A few days ago, I learned about Nonja, the furry fave photographer of the world. Nonja is an Orangutan in an Austrian Zoo. She has been well trained in photography and now she has expanded this art beyond human beings.
Her rigorous training included the following:
1. She is armed with a camera that is modified to readily upload her photos to Facebook.
2. She is awarded raisins every time she clicks.
Now, who else wouldn't shoot for raisins? Well, all of us need some kind of motivation. For some, it is the pain of lost love, for others, it's raisins.
Nonja's photographs are recorded on her Facebook page here:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nonja/190010092116?v=wall#/pages/Nonja/190010092116?v=info
Now you truly hate the fact that they banned Facebook at work, don't you? I made myself one of the over 64,000 fans. Trust me, I am not a fan of most things, but hey, we are all looking for that creative "twist" a photographer brings, right?
Well, I do believe Nonja does.
Now you may say, well look, they are just pictures a monkey made. But you could say the same of....alright, I have enough enemies already :)
I am looking forward to more such wonderful experiments in photography. I just hope Nonja doesn't gain too much weight on those raisins
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Would you rather buy questionable Ansel Adams photographs for millions or support living artists?
I came across an article on MSNBC. You will find the link to the article at the bottom of this post. This blog is based on that article.
The article points to a California resident who purchased a bunch of negatives at a garage sale, 10 years ago. Apparently, based on a hunch, he thought he had found these negatives to be the original work of Ansel Adams. While the Ansel Adams Trust denies it, this gentleman and his lawyer are all set to sell these negatives.
And people want to pay millions of dollars for the negatives, which are at least as of now, disputed..!
Fanfare for Ansel Adams
Trust me, I am one hell of an Ansel Adams fan. And, I am one of many out there.
Recently, on calphoto, a group for California based photographers, someone posted a link suggesting that November 28 happens to be the day where you can repeat one of Ansel Adams's very famous moon shots of the half dome.
I am sure hundreds of photographers will be out there, in the valley (which is really a canyon), trying to repeat what Adams has done.
This is exactly where I differ from most Adams' fans.
I forwarded the post about the "perfect night for the Ansel Adams shot" to a very good friend and my friend asked me if I too, was going to be one of the hundreds of fans running riot over the valley floor.
Here is my reply: I am looking to Ansel Adams for inspiration. I am not looking to be a copycat.
An artist, a good one, looks for inspiration, but more importantly, for originality, for inspiration. That is what Ansel Adams sought, that is what he was able to produce.
Collection and Confusion
I too collect Ansel Adams photos and books. I collect a multitutde of cameras and photography related work. I tend to place value to my collection - except not in monetary terms. It is amazing to hold a piece of art, an instrument of art in your hands and watch it in amazement.
However, I would set limits at how far I would go to collect. At present, of course, fiduciary ability limits me. However, my focus on art would always be to support both the accomplished and the aspiring.
If you are willing to pay for and treasure art, why not achieve a balance. It is ridiculous to pay millions upon millions of dollars when equally capable artists starve on the street corners...
This is what, as they say (oh well, no one says it anymore), gets my goat.
Why is it that people have a sense of direction till they collect oodles of cash, and then have no sense of direction once they have it?
Don't kid yourself. Are you collecting art, or are you feeding your ego?
Link to MSNBC article:
http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-ansel-adams-prints,0,2910333.story
[Note: All photographs are copyrighted to owners as mentioned. For reuse of my photographs, please contact me. I will provide photographs to all registered non-profit organizations for free upon request.]
The article points to a California resident who purchased a bunch of negatives at a garage sale, 10 years ago. Apparently, based on a hunch, he thought he had found these negatives to be the original work of Ansel Adams. While the Ansel Adams Trust denies it, this gentleman and his lawyer are all set to sell these negatives.
And people want to pay millions of dollars for the negatives, which are at least as of now, disputed..!
Fanfare for Ansel Adams
Trust me, I am one hell of an Ansel Adams fan. And, I am one of many out there.
Recently, on calphoto, a group for California based photographers, someone posted a link suggesting that November 28 happens to be the day where you can repeat one of Ansel Adams's very famous moon shots of the half dome.
I am sure hundreds of photographers will be out there, in the valley (which is really a canyon), trying to repeat what Adams has done.
This is exactly where I differ from most Adams' fans.
