POV: In Praise Of Foundry Photojournalism Workshop

As this blog's followers and readers know, I attended the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Buenos Aires as a faculty member, and decided I'd jot down my thoughts as to how it progressed and developed.

I attended all four Foundry workshop (Mexico City, Manali, Istanbul and now Buenos Aires), and it was by far the best in terms of organization and infrastructure. Whilst there may be a difference of opinion among faculty members as to the strength of the students projects as presented during the workshops, we all agreed that the organization, the behind-the-scenes work and the two venues (Motivarte and Arte y Arte) were terrific.

The photographers in the faculty were lauded for generously sharing their knowledge and time, but I think the unsung heroes of Buenos Aires' Foundry were its staff, administrators and the local volunteers who made it a wonderful success.

Eric Beecroft, as the visionary force behind the Foundry Workshops, deserves singular praise. He had an idea 4-5 years ago, and made it a reality despite enormous obstacles. As they say, Eric pushed water uphill, and made it to the top. With him, and deserving many kudos for the success of the Buenos Aires workshop are Mansi Midha, Kirsten Luce, Gabriel "Morty" Ortega, Tiffany Clark, Jen Storey, and Hugo Infante. They are excellent photographers in their own right, and you can see their individual biographies here.

Despite their various bouts with tenacious flu, exhaustion and long hours, the staff and local volunteers worked around the clock, and deserve enormous credit for the success of this year's Foundry. Here's to you...and a standing ovation for a well done job!

The students' presentations were shown on the last evening, and having strict time limits for each made it much easier to appreciate. The audience was delighted to have seen such powerful, compelling, creative, imaginative and in a couple of cases, tongue in cheek work.

I will only mention the faculty by saying that, as usual, all instructors exerted tremendous efforts to share their technical knowledge with their classes and beyond. There were incredibly interesting panel discussions, and I, for one, was stunned at some of the instructors' candor in describing the toll their jobs have had on their lives...and yet, they participated in this workshop just because they want to give back.

Finally, a word about Buenos Aires...the combination of the best beef, lamb and chorizos (especially at Glumy and Criollo on Serrano square) in the world, excellent wine, bewitching tango music, and the seductive milongas...as well as some of the most attractive women (and I'm told, handsome men) I've seen, also contributed to it being such an unforgettable experience.

The 2012 Foundry Photojournalism Workshop will be held in Southeast Asia....Viet Nam is on top of the shortlist. Keep your eyes and ears open for the eventual details...and be part of it. You won't regret it.

SPREAD FOR ELLE INDONESIA

Photoshoot  for spread ELLE Indonesia April Issue.

Picnik is better with friends

Posted by Thomas Kang, Software Engineer

Picasa Web Albums has expanded the collaborative albums feature to support collaborative editing using Picnik. Now you can invite friends and family to contribute to an album either by uploading photos of their own or by editing any existing photos in that album.

Your original always stays safe and sound as your collaborators make edits to add funny speech bubbles, give you pointers on editing techniques, or pitch in to help you touch up your hundreds of vacation photos. If they edit one of your photos in Picnik and save the changes, it will save back to your album as a new image, and their name will show in the sidebar to give them credit for the new version.

To enable collaborative editing, simply share an album with your friends, and be sure to click on the checkbox to let the people you share with contribute to your album. Soon you’ll start seeing all the cool new images they create from your photos.

We're sure that there are many fun uses for this new feature, so if you discover something that was helpful to you, we'd love to hear about it. Happy editing!

You asked, we listened

Posted by Tammy McLeod, Software Engineer

We recently made some updates to Picasa Web Albums to address some of your top feature requests. In addition to sorting your displayed albums on Picasa Web by upload and album date, you can also now sort by album title. Visit your My Photos tab, then select “Album title” from the drop-down menu.

We’ve also made it easier to update your album visibility and photo location settings with a new “Edit visibility” link. Quickly see your visibility settings across all your albums, make changes, and when you’re all set, click “Done.”

Changed your name, or changed your email address? We added an option to transfer your photos, videos, comments, and people you follow to a new or existing Google account. Learn all about the account migration tool in our help center, or check it out from your Settings page.

