The 24-hour, all-encompassing shot!

photo by Chris Kotsiopoulos

Chris Kotsiopoulos, a amateur Greek astro-photographer, recently assembled over 500 individual images he took during one 24-hour period on December 30, 2010 into this one “little planet” panoramic photograph. Read all the incredible details about how he did it here! Chris’ little planet photo inspired me to try some of my own. Here’s my favorite…

photo illustration by Tim Isaacson

Stay tuned for a “little planet” tutorial coming soon!

Thinking about doing a 365 project?

from Jared Bredeson's 365 project

What’s a “365 project?” A 365 project is where a photographer commits to posting a meaningful picture every day for a year. The concept has been around for a few years now, and seems to pop up and gain steam in early January as people make their New Year’s resolutions. I almost committed myself to starting a 365 project this year, but was ultimately afraid that I would fail…Maybe next year?

Right now I am enjoying following some friends and former students in their 365 projects. Below is a short list of some of the ones I am following. Check them out and see what you think. If you like it…show them some encouragement by commenting on their sites.

Liz Cook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2371406&id=55700064

Jared Bredeson: http://jaredryanphotos.tumblr.com/

Briony Skerjance: http://brionyskerjance.blogspot.com/

Huong Nguyen Fralin: http://huongfralin.com/blog/

Check out the newly-discovered work of Vivian Maier, Chicago street photographer!

Here’s a fascinating story about an average woman, stuck in a dead-end, mundane job deep in the heart of America’s industrial Midwest during the 1950’s and 60’s. Enter one, Vivian Maier, American born, but raised in France, the art capital of the world. Never married, self-described loner, nanny to some of Chicago’s wealthiest elite, died in April of 2009 at the age of 83.

A lifetimes’ worth of Maier’s photographs have recently come to light, just within the last year or so. Everyday Joe, John Maloof, stumbled on over 100,000 of Maier’s medium-format negatives while attending a storage facility auction in 2007, and has since been slowly scanning and releasing many of her images into the public domain. Maier’s work has since caught the eye of artists, art dealers, galleries, and collectors alike; who seem stunned by the starkness and reality of her images. They have compared Maier’s photographs to some of America’s premier street photographers of the time: Robert Frank, Diane Arbus, Garry Winogrand, and Lee Friedlander. News of Maier’s work and many of her images have recently started to circle the globe and is receiving press in such places as the UK, France, Denmark, and the Netherlands. She is even having a gallery hanging of her work in Chicago from now until April. For more information on Maier and her images go to http://www.vivianmaier.blogspot.com/.

Check out this new Ricky Skaggs music video!…. It was shot with Nikon cameras and features the nature photography of Bill Fortney.

Give the above video a view and feel free to repost to all your friends. Nashville recording artist and famous bluegrass singer/songwriter Ricky Skaggs has just released a new album called Mosaic. Great music by the way! My good friend and Nikon technical representative, Bill Fortney and others from Nikon conceived, shot and edited this video using all Nikon equipment. The still photography of nature is Bill’s too. Enjoy! Here is a link to Ricky’s website for more from the album.