Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Craziness has no agespecially for artists LOL
robert
Robert,
"Crazy is good," I say. LOL.
Funny thing is I love crazy woman too. LOL.
My friends thought I would kill myself with my 84 Jeep Scrambler that I jacked-up and replaced the motor with a Corvette engine. I had big tires also. So how do you make a vehicle that is deemed unsafe more dangerous? Makes sense to me.
When I raced mountain bikes my first bike was an IBIS Mountain Trials, likely one of the most aggressive handling mountain bikes ever made with violent handling and a hyper-short wheelbase of only 39 inches. This mountain bike had only a 24 inch rear wheel and the proper riding position is kinda right over the rear wheel to keep the bike from doing endo's.
The effect is kinda almost riding a unicycle, but at high speeds.
I learned that a Jeep at 100 mph is barely on the ground. Any bump or dip in the road and you catch air. Also 23 gallons of gas only lasts about an hour at 100 mph. Drag is inverse square law so drag is what limits the speed. Call me a physicist.
Also my fastest time driving 2,000 miles from New Mexico to New York was 31 hours. Pretty much sustained high speed driving. Realize I was able to maintain a 65 mph average speed over the course of that journey and that also includes stopping for refueling, food, and going to the bathroom.
Cal
Prest_400
Multiformat
This is so appropiate after having watched the Cannonball run movie.
I have a strange relation with driving. Maybe it's just the traffic that nags me off really. At the beginning of the year I saw a frontal crash and that's some serious thing if it happens to yourself.
Guy in front was driving OK and it was fault of the SUV on the other lane, distracted perhaps and wind gust did the rest. Had I come to the road 4 seconds before and it would be me.
Stupid thing really, but my irrational self would like one of those big Muscle Cars with HEMI blocks. Those new Dodge Challengers look good.
I have the feeling that I'll become crazier as I age. Somehow I've always been a quiet and rational character. Recently I was thinking I could do more dare stuff, although in reality I tend to chicken off.
Checking the calendar for a day up hiking the mountains. Carnival is soon and very hyped here, perhaps I'll let myself go crazy as far I can, heh
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
MFM,
It is not that I want to leave, but I can't see staying. You are right about the taxes. My income started climbing last year. I got paid doing both photography and printing. The money is kinda big.
I have been looking at places that are 25%-30% lower cost of living than NYC for sustainability. I'm fortunate in that I have two pensions so I will have a comfortable lifestyle once I settle into another place that costs 25%-30% less cost of living.
Although Seattle is considered an expensive city, the cost compared to NYC is 30% less. Also my income would not be taxed. The way Washington State gets its revenue is though its sales tax. This tax is defined as "regressive" because in an unbalanced way it taxes the poor more than the rich. I'm O.K. with that: "No one ever got rich by paying taxes," rich people say; and know that I already paid more than my fair share of taxes.
Even though Seattle has high housing costs it is still 30% less than NYC.
Mad-Rid Spain is 30% cheaper cost of living, Barcelona is 25% cheaper cost of living, Berlin is also in the ballpark. Vancouver is a possibility.
These locations of urban living are really dictated by "Woman Factor" because "Maggie" is already 65 and demands a major international city. Call me antisocial but I could live anywhere, even remote and off the grid. I already lived in the Santa Fe National Forest 47 miles from civilization. No TV reception in a community of 80 mailboxes on Highway 4.
Only place I refuse to live is the suburbs. I escaped the mediocrity and boredom decades ago. On Long Island where I grew up it was filled with unhappy whiners. Biggest concentration of single females there. I have a theory is the reason why is that women like to remain close to their moms, but guys are like me migrate to happier pastures.
BTW the place in the U.S. with the highest concentration of single men is San Francisco but understand this is a gay community.
Big things are happening. I think the decade of concentrating on just image capture will have a big payoff. Creating an archive was a great thing because I basically can take NYC with me if I'm forced to leave.
