Rules of Engagement

Ladies, I know it's tempting but please resist the urge to throw your underwear at us.

I'm pretty good at most sports. I tend to learn the rules of engagement and create basic strategies that allow me to excel/win. Combined with decent coordination and athletics I'm more than happy to play most sports recreationally or competitively.

That being said, I suck at golf and soccer. I've demonstrated time and time again that the best I'll ever be is a double-digit handicapper and my coordination doesn't include foot "dexterity".

For the games that I can't win in, I'd rather not play.

Chalk that up to my competitive personality.

But what if you have to play and what if you have to win? And what if you're disadvantaged in every way? That if you play the game as it is designed, you're bound to lose?

Then you better change the rules of engagement.

Hasselblad MILC Lunar

Hasselblad is going the route of Leica. Exclusive. Expensive. Small mirrorless camera.

I suppose if you're not going to innovate you should capitalize on your brand value.

Click on the link for the jump!

On Social Media Feedback and Winning

Loungewerks 2 over the course of a few weeks

The following is a question from an former private workshop photographer.

Q: Are the likes and shares you get on tumblr and Facebook something that built up for you over time with a fan base or if you just always had a lot of strong positive feedback based solely on the quality of your images? Occasionally on my tumblr I'll have an image that hits 100 notes or so (my highest is something like 450 notes), but on average I only get something like 2 or 4 notes (or likes on FB). Not sure if I should be interpreting that as my images suck or just aren't provocative enough (which I don't think is the case because I feel like I have a decent grasp on quality) or if maybe I just don't have enough followers or my name isn't out there enough...like maybe if I had 3,000 friends things would be different. It can just be discouraging at times.

A: On average I probably get something like 100 (but it ranges as you can see from 60 to 6,000) notes on tumblr and about 100-150 likes on Facebook. No doubt a result of having 5,000 friends on FB and 1,700 followers on tumblr. And no, it wasn't always like that. I started out at 0 just like everyone else.

Just checked and the above image above of Jordan now has 7,200 notes on tumblr.

Thinking Big versus Having a Big Image

Was listening to Bloomberg radio yesterday and caught Barbara Corcoran on with Vonnie Quinn and Kathleen Hays.

Lots of the interview was very interesting but no more than the part where Barbara says (around the 6:00 mark),

"Thinking big, lemme tell you, is so overrated. You know what I value most of all? Thinking in detail. Are you going to have the follow through? Are you going to nail down the price? Are you going to negotiate that contract to the finest point that you can? Are you going to spend the time hiring the right people? There's a million things [to] building a business. The idea of thinking big, I don't believe in that. I don't believe in a big business plan that's all ironed out cuz the truth in the end is you're reacting to the reality around you. But I do believe in a big image... When I started my Corcoran [Report] business from day one I saw myself like the pope kind of in a beautiful pink or white gown, go figure why, and everybody lining up to kiss my ring. I just saw myself as the queen of New York real estate. And you wanna know [something]? Having a big image especially if you're visual can get you a lot farther for a lot of people than having a rock solid business plan which doesn't make any sense six months after it's issued."

I have a lot of respect for Barbara since my wife and I watch her on Shark Tank (reality TV show produced by Mark Burnett). She's not only a self-made businesswoman but she also legitimately cares about people. Her deals on Shark Tank reflect that she's not underhanded like Cuban (Mark) or Kevin (O'Leary). She's down-to-earth and honest. She and Robert (Herjavec) are my favorites although Kevin and Mark are very entertaining to watch.

Tip of the Day: Exposing Your Weaknesses with an iPhone4

Operation iPhone4 in full swing

In some martial arts forms, the practitioner improves his reflexes and heightens his senses by blindfolding himself in combat training. By temporarily removing his ability to see, the practitioner is forced to rely on his other senses and shore up vital weaknesses. This serves to decrease his dependency on his eyesight while ensuring that he is more responsive when he regains his vision.

And if they want to get fancy, they can also tie an arm (or both arms) behind their backs. This forces the issue of balance and overuse of the hands in combat. This also tremendously improves his chance of getting hit in the face.

Things I like about Photoshop CS6

CS6 in action

Lens correction and adaptive wide angle (filters) - Since getting the NEX-7 I've noticed that I've been shooting in the wide side of things which introduces lots of perspective distortion resulting from wider angles. The adaptive wide angle tool was what got me to test out CS6 in the first place. The Lens correction tool is also very handy and powerful. Two thumbs up for two great tools.

Saving in the background - While it still takes a long time to save my files, at least I can do other stuff while the files are saving. I'm happy. Though overall it feels like the save might be even slower than before? Just when you thought it couldn't get any slower...

More control with Liquify - They've added greater range for brush size (though this scrunches the smaller diameters which makes it hard for me to get something smaller without overshooting it tremendously on the slider). But the diameter slider is much more sensitive and I'm no longer pushing against 0 as a starting point for some of the selections. As an avid fan of Liquify, I like how they've given me more control. I feel like I could have more precision with these tools.