New Art Glass Photo Pendants

We've reproduced our artwork on 21 pendants. So far they are selling quite well. Here is what they all look like: CLICK

And we opened a new Etsy shop here: CLICK which so far only features the pendants. They're pretty cool, I like them. I see why others like them. The process turns a photo into a little jewel. Because you wear it it becomes highly personal.

The process of making them was difficult and took a lot of time. That makes these "limited edition" and it is pretty likely that they will each be one of a kind, never produced again-- but we shall have to see about that. Sheryl got excited and wanted to make a bunch more. Will she actually do it ? Don't know yet, but I kind of doubt it.

Photo projects of late: Horses, Goat and friends, Espresso

This is an older image from Big Sur, California: some beautiful horses that I came across in very nice light. I had a good image to work with to start out, but my skills at image editing have improved dramatically, and so today I am able to get much more out of a file than I would have years ago.

This is not a new image either, just a reminder to me that it is one of the few framed images I ever sold on Cafepress, back before they turned to the dark side and succumbed to unreasonable greed ( they reduced our income by two-thirds with a stroke of the pen ). Having that shop for as long as we did-- I supposed we learned that cheaper, novelty type items will sell much more readily than a framed print. On more than one occasion I sold a single greeting card or a sticker, and noted that it had shipped overseas, which gave me a laugh and about a dollar profit. Cafepress mostly sells T-shirts, and T-shirts are usually adorned with slogans, sayings, jokes, or political messages. We quit them because they began stealing more and more profits from the artists and designers, but really we weren't doing all that well over there because we didn't participate enough in doing slogans and jokes-- I'm guessing-- we do know that the fine art and photos don't seem to sell well in that venue. I have a lot of appreciation for product design, and clever wordplay. It's just a different skill than fine art or photography.

Again I've had this image for years but never did anything with it until just now. Bit of a visual joke, makes people laugh. I titled it "Friends." So, in a way it's a crossover image: I'd expect to sell it on a greeting card before it sells as a framed print, and yet it's not just a throw away snapshot either. The light is good and I was pretty meticulous with my editing. I think I cropped in this tight because of the subject matter, otherwise I would have tended to frame a bit wider. Selling is on my mind a lot lately. Christmas is coming and it's a good time to be busy advertising and producing.

But something else is nagging at me and I haven't quite put my finger on it. Sheryl and I know that we need to make some changes but it still seems that change happens so slowly and by incremental steps. We went to Flagstaff recently on business, bit couldn't help noticing how much it reminded us of some of the nicer parts of the Bay Area. It felt like home. Maybe that's what started it, and there is more change in the air than we yet realize.

It's a New Moon for Summit Entertainment, or a new low.

Invert Moon by Paul Hood

Summit entertainment is hard at work protecting their intellectual property rights while restricting yours.

How funny, "Summit Entertainment" who owns the rights to the movie "Twilight", and the recently released "New Moon" among other holdings, just blocked my right to publish a photograph of the moon, which I shot at twilight. I described my image as such. The notification came through "Zazzle". As far as I know, no corporation owns the time between daylight and night. Nor have they yet laid claim to the moon itself, or the fact that we call it "the moon". They don't own the word, "twilight" either. I probably wouldn't depict an image of a new moon at twilight, or any other time though, because it would just be a solid, blank canvas-- so I guess Summit Entertainment is pretty safe there. My piece was titled "Lavender Moon", similar to the one pictured above. It's a nearly full moon. I wouldn't call it a threat or an infringement of any kind, and I would challenge Summit to make a real case if they think otherwise. Sending a threatening email to my print shop after they searched the word "twilight" is irresponsible and it does harm to my business. Sorry but I blame Zazzle too, for caving in without even checking on what they're doing. They started deleting my images before I even had a chance to answer the email that they sent me, and when we asked them what the supposed violation was. . . they didn't even know. They "guessed" that it was the words "moon" and "twilight" associated with an image for sale. That's pretty weak.