Maggie dropped her agent in London, and now she has two big agents in NYC interested in picking her up. Things are not so bad because I even crunched the numbers: if I work to full retirement age (66) only six years away, and if I defer collecting my pensions and Social Security until I'm 70 I could actually have enough income to make up the 30% higher cost of living. Of course I would have to live on savings for 4 years to build the bridge. My thoughts of being a lazy slacker though is quit the day-job ASAP for mucho happiness and fuller living. I have to hang on for at least 2 years more, and I need to establish some form of income.
I'm currently in austerity mode saving as much as possible. I already have enough gear to last me the rest of my life. My printers are like pickup trucks, I'll just maintain them well and rebuild them when I have to.
Meanwhile I am now 5"9" (shrunk an inch) and I'm about a pound away fro my fighting weight (147 pounds, Welterweight). My dad was poor, illiterate, and an overweight diabetic, but he lived til 94.
To be honest I like Seattle. The milder weather, the bike friendly culture, and the not uptight like NYC vibe. Already have a tribe there in the art community from just one visit. My gal kinda top listed us and we got VIP treatment. In a way our vacation got hyjacked. No Lie. In spring break we have to return for some fashion business.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
This is so appropiate after having watched the Cannonball run movie.
I have a strange relation with driving. Maybe it's just the traffic that nags me off really. At the beginning of the year I saw a frontal crash and that's some serious thing if it happens to yourself.
Guy in front was driving OK and it was fault of the SUV on the other lane, distracted perhaps and wind gust did the rest. Had I come to the road 4 seconds before and it would be me.
Stupid thing really, but my irrational self would like one of those big Muscle Cars with HEMI blocks. Those new Dodge Challengers look good.
I have the feeling that I'll become crazier as I age. Somehow I've always been a quiet and rational character. Recently I was thinking I could do more dare stuff, although in reality I tend to chicken off.
Checking the calendar for a day up hiking the mountains. Carnival is soon and very hyped here, perhaps I'll let myself go crazy as far I can, heh
Jorde,
In Chinese astrology I was born in the year of the "Chicken." In eastern culture a "Rooster" is known as a fierce animal know to fight til death.
Also culturally growing up in the Vietnam era my generation grew up with an awareness of the possibility of being maimed or killed by a war, and in my case looking like the enemy during a time of few Asians in the U.S. means the first thing I learned in kindergarten was how to fight.
Pretty much had to be ready to fight at all times, and it was generally me having to stand alone.
Interesting how this conditioning gets processed and can effect one later in life. I find myself recreating danger and trying to master those feelings again and again later in life. Perhaps destructive behavior and crazy is promoted, but also this same energy can be constructive and cause break
throughs. I happen to feel that compelling myself into risk has made me avoid mediocrity. I feel I have embraced risk, and somehow I have lived life more fully. Most of all I am not boring. LOL.
Anyways it is counterintuitive, but I learned as a child to stand like a man alone and to have big balls. One thing that got promoted and was understood by the good, the bad, and the ugly: I was a guy capable of doing almost anything.
Cal
Phil_F_NM
Camera hacker
When I was in the Navy, I once drove from Baltimore to Albuquerque in 31 hours just to surprise my mother. Didn't sleep at all, just refueled, ate, drank coffee and drove.
Phil Forrest
Phil Forrest
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Phil,
I can see you doing that. I drove back and forth via the southern route.
Drove back and forth New York to Los Alamos three times. Always an adventure. You really get to see how gigantic our country is. Going west though Pennsylvania takes a long time.
One time I got stuck in West Salem Ohio for a week. My Jeep had about a thousand pounds of my heavy paintings that were really constructions on multilayers of glass. Onviously I had overloaded the Jeep, and on some interstate between two big Ohio cities I broke my rear axel, the right rear wheel separated and suddenly the Jeep listed. I began fishtailing as I skid on the backing plate for the drum brake.
A shower of sparks created a rooster tail. I knew enough about physics not to hit the brakes, and what saved my life was my instinct. I took my foot off the gas, pushed in the clutch, and shiften into neutral and held on to the E-ticket ride of my life. One mistake and my Jeep would of rolled into a ball of steel and glass, and I would become a red sponge.
So I coasted about a mile before I was slow enough to try and sterr into the shoulder. The transition was rude because the highway was concrete, but the shoulder was asphalt.