I forwarded the post about the "perfect night for the Ansel Adams shot" to a very good friend and my friend asked me if I too, was going to be one of the hundreds of fans running riot over the valley floor.
Here is my reply: I am looking to Ansel Adams for inspiration. I am not looking to be a copycat.
An artist, a good one, looks for inspiration, but more importantly, for originality, for inspiration. That is what Ansel Adams sought, that is what he was able to produce.
Collection and Confusion
I too collect Ansel Adams photos and books. I collect a multitutde of cameras and photography related work. I tend to place value to my collection - except not in monetary terms. It is amazing to hold a piece of art, an instrument of art in your hands and watch it in amazement.
However, I would set limits at how far I would go to collect. At present, of course, fiduciary ability limits me. However, my focus on art would always be to support both the accomplished and the aspiring.
If you are willing to pay for and treasure art, why not achieve a balance. It is ridiculous to pay millions upon millions of dollars when equally capable artists starve on the street corners...
This is what, as they say (oh well, no one says it anymore), gets my goat.
Why is it that people have a sense of direction till they collect oodles of cash, and then have no sense of direction once they have it?
Don't kid yourself. Are you collecting art, or are you feeding your ego?
Link to MSNBC article:
http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-ansel-adams-prints,0,2910333.story
[Note: All photographs are copyrighted to owners as mentioned. For reuse of my photographs, please contact me. I will provide photographs to all registered non-profit organizations for free upon request.]
Monday, May 25, 2009
Will we accept an automatic program as a critic and Will we enjoy s*x with robots?
Please visit the tool Acquine at: http://acquine.alipr.com/about.html
I found this on slashdot a few weeks back and finally started playing with this online tool last night. I became so addicted. Like the designers of the tool officiously claim on the "about" page, the tool is not perfect. See the ratings for yourself here:
You will also see the expanded versions of the images below. I took some random photos to observe what is going on. Why ? - The photos you upload stay with the tool's database, so maybe throwing your best work is not the world's best idea. I also did not sign the photos with my usual name and year format, so I guess if I tested again the ratings may vary. The ratings may vary if I had rotated the pics and then tested them.
What was really impressive about the tool was it made me so addicted to it, even though I knew there wasn't much by way of rhyme or reason for me to believe the ratings were close to it.
The tool rated a particularly bland photo of the Tahoe at 50% or so which was odd, but did not like my un-formatted version of Tahoe with the bars, something I enjoyed personally. The tool did like my crazy experiment with the Golden Gate at late evening though, a rating we both seem to concur on!
But, I guess after years of losing friends over requests for review, an online tool was more comforting. I guess, it's not if we will use the tool, but will we enjoy it. Which brings us to the robots...
[Note: None of the photos are digitally enhanced. Photos may be cropped from time to time, and if so, will be duly noted. Spots and other divergence produced as a result of scanning negatives/slides will also be corrected and noted.
All photographs are copyrighted to owners as mentioned. For reuse of my photographs, please contact me. I will provide photographs to all registered non-profit organizations for free upon request.]
I found this on slashdot a few weeks back and finally started playing with this online tool last night. I became so addicted. Like the designers of the tool officiously claim on the "about" page, the tool is not perfect. See the ratings for yourself here:
You will also see the expanded versions of the images below. I took some random photos to observe what is going on. Why ? - The photos you upload stay with the tool's database, so maybe throwing your best work is not the world's best idea. I also did not sign the photos with my usual name and year format, so I guess if I tested again the ratings may vary. The ratings may vary if I had rotated the pics and then tested them.
What was really impressive about the tool was it made me so addicted to it, even though I knew there wasn't much by way of rhyme or reason for me to believe the ratings were close to it.
The tool rated a particularly bland photo of the Tahoe at 50% or so which was odd, but did not like my un-formatted version of Tahoe with the bars, something I enjoyed personally. The tool did like my crazy experiment with the Golden Gate at late evening though, a rating we both seem to concur on!
But, I guess after years of losing friends over requests for review, an online tool was more comforting. I guess, it's not if we will use the tool, but will we enjoy it. Which brings us to the robots...
[Note: None of the photos are digitally enhanced. Photos may be cropped from time to time, and if so, will be duly noted. Spots and other divergence produced as a result of scanning negatives/slides will also be corrected and noted.
All photographs are copyrighted to owners as mentioned. For reuse of my photographs, please contact me. I will provide photographs to all registered non-profit organizations for free upon request.]