Sheryl and I are already writing articles on the subject. It's an interesting enough situation to warrant a press release. Sheryl might write one of those too. And we definitely mention the names "Summit Entertainment", "Twilight", "New Moon" and any and all other associated words and terms in the interests of being thorough. Might have to mention those words several times. And as we all know, that tends to get picked up by search engines. you know, repeating words like Summit Entertainment, New Moon, Twilight or, what the heck, Astro Boy, The Hurt Locker, words like that. I see that these films are currently in theaters:

• The Twilight Saga: New Moon
  
• Astro Boy
  
• The Hurt Locker
  
• Bandslam
  
• Sorority Row
  

And that these are currently in production

• Remember Me
  
• Furry Vengeance
  
• Letters To Juliet
  

I actually don't mind at all giving Summit a little free publicity. I have nothing against them. I could even produce "inspired by" art pieces all day long, naming every last one of their creative works, their intellectual property, by name and there isn't a damn thing they could do to stop me from selling it. In the case at hand however, I was inspired by the moon at twilight. Your moon, my moon, everyone's twilight.

It absolutely costs me money if I can't accurately describe the content of my artwork. I think it's still America. I can still take photos of the new moon at twilight and I can still talk about it, write about it, publish my art and call it any damn thing I like. I have not produced a movie titled "New Moon" or "Twilight", haven't tried to represent my work as being in any way related to Summit Entertainment, their films "New Moon" nor "Twilight". Why would I ? I have not seen either one. I might indeed enjoy these films, but can't very well afford to attend if the holding company is so paranoid as to harass me out of making a few bucks on my own creative, original material.

Let's see, a huge entertainment corporation with really deep pockets illegally infringes my first amendment rights by blocking me from publishing a photograph of the moon with the descriptive term, "twilight" in it. This could be the best Christmas ever.

My friend Dawn informs me that "The big movie that opened over the weekend, "New Moon" is the sequel to a best-selling teenage novel, "Twilight." They're probably thinking that you are trying to capitalize on the movie's popularity, but you go get 'em! You can't copyright a word or a naturally occurring phenomena. I hope it IS your best Christmas ever. Ka-ching!"

I'm considering a new piece, titled "New Moon at Twilight from the Summit", and it will probably look like a big black hole where something should be, but isn't.

Oh, and Summit also made these fine films (many of which I have enjoyed very much )

A Bronx Tale

Adrift

American Pie

The Baader Meinhof Complex

Babel

Bitter Moon

Bound

Bridge To Terabithia

City of Ember

Deception

Disaster Movie

DOA: Dead or Alive

Domino

Dot the I

The Fall

Fly Me To The Moon (Maximum 3D Experience)

The Great Buck Howard

Happy-Go-Lucky

Harsh Times

Honeymoon in Vegas

House of the Spirits

I Know Who Killed Me

In The Valley Of Elah

Inside Deep Throat

The Jacket

Keeping Mum

Last Exit to Brooklyn

Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

Love in the Time of Cholera

Malice

Man Trouble

Mediterraneo

Memento

Michael Clayton

Miss Potter

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Name of the Rose

Never Back Down

Neverending Story

Nim's Island

Once

P2

Penelope

Perfume

P.S. I Love You

Racing Stripes

Resident Evil

Resident Evil: Apocalypse

Resident Evil: Extinction

Ricochet

Sahara

The Shawshank Redemption

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

Slap Her She's French

Smilla's Sense of Snow

Step Up

Step Up 2: The Streets

Strange Wilderness

The Hottie & The Nottie

Wrong Turn

Wrongfully Accused


Oh, since I have linked to their website, I think that I really must reproduce their terms of service here, in it's entirety, because apparently you are making a legal agreement with them just by clicking on their URL. And lest there is any misunderstanding about who has a right to reproduce what-- they contacted me first regarding copyright and fair use. I think that they are sorely mistaken, and I am making an editorial statement about their policies and (mis)understanding of the law, but I feel it only fair and prudent to let my readers judge for themselves based upon facts, as opposed to mere opinion, legal though it may be for me to express myself as a US citizen.

Ready? Here it is:

"Revised April 25, 2008
Summit Entertainment, LLC
Terms of Use

IMPORTANT! READ THIS ENTIRE AGREEMENT CAREFULLY.
THESE ARE THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS
GOVERNING YOUR USE OF THE SITE.