Funny thing is Jeeps were manufacture in Ohio, but evidently getting parts was a problem. I basically was adopted for a week by the Smith family who owned the garage. They mostly worked on 18 wheelers. Originally the Smiths came from Oklahoma.
The Smiths left the garage open so I had access to the bathroom, and eventually after one night of sleeping in my Jeep I was offered to use the Sleeper in the cab of an 18 wheeler that was being serviced in the garage. Wayne the son became my buddy, and "Ferd" (Fred was his real name) was Wayne's Uncle. Mean old Ferd they called him, the father and Wayne, and Ferd called me "The Cowboy" even though I looked like an Indian with my dark skin and long straight black hair because of my New Mexico license plates.
When I got back to my cabin in the Santa Fe National Forest after the repair, I open the door and the phone was ringing. It was Wayne who wanted to know if I got home safely.
I ended up sending Wayne a Penn Reel baseball cap. He sport it poudly in the garage. Mean old Ferd asked where he got the new cap, and when Wayne told him that the Cowboy sent it to him, boy was Ferd mad. "That little Fxxx," he said.
BTW I heard lots of stories about Ferd. basically a hillbilly hell raiser. Ferd was a giant, his fist was the size of a ham, and he must of broken many a faces in Oklahoma.
I did have a run in at the Dinner in West Salem. Pretty much this guy was trying to initialize a hate crime. The waitress called him by name and told him to leave me alone.
So when it came time to leave I had to be ready for the possible fight of my life. A friend I knew at Grumman was a Marine back in the late 50's. Ray was from Alabama, he was a small man, but Ray had a big mouth. Ray told me a story of this huge Marine that he didn't get along with. It was about race and the big Marine said, "I'll get you on the outside one day."
So one day Ray is at a dinner with a woman and this Giant Marine comes in and says, "Enjoy your last meal. I'll be waiting outside."
After the guy leaves Ray asks for the pepper shaker, he pays his bill and empties the pepper shaker into his hands. He makes two fists and walks outside where the big Marine is waiting, and when within striking distance he blinded him with the pepper and rendered him helpless. Ray started giving the guy a beating, but evidently this man was not well liked. A crowd joined in taking advantage of the opportunity which where I come from is called "justice."
So I'm in a similar situation, and I have to maybe go to battle. I might have to fight for my life, but then again I have been here before. I did open a pepper shaker to have a chemical weapon, but when I went outside he was not there. BTW this was in the 80's when Ronald Reagan was President. I was working at Los Alamos on a space based Star Wars weapon: a neutral partical bean aceleratior to shoot down intercontinental ballistic missles.
Cal
Phil_F_NM
Camera hacker
Crazy story!
On another note, we won't be making the meeting on the 25th. Simply can't afford it. As it stands now I'm thinking very seriously of selling my Mamiya 6MF kit due to lack of funds.
Phil Forrest
On another note, we won't be making the meeting on the 25th. Simply can't afford it. As it stands now I'm thinking very seriously of selling my Mamiya 6MF kit due to lack of funds.
Phil Forrest
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Phil,
As always do what is required and do what is good for you.
I really appreciate you being an up-front kinda guy.
Many thanks.
Cal
JeffNYC
Well-known
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Look forward to attending the Feb meetup.
Jeff
Cool.
Another package from L.A. I collected from the Cyberdoorman.
I also got a 700ml bottle of ink: $201.00; ouch. I'll be toning down the warmth in my K-7 inkset. Also I'm now using the new PK-HD blacker-black from Peizography Pro in my K-7 inkset. Reported to add a stop to dynamic range, and the new curves required have more overlap and longer tails for added smoothness.
The air bubbles settled out of my carts and ink lines. I still have to download the new curves and do the install. The new prints should crush my old work.
The book project is underway and is gaining momentum. I have three 17 x 50 foot rolls of Jon Cone Type 5 that creates a satin glossy dedicated to the book project. That's over 80 pages. We are talking cotton rag paper for that sexy feel.
