Images elsewhere

A couple years ago Flickr turned on Creative Commons (wikipedia) licensing for photos uploaded there. I jumped in and made my Flickr photos all photos Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported. What that means is, you can use it as long as it is not for commercial use, but don't alter the image and give me credit. Because of this posting, I reviewed my license and updated it! (go me)

I have had plenty of my images used in various articles, comments, blogs, etc. I don't mind at all, but give me credit and don't make money off it unless you give me a chance too. I am starting to realize that my images are my hard work. I created them, I edited, uploaded, paid for the hosting, and share them with others. If you want to use them to promote you item for cash, I want in if we can come to a deal. I am done with the days of giving away my work, unless it is for a worthwhile charity.

A quick search on Google and Bing turned up these examples of people using my imagery for their site:

• Charbroiling- Foodista
• The Internet doesn’t give a damn about the recession- pigdom
• Steve McNair found shot dead in Nashville- Inside Charm City
• 250,000 Gallon Oil Slick Spreads Toward Ireland- Twilight Earth
• The Saturday Strangeness- Londonist
• $31 Billion In Alternative Energy Tax Credits Approved by Senate Finance Committee- TreeHuger
• Attractions & Things to Do in Hawaii- eHow
• Why are you leaving money on the table?- Business is Personal
  
• Shorty Goes Swimming-And Almost Doesnt Come Back- Happy Pet Blog- Dog
• The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies- Rates to Go
• Rosh Hashanah Spicy Beef Brisket (+ Shepherds Pie Leftovers)- chowmama
• Where To Find Free Gambling Lessons- Vegas Chatter
• Irish artists lash out at plans to cut tax breaks- Euranet

I could keep going, but hopefully you get the point...

I have also found myself not posting as many publically accessible photos on Flickr. I have moved my family photos to a privately accessible site. I remove the images after a short time. So while the quality of my images improve, the quantity that is publicly available has gone down.

Leaving It Out

A man's hand drips blood as he stands in front of riot policemen during a demonstration in Athens December 9, 2008. Hundreds of protesters threw stones and bottles at lines of riot police outside the Greek parliament on Tuesday, in a fourth day of anti-government clashes triggered by police killing a teenager. REUTERS/John Kolesidis (GREECE)

There are times when a photo just grabs me for some reason or another, and this was one of those photos.

I was browsing a series of photos on Rueters that all had a technique called 'Leaving it Out.' The style is to only show part of the total image. From the lack of information, the viewer has to extrapolate the rest of the image and what is happening. For me, it is all drawn to that one little stream of blood going down the man's hand. Add that he is holding a folder, and the police shields. Each piece separately is rather boring photography. Perhaps if you had the man with his folder after the protest holding his bloody hand up to his face might make something... but add the lack of rest of the information and I am left somewhat spellbound with this image.

It is easy to take a photo, it is easy to share the result, it is easy to have the right gear, it is somewhat easy to know how to use the gear and edit the photos. It is VERY hard to make that image compelling and interesting to the viewer. And I am very certain that many other people will think the opposite of it than I. I am also sure this photo could have been bigger and contained more facts in it, but with a little crop it becomes something else. For this photo it is called 'Leaving It Out.' Capturing a scene through a camera lens is sometimes more about telling the viewer about events that are happening outside of the frame. This selection of images hints at the context that surrounds them. - Rueters

As I find more photos that just hit me right, I will try to add them here as a running commentary on things that interest me. I know one of the keys to me thinking about a possible photo is part of my brain going, "huh, thats interesting." I wish I had a better description of what makes part of my go, but that is as close as I have ever gotten. I am not very knowledgable in the different pantheon of photographers in history, styles, edits, cameras, shows, etc. Though I am learning, slowly, oh so slowly.