This Site, and the information, Content and services it makes available (which, collectively are referred to as the "Site"), is provided to you by Summit Entertainment, LLC ("Summit" or "We" or "Us"). These Terms of Use (this "Agreement")set forth the terms and conditions governing your use of this Site and apply to all web sites owned or operated by us (however accessed and/or used, whether via personal computers, mobile devices or otherwise) that post a link to this Agreement and other interactive features that are accessible or downloadable though the web sites owned or operated by us. By accessing or using this Site you accept and agree to be legally bound by this Agreement as it may be amended or supplemented from time to time. If you do not agree with the terms of this Agreement, do not use this Site. In addition, we may post additional guidelines that apply to certain features we offer on this Site (such as message boards, chat rooms, blogs or similar forums), and you will be subject to such additional guidelines when you access these features. To the extent there is a conflict between this Agreement and the terms of any additional guidelines, the additional guidelines will control, unless the additional guidelines expressly state that this Agreement will control.

Table of Contents

1. Modifications to this Agreement
2. Site Content
3. User Forums, Postings, and User Generated Content
4. Acceptable Use
5. Registration
6. Site Content and Performance
7. Your Contact With Advertisers or Other Third Parties
8. Sweepstakes, Contests, and Promotions
9. Notice and Procedure for Making Complaints Regarding Content
10. Disclaimer Of Warranties with Respect to Site
11. Limitation of Liability
12. Indemnification
13. Compliance
14. Miscellaneous Terms
15. Contact Us

1. Modifications to this Agreement. We may make changes to this Agreement from time to time in our sole discretion, by updating and posting the revised Agreement on this Site, and specifying the effective date of the new version of the Agreement. Your use of the Site following the posting of a new version of the Agreement constitutes your acceptance of any such changes. Accordingly, when you visit this Site you should periodically check to see if a new version of the Agreement has been posted. Please also review our Privacy Policy.

2. Site Content. . This Site contains a variety of (1) copyrighted material, such as information, articles, opinions, other text, directories, guides, graphics, photographs, illustrations, images, video and audio clips, trailers, music clips, sound clips, advertising and promotional materials, data, software, compilations, designs, graphical interface, and overall �look and feel�, and (2) trademarks, logos, trade names, service marks, and trade identities, including the individual names of motion pictures, or other entertainment properties and providers, and the domain names and URLs associated therewith, whether registered or unregistered (collectively the "Trademarks"), and (3) other forms of intellectual property (all of the foregoing collectively and individually are referred to as "Content").

(a) Ownership. This Site (including past, present and future versions) and its Content are owned by Summit or its licensors. All right, title, and interest in and to the Content available via the Site is the property of Summit or its licensors, and is protected by U.S. and international copyright, trademark, patent, or other proprietary rights and laws. Except to the minimum extent otherwise expressly permitted under applicable law or this Agreement, no copying or other exploitation of Content from the Site is permitted without the express prior written permission of Summit or the applicable owner thereof. This applies to copyrighted Content regardless of whether or not a copyright notice appears on such materials, and applies to Trademarks, whether registered or unregistered, and regardless of whether or not a trademark notice appears on such materials.

(b) License.We grant you a nonexclusive, nontransferable, revocable, limited license to view, download, copy, and print Content retrieved from the Site only for your personal, non-commercial use. You may not remove or obscure any copyright notice, trademark notice, or other proprietary rights notice displayed on or in conjunction with the Content. Except to the minimum extent otherwise expressly permitted under applicable law, you may not use any Content available via the Site in any other manner or for any other purpose without the prior express written permission of Summit or its licensor, as applicable.

(c) Title. Title to any Content that you download or print is not transferred to you. You may own the medium on which the Content is recorded or printed, but we or our licensor retain all right, title, and interest in and to such Content, and all intellectual property rights therein. You acknowledge that you do not acquire any ownership rights in any Content by using the Site or by virtue of downloading, printing, modifying or using Content from the Site. All rights not expressly granted in this Agreement are expressly reserved to Summit or its licensors.

(d) Separately Licensed Content. In some instances, certain Content that you download from the Site is subject to a separate license agreement or other specific terms and conditions which will be provided at the time you download or install the Content. In those situations, such license agreement or other applicable terms and conditions will control in lieu of this Agreement.