I'll be ording some 24 inch wide rolls, and the new format for 12x18 image size to utilize stock frames will be 18x24 sheet size for 3 inch boarders for presentation as well as framing. I'll be going modular to save money as well as by design. Win-win.
Today I will submit my L.A. Billboard submission. I have 4 strong applications. It would be great to win all 4 alcolades because by May I should have all notices and in the fall this will strengthen my application for the really big fellowship I intend on going for. Five out of five is really ambitious, but then again I'm a great-great salesman, and now I'm promoting myself and my work. Not so delusional that I could sweep and win all.
I'll be concentrating on my printing. No more applications until the fall.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
CALL FOR PHOTOS: So I just was contacted by my Editor from the Camera Cronicle, and he wants me to write a feature that covers the Camera Carnival. We will require mucho photography, and if any of you guys or gals want an easy photo credit well here it is.
Of course you have to make George the editor's cut and have your shot selected.
JPEGS at 72 DPI. This is for an online publication.
www.CameraChronicle.com
Cal
Of course you have to make George the editor's cut and have your shot selected.
JPEGS at 72 DPI. This is for an online publication.
www.CameraChronicle.com
Cal
MrFujicaman
Well-known
Good luck, Cal !
And every time you mention "CyberDoorman", I picture one of the Cybernaughts from Doctor Who trudging up to your apartment with a package.
And every time you mention "CyberDoorman", I picture one of the Cybernaughts from Doctor Who trudging up to your apartment with a package.
finguanzo
Well-known
Considering how long it takes me to develop. Ill have the Carnival images ready to publish by March 2019....
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
MFM,
I have lived in my building for 6 years now. My 2 year lease just ran out so I now am paying month to month.
So in the lobby of my ghetto buster building, that stands out as where the local rich folk live, that is just one block away from where Bruce Davidson staked out East 100th Street to record the extreme poverty there in 1969, that basically does not fit the surrounding buildings, that was constructed as a luxury condos, that feature washer/drier dishwasher in unit, that has a gym, that is surrounded by the worst neighborhood in Madhattan, that is in a community where half the residents receive some form of government check, that one quarter of the residents live in public housing projects, that is the fastest growing Asian community in NYC due to cheap housing (poor people not like me), that was on the news last night for a news story of an old woman mugged in her own building (housing project) when she went to the garbage chute and was followed and shoved into her apartment, that I almost got pancaked by an errant cab at the lobby entrance, that my neighbor from my building almost got pancaked too, that once was a segrigated street with Italians on one side and Blacks on the other side where you could not cross the street without getting beat up, that down the block where Sunshine Park is where everyone walks their dog had a walk-up catch fire and burn down two adjoining building, that had those razed buildings torn down thus creating the park where everyone leaves dog turds, that is part of NYC's most rat infested neighborhoods, that is just down the block from the halfway house for ex criminals on parole, where on the corner a woman was assaulted with a brick and mugged, where there were numerous fire escape break ins that were attempted rapes, that is just around the corner from where a girl was followed into her building during the day and was repeatedly body slammed in a video because she didn't want to give up her cell phone and pocketbook, where I look out my window a see two crowds of kids rumble and attack each other for precisely 40 seconds before scattering, where not far away a NYPD cop was kill, and otherwise is a perfectly nice neighborhood. LOL.
Anyways in NYC a lot happens. LOL. Kinda exciting.
So back on topic: in my ghetto buster building there is all this video cameras. and basically instead of having a real person manning the door, we perhaps someone at a remote location in Queens or Yonkers that allows people in and out. There is also a "Storage Closet" where parcels are left.
Pretty much around the Chrismas holidays this storage closet remained kinda full.
Also know that especially Fed Ex often just leaves a note that they attempted delivery outside, meaning the forensics are they never attempted and were never in the building.
The Post Office is "Hellgate" because that is the name of our neighborhood, and the Post Office is very third world. On the first of the month expect long lines outside the door for people getting money orders to pay their bills because they are too poor to have checking accounts. Also the Post Office is understaffed. Really has the vibe of being in some other poor depressed country.
I remember having to pick up a parcel that I had to sign for. Me a Chinese guy had to translate the Spanish for a customer because a client could not speak any English, and oddly the clerk did not speak Spanish where it not only is need is required.
