The 10 Most Photographed Cities

Life.com ives us the list, derived from Flickr's "most popular" tags. I really thought the most-photographed would be New York. I was wrong; it was number two on the list. The winner? Look for your jolly old self.--
David Schonauer

Latest Trend in Russian Photography: "Vilena Style"

There is a new fad in Russian social networking...all sorts of women are taking self-portraits in a particular pose, which you can see in the photo above. It's called the Vilena style because that was the name of the woman who did it first. As far as I'm concerned this is why digital cameras were a necessary invention. Go here for the scoop. How long until pros start copying this?--David Schonauer

Create Your Own Magazine, One Copy At a Time

The New York Times has an article today about a new service from Hewlett-Packard called MagCloud, which lets you publish your own magazine. As if old media didn't face enough competition already! Here how it works: You do the writing, photography, and design, create PDFs, upload them to the site, and your work is printed on HP Indigo digital printers. All that costs you nothing. If you want to actually buy issues of your magazine, MagCloud will sell them to you for 20 cents each. If you wish to resell them, you can charge whatever you like.
     It's a new angle on vanity publishing. And why not? There are plenty of companies now that let you print your own books. I haven't seen the quality of MagCloud printing, so I can't vouch for it. But this is another indication of just how personalized mass communication is becoming. Let's take a poll: If you were to create your own magazine, what would it be about?--David Schonauer

Epitaph For Digital Railroad

The news that Digital Railroad has shut down its servers is sad if not unexpected. It was clear the business was in trouble when the Diablo Management Group took control and chief executive Charles Mauzy departed with other employees. Nonetheless, I was shocked to hear that a notice had been posted on the DRR site today saying that it was shutting down. That left a lot of photographers around the world in the lurch. Apparently competitor PhotoShelter is offering a special rate for former DRR subscribers. I am a friend of DRR founder Evan Nisselson, and he sent me a note this morning, which I share here:

It is a very sad day! I am very sorry for our members.
     There are many variables that have helped and challenged the success of DRR. There are many things that could have been done differently and I am sure we all have learned through the process – I know that I have.
     I evolved to chairman of the board almost a year ago and since then have had no control and limited input.
     After Diablo Management took over the board and operations of the company on Oct. 10th I tried to gather people to acquire the company back. I came very close but unfortunately it didn't happen. These
didn't materialize for several reasons including the very challenging financial times we are in.
     After these initiatives didn't materialize - Diablo wouldn't even return my emails or calls. We kept advising that the members needed and deserved advance notice if the company was going to turn off the
platform but after this advice from several people - Diablo Management only gave members 24 hours to transfer images.
     Unfortunately sharing this perspective doesn't change anything but I hope it helps clarify a bit.

Best,
Evan

The history of the Internet is filled with the names of products and companies that are no longer with us. The fact that new VC funding wasn't available now isn't surprising either, given the state of the economy and tight credit markets. Does anyone have thoughts about what went wrong here?--David Schonauer

Web Watch: What Happens to Your Online Photos When You Die?

Here's a good question I've never really thought much about: What happens to images you've posted on websites or social networking sites after you die? Will they live online forever? And if so, is that a kind of wonderful immortality, or is it creepy?
    This story on techradar.com has some info on the subject. If I read it correctly, your images on Facebook may stay around for a long time even if you go to that big darkroom in the sky. (Facebook accounts remain active unless you deactivate them, so theoretically your grandkids will be able to post images of themselves on your wall, even while you're in the grave.)
    According to the story, Flickr accounts are in theory supposed to die when you do. But in reality your account will remain on the web if there is occasion activity on it.--David Schonauer

Eye Candy

In the category of Goofy But Fun Things to Do with Your Photos, we came across a site by M&M Candylab that lets you upload a picture of your favorite face and have it animated. In preparation for Halloween, you can direct your face to sing either Bow Wow Wow's "I Want Candy" or Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me with Science."