3. User Forums, Postings, and User Generated Content We may provide forums, message boards, chat rooms or other interactive areas on the Site ("User Forums") to give users of the Site (�Users�) a forum to express their opinions and share their ideas, information, materials, and other user-generated Content (collectively �Submissions�)

(a) Product Submissions Prohibited. Summit does not accept unsolicited Submissions for motion pictures, television programs, web sites or other products or services. It is our intent to avoid the possibility of future misunderstandings when projects developed by or on behalf of Summit (whether internally or by third parties) might seem to others to be similar to their own creative ideas or materials. Therefore, please do not make any such unsolicited Submissions to Summit through this Site, including User Forums, by e-mail, text message or otherwise. However, if you decide to make any such unsolicited Submission, you hereby grant to Summit the right and license to your Submission as set forth in Section 3(b) below.

(b) Rights You Grant to Us. Whenever you Submit (as defined in Section 3(e) below) a Submission to a User Forum or some other aspect of the Site or directly to Summit (including by e-mail or text message) you: (1) grant to Summit and its affiliates an irrevocable worldwide, nonexclusive, perpetual, fully sub-licensable and assignable, royalty-free right and license to use, exploit, reproduce, modify, adapt, translate, incorporate in other works, and otherwise create derivative works from, publish, distribute, transmit, broadcast, perform, display, and otherwise exercise all rights in and to such Submission (including the right to use or not use your name, voice, likeness and other identifying information in connection therewith), via the Site or otherwise, in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed, without any compensation to you, and (2) consent to all relevant acts or omissions in relation to your moral rights in such Submission (if any) which may or might otherwise constitute a breach or infringement of those moral rights, and to the extent permitted by law waive all your moral rights in such Submission, even if such material is altered or changed in a manner not agreeable to you.

(c) No Responsibility. We are not responsible for, and we do not endorse, the Submissions posted in User Forums by Users of the Site. We specifically disclaim any responsibility or liability to any person or entity for any loss, damage, injury, claim, liability or other cause of any kind or nature or character based upon or resulting from any Submission.

(d) No Obligation to Prescreen. We do not have, and do not undertake, any obligation to prescreen, monitor, edit, or remove any Submission that is posted on any User Forum or is otherwise available through the Site. However, we retain the right (but not the obligation), in our sole discretion and for any reason, to prescreen, monitor, edit, refuse to accept, remove, or move any Submission submitted by any User to a User Forum. Since we may not prescreen Submissions, if your Submission contains offensive, indecent, or otherwise objectionable content, or infringes on the rights of any third parties, you may bear legal responsibility for others� exposure to such objectionable or infringing content.

(e) No Confidential Relationship. Except as otherwise described in the Site's Privacy Policy, any Submission that you send, post, transmit, upload, distribute, or otherwise make available (collectively, �Submit�) to a User Forum or some other aspect of the Site or directly to Summit (whether solicited or unsolicited) will be treated as non-confidential and non-proprietary and we will not be liable for any use or disclosure. You acknowledge and agree that your relationship with Summit is not a confidential, fiduciary, or other type of special relationship, and that your decision to Submit any Submission to a User Forum or otherwise send it to the Site or to Summit directly does not place Summit in a position that is any different from the position held by members of the general public with regard to your Submissions. None of your Submissions shall be subject to any obligation of confidence on the part of Summit, and Summit shall not be liable for any use or disclosure of any Submission that you provide.

(f) Representations You Make to Us. You are solely responsible for all Submissions that you Submit to a User Forum or some other aspect of the Site or directly to Summit (including by e-mail). By doing so, you represent and warrant to Summit that each such Submission: (1) is not confidential and that you have all necessary permission to Submit such Submission; and (2) does not infringe upon, misappropriate or violate the rights of any third parties, including, without limitation, any intellectual property rights, rights of publicity or privacy, or any other proprietary rights.

(g) No Obligation to Use. You agree and understand that we are not obligated to post or use your Submissions Submitted through the Site or otherwise, and may alternatively choose to discard your Submissions without any obligation or liability whatsoever.

4. Acceptable Use. You may use the Site only for lawful purposes, and you agree that you shall at all times comply with all applicable local, state, national, and international laws, statutes, rules, regulations, ordinances and the like applicable to your use of the Site. In addition, while using the Site, you agree that you will not do any of the following:

• Inappropriate Submissions. . Submit to or on the Site, anything that is or may be: (i) harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, degrading, hateful, or intimidating; (ii) defamatory, libelous, or disparaging of any person or entity; (iii) false, fraudulent, or tortious; (iv) obscene, indecent, pornographic, vulgar, profane, or sexually explicit; (v) intended to promote (or have the effect of promoting) violence, racial hatred, terrorism or illegal acts; (vi) infringing, or in violation or misappropriation of, any patent, trademark, trade identity right, trade secret, publicity right, privacy right, copyright or any other intellectual property or any other rights of any third party; (vii) in violation of any other rights of any person or entity; (viii) violative of any law or regulation; or (ix) otherwise objectionable, in Summit's sole discretion.

• Viruses; Malware. Submit any virus, worm, "Trojan Horse", "easter egg", "time bomb", spyware, or any other computer code, file, or program that may or is intended to damage, hijack or otherwise interfere with the operation of the Site or any hardware, software, or telecommunications equipment or with any third party's uninterrupted use and enjoyment of the Site.

• No Spam. Submit any advertising, promotional materials, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes," investment opportunities, or any other form of solicitation.

• Collecting Personal Information. Collect or harvest personally identifiable information about other users of the Site or "stalk" or otherwise harass other persons.

• Impersonation. Impersonate any person or entity; falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity, including Summit; forge headers or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of any Submissions to us or through the Site; or expressly state or imply that we endorse any statement you make.

• Security, Cracking & Hacking. . Violate or attempt to violate the security of any portion of the Site, including but not limited to: (i) access Content not intended for you; (ii) log into a server or account which you are not authorized to access; (iii) attempt to probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of a system or network or to breach security or authentication measures without proper authorization; (iv) attempt to interfere with or disrupt the Site or the servers or networks that provide the Site, including without limitation, via means of submitting a virus to the Site, overloading, �flooding�, �mailbombing� or �crashing� the Site; or (v) restrict or inhibit any other user from accessing or using the Site, including, without limitation, by means of hacking or defacing any portion of the Site.

• Reverse Engineering. Modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble any portion of the Site.

• Data Mining, Scraping, Etc. Except for search engines presenting links to users searching for Summit and related entertainment content, use any robot, spider, site search/retrieval application, or other manual or automatic device or process to retrieve, index, "data mine," scrape, or in any way reproduce or circumvent the navigational structure or presentation of the Site or its contents, unless otherwise permitted by Summit in writing in advance.

5. Registration.
Certain areas of the Site may require registration or may otherwise ask you to provide information to participate in certain features, such as to access User Forums, to access certain Content, or to receive newsletters. The Site's practices governing any resulting collection and use of your personal information are disclosed in its Privacy Policy. The decision to provide this information is purely voluntarily and optional; however, if you elect not to provide such information, you may not be able to access certain Content or participate in certain features of the Site.

If you register for any feature that requires a password and/or user name, you will either select your own password at the time of registration, or will receive an email notification from us with a randomly generated initial password. You may not use a user name (or email address) that is already being used by someone else; that may impersonate another person; that belongs to another person, without his or her prior consent; that violates the intellectual property or other rights of any person; that is vulgar or otherwise offensive; or that we reject for any other reason in our sole discretion.

If you register with the Site, you agree to accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account or password. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password, if any, and for restricting access to your computer, cell phone (or other internet access device, as applicable) so that others may not access the password protected portion of the Site using your name, user name or password, in whole or in part. You agree to immediately notify us of any unauthorized use of your password or user name or any other breach of security. We shall not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your negligence or failure to comply with any of the foregoing obligations.

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We reserve the right to terminate registration and/or deny access to the entire Site or any portion of the Site to any person in our sole discretion for any reason or no reason at all.

