Picture: Sunset through clouds at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge, San Joaquin Valley, California Several weeks ago I had to ship my (nearly) brand new Nikon D800 camera off to the Nikon Repair facility in Los Angeles. During those couple weeks I had a couple shoots scheduled, and BorrowLenses.com became my go-to rescue resource. Not [...]

Picture: Rain storm clouds at sunrise over the still waters of Emerald Bay State Park, a National Natural Landmark in the South Lake Tahoe region, California Ack!! I can’t believe it’s been nearly four weeks since my last post, but I’ve been very busy with a couple assignments and trying to get my book out [...]

Picture: USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii You all know the scene… someone banging their head against a brick wall or desk over and over again as a sign of frustration; yes, that was me this morning. That’s because a very established keywording vendor returned this image, but failed to include the keyword American [...]

Picture: Hikers on the summit of Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, California A couple days ago I returned home from a six day trip to Yosemite and the Mono Lake area. The trip was a mixture of triumphs and tragedies. I left town fairly apprehensive. I originally planned to do a strenuous single day hike [...]

Picture: Wind Energy Turbines at Altamont Pass, California Why have just one when you can have twelve at twelve times the cost? Recently, I sent a request via US Mail to our Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for a certification used for getting paid by my overseas stock agents. I sent a single envelope asking for [...]

Picture: Car driving on suburban street in downtown Pleasant Hill, California. File this one under: Photography is not a crime, or “Are you by chance a little paranoid?” After all, it was the British rock group, The Kinks, who reminded us that paranoia is The Destroyer. Not long ago I stopped into a local camera [...]

Picture: Campfire Detail, Somewhere in Oregon Every year the Burning Man event is held in the Nevada desert. Every year I want to attend. Every year I read their policy and restrictions regarding photography taken on-site. Every year I think, “What a bunch of hypocrites.” Every year, I’ve chosen not to go for that reason. [...]

Picture: A California Condor at the Condor Ridge exhibit of the San Diego Wild Animal Park. Photo by Chuck Szmurlo. Now that I’m back from a week off with my family for Spring Break, I wanted to take a moment and respond to my last post, “Why I Like Free Photos.” From the buyer’s side, [...]

Picture: Dark storm clouds over Balanced Rock at sunset, Arches National Park, Utah Chicken Little said, “The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling!” I just saw that stock photo industy guru, Jim Pickerell wrote in his newsletter, “Selling Stock”: “The stock photo industry is in turmoil. Never in more than 30 years I have [...]

Picture: Old Grave marker headstone (1891) behind old wooden church, Hornitos, Sierra Foothills, Mariposa County, California I was brought up believing it’s not polite to dance on the grave of your enemy. Yet, I must admit that news last week had me wondering if I could get away with at least a little jig. General [...]