This isn't photography

Every hear someone pontificate how superior film is over digital photography. I have, ad nauseam. If you've been lucky enough to evade this conversation here it is, minus the elitist bs: film was pure and took real talent, unlike digital and there was no photoshop trickery either.

Like many things people romanticize about, the nostalgia is based primarily on fantasy. Photographers have been manipulating photos since the very beginning, like 1860's beginning. Abe Lincoln's head was "photoshopped" onto John Calhoun's body. Yup 1860's. And you've seen it, it is probably the most view manipulated image ever, it was on the original five dollar bill.

Of course the process was performed by a specialist in a darkroom filled with a red glow and the smell of developer. Ahh, developer. I can still smell it and the memory brings me right back to high school. The whole development process wasn't something everyone knew about and it was shrouded in the mystery of the darkroom. My familiarity to the process is what causes my eyes to roll when I hear someone say "this isn't real photography."

Today photo manipulation can be done by anyone. The camera on most phones can do it for crying out loud. This new proximity to the post production process has certainly demystified the whole thing, opening the door for the pure image fantasy. I hold a fondness for the darkroom and the analog process of creating images. But I will never go back. Never. The notion of a pure image is simply ludicrous.

Self portrait, photoshopped

Photographers, of film or digital, edits an image with the their lens, color balance, shutter speed, iso, depth of field and what they chose to include/exclude in the frame, all before they even press the shutter. Yah, ok that's not quite photoshopping an image, but then again this dude (Jerry) never had photoshop and I can not create as powerful images as he did. And I'm crazy good with photoshop.

Jerry Uelsmann was making these images at a time when computers were the size of buildings. He still does, btw. He was one of the best, but make no mistake, he was not the only one. Photo manipulation is as old as photography itself, and it is was common.

Uelsmann 1976

Jerry is one of my hero's and is a big reason I have studied visual communication to the extent I have. I designed my degree at Metro combining programming and digital imaging because I see the web and software as a platform for visual communication. Seeing how Jerry creates stories and engages his audience is really inspiring to me. I often think of his approach and mindset to his work when I make an image.


There is a video on Lynda.com about Jerry and his wife Maggie. Maggie's work is the modern version of Jerry's work, she is making digital photographic art. The documentary is really well done and gives a cool insight to both of their works. It also looks at the attitudes of people toward their art. If you have time it's worth checking out. Or you can just watch the trailer to get the gist of it.

What I have learned  from today class: Social media and cooperation!

                It was wonderful  class  discussion about  social media and  big corporation. There were an arguments about  freedom on chose on what we eat, drink ......................against corporation responsibility  for what they produce to consumers.  Some of my colleagues  had this  idea of individual  freedom of chose equal to cooperation freedom, so they concluded that cooperation  can produce any type of product and service that's fit for their profit  in a free market system  because it's up to the  consumer to busy it or not . In other way, supplier has little or nothing to do with product and service quality intermes  of  general public safety  because  their main goal is to make profit. Thus, social media should support these cause for corporation to sell their product and service, and consumer to chose among these bad products( freedom of chose). The other my favorite  argument was,  social media can be used  as a tool for fighting cooperation to be responsible for what they produce to consumer, and there must  be  moral and legal obligation to  corporation who produce good and service for general public. if, for example, I want to open bakery that's unhealthy for  people , I should not be allowed to go out in the free market and compete to sell my product.

 

Study Breaks Down Social Network Demographics

By Stephanie Mlot

        February 15, 2013 12:56pm EST

 

Social-networking sites continue to hold the attention of most Internet users, especially women between 18 and 29 years old, according to a new Pew Research Center study.

About 67 percent of Internet users take advantage of Facebook, particularly those 20-something women, Pew found in a study that examined the demographics of the most popular social networks.

Twitter tends to attract African-American, urban residents ages 18 to 29, for example, while Pinterest is more often used by white women under age 50 with some college education.

Unsurprisingly, Instagram is popular with urban residents, as well as African Americans, Latinos, and women between the ages of 18 and 29.

