Micah Walter

So this afternoon I spent some time looking through my Aperture library. Way back in the beginning of the stack I found a small set of images that I shot while in Israel for the first time. It was a guided tour type trip called Birthright Israel and I didn’t take too many photos. In fact, I was only entertaining the idea of becoming a photographer at this point.

The odd thing is, I can remember exactly what type of camera and film and lens I used. It was a Nikon n90 that I borrowed from a friend at RIT, and he had also loaned me a 20-35 f/2.8. I shot about 10 rolls of Velvia on the trip and this is a small selection. If you click the main photo you will be able to see the rest in the set.

Sometimes it is really nice to look back and try and find something you shot when you were in a different place in life. I wasn’t a photographer at the time. I really didn’t know what I was doing, or what I wanted to do, but I do remember being passionate about photography. I remember thinking about taking pictures all the time, and I remember actually doing it as well. Sometimes when you get into other types of projects and find yourself in other places in life you can easily miss what you have left behind. I need to get out and make photographs. I need a new “scene” as someone I know would say. Something to jump-start things is very much needed.

Click the pic or click this link to see all the pics.

I think I am onto a theme today, pointing out cool photo related blogs…

Metro Collective is a collective of photographers centered around the Washington DC area. They produce some amazing work individually and as a collective they have a very congruent style.

I had the pleasure of working with them to produce their website about a year ago and we are now considering some minor modifications. Since I wrapped things up on the site they have added a blog that seems to have some potential. We have a few ideas floating around and I am eager to hear comments on the current look and feel of the site.

So comment away!

http://www.metrocollective.org

Along the same vein, one of the best multimeda photojournalism sites out there, Meidastorm.org, has won an emmy. Check out their latest blog post here.

I posted about this yesterday on Inside Aperture, but I am pretty excited about it, so I am posting it here as well. Over the past few months I have been working with Pictage.com to create their brand spanking new Aperture Plug-In. I rewrote the plugin from the ground up and it is finally finished and released in Beta form. You can get the whole scoop over at Inside Aperture, or if you are a Pictage photog, go download the plugin and try it out by following this link.

Have I blogged about this already? One of my favorite photographers, David Alan Harvey, has a really nice website and blog of his own. He seems to write just about every other day, and his writing is pretty interesting, I must say. I really enjoy how interested he always seems about continuing to educate. But what’s more is that he loves to post images, all sorts of images. So, the blog is a treasure chest of photographs of all types of things surrounding his life and his students lives.

Road Trips is certainly worth a read and apparently he is running his own little photo grant contest via Digital Railroad, so if you think you can get your images in by the deadline, you could be granted with $5000 to fund your next project.

Cheers to Harvey for his really excellent site and his amazing photographs.

I’m heading to PhotoPLUS in October! Yay! This is a great photo trade show that takes place each October in the big “Apple.” I have been several times in the past and each time I make sure to make it to the booth of my alma mater, RIT. Andy Davidhazy sets up his polaroid circular rotating stretch camera thing each year. You stand up on his home made turntable and he takes a photo of your entire head on a single sheet of Polaroid film! It’s really cool.

This year will be a little bit different as I am going to be “working” the show at the AUPN booth. If you have questions about Aperture, want to come meet me in person, or just feel the need to heckle me, please feel free to do so at this years show. