Day Set or just take a look at my Photostream.

Also, happy Holidays you bastards =D

What a week

Nothing exciting, just busy, tired and glad it is over :)

I don't have much to talk about, I made some home made reflectors last weekend, here are some shots:

Well, hopefully I will be able to get something going in the next couple of weeks regarding wireless triggering of my flashes, planning on using this

and this

the triggers can be found HERE, and the hotshoe adapter with the PC sync port can be found HERE.

Have a good one, and please, if you're interested in learning how to use your flashes, you should check this two sites: Syl Arena's Speedlighting Blog, and Joe McNally's Blog, also Zack Arias's Blog (EDIT: yeah, I also forgot to add this blog, David Hobby's Strobist is the site for off camera flash)

Have a nice weekend

Rally To Restore Sanity and/or Fear 10/30/2010

So, I've had almost a week to really process the event and I can honestly say "HOLY CRAP, THAT WAS CRAZY". Never before I've seen so many people together.

We arrived to the Rally a little bit after 10:00 Am (I wanted to go early, but wifey thought we'll be fine leaving a little late... first mistake of many to come), we started walking towards the mall and this is what we found

Eventually we realized that we were not meant to be close enough to see the event, so we walked to the stairs of the National Gallery of Art and saw this guy

So I immediately knew that this was my kind of people, so I pretty much parked next to the guy and stayed there for like an hour.... Until the Mrs. decided that maybe we should try to find a better place to see the event, well, we moved away from our step and it filled up in 5 seconds, so there was no going back. We walked to 12th Street, now too far away to see or hear, and eventually decided to go to eastern market for lunch (Fried Oyster Sandwich FTW!!!).

All in all, it was nice to see so many like minded people representing almost all walks of life getting together for a common ideal, yes, there was a lot of comedy (mainly the signs, and being one day away from Halloween, the disguises), and a lot of dumbasses   (kids jumping fences to get to close areas, etc), but the majority of the people were really nice and polite, even when they disagreed with each other.

All in all, I am glad/happy that I was but a small part of this event, I am proud to have been part of this rally, and it was a great experience, here are some of my favorite shots from the day

A big thanks to everybody involved whit this for giving me something to hope for (that we will finalize realize that polarization is not the answer, things are not black and white and most of us lean to different sides on different issues), to the attendees (for leaving the mall area cleaner than when we arrived, for behaving for the most part at least), and to you guys for reading my post, now I'm getting off my soap box, you can find the rest of my pictures of the event HERE

Winter is around the freaking corner...

And this time I'm ready,

As some of you know, my wife and I moved to VA back in February, we drove our moving truck from Boca Raton, FL to Sterling, VA.... 22 hours, we left earlier than planed (We left on a Thursday night) because it was supposed to snow on Friday.... My wife was so happy because I was going to see snow for the first time... Well, at some point between FL and VA the advisory changed from "it is going to snow" to "Blizzard of 2010".... needless to say, I wasn't ready for that.

It was my first time seeing snow and it hit us 10 minutes in the Virginia State line, so let alone driving thru it, the wife wanted to pull over and call it a day, me, been a man, decided to at least try to keep going (in retrospective, bad choice, couldn't go over 30 mph, but also excellent choice because we would have been stuck in Emporia, VA or something), we kept on driving and arrive safely, but I had kept off buying a snow coat to the last second and the plan was to stop somewhere and buy a cheap one to get me thru the first winter.... Couldn't find one until a week later, luckily we first arrived at friends and they loan me one (it was funny realizing that my sherpa hoodie wasn't gonna cut it as soon as I got out of the truck and 5 seconds in I'm soaking wet).

So this time I'm ready, bought a couple of snow coats, my snow boots and plan on buying a pair of snow board pants... so you know what this means off course... this year it won't freaking snow....

Stink Bug

Stink Bug
Originally uploaded by neko687

So, this little bastards are EVERYWHERE, can't wait for winter

Florida Sky

2008 06 20_0001
Originally uploaded by neko687

Sometimes I do miss Florida, the friends, the familiarity, the training. This is a picture of the sunset taken from my old apartment's entrance

Lil' Sis

Lil' Sis
Originally uploaded by neko687

An old picture of my sister

Desktop Sumotori

desktop sumotori
Originally uploaded by neko687

So, I've been thinking about a pictorial regarding the place of combat (boxing, wrestling, kickboxing, sword fighting, etc), in the modern world.

Obviously, in the civilized world, we do not have duels, or the need to learn to wield a sword; so what is the purpose why we subject ourselves to (sometimes) rigorous training to achieve proficiency in something that has no real use in the real world? Self defense? I would believe that it is easier to buy a gun or Tazer, is it for fitness? I would thing that going to a gym would be much easier too; so what is it that motivates us?

I gotta say that in my case, it's a social tool, it allows me to go out of my comfort zone and engage in a social activity, also, that part of the male brain that gauges any other male in simple terms (would I be able to kick your butt?), it helps feed the ego, knowing that you can take somebody down at will helps you be more relaxed (plus, after a long week of work, nothing releases the stress like choking or putting somebody on an armbar XD)

What are your thoughts?

The Road Ahead

New beginnings

So I have chosen to start a new blog concentrating mostly on my photography and my photographic ambitions, hopefully I will be able to keep up with it this time around, I will be posting some more later on.

Until then....