Oct
29
Totally L.A., the book I published with Lulu Studio Photobook, had arrived yesterday in the mail. How exciting!
It’s a 9×7 Landscape, casewrap hardcover binding photo book/portfolio printed on #100 white silk stock paper.
In the book I arranged some 80 color images plainly and genuinely depicting Los Angeles, or at least genuinely as I see it. (I say it because in the past I got email from someone who claimed the Los Angeles I was portraying in my photographs is far from being the real L.A. since I did not actually photograph in South Central or any other such bad neighborhoods. This is true; I only took some few pictures at the fringes of these areas. But sadly I stay away from these lovely districts and so I’ve never had the good fortune to take pictures documenting the life and activity of the numerous gangs in the area. but like I always say, L.A., like some other big cities, has many faces and so the Real L.A. is always something personal based on one’s experience) Now back to the book:
I find the book to be similar to what I’ve designed on the screen using Lulu Studio. The cover is in full color and looks quite appealing. The interior paper is premium quality and the printing is finest quality, vivid and just superior to any book I’ve published in the past.
However, the one thing I don’t like about this book is the PRICE.
I think compared with bookstore prices a small coffee table such as this one should not cost more than $25.00.
This is probably the main downfall of Print on Demand.
Posted in Photo Books, print on demand lulu studio photobook photo book print on demand publishing
Oct
24
There are many ways to incorporate Flickr slideshows into your blog or website such as Flickrshow or flickrSLiDR but my personal favorite is PictoBrowser
It is quite simple to set up:
Go to PictoBrowser > click on the PictoBuilder tab > enter your screen name > choose the set you want to use > and customize your settings (such as size and background color).
Now, all you need to do is get the html code which is automatically generated for you.
That’s it, you’re done!
Posted in Recommended, black and white photography flickr PictoBrowser slideshow
Oct
19
This weekend I published a photo book using Lulu Studio Photo Book.
The main difference between this book and the previous books I published with Lulu is that in the past I used their standard method for publishing books by creating my own PDF file and uploading it to Lulu once the book was ready to be published.
The standard printing is a good solution if you want to create a book that is NOT meant to be a portfolio of your work, as the paper they use for this type of book is 80# matte white text stock. This paper is just fine for many types of books including a photography book (i.e. a book about photography, techniques, cameras and such.)
It is a perfectly good plan to use their standard publishing method for a photography book mainly because the price for this type of book can be kept low even if your book includes something like 150 pages.
However, this is not a good solution if you want to publish a Photo book (i.e. showcasing your wonderful photographs).
In order to publish a premium portfolio you will want to print it on a higher quality paper.
Lulu can print your Photo book on what they describe as a 100# “silk coat” finish paper; OK, I’m not sure what kind of paper it is but it is presumably heavier paper that is more suitable for printing photographs.
Setting up the book with Lulu Studio was quite simple and in fact it took me just about a couple of hours to create the book. (wow!)
So this is how it works: you begin by choosing the size and a theme for your book, you then upload your photos, and finally you drag and drop your images into a nice selection of page templates.
You then add some text and voilà you’re done! Your book is ready to be published.
You will probably want to limit the number of pages as the book’s price starts at $15 for a 9X7 20 pages landscape and with .50 for any additional page after that.
The book I published is called Totally L.A. and it includes some distinctive color images of Los Angeles. I am going to offer the book for sale on my Los Angeles website; I suppose it will make a nice gift for someone during the upcoming holidays.
I have ordered the book myself so I can examine its quality first hand; obviously I’ll let you know the outcome once I get the book.
Next, I am going to try out publishing other quality photo books using Blurb and maybe some other similar print on demand services.
Posted in Photo Books color pictures Los Angeles lulu photo book print on demand studio
Oct
11
Driving south from Winchester we took small country roads in a hope to find the real Virginia.
We stopped by an enormous flea market with so many cool oddities and though I was unsuccessful bargaining down an old viewfinder camera I confess mostly I just enjoyed the southern accent.
Eventually after some driving through little towns, creeks and wineries we arrived to the Rappahannock river and to historic Fredericksburg on its banks.