Pew attributed the popularity of social-networking sites to the simple fact that Internet users under age 50 are likely to use social media of any kind. Still, the majority of users fall into the 18- to 29-year-old urban female category. But while sex and age play a large part in determining the demographics of the Internet, Pew found little distinction between education and household income.

Once broken down by individual network, though, the numbers begin to look a little different. Twitter has 16 percent of the social media market, with 20 percent of its users living in urban areas and 26 percent identifying as African American.

Pinterest, on the other hand, depends heavily on a very white upper-class society of women ages 18 to 49. Still in its infancy compared to its social-networking siblings, Pinterest attracts only 5 percent of men, 18 percent blacks and Hispanics, 11 percent of those with less than a high school education, and 25 percent of people bringing in $50,000 or less per year — a combined number that barely surpasses the 23 percent of those earning $50,000-$75,000 who use the service.

Even Tumblr, with only about 6 percent of the total social media interest, has an intense fanbase of young bloggers, ages 18 to 28 (13 percent). The site is split evenly between male and female use, and has little variation between education and location, though the majority of users tend to make less than $30,000 or more than $75,000.

The Pew Research Center conducted its survey between Nov. 14 and Dec. 9 among 1,802 respondents.

No matter which demographics garner the most interest in each social network, the entire genre is performing well these days. Get a closer look with the 365 Days of Social Media infographic.

The HOOT on Owls

Along side vampires, zombies, New Jersey, and high gas prices: OWLS have been trending across the United States over the last three years. I work with two live owls (they are permanently injured and pay rent by educating the public about the environment) and I am continuously boggled by the human perception regarding this species. Time to review.

1. No they cannot spin their heads all the way. Their neck bones would snap and send the head rolling to the ground if that were possible. That would not exactly be the best adaptation for survival.

2. Owl's want two things.  

A. Food and B. To be left alone <-- these are our training tools for program birds. 

Yes. We actually 'go away' to reward them for participating in training.

Owl personality is a lot like Oscar the grouch in his garbage can.

(When an owl makes eye contact with you please consider that the two of you are not having a special moment, but instead that the owl thinks you are sizing it up for dinner because you are staring it down like a hungry fox.)

3. Not all owl's are nocturnal. (Nocturnal = only comes out at night).
A lot of owl's actually like to sun bathe to get Vitamin D on those feathers!

3. Owl's may symbolize 'wisdom' in western culture, but also represents 'death' in Native American culture. A video shoot for publicity with one of our rescued owls was canceled at my facility because a native man that is normally assigned the task refused to participate on a project that included an owl. However, not all native or other cultures aligns owl's with negative connotation.

Meet the owls I work with for:

 

Barred owl was recently adopted from the Minnesota Zoo. He suffered injury when he was hit by a car 8 years ago. He was taken to the Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota where they had to remove one of his eyes.

 

The northern saw-whet owl (often mistaken for a baby owl being the smallest owl in Minnesota) for reasons unknown suffered extreme damage to his wing. His left wing will not grow back to original form making this bird flightless.

We do not name these animals because we do not want the public to think that we are implying they are pets. Trust me. You don't want one of these at home (that would be illegal in the state of MN anyway.) However,  I will admit that we do have 'behind the scenes' names for them.
The barred owl came with his zoo name "Horton." For Horton's sake I hope it is a boy because the vet papers state: gender unspecified.  A while back I started calling the saw-whet owl Gookooko’ oo which is the Anishinabe Ojibwe word for 'owl'. But the staff never grasped the complicated prounciation and it morphed into what is now 'Goo.' Horton and Goo are not allowed to see one an other because the barred owl is a major predator of the saw-whet in the natural environment.

Care for one day of these birds involves:
- gutting and dicing dead mice/rats/gofers/chicks
- weighing the bird, checking it's feet and beak
- counting pellets (a ball of owl vomit)
- weighing what it didn't eat and weighing what it is going to eat
- vitamins
- misting feathers with a water bottle
- enrichment in the form of going for a walk outside
- Raptor Center visits
- Constant restructure and cleaning of their bedrooms
- and more...I am not going to keep typing this list. You get the point.

 

(Enrichment: Going for a walk in the forest with the human. 

