Category Archives: Life

Rights Of The Photographer

Posted on August 12, 2013 | Leave a comment

This week’s post is going to be short and to the point as I’m currently dealing with some family issues.

Have you ever wondered just what rights you have as a photographer?  Have you ever been taking pictures somewhere and been stopped by security who then tried to confiscate your camera and/or memory cards?  I’ve been lucky enough not to have been accosted by security guards wanting to pull rank, but I’ve educated myself enough to be ready should that moment arise.   One of the first things you need to do that kind of situation is stay calm.  Next, be respectful even if you’re not being respected.  The worst thing to do is snap back with some aggressive comment when you’re being confronted by a security guard or other authority figure who has an inflated ego and is ignorant to your rights as a photographer.

To learn the basics about your rights as a photographer when photographing in public places, check out this site and download the PDF file.  You may also want to check the local laws of your state for anything governing photography, as well as the laws of any state or country to which you plan to travel.  I also purchased the book listed on this page from Amazon.  It has some good information on not only your rights to photograph but also rights concerning copyright and more.

Until next time…

[-_-]

~A.M.

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Posted in Life, Miscellaneous, Photography, Travel, Writing

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Stuck In A Funk

Posted on June 10, 2013 | Leave a comment

 

I’ve been pretty slack in my artistic photography lately, mainly due to all the rain we had recently (and I hear talk of more on the way [>_<]) and a family issue.  But, like all artists in their artistic endeavors, sometimes photographers get into a funk when inspiration decides to take a vacation…without even sending a postcard.  Thanks for that, muse.  I guess I’ve fallen into that funk recently.  It’s a funk I know well.  A funk I don’t care for.  Though I do like the word “funk”.

 

I noticed that no one seemed interested in my little challenge last week so I won’t drive down that avenue again any time soon.  But that failed experiment won’t stop me from creating in Photoshop and sharing the results I like with folks (trust me, for every piece I share, there are ten or twenty more that never get to see the light of day).

 

Sadly, I have nothing new or awesome to share with you this week, my fine readers, and instead of rambling and wasting any more of everyone’s time (I think it’s a little late for that now), I’ll just leave you with a random image I took a long time ago.  It kind of reflects my mood as of late.

 

Misty Morning

 

Until next time..

 

Here’s to hoping I get out of this funk…

 

[-_-]

~A.M.

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Posted in Life, Nature, Photography

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Unfortunate Occurrences….Round 2

Posted on April 29, 2013 | Leave a comment

Ever have a day that starts out great only to have it be ruined by one little seemingly insignificant thing?  Yeah, me too.  In fact, that’s happened to me more often than I’d like to admit lately.

Most recently, I was taking a nice hike along the Bold Coast trails in Cutler, Maine (if you ever have the chance to go there, I would recommend it).  The weather was great, I got some decent photographs, and I even found two geocaches along my route (those of you who don’t know what geocaching is, look it up, it’s awesome).  I decided to stop for lunch on a rock ledge above the ocean.  Sun, surf, and a nice lunch.  Perfect afternoon, right?  Right.  Well, that is, until I sat down and heard (and felt) a “pop/crunch”.  It was in that moment that I remembered…..

….My sunglasses were in my back pocket.

Farewell perfect day.  It was nice while it lasted.

I was annoyed, frustrated, and half blinded by the bright sun at the loss of my sunglasses.  But, on the upside, at least they weren’t an expensive pair.  Thank you dollar store!

That’ll teach me to store my sunglasses in a place where they could be destroyed.  On my face is probably a better place to have them.

And on a final note for this week‘s post, my thoughts, prayers, and condolences go out to all the victims, victim’s families, survivors, and everyone affected by the tragedy at the Boston Marathon.  And a big thank you to the first responders and everyone who helped during the aftermath.  Stay strong, Boston!

Until next time…

[-_-]

~A.M.

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Posted in Hiking, Life, Photography

Earth Day

Posted on April 22, 2013 | Leave a comment

 

Guess what, folks?  It’s Earth Day!  But, I’m sure you knew that.  And if you didn’t know that upon waking up and checking your calendar today, I’m sure the title of my blog and everything I’ve said thus far has filled you in.

 

“Thanks for explaining that to us, Captain Obvious!”

 

Why, you’re so very welcome!

 

Anyway, in honor of Earth Day, I hope each of you will do something to help our planet in some way.  You don’t have to join some huge movement or chain yourself to a tree in danger of being cut down, you can do something small.  Recycle something.  Pick up some trash along your block, street, local park, beach, etc.  Talk to kids (yours, your friend’s, I wouldn’t try talking to a stranger’s kids though, that could go bad real quick) about the environment, how important it is, and teach them how to help preserve it.

 

If we all pitch in, we can make a difference and leave this planet in better shape for the next generation.  I don’t know about you, but I hate seeing things like this when I go to the beach, hiking, or for a walk.

 

Something Just Doesn't Belong Here...

 

This planet is the only one we have.  It doesn’t belong to us, we’re just borrowing it.  Let’s give it back in better condition than we received it.

 

Until next time…

 

[^_^]

 

~A.M.

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Posted in Life, Miscellaneous

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Unfortunate Occurrences

Posted on March 18, 2013 | Leave a comment

Every once in a while, in this modern age of technology, we run into problems.  A computer crashes, a file becomes corrupted, a jpeg goes missing, etc.

Sadly, I’ve experienced all of this and more, more often than I’d like.  Most recently though, I’ve suffered the misfortune of a certain jpeg going missing.  I told you folks before that I enjoy taking photographs of clouds.  Especially clouds that are shaped like something (refer back to my post “When Clouds Look Like Cool Things…”).

For a while now (almost a year) I’ve been searching for an image I took of a cloud that was shaped like the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek (Yes, I‘m a geek).  Now, being a photographer, it pains me when one of my images goes missing.  Being a fan of Star Trek, I’m doubly hurt by this particular image up and disappearing on me.  I’ll continue to search, of course, but I don’t have much faith that I’ll locate it.  I think it probably got lost in the shuffle when I transferred all my images to new flash drives last year.  [-_-,]  When this kind of thing happens, it makes me paranoid.  What else has gone missing!? [0_0]

Anyway, what’s the moral of this little tale?  Well, we can’t help it when unfortunate occurrences happen.  We just have to roll with the punches.

Until next time…

[-_-]

~A.M.

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Posted in Life, Photography

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