Near by is Ferry Farm where George Washington spent his boyhood years. (you didn’t think it would be a day without GW, did you?)
And now I’m getting ready to go back.
To go back from home to L.A.
Posted in Best Photos, Road trip, digital Road trip virginia
Oct
10
Valley Forge was profoundly beautiful today with its deep skies, the scent of rain in the air and the anticipated arrival of fall colors and I would probably stay forever.
On the way back to Virginia we stopped by Gettysburg where the sun was setting over these bloody battlefields.
We also drove through Harrisburg which sits on the Susquehanna river but that’s nothing to brag about.
And now all I can say is that its sooooo good to be back in Virginia.
Posted in Road trip, vintage Road trip Valley Forge
Oct
09
We drove from Virginia into West Virginia, then through Maryland, along the Amish Country of Pennsylvania and into Philadelphia.
It was pretty cool to find myself in a big city after a few days of countryside, small towns, rivers, waterfalls and hiking in the mountains.
So I took street photos like there’s no tomorrow.
And tonight? Tonight I’m sleeping in Valley Forge where George Washington and his army camped over the winter of 1777–1778.
And if by any chance you’re under the impression I’m on some follow-the-George Washington-trail, I think you might be on to something.
Posted in Best Photos, Road trip, street photos philadelphia Road trip society hill street photos
Oct
08
A slow day. We hiked along the Potomac (or the Patowmac as George Washington would say ).
The lovely hike took place along the river at Great Falls which is where the Potomac is shared between Maryland and Virginia.
Posted in Best Photos, Landscape, Road trip, digital Great Falls Road trip virginia
Oct
08
I think more than anything I was mostly looking forward to this day.
we rented bikes at Biken’Roll in Alexandria VA in the morning, and took the Mount Vernon trail which is a 9 mile stretch of a gorgeous trail to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington.
This time again, I chose not to stand in line with everybody else for a stupid visit inside the home.
instead I walked around the grounds, went down to the pier on the Potomac and tried to stay quiet, as the signs demanded, by GW’s tomb.
Riding back to Alexandria in the evening was a ride against the wind and I just couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact the sun insists to set somewhere over the hills instead of into the ocean. weird.
It was the best and most beautiful bike ride I’ve ever done.
I can’t see how anything is going to top today, the bestday.
Posted in Best Photos, Film photography, Road trip Alexandria bike ride bike trail George Washington mount vernon mount vernon trail potomac Road trip
Oct
08
The third day turned out to be a race to visit America’s historic Triangle – Jamestown, Yorktown and Wiliamsburg. You end up with a little bit of each. which is great. I’m not a big fan of museums, guided tours or staring at artifacts inside glass cases. but here you can get a detour from the usual tired museum type visit and check out the real thing; Walk around the actual first British settlement in north America (It was a sad start), climb the trenches the American’s built under the commend of George Washington in Yorktown (the last battle of the Revolution) and go for a night stroll in Colonial Williamsburg when the place is already dark and quiet and most of the colonial wannabes left the place by now.
And then you go to Aroma in Williamsburg, a cafe that offers not only wonderful food but a young and alive atmosphere you can only find in a cafe near by a local college (William & Mary college).
This is where this picture was taken:
Posted in Road trip, black and white photography Cafe Colonial Williamsburg Jamestown Road trip virginia Yorktown
Oct
05
We left our gracious hosts in Winchester, checked out George Washington’s surveying office in town (yep, obviously restored to a point he wouldn’t recognized it)(so what’s the point?)
We drove south on the skyline drive overlooking the Shenandoah Valley. its just too difficult to describe the beauty, so forget it.
We hiked up to the highest point; possibly the most difficult hike I’ve ever done but also the most rewarding one.
We drove down, took a strange dark country road under a huge moon and into Richmond’s historical downtown.
I’m so happy here.
I couldn’t choose amongst all the pictures I took today one that says it all.
but I think this one does a pretty good job.
Posted in Nitsa, Road trip Nitsa Road trip skylinge drive virginia
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