Welcome to my neighborhood. I pay a lot of money to live here. LOL. True adventure, anything can happen. Could of gotten killed, maimed or in the least injured right at the door of my building. Let's see if it happens again. LOL. Could of been on the news...
Now you know where my bad attitude comes from. I pay extra for all this. LOL. This is where my personality comes from. This place is a mess. Not uncommon to see pancaked/steamrolled rat all around.
Cal
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Considering how long it takes me to develop. Ill have the Carnival images ready to publish by March 2019....
IQ is not required: 72 DPI.
In my case I have one of those old flip phones. Does it have a camera?
Cal
Phil_F_NM
Camera hacker
This is what is killing paid journalism. Especially in NYC. It is the reason that I made more money shooting for a tiny paper in Edgewood, NM than I did shooting for Newsday in NYC or the NE Times here in Philly. I beat my head against the failing journalism market for a decade because publications can get work for free now simply over the narcissistic notion of a little by-line in some corner of an obscure page or worse, corner of the internet. It dilutes your talent, my talent, everyone's.
I say if the editor wants shots, they should either attend or pay for them. Working for free begets more working for free. Makes me irate.
Phil Forrest
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
Phil,
I appreciate what you say. Know that for over three years I have spackled the world with fashion photography. Only got paid a few times. I appreciate it when I do get paid. Of course this free work was for my gal's blog.
So late last year "Maggie decides that she no longer works for "Free."
Basically a lot of stuff is really barter: designers "gift" clothing; cosmetic companies "gift product; and then there is "free travel" and "free accommodations" ... So her life got enrichened through experiences, gifts, and invitations, some rather exclusive that all led to branding.
So at some point this all leads to the money and paying gigs. She has the reputation to now to refuse working for free since paying opportunities are coming in.
I went to a talk last night at Parson's where a fashion photographer complained about the overabundance and undercutting that happens and is happening, but at least he has the reputation to continue to get work. Now he has to instead of creating just ten shots for a champaign he also has to do video and other things as well to keep the work coming in. Basically he too is working for free because now he has to do more work to satisfy and continue to get the gigs. Pretty much he is not just a photographer anymore and has to be a crew, art director, videographer, marketing...
No doubt that the world has changed and one has to just deal with it. Not only have I had my work stolen, basically lifted off of the internet, it has made some big players money that could afford to play. Then I eventually learned that all these agencies say they have no money when the do. It is basically on me to refuse any offer and have the self respect to demand to get paid. Basically instead of getting mugged I mugged them back, but like a street fight it is only good when you win.
Here is an example: an ad agency on Madison Avenue with a big name offers $5K for photography, but they want to lend me a car that is a luxury hybrid for a weekend in NYC to do a shoot with Maggie. This is a $100K SUV. So Madison Avenue company is a huge one, and the car company a household name, and only $5K our fee? While $5K is a lot of money, it isn't a lot for Madison Ave nor a highly regarded car company.
So then I read the contract: basically they can sue me, but I can't sue them, and I'm responsible for everything. Vague terms are used like retouched photo's, which means at a certain level a graphic artist might have to be hired, and from my friend Mike I learned that one time Mike had to pay a graphic artist to reduce the size of a hand on the model $500.00 to rework a shot that they loved and had to have taken with a wide angle.
When we refused because of the possible liabilities, the Ad Agency came back saying they could supply a driver and more ore less he would be liable and responsible for the vehicle. On principle I still said no because the fee was too low, I knew they had money, and they just didn't want to spend it. Comes down to not allowing yourself to be exploited, and having self respect.
How much would it have cost Vogue Italia to give me photo credit for the full page shot they used of Maggie? Maggie gave them my information. How hard is it to spell my three letter last name right? Then when the BBC screws up the credits and gives credit for one of my shots to another photographer, what is worse than that? When they give me credit for someone else's shot.
The standards for journalism and truth are going lower for sure, but in today's market this free work (slavery) is surely embedded. You either have to include yourself in it or exclude yourself. It is systemic, but the trick here is to make it work if you want to be part of that world.
