Macabre is the adjective that I apply to the photographs of Derek Raugh, who shoots “anything out of the ordinary. My work tends to lean towards the darker and alternative”. Portraiture is his forte. “I […]
Author: Joe Wilcox
Generating Pageviews is Nothing Like Selling Newspapers
Responding to my post “Stop Paying Bloggers and Journalists for Pageviews“, someone asked me: “What’s the difference between pageviews and selling papers?” I answered: “They aren’t anything alike”, which garnered response: “Certainly the journalists who cause people to buy papers are kept around. So isn’t a PV like selling a paper?”
“Nothing like it”, I answered. Of course, the questioner asked “Why?” The answer could be a 20-point list, at the least. But I rat-tat-tatted some explanation, which I recap here. The comparison is the traditional news organization versus the typical blog. I may add to the list over time but start with five items.
Flickr a Day 62: ‘To Breathe as One’
When making today’s selection, I chose culture over photography. The image isn’t representative of Mait Jüriado and his skills shooting portraits. The pic is one of 107 in his album “Estonian Song Celebration 2009“. He is from Suure-Jaani, Estonia, but lives in Tallinn, which is 149 kilometers north off the Gulf of Finland.
The amateur song festival takes place every five years, and the 2009 event marked the 25th celebration. Typically 25,000-30,000 singers perform, and there is an accompanying dance festival.
Flickr a Day 61: ‘New Zealand Night Life’
Growing up in Northern Maine, I spent many summer nights gazing at the spectacular canopy above, against which the Northern Lights often shimmered bands of color. But breathtaking experience there can’t compare to some of the night sky shots from the Southern Hemisphere. David Kingham delivers fine example with self-titled “New Zealand Night Life”, shot on Sept. 24, 2014.
“On our last night the Southern Lights made a surprise visit for a brief time”, he says. “This captures life of the traveler on the South Island quite well, a campervan under the stars in an awesome campground, I miss it!” He is American, from Loveland, Colorado.
Say, HTC, Social Matters More Than Gadget Reviews
Some advice for HTC and other mobile device makers: You need to adapt your PR strategy to the modern web. Seeding devices to so-called professional reviewers is a lose-lose strategy. There you should take cues from Motorola, which marketing strategy, while by no means perfect, depends more on the many rather than the few.
Today, as expected, the HTC One M9 launched on Mobile World Congress Day 0. I am struck by two early reviews, which couldn’t be more different in their assessment—and one surely is quite damaging to perceptions about the smartphone: “HTC One M9 hands-on: Improved craftsmanship, camera, and HTC Sense are compelling” by Matthew Miller for ZDNet and “HTC’s One M9 is the world’s most beautiful disappointment” by Vlad Savov for The Verge. Matt had the device for a day and Vlad for a week. Neither narrative is ideal for HTC, although ZDNet’s is closer to identifying benefits that matter, as opposed to The Verge highlighting features that aren’t.
Flickr a Day 60: ‘Bond’
Today’s selection shows how in the right setting, the photographer can blend the subject into the background. The man is modern, yet fits against the ancient beings carved into the stone. The photo also stands […]
Comic-Con Heroes: The Heroine
It’s Saturday, and that means another excerpt from my ebook Comic-Con Heroes: The Fans Who Make The Greatest Show On Earth, which profiles one-dozen attendees from SDCC 2013. One week ago, the Con held Open Registration, where participating for the first time I was fortunate enough to obtain passes for all four days and the Preview Night. From 2009-2014, accredited press status assured access.
Without press accreditation, I expect San Diego Comic-Con 2015 to be my last, as obtaining passes one year is no guarantee of getting them the next. Judging from social network responses to last week’s 59-minute ticket sales, many people who attended last year couldn’t purchase passes for the next one. Attendance is capped at 130,000.
Flickr a Day 59: ‘Men of Patience’
The second month in this series wraps up with an intimate photo from the 1st International Hong Kong China Tattoo Convention, where See-ming Lee shot self-titled “Men of Patience” on Oct. 6, 2013. “Most of the photographs I have taken from this day was made possible mostly because of the excellent low-light high ISO performance of the [Canon EOS] 6D”, he explains, “combined with the super 100-400mm [lens] which allows me to photograph people from afar without alerting their attention”. Vitals: f/5.6, ISO 4000, 1/320 sec, 260mm.
There are different philosophies of photography. Some shooters like to get in close to their subjects, interacting with them. Others like to keep the distance, which is a good approach for an event like this one.
We’re Just Being Human, Mr. Spock
No fictional character influenced my youth more than Mr. Spock. I identified with the Vulcan’s cool, calculating ways, and adopted analytical attitudes that pushed back emotions. That’s still true as an adult. Surely I am not alone. You, too? That’s my reaction to news today about the passing of Leonard Limoy, at age 83.
In viewing “The Original Series” on Netflix, Star Trek looks a little hokey to me now. The series is heavily influenced by Sixties television era’s demands, which pounded the octagon-shaped TOS into a square action-drama-method hole. Consider the color of the uniforms and panels around the bridge, which surely fit in with NBC Peacock’s broadcasting “In Living Color”. Gene Roddenberry’s “Wagon Train to the Stars” is entertainment-period formulaic, which looks so unsophisticated now. Nevertheless, the science fiction storytelling was groundbreaking for the time, and transcends many of the imposed constraints.
Journalists, Don’t Mess with #TheDress
There is something important that every news gatherer should learn from the “Is that dress white and gold or blue and black?” debate. Simply stated: Perception is everything. Truth is an illusion.
Yesterday, two memes raged across the Internet—one because of the llama chase in Arizona, the other about the color of a dress. If I correctly understand the timeline, about which I could be mistaken: User Swiked posted the above cropped picture to Tumblr with question: “Guys please help me—is this dress white and gold, or blue and black? Me and my friends can’t agree and we are freaking the fuck out”. Obviously, those colors are strikingly different.
Flickr a Day 58: ‘Time is an Expressway Between Cradle and Grave’
In making today’s selection, I looked for something that would be quite different from the past three days of United States Marines. Julia Eckert provides just that, with “Zeit ist eine Schnellstraße zwischen Wiege und Grab”, which […]
Flickr a Day 57: ‘Pure Inspiration’
Iconic best describes the last of three pics chosen from The United States Marine Corps photostream. Isn’t this exactly the kind of scene that many people outside the military imagine? Depicted: “Sgt. Justin Glenn Burnside […]