6. Site Content and Performance.

(a) Accuracy of Content. While we strive to keep the Content that we post on the Site accurate, complete, and up-to-date, we cannot and do not guarantee, represent or warrant that any of the Content on this Site (whether posted by us, a User, or any other third party) is accurate, complete, timely or applicable to you, nor do we have any obligation or undertaking to update the Site.

(b) Links to Other Sites. The Site may provide links to other web sites and/or resources (including advertisements) that we do not maintain or are not under our control (�Third Party Web Sites�). We do not control any Third Party Web Sites linked to from the Site, and your dealings with such Third Party Web Sites are solely between you and such third parties. We are not responsible for, and we make no representations or warranties with respect to, the Content, products, services, personal information practices, ownership, or legality of any such linked Third Party Web Site unless expressly stated by us. Your use of such Third Party Web Sites is subject to the terms and conditions established by such third parties, and we encourage you to review their user terms and privacy policies before you use their services. Your access to and use of such Third Party Web Sites is solely at your own risk, and you agree that we will not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort that you may suffer as the result of your dealings with such Third Party Web Sites.

(c) Linking to the Site. . If you link to this Site, you must adhere to these guidelines: (1) the link to this Site must not damage, dilute or tarnish the goodwill associated with any Summit names and/or intellectual property; (2) the link to this Site must not create the false appearance that your web site and/or organization is sponsored by, endorsed by, affiliated with, or associated with Summit; (3) you may not "frame" this Site or alter its Content in any other way; and (4) you may not link to this Site from a web site that is unlawful, abusive, indecent or obscene, that promotes violence or illegal acts, that contains expressions of racism, that is libelous, defamatory, scandalous, or inflammatory or is otherwise deemed inappropriate, as determined by Summit in its sole discretion.

7. Your Contact With Advertisers or Other Third Parties. Your interaction with suppliers, advertisers, or other third parties that may appear on or be accessible through the Site are solely between you and such third party. This may include, but is not limited to, your participation in promotions, disclosure of information, use of software or other third party materials, reliance upon advertising claims, the payment for and delivery of goods or services, and any terms, conditions, warranties, or representations associated with such interactions. Summit does not make any representations or warranties with respect to any products or services that may be obtained from such third parties, and you agree that Summit will have no obligations or liability with respect to any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of your contact with such third party.

8. Sweepstakes, Contests, and Promotions. Any sweepstakes, contests or other promotions ("Promotions") that may be offered via the Site will be governed by a separate set of rules that, in addition to describing such Promotion, may have eligibility requirements, such as certain age or geographic area restrictions, terms and conditions governing the Promotion, use of Submissions you Submit, and disclosures about how your personal information may be used. It is your responsibility to read such rules to determine whether or not you want to and are eligible to participate, register and/or enter, and to determine the applicable terms and conditions of the Promotion. By participating in any Promotion, you will become subject to those official rules, and you agree to comply with abide by such rules and the decisions of the sponsor(s) identified therein, which shall be final and binding in all respects.

9. Notice and Procedure for Making Complaints Regarding Content. Summit respects the intellectual property of others and we ask our Users to do the same. Summit has a policy of terminating the accounts of Users who (in Summit�s reasonable discretion) are repeat infringers. In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Summit has designated a Copyright Agent to receive notice of claims of copyright infringement with respect to Content on the Site. To notify Summit of Content on the Site that you believe infringes your rights, please provide the following information to the Summit Copyright Agent listed below:

(a) Your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address;
(b) A description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed or, if multiple copyrighted works at the Site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at the Site;
(c) Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit Summit to locate the material, such as the URL or a reasonable description of where the alleged infringing material is located;
(d) A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
(e) A statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate, and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf; and
(f) An electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest.
Summit's Copyright Agent for notice of claims of copyright or other intellectual property infringement can be reached as follows:
By e-mail: copyrightagent@summit-ent.com (with subject "Copyright Complaints");
By phone: (310) 309-8400 (ask for General Counsel�s Office);

By postal mail:

Summit Entertainment, LLC
1630 Stewart Street, Suite 120
Santa Monica, California 90404
Attn: General Counsel � DMCA Agent
(with subject "Copyright Complaints")

10. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO SITE. THE SITE (INCLUDING, WIHTOUT LIMITATION, ALL CONTENT, LINKS, MESSAGES, PRODUCTS, SERVICES, DOWNLOADS AND OTHER MATERIALS CONTAINED ON AND/OR OBTAINED THROUGH THE SITE) IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, �WITH ALL FAULTS� AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, SUMMIT AND ITS AFFILIATES AND THEIR RESPECTIVE MEMBERS, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, AND OTHER REPRESENTATIVES (COLLECTIVELY THE �SUMMIT PARTIES�) EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, REPRESENTATIONS, AND UNDERTAKINGS OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTIES OF TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NONINFRINGEMENT.

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Gret Blue Heron landing

Another image from a while back that I just re-edited. Always liked it, just put it up for sale too.

Swallow flying across a cloudy sky.

Flight by Paul Hood

This is one of the images I've been working on lately. There's another variation on the same theme if you click on it, it's in the same gallery. And I put another swallow on Zazzle here.

The image above came out looking very like a watercolor. It's not a composite, it is a single photo with adjusted tones and colors.

Why we don't shoot film anymore:

It's mostly economics. I got curious the other day about 35mm film. Did a strange thing and finished out a roll on a disposable camera that was way out of date. Expired film gives a particular look to the color, if it remains usable at all. I thought it would be fun. It was fun.

While I was at the Walgreens, I priced a few things. The film itself, if you buy a 4 pack, runs about $9.00 for 96 frames, or $2.25 per 24 exposure roll. Maybe a person could do better with rolls of 36, but this was a casual accounting, not an exhaustive search. I think I have old fuzzy memories of $1.99 per roll film going back about a decade. This is pretty standard print film, generic house brand, probably 400ISO. I didn't see a whole lot of choices there, no slide film, no black and white.

Then there's the developing: looked like about $8.00 including a set of 24 prints. Another $3.00 for a CD. When I got back to the Walgreens with my expired disposable camera, I discovered that for only $5.56 including tax, I could get the thing developed and scanned to a CD with no prints. This was for 1 hour service which they pulled off in well under an hour. Not bad, really, but now you have to figure that each frame is costing about 10 cents for the film, plus a whopping 23 cents to develop the negatives, scan them, and burn it onto a CD, and you still don't have any prints. So, about 33 cents per frame. Yikes. When I think of burning a dollar every three frames--- that hurts.

Now, bear in mind I used to shoot a fair amount of film, and somewhere I have moldy old cardboard boxes full of prints and negatives to prove it. If I think of those boxes full of quarters--- and being the good Scotsman that I am I did the math back in the old days too-- big wet Scottish tears go rolling down my cheeks.

Conversely, there's a 650 dollar digital SLR that you can buy at the Walmart across the street. I think it comes with a fair lens. At that price, and let's say that you get a memory card thrown in, how many frames do you shoot before the camera "pays for itself" in film costs ? Let's see, plus tax it's about $700, so times that by three (33 cents per frame for film; or three frames for a dollar ) 2100 frames. As an arbitrary figure, we'll assume that you're a very casual shooter: in a year that averages 5.75 frames per day, or about 40 per week. If you're a wedding photographer you will quite likely use up your 2100 frames in one or two day-long shoots. Sheryl and I did 1000 frames in just a few hours at the last wedding we shot. It was casual, a lot of down time-- nothing hectic. So that's the point really. Not "which is better, film or digital?" but which is more practical.

A few more things worth noting:
A good photographer can get some great shots with a digital camera costing much less than a low end DSLR. Oh and by the way there are DSLRs today which can be had today for less than $650. The reason I priced film against a DSLR has to do with reliability. Most of these cameras are reliable into the range of a hundred and fifty thousand shutter cycles. Cheaper cameras might not be. Yes, you can get great shots with film too, but that isn't the point that I'm making here. Don' forget, film cameras aren't free either, so you have to add that into the cost of film.