We chose the former tune for a picture of our six-year-old daughter, with mixed results. Be sure to choose a picture with a nice likeness that lends itself to being stretched in animation. For our first attempt we used an image that was a bit dark, and the animated result had our blond-blue-eyed girl looking shadowy and sinister — sort of like a scene from The Exorcist. Then we loaded a cheerier pumpkin shot (at right) and got a nicer result, though still a bit spooky (at top).

Naturally, the site includes options for sending your creation to a friend or posting it on Facebook. Oh, you can also put your pix on a personalized package of M&Ms for about $15 — at those prices, and in these times, maybe more apt for Christmas. — Jack Crager

Best Google Earth Photos--Amazing!

Yeah, it's a weird news days. But somehow this photo made me feel better. Seen from above, our planet and civilization features some very interesting intriguing sites, such as this land formation near Alberta, Canada, which looks just like a human head with native American adornment. Best news: You can view it from Google Earth (coordinates  50.010083,-110.113006). Here are more weird and delightful photos from Google Earth. I'm glad cameras are everywhere.--David Schonauer

Sign On, Meet Up, Shoot Away

Seattle-based photographer Chase Jarvis has long been a champion of amateur/emerging photographers, especially insofar as professionals are trying to shut them out of the industry because they feel threatened. The black box -- what Jarvis calls that core of insider knowledge pros can get overly protective of -- needs to have the top blown off, he says. Jarvis has been doing this on a personal level by posting detailed explanations on his blog of how he gets his shots, how he packs his bags, even every outtake photo from an entire shoot (the pros take crappy pictures too!). Now he's stepping it up to the next level by helping the Seattle amateur photo community, collected in a Flickr Meetup and Strobist group, to come together for big photo learning sessions. They just had their second shoot day, with 100 photographers and lots of models, lights, and, yes, professionals congregating in a HUGE studio space Jarvis helped procure. Check out the video here and the longer background description from the first shoot here. Although most communities will be hard-pressed to find a professional steward who "gets it" as quickly and completely as Jarvis, this is an idea and ideology that Jarvis (and I) hope to see proliferate around the country and globe.

~Miki Johnson

Flickr Superstar Profiled in Times Magazine

I’ve been keeping a secret for a while now, and it’s time I just let it out, so here goes: I totally don’t follow the whole Flickr thing. I check out images there from time to time, but I don’t know who the big stars and major personalities are. By now I should be an upstanding member of the Flickr community, since I write about photography, but instead I spend all my spare time working.
    So I was really interested in a piece in yesterday’s New York Times Magazine by Vigrinia Heffernan about Rebekka Guoleifsdottir, describes as “one of Flickr’s most popular photographers.
    The point of the story was that some savvy photographers have learned how to perfect a “Flickr style”—images that look good in thumbnail form, with fulsome digital manipulation—and how to work the social networking aspect of the site to make herself more popular.
     As the piece points out, Guoleifsdottir, who lives in Iceland, isn’t shy about posting images of herself (above, for example). She eventually became so popular on Flickr that she was hired to do a Toyota ad campaign.
      I’d be interested in hearing from Flickr members if they believe there is particular style of photography that defines a new aesthetic. Do film images really get shouted down because they seem out of focus? Is it wrong to game the Flickr system in order to become popular? (Analog artists have been doing that forever.)–David Schonauer

Photoshop For Free

In the never-ending circus to attract Web-based imaging customers, Adobe has tossed a thousand-gallon hat into the ring with its new Adobe Photoshop Express, now available for free in a beta version. First-look bloggers warn that this is Photoshop Lite — not the full-fledged imaging tool used by pros but a simple, free photo-editing version for newbies.

Meanwhile, rival tech giant Google is upping the ante with an API to enhace its Picasa Web Uploader service. As Adobe and Google — two companies who have snared market share in several imaging sectors with user-friendly designs — battle it out, Bill Gates and company must be fuming. May the friendliest imaging interface win. — Jack Crager