SOME RANDOM DUDE

I spend a lot of time trying to take photography that is interesting aesthetically - however, the most powerful photos rarely ever are what most would deem artistic. This rule is definitely the case with this year’s Photo of the Year which was taken in Lebanon during the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. This photo shows the unbelievable scene of a young, hip group driving through a demolished scene in their convertible. They do not quite enjoy what they see either. The dichotomy of the characters, the setting and the context are priceless - hence the fact that it is Photo of the Year for 2006.

This really begs the question of how much photography is about a perfectly composed scene with vibrant colors and an engaging perspective compared to a compelling scene that speaks for itself. With each passing day, I am greatly leaning towards the latter. Visually interesting photos can pique a person’s interest, but a compelling and powerful scene captured on film can define or encapsulate a generation. In recent months, I have seen myself less interested in the details of composition and much more interested in searching for a captivating scene and then doing my best to capture it in its fullest. I have yet to succeed in this endeavor, but I am trying.

What are your thoughts? Is it all about the composition of a scene, the scene itself or a little of both?

del.icio.us link2006, art, composition, Hezbollah, Israel, Lebanon, npr, photo of the year, Photography scene

After a two week hiatus, which has made me moderately refreshed, it is fitting that my first post is the last month of Comment Love for the year of 2006. There were 61 comments this month which ended up equaling $30.50. All $30.50 was donated to Carbonfund.org this month.

For December, we offset roughly 15753 miles driven from a car with the average miles per gallon (25.2 mpg) or the equivalent of 5.54 tons of C02 according to Carbonfund.org. Since starting Comment Love in October, we have offset a little over 11 tons of C02 for the year. Pretty damned amazing.

I want to thank all the folks who have commented on this blog since the Comment Love feature has started. Of course, I will continue to do this every month this year and for as long as this blog exists (and I can afford it). I am looking forward to getting back into the routine of writing for this blog and I am hoping you get back into the routine of reading it.
2006, c02, c02 emissions, carbon emissions, carbonfund, comment love, december, december 2006, global warming love

I have a relatively large post coming tomorrow, so I thought now would be as good of a time to do this as any. With this year almost at an end, I thought now would be an appropriate time to express your thoughts on how this blog could improve for 2007. 2006 brought quite a few major alterations/additions to this site and I still have quite a few changes still in the queue. Still, I would like to hear from you as I am always wondering if I am missing something obvious.

Any area of the blog is open game. What do you think of the Comment Love feature? Are the weekly links or designing good segments worth while? Are there any topics I should be writing about that I have seemed to ignore? Please, comment early and often - tell me what you think and be as brutally honest as possible. 2006, additions, alterations, answers, blog, changes, community, improvements suggestions

UPDATE: More voter disenfranchisement is going on. It is nice to see public personalities like Laura Ingram outrightly encouraging people to flood voter oversight hotlines with prank calls. If you want to lose a couple IQ points, listen to this genius.

UPDATE 2: Our press, doing a heckuva job.

UPDATE 3: Looks like we are very close to having a blue House and Senate. Big changes no doubt await us.

If you live in the states, perform your civic duty and vote! If you have not registered to vote, then get off your butt and do it for the next election. By all means, drop a comment to tell us if you’ve voted and if so, how the process went. There have been a lot of bad stories going on about the voting process this year - share your thoughts/concerns.2006, blue, cnn, democrat victories, election, house of represenatives, Laura Ingram, midterm elections, prank calls, press, senate, vote, voter disenfranchisement voting

I am pleased to give the results for the first month of Comment Love and I must say, I am very excited both about the results for this month as well as the sort of difference this can potentially make. There were 63 comments this month which ended up equaling $31.50. All $31.50 was donated to Carbonfund.org this month.

So what are the results of this relatively minor sum of money? Well, for just a little over $30, we offset 16273 miles driven from a car with the average miles per gallon (25.2 mpg) or the equivalent of 5.73 tons of C02 according to Carbonfund.org. In one month, we offset over a year’s worth of driving for a single car - that’s pretty impressive. Make no mistake, these numbers are amazingly small in the big picture considering that the US produced 524 million metric tons in 1996 with coal burning alone. Looking at it that way, the numbers seem staggering and the change made by this donation inconsequential. Nonetheless, it is a change and a significant one if looked at as local change.

I want to thank all the folks that commented and helped generate the donations. I hope this is the only month that does not reach the $50 cap. I am still trying to come up with the best way to promote frequent commenters. If anyone has a brilliant idea, by all means, leave a comment here or email me.
2006, c02, c02 emissions, carbon emissions, carbonfund, comment love, global warming, love, october october 2006