The Last Lantern Maker
Sometimes there are days that nothing seems to get done. This time that day lasted a whole week. I’ve started 100 projects and finished none. By Wednesday, I’d had enough and decided to grab my cameras and just go out and chase an idea I have had for about six months.
There’s an old man that [...]
Another New Blogger: Brian Hirschy
Brian Hirschy is a photographer friend of mine who lives in Western China. He runs photo workshops in the Tibetan region of China along with doing a few other things to keep busy. The other day he posted a story about being freaked out in the middle of the night by strange voices. I haven’t [...]
New Blogger: Heber Vega
A few weeks back I introduced you to Heber (pronounced like “ever” only with a “b”) Vega. Heber, if you recall, runs a NGO in Iraq, with his wife Belen and several staff. While in Iraq I taught his staff how to take better photos of the work they do so they can tell their [...]
A Culture of Strangers
by Shiloh Lane
I grew up in a very small town in Kentucky; I went to college in another very small town in Kentucky; and when I went to “the big city” to go shopping, I really just went to a slightly larger small town in Kentucky. It suffices to say that I didn’t meet a [...]
Depth of Field: Gary S. Chapman and Vivian Chapman
Gary S Chapman and wife Vivian Chapman’s goal is to help non-government organizations communicate with the public through stunning images. This is particularly important for NGOs working with disasters, or in areas of development. They are very good at it! Gary, originally a journalist for top rags like Louisville Courier Journal, brings a real photojournalist bent to [...]
March Wallpaper: Give Peace a Shot with IGVP!
This month’s wallpaper is courtesy of the International Guild of Visual Peacemakers. I am a member of several guilds and organizations, but there is none that I feel more proud to be a part of than the IGVP. Not only because I share membership with noted photographers like Ami Vitale, David duChemin, Gavin Gough and [...]
Culture Stress: Can’t Win for Losing
The interview I had planned for today would be better as a Depth of Field podcast. So, left with a blank piece of paper, or screen as the case may be, I found myself musing about last week’s guest post from author Shiloh Lane. She ruffled a lot of feathers and, quite frankly, I was [...]
Think Tank Announces the Retrospective
Think Tank Photo has announced several new product lately. One of which rates a 12 on scale of 1-to-10 for it’s cool factor. I am speaking about the new Retrospective series camera bags. As the name implies, it sports a very retro look and feel. I have only seen the press release photo, but from [...]
Composition: Prescriptive or Descriptive?
If there is one question I get whenever I teach or discuss composition it is, “Yeah but do you shoot with all these compositional rules in mind or is it something you see afterwards?” To put it another way, are these compositional rules prescriptive or descriptive? And the answer, of course, is a little of [...]
A Whiff of Progress and Pad Thai
MB: I want to introduce to you a young lady who will be guest blogging here every so often; Shiloh Lane. I started reading her blog and realized this young lady had a talent and passion for words. I think you will become a fan of hers as I have.
A Whiff of Progress and Pad [...]
Esther Havens: A Report from Haiti
I met Esther Havens over twitter. I heard a lot of scuttlebutt about how she was this young attractive hotshot photographer out of Austin, Texas.
Depth of Field: Ami Vitale, David duChemin and Matt Brandon
This is perhaps one of my favorite Depth of Fields. It is less an interview (not that any of my Depth of Fields can be called interviews) and more of a discussion. The listener gets a fly on the wall perspective with Ami, David and I recounting what it is like on the road. An [...]
Line of Sight
So much visual weight is given to the human face that it trumps just about everything else in an image.
Jessica Courtney
Yesterday I received a lot of positive response on Hebers Vega’s multimedia essay. Today I want to highlight one more student, Jessica Courtney with the Preemptive Love Coalition. Jessica, along with her husband Jeremy and other staff work hard to bring life saving surgery to Iraqi children. The story is an amazing one and worth [...]
Heber Vega
Note: There seems to be a bug with the Soundslides Plus player. The first few captions are bleeding past the edge of the screen. If viewed full screen this problem goes away.
To review; I have seen that many NGOs (Non-Government Organizations aka not-for-profit organizations), especially the smaller ones, have less financial resources to be able [...]
Saved by a $19.95
Contrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as a universal press pass. No one pass exists that will to get you into every event your heart, or editor, desires, but there certainly are press credentials. These are often given by individual newspapers or societies. A credential or an ID does not give you [...]
Halabja
I have made it back home. Back to my wife and my child and my bed. I am going to take a few days to try to reconnect and get my health better. I had rough case of bronchitis the whole time I was gone. Physically this was one of the hardest I have ever [...]
Update: Kirkuk
The Old Ottoman city of Kirkuk.
Quick update. Yesterday I drove with Millennium Relief and Development Services (MRDS) to Kirkuk here in Iraq. I had not talked about it by name before for security reasons. The city is still tense and has US Army security forces though out the city. On my way out of [...]
Ya gotta love light!
(Click on the image to view it larger)
Today I am siting in a flat here in Iraq recovering. I have had a little time to review some of my images. I am always amazed how something can look so different from one day to the next. Of course we all know why, it’s not rocket [...]
February Wallpaper
So my gift to you is not one but two complete sets of wallpaper for most any size screen as well as for your iPhone or iPod Touch.
Istanbul: Day two
The Ottoman architecture and art is reminiscence for Mogul architecture and art for me.
The Blue Mosque & The Ayasofya
It started snowing as our plain touched down at 8 am here in Istanbul. It has not stopped. In fact it has intensified. I had planned on going out and doing some site seeing, but with the lack of sleep and the blowing snow I only made it across the street to the The Sultan [...]
I shoot for mostly NGOs and nonprofits. I photograph images of the unknown, the forgotten and the helpless. These are often the stories that most people overlook. 