I was surprised to discover that my CD from Walgreens had been scanned at disappointingly low resolution: 1800 X 1215, in other words just under 2.2 megapixels. If I ever do want to make prints, I'll be limited to a 4 x 6 inch at 300 dpi. That's really not right. 35mm film will support much higher res scanning than that. Maybe Walgreens assumes that I'm only going to look at these images on a computer monitor ? If that's the case then it does make sense-- as that is about the maximum size that a standard 72ppi monitor will show you, or for that matter a true 1080p HDTV. But man, why assume that ? Maybe I got the CD so that I only print what I want. Crazy. As far as prints go, Walgreens wants 29 cents each for those from a digital source, CD or otherwise. Hmmm. They offer a good price on an 8 X 10 at $3.00, but now I wouldn't trust them to give me a good quality print. If I talk to them about 300DPI as a standard, are they even going to know what I'm saying ?

Personally, I am convinced that my 12 megapixel camera beats 35mm film. I have read very convincing articles that my DSLR, which is the same size, weight and form factor as a 35mm film SLR is equal to Medium Format film in most respects, and far superior in others ( like ISO and dynamic range ). I don't want to argue about that, because honestly, I'd really like to play with a medium format film camera. I really would. Film still looks different than digital; the colors are different, the tones and shadows are different, the way that the highlights blow out-- different. A lot is made about that-- but I can't remember the last time I lost a shot because I blew highlights, unless I wanted to.

Digital noise looks different than film grain, mainly in the perception that one can see "behind the grain" in film. But mostly in my world, I'm dealing with completely imperceptible "noise", so it just isn't an issue. Also, it's very hard to find medium format film these days, let alone processing. I have little doubt that it will be pricier than 35mm if I do find it. Knowing me, I'll probably go looking now, but it will all be mail order-- so is it worth it ? Probably not. Did you know that polaroid film is already gone ? Discontinued, off the market. It's a shame, because that stuff was a real trip.

I'm protesting though, not because I champion digital, but because I mourn the loss of film. We have prints around the house of family members, long dead now. . . turn of the century black and white photos which will knock your socks off. The clarity is amazing, the smooth continuous tones, it's all there. These are prints from large format cameras: 4 x 5 inch and 8 X 10 inch negatives. It's the right stuff. We never should have let 35mm take over like it did amongst the general public. Easy, yes, relatively small and compact cameras-- absolutely. But damn, did we ever lose something in the process of embracing convenience. I'm somehow annoyed and excited at the same time, that digital is catching up to film, slowly but surely. 35mm is not entirely dead, but dying. Medium format is on the ropes. Large format ? Stands to stick around amongst the specialist die- hards for quite a while yet: but traveling with a large format camera is similar to schlepping around my laser printer in a backpack. I'll probably avoid it if I can.

What I'm up to lately-- new or renewed images

This is a detail close-up of an image I just re-edited and put on Zazzle.

Something I re-edited from Bellingham.

New treatment on my sunflowers still life. Shot in Santa Cruz.

Getting a bit more abstract/experimental with the shot above. Called "hound".

I've been wanting to re-work this image for a long time. Pretty happy with it now.

Today's Dawn

Rarely am I up this early, but it happens.

Snow melted now

And it's warm again ! Had to have been 75 degrees today. That's just the kind of strange weather we get here. The photo above, I got before the snow all melted away.

We dropped by the local college today and checked out some of the facilities. The Internet connection they have definitely beats our satellite connection. It's got to be at least 3 times faster, feels like ten times faster. The good news there is that I discover that my various websites indeed load plenty fast and run smoothly if you've got good bandwidth. Not too many students there looking at books, most are huddled away the back corners where the computers are strategically placed-- you can see the librarian coming from a mile off. Hmmm. Doing school related research ? I think not.

We also picked up the college art and lit magazine, though I have barely glanced at it yet. There's a play or two there we'd like to see in a couple of days. Seems you have to be "in the loop" at the college in order to get word of these things.

Looked at the Smithsonian magazine today. Interesting article on Vincent Van Gogh's night paintings. The most famous of course being "Starry Night." Learned something interesting: that Vincent thought this painting to be a failure.

Hardly. It's just that the poor guy and his brother, Theo, had a very difficult time selling any of his work during his lifetime. Well, he was a visionary. I'm not making any direct comparisons between my work and the work of the great masters, I simply take my inspiration wherever I can find it.