As always, you can share your feedback about our updates, ask a question, or suggest a new feature in our forum.

Portrait Photography

A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this reason, in photography a portrait is generally not a snapshot, but a composed image of a person in a still position. A portrait often shows a person looking directly at the painter or photographer, in order to most successfully engage the subject with the viewer. (www.wikipedia.org)

Sejarah awal photography mungkin didominasi oleh jenis foto portrait. Sering kita melihat foto-foto tua yang menunjukkan profil seseorang tokoh, pejuang, artis, atau bahkan kakek buyut di masa mudanya. Sampai sekarang pun portrait menjadi bentuk foto yang sangat dominan. Seperti disebut wikipedia di atas, ekspresi wajah menjadi sangat dominan.

Penting memperhatikan ekspresi yang natural dari obyek. Umumnya portrait menggambarkan obyek yang melihat langsung pada fotografer. Lagi-lagi mata menjadi komponen paling penting di sini. Usahakan bagian yang paling fokus/tajam adalah mata. Portrait bisa dilakukan untuk seluruh badan, ½ badan, atau hanya 1/3 badan dari pundak hingga kepala. Berikut beberapa tips yang dapat membantu membuat portrait yang bagus.

1. Fahami obyek anda, identifikasi keistimewaan mereka.
   
2. Tutupilah kekurangan/cacat(bila ada) mereka sedemikian rupa.
   
3. Atur pose obyek hingga tidak terlihat terlalu gemuk atau terlalu kurus. Biasanya dengan merubas sudut posisi berdiri/duduk.
   
4. Fokus pada mata obyek
   
5. Dapatkan pose dan ekspresi

~ Time Off

Going for a long walk in the woods... See you next week.

Google.com/Weddings Sweepstakes Winner

Posted by Peter Harbison, Product Marketing Manager Team

A little over three months ago, we announced Google.com/Weddings to help couples during the wedding planning process. Since launch, we’ve been overwhelmed by the positive feedback with over 700,000 visits.

As part of that announcement, we partnered with Michelle Rago to not only help us with creative direction but also with hosting a wedding sweepstakes. The prize is ,000 towards a dream wedding designed by Michelle.

The sweepstakes ended on March 29th and today we’re pleased to announce that the randomly selected winning couple was Philong Nguyen and Nhu-Y Nguyen of Houston, Texas.

Philong and Nhu-Y are currently using Google Docs to organize every facet of their wedding; Google Sites to build their wedding website, Picasa Web Albums to share photos with friends and Picnik to edit their photos. Philong had this to share about their engagement:

“We had already been looking at rings so I decided I wanted the time and place to be a complete surprise. Luckily she was working one weekend and had to go to work very early since she works in a hospital in the lab. I’m usually sleeping at that time, so I knew she wouldn’t expect to see me at 5 AM in the morning when she left for work. I woke up very early, brought dozens of roses that I had bought the day before and plucked, and created a trail of rose petals that led her from her door to the backyard where it ended in a heart with me waiting on the grass. Of course, the hardest part was waiting for her to open the door but when she did she followed the trail, found me and said Yes."

The couple will be working with Michelle Rago to design their September wedding. We can‘t wait to see the pictures. Congratulations to Philong and Nhu-Y!

Cross-posted on Blogger Buzz

Barefoot Spirituality

Sitting in the zendo this past Sunday morning deep in zazen I peek around the room. Peeking during zazen will not get you any closer to enlightenment but it does feel good to stretch the neck. I started to think about, actually in zazen you're not supposed to think; your thoughts arise, you notice them and then let them pass into the emptiness.

We are all barefoot. A group of barefoot people sitting in a Zendo contemplating the whatever?

This got me thinking about how many things in my life I do better when I am barefoot. I write better when I am barefoot. I play guitar better when I am barefoot. I trail run (almost) barefoot, in Vibram 5 Finger shoes. Yoga barefoot, lots and lots of things I do in my barefoot. I play with my daughter in the backyard barefoot.

There is no special reason why I prefer barefoot life, I just do.