It is not unusual for song birds to go ape at the sight of a human + owl predator mix.)

The interesting part is that I have to perform the care the exact same way I did each day before. In the same sequence with the same words and steps. Owl's depend on routine to communicate/trust their place in the human world. If a wild card gets thrown into the mix, thus breaking the routine contract of what is expected of my service to the owl, things will cease to operate smoothly.

The experience has been rewarding and I feel privileged to have learned a part of HOO they are.

Now your owl wisdom goes beyond a tootsie pop.


- Kimbo B. Tuna

"Adult" College Students

At 25 years of age, I am one of the youngest at my college Metropolitan State University. The reason why the majority is mostly middle-aged students - people in this country who typically work during weekday mornings and afternoons -  is partly because this particular university has most of its classes at night, Saturdays, and online. However, the trend nationwide over the past five years, including the community college I graduated from last year, is more and more Americans in their 30+'s returning, or for their first time starting, college. This increase of "adult" students in the college world is hugely due to the recession that started in 2008 and the newly massive availability of online classes, or both. More jobs are requiring college degrees but also, just like my new boss's situation of having a degree in advertising but now taking a Speech class also at Metropolitan State University, more career fields need people to have additional skills in other subjects other than their major, also that only formal education can give.

Skyrim Dragonborn Coming to PS3

Rise from the Ashes, my PS3 Bretheren!

As found on NeoSeeker, Bethesda has officially announced the long awaited release of their downloadable content for their 2011 Best Selling Game, Skyrim. Playstation 3 gamers worldwide were becoming impatient with Bethesda, who has taken almost a year to release any DLC for the console while releasing all DLC for the other platforms (PC and Xbox).

However, PS3 gamers will be pleased to hear that the DLC will be published rather quickly, with Dragonborn coming February 12, Hearthfire February 19, and Dawnguard February 26. These scatter of dates should give PS3'ers plenty of time to enjoy the content before being slapped with another one.

To make it even better, the content will be offered at 50% off for one week after release, so there is really no excuse for passing up on this DLC. Not to mention the elaborate detail and extended game-play that each pack offers.

Minnesota Kids Play Hard-y

Living in Minnesota makes us brave.
Living in Minnesota makes us resistant.
Living in Minnesota makes us stupid creative.

Minnesotan's love to talk about the weather. In this state the season 'winter' creates as much gossip as a Kardashian.

This winter's drama:
A mom on Facebook decides to console others about her child being sent out to recess in -10 below.

Some say: "It never mattered when we were kids and we ended up just fine, Minnesota kids are tough"
Others say: "I'd bring up this issue with the school board"

I work for a facility that does outdoor programming with kids. Programs will continue rain or shine as long as it is not severe. I asked one teacher at my facility the temprature they refrain from going outside in the winter season and she said 0. I asked another teacher that runs a different program in the same facility and he said -10 below. They both thought they were speaking for the same school district policy. So what defines severe? What IS the standard?

According to Minnesota, it depends.
For the rest of the United States the confusion about playing in the cold persists.

Perhaps someone should ask the children for the answer.
If they are having a bad experience is it worth it? If their outdoor clothing isn't appropriate and they spend that time miserable, what perceptions of the outdoor world are we teaching them?

I say: Give them options!

For instances where this may be out of your control (like school) Dress your kids like you would dress yourself. You know, as if you were actually going to be forced to be outside and play for a significant amount of time. This is not your thin winter outfit that you support with running from building to car, car to building. If you imagine yourself not playing and instead complaining about how cold you are, the way you may be complaining about policy, just think how much happier you would have been had your parents prepared you with useful winter gear (not just the cute crap). If your kids are complaining ask yourself what you may need to provide them with that they don't currently bring. Do better.

As far as the mom on facebook, maybe it's time to change school districts (yeah right) OR invest in a 'bundle cold kid' kit. <-- You could patent this idea if you can create it.


For tips on how to keep your child warm this winter check out 10 Cold Weather Safety Tips for Kids.


- Kimbo B. Tuna


P.S. Let us not forget the kids at the bus stop.
(I had a long walk home from school, I have no pity for them.)