Who Am I? Where Am I? Just Ask iPhoto.

Apple's new iPhoto will tell you.   iPhoto 09 incorporates face detection and geo tagging technology.  Yes, it actually recognizes faces in your images and allows you to assign names to the faces.   The software then searches for cases of the same face throughout your library.  It's not perfect, but by confirming the face, I'm sure the program learns over time.  

Geo tagging has been heavily integrated into iPhoto 09.   Photos can be organized by place and even plotted on a Google Maps interface.   And what about all those old photos?  You can go back and assign the locations to old images and iPhoto appears to update them on the maps.   Apple also was touting the ability to integrate maps within photo books - pretty neat.  I'm not sure I'd want to spend the pages on a map, but you never know.

Geo tagging technology is very cool.  Unfortunately, few cameras have the hardware.   Only one Nikon point and shoot camera has an integrated GPS.  The new Nikon DSLRs require an add on device for a few hundred bucks.   Of course the iPhone has geo tagging as well.   But the iPhone camera is probably the weakest function on the entire phone.   Probably the best option would be to take some snapshots with the iPhone and then transfer the GPS tag to the DSLR photos.  

I'm sure the hardware will catch up soon enough.  In the meantime, this should give Apple time to include some variation of these features in Aperture.  Currently, you can only add the GPS tag itself - no maps.  

Annie Leibovitz - At Work

Leibovitz's new book serves as a great inspiration to photographers of all kinds - young, old, professional or amateur.   I usually don't tear through a book this quickly but it was hard to put it down (and there are lots of pictures, so it really does read quickly).    At Work is a survey of her entire career from college, to Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair Magazines and beyond.  She discusses events leading up to each shot, some background history, and any particular challenges she had to deal with.

Each chapter covers a particular person (John Lennon, OJ, The Queen) or theme (Advertising, Fashion, Groups).  Typically a handful of shots are discussed and a sampling of images are included.  It was annoying though that the text describing a particular photo shoot always seemed to fall a few pages before or after the photo.    The photos themselves however, are beautifully displayed.

The book concludes with a summary of her equipment (very common these days) and a top 10 question & answer section.  Leibovitz talks about how she's grown to love digital but it sounded like the transition had it's challenges for her.   It's clear that she's not a gear head (probably left to the assistants).  "I'm not nostalgic about cameras.  When I talk about how important the camera is to me, I mean the idea of the camera.  What photography does...I use whatever helps me take a picture in all kinds of light with faster speed and fewer problems."

Looking through images in the book yields a strong appreciation for her raw talent.   One of the concert photos of Mick Jagger from her Rolling Stones work was especially impressive.   The exposure was flawless - and she didn't have the luxury of chimping in those days.    Her mastery of exposure is also clear in many of the black and white shots.

Even more important is the strength of her 'eye' or photographic vision.   She makes of point to inform the reader that some thought goes into every aspect of the photo - even if it was a photo journalism shot that had to be captured in the moment.    I found myself smiling when I read that she prefers not to capture people smiling.  Rarely has she asked her subject to smile.  "It took me years to understand that I equated asking someone to smile with asking them to do something false."

Despite her lack of techie status, she does spend time with Photoshop.   While working with the Queen, she was determined to get a shot of the Royal outdoors in a garden.  That didn't happen, so she simply overlaid The Queen against a garden shot she had taken earlier in the visit.  I also found her work of stitching frames (mostly for group shots) together quite interesting - I may give this a shot.   Hopefully my copy of Photoshop still opens.

Finally, I enjoyed hearing her defense of the still image over video.  It's something I often wonder about.  "You may think you can't compete with the barrage of images on television, but pictures have their own impact.  You can study them.  They remain."

Happy New Year

Yes, my first resolution will be to blog a little more. Who knows what great thoughts I'm forgetting by not jotting them down. I've been thinking about other resolutions for 2009. Here are a few objectives:

1. As stated, blog more - both on personal reflections of life and photography, and in our family blog.   Little Shelby is growing so fast and while I'm not worried about a shortage of photos, capturing events and observations that might not photograph well is something that I want to do this year.  
2. Save a little more, spend a little less.
3. Begin some serious photography marketing.  I've been able to build a great arsenal of gear (hence #2), and there's no excuse not to make a few dollars on the side.   Last year I did 2 weddings for hire.  This year my goal is as least 5 paid gigs even if they're small.
4. Read some good parenting books.  I've survived so far with just a couple books and good instincts, but there's no reason not to study up.   It's a small investment with a huge payoff.
5. Push myself at work.  

And those are my resolutions for the year...   I'll check back in mid year to see how I've done.

Food Day

Once again, today was Food Day at work.  What is Food Day?  Multiple departments typically agree on a day for each person to bring in one item.   So we're talking 15-25 people, at least.  We arrive to Starbucks coffee, Panera bagels, donuts (from me), brownies (for breakfast), etc etc...  

And then around 11, lunch setup begins with fried chicken, various dips and vegetable plates, more brownies, pasta salads, multiple soft drinks and the list goes on. 

At both my current and previous employer the situation was the same - so it's not a company culture thing.

Depsite the plethora of food, I still bring my standard sandwich, yogurt, apple and diet coke.  I just skipped the chocolate bar.   Call me a creature of habit, but I prefer a reasonably consistent healthy meal.

Here's the interesting part, for me anyway.   I work with a bunch of very analytical people.   And every time the group is always amazed at the volume of food.   "Oh, there's so much here!  How are we going to eat it all?"   The surprise is what really gets to me.   If you asked any of these people out of context how much food you'd need to feed 25 people (keep in mind we don't burn many calories sitting all day), I would think they'd all agree not everyone would need to bring something.   But this never happens.  There's some unwritten social dynamic at work here.  For some reason, it's never an option to have say 5 of the 25 people bring something on one day for five consecutive Fridays.   Guess what, you could have 4 additional food days without the waste. But for some reason, it's socially unacceptable to indulge if you haven't contributed that particular day. 

Today I brought in a dozen donuts.   By 4pm, there were 4 left and I had eaten 3.    I just don't get it.  

Change Is Coming

It may not come immediately as Obama says, but change is on the way!  It's a good day to be an American - young, old, even a baby.  

Give Blood

I donated blood yesterday for the first time.   It wasn't that bad actually.   I was a bit light headed for a few minutes, but it passed quickly.    

How Much Lower Can We Go?

Who knows what tomorrow will bring in the financial markets.   Reading the quarterly mutual fund section of the Times today seemed so out dated.   Last week alone, the major indices were down about 18%.   And we're down 40% for the year.   In any other situation, an 18% decline is a bad year.   

I was skimming a few stocks that might be worth picking up now, like GE.   The Oracle of Omaha thinks GE is a good deal.   But then again, with the whole market down so severely, I figure there's nothing wrong with simply continuing my buy and hold long term strategy with broad based index funds.   As a friend says, "Scott, we're net buyers."   

Long term, assuming you believe in the Capitalism (with an occasional bail out), stocks have been the best vehicle to beat inflation over the long term.   Otherwise, look for for a big mattress. 

I've added a couple more blog links in the right column.  NPR and PRI is putting out some awfully good programming!