After the Sunday service at the Zendo I could not stop thinking about all the barefoot Buddhas we are trying to be. There is comfort in barefoot but also there can be pain if you do not watch your step. Barefoot brings about awareness to your body and attention to the soil you walk upon. I like this idea. Mindfulness by foot.

Currently reading “Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei” by John Stevens. It is the story, if that is the right word, of a group of Buddhist monks who push the limits of human endurance in service for attaining enlightenment. In 7 years they will have run 1,000 marathons on a vegan diet. This is taking “The Four Noble Truths on suffering” to a crazy place of ultra endurance athletes seeking a spiritual high. By the way, they run in straw sandals that fall apart daily, they run nearly barefoot.

What I am learning in this book?

That we need to know our place in this world. To understand the soil that we walk on, to experience the importance of each season. To see the effects of what damage we may do to our surroundings. To take notice to the people around us as we are moving by so quickly.

Barefoot spirituality. I remember reading a Ken Wilber book where he wrote “Finding your spirit is as easy as noticing your feet” .

I like that....

Google Photos Salutes National Travel & Tourism Week

Posted by Brian Rose, Community Manager

Traveling is one of the most exciting things you can do, so a camera is a must-have on your packing list. Part of the fun of capturing your trip is to share it with others and relive the experience yourself years later. So in honor of U.S. National Travel & Tourism week, we’d like to invite everyone to visit Panoramio and take a virtual trip to Las Vegas, Zurich, or Hawaii; upload your latest trip to Picasa Web Albums; or edit with Picnik to highlight just how magnificent that blue sky was, and share with your friends and family.

We hope you enjoy some of the Photos team’s favorite photos from our travels. To create your own photo collage with Picasa, follow these steps.

So whether you’re about to leave on a trip, just returned or inspired by Travel & Tourism week to set out on an adventure, don’t forget your camera. Whether you’re off to some exotic destination or even your hometown, remember to share with the world the photos you’ve taken. Happy travels!

Photo of the Week

Lomography

Lomography: don't think, just shoot

Mbak Pratiwi me-replay email saya tentang fotografi. Menarik sekali dalam emailnya dia menyebutkan anaknya juga hobi sesuatu seperti fotografi, yaitu Lomography. Hmmm iseng-iseng saya cari literaturnya, tentu saja ke wikipedia. Berikut sedikit kutipannya:

Lomography is the commercial trademark of Lomographische AG, Austria for products and services related to photography. The name is inspired by the former state-run optics manufacturer LOMO PLC of St. Petersburg, Russia. LOMO PLC created and produced the 35 mm LOMO LC-A Compact Automat camera - which became the centerpiece of Lomography's marketing and sales activities. This camera was loosely based upon the Cosina CX-1 and introduced in the early 1980s.

In 1991, the Austrian founders of Lomography discovered the Lomo LC-A^{[citation needed]}. As the company states, they were "charmed by the unique, colorful, and sometimes blurry" images that the camera produced. After a series of international art exhibitions and aggressive marketing work, Lomography signed an exclusive distribution agreement with LOMO PLC - thereby becoming the sole distributor of all Lomo LC-A cameras outside of the Soviet Union. This monopolistic agreement, their viral/tribal marketing strategies and pricing philosophy have generated controversy.^{[citation needed]}

Lomography emphasizes casual, snapshot photography. Characteristics such as over-saturated colors, off-kilter exposure, blurring, "happy accidents," and alternative film processing are often considered part of the "Lomographic Technique."^{[citation needed]} Users are encouraged to take a lighthearted approach to their photography, and use these techniques to document everyday life, as the Lomo LC-A's small size, simple controls, and ability to shoot in low light encourages candid photography, photo reportage, and photo vérité.^{[citation needed]}

Similar to Eastman Kodak's concept of the "Kodak moment," the Lomography motto of "don't think, just shoot" presumes spontaneity, close-ups, and ubiquity, while deemphasizing formal technique (however to take a good 'from the hip' shot does take skill).^{[citation needed]} Typical lomography cameras are deliberately low-fidelity and inexpensively constructed. Some cameras make use of multiple lenses and rainbow-colored flashes, or exhibit extreme optical distortions and even light leaks.

Lebih lanjut: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lomography

Vira & Andrew Pre wedding