Monday, March 31, 2008
The Ironic First Post :) The "End" ('Spring Flowers in the SF Bay Area')
The Prelude: So, there is this good friend of mine, Chetan, who has been at my case, to begin "photo-blogging" or whatever it is the kids call it nowadays. Eventually, I have been worn down..so I would like to thank him for getting me off my t**** and begin "photo" blogging.
Also, thank you to another good friend who joined me on my travails yesterday.
----------------
Spring Flowers
Ever since I joined the multitude of photography Yahoo! Groups, I have loved the amazing way in which photographers unite to celebrate every season by sharing and providing novices like me with information on nature's bounties for the season.
Given it is spring time and California has been having a good Spring so far (Thank Heavens, Evolution and/or other factors in play!), Wildflower photography is the rage.
So, I have been on a hunt trying to get some shooting done. Since, I have not been shooting wildflowers before, I don't exactly have an idea what to cover, what to shoot and what to leave - aren't we all there sometime?
Anyway, with good rains, we have a bounty of flowers this year. There are spots of yellows and oranges along the US 101, mustard and other flowering plants in many places along the back roads. Other interesting flowers also abound in varying quantities around the San Louis Obispo reservoir..nothing like the Carrizo Plains are turning up this year, but still good enough to keep the interest in floral photography, wild and roadside alike, active.
So, we were driving across the 152 yesterday, and on the way, I saw this "End" sign, with a carpet of yellow behind it, and we stopped off on the way back to snap a few.
After the trip, my good friend Chetan wanted to know where we had stumbled upon this particular shot, and showing it to him on Google Maps brought about a brainflash! I wanted to do a "before" and "after" like all those hair restoration ads :)
What you see here is an amateur attempt :) at trying to insert two images so that they appear on side of what Google Maps will show you for the location.
It is still very interesting to see how refreshing Spring can be, by comparing the "before" and "after"!
If you, like me, like to "break the rules", you might enjoy this...
All my images in this blog were shot with a Kodak CX7330 3.1MP camera.
[Note: None of the photos are digitally enhanced. Photos may be cropped from time to time, and if so, will be duly noted. Spots and other divergence produced as a result of scanning negatives/slides will also be corrected and noted.
All photographs are copyrighted to owners as mentioned. For reuse of my photographs, please contact me. I will provide photographs to all registered non-profit organizations for free upon request.]
Also, thank you to another good friend who joined me on my travails yesterday.
----------------
Spring Flowers
Ever since I joined the multitude of photography Yahoo! Groups, I have loved the amazing way in which photographers unite to celebrate every season by sharing and providing novices like me with information on nature's bounties for the season.
Given it is spring time and California has been having a good Spring so far (Thank Heavens, Evolution and/or other factors in play!), Wildflower photography is the rage.
So, I have been on a hunt trying to get some shooting done. Since, I have not been shooting wildflowers before, I don't exactly have an idea what to cover, what to shoot and what to leave - aren't we all there sometime?
Anyway, with good rains, we have a bounty of flowers this year. There are spots of yellows and oranges along the US 101, mustard and other flowering plants in many places along the back roads. Other interesting flowers also abound in varying quantities around the San Louis Obispo reservoir..nothing like the Carrizo Plains are turning up this year, but still good enough to keep the interest in floral photography, wild and roadside alike, active.
So, we were driving across the 152 yesterday, and on the way, I saw this "End" sign, with a carpet of yellow behind it, and we stopped off on the way back to snap a few.
After the trip, my good friend Chetan wanted to know where we had stumbled upon this particular shot, and showing it to him on Google Maps brought about a brainflash! I wanted to do a "before" and "after" like all those hair restoration ads :)
What you see here is an amateur attempt :) at trying to insert two images so that they appear on side of what Google Maps will show you for the location.
It is still very interesting to see how refreshing Spring can be, by comparing the "before" and "after"!
If you, like me, like to "break the rules", you might enjoy this...
All my images in this blog were shot with a Kodak CX7330 3.1MP camera.
[Note: None of the photos are digitally enhanced. Photos may be cropped from time to time, and if so, will be duly noted. Spots and other divergence produced as a result of scanning negatives/slides will also be corrected and noted.
All photographs are copyrighted to owners as mentioned. For reuse of my photographs, please contact me. I will provide photographs to all registered non-profit organizations for free upon request.]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