In a way without calling it an internship, where you work for free to gain experience and make connections, it really is like an unpaid internship without calling it so. If I were Married, "Maggie's" brother inlaws brother's son did an internship in a firm that he now works for as a lawyer.
Writers do internships working for free. In art school I did an internship at a museum as a course requirement. For over eight years I have been working for free doing this NYC Meet-Up as a Public Service, but know that I gained mucho experience, had fun, and certainly built out my reputation. Perhaps not all good. LOL.
My own experience is at a certain point you do develop a reputation, and if you work it properly it does lead eventually to the money. It happened to Maggie and it is happening to me. For me I have an agreement where I can link and reprint anything I write to my own blog or personal website. This is a good thing for me. On shark tank we see all these on-tour-pour-nures basically putting all their revenues and profits back into their business's and they take no salary. Call it working for free or slavery, it happens to be the American way.
Cal
Phil_F_NM
Camera hacker
This.
Add to that the fact that working full time photographers cannot afford to work as interns or slaves or whatever else working for free might be called.
I wouldn't ask a mechanic to work on my car for free just because I will tell people who see my car who worked on it.
Coming from this group, it is almost an insult. We don't have as many professional photographers here as in other groups I belong to but I know that in one of them, a few of the very senior folks, very prominent photographers at that, would be jumping up and down, typing in all-caps, just what I said and then some.
Not to worry for me. I'm going back to school to retrain in a field where I will be helping people. Photography will be used as a teaching and therapy tool but not for money. I still hold a candle for journalism though and still consider myself a journalist. Over this topic, I'll get in a knife-fight-like debate and I'll win. Because that's the way I was taught. Stick to my guns and what I think is right.
Anyone with as much experience as I have shouldn't be asked nor expected to work for free. The notion is insulting and it damages the ability for future journalists to objectively report and make a living doing so. All it takes is for people to refuse to work for free to rebuild the economy of actually getting paid to work. It is not something one has to "earn" through years of unpaid work just to build up a reputation. The only reputation that creates is that someone who works for free won't stand up for themselves and will always give away their work and can be walked upon whenever the customer wants. Not me.
We can't become a society with pay-to-play journalism. ("Pay" in the context of would-be journalists "paying" their "dues" and working for free.) At that point, we're well into a scenario of fascism cum Idiocracy.
My apologies for getting sociopolitical.
Phil Forrest
MrFujicaman
Well-known
I'm starting to get the feeling pimps have higher morals than exc's at ad agencies.
Calzone
Gear Whore #1
MFM,
Welcome to the Gig Economy where many free lance because they might not have a choice, college grads work at Starbucks, and wages have been stagnant for decades. Pretty much there is an over supply of workers competing for too few opportunities.
The world certainly has changed, and not for the good.
As far as exploitation goes I know of many PhD's who clearly get hosed in their first job after graduating. They put in long hours for 3-4 years and the pay is so little that they are given housing that s subsidized here in NYC. The system is just like "Share Cropping" post Civil War when "slavry" was suppose to be abolished.
Even the famous pro photographer conceded that he has to do a lot more work for the same pay, and if he wants the wok this is what he has to do. He may not be working for free, but in today's world he certainly has to work harder and do more work than he use to.
Back in art school I took offense that anyone with a camera called themselves a photographer. Today that even extends to anyone ho has a cellphone. The Internet is a platform that corrupted image quality IMHO, and what Phil complains about I think extends into the fine art market.
It also seems like print Magazines are struggling as Internet has gained strength. Technology thus is promoting lower IQ which allows people without skill to surplant those who do. My friend Mike the Fashion Photog Pro is experiencing less work due to competition.
If I see the future through what "Maggie" has performed in a little more than three years is get to a point of power and influence where she can refuse opportunities and make demands. It does seem that one today has to figure out a way to distinguish oneself from the competition, to stand out, and somehow command a position.
I think Instagram is part of the problem, and helped saturate the market of images, and proclaimed photographers. Too many people claim they are creatives, artists, photographers, and journalists IMHO.
I don't have much respect for the gate keepers. They are part of the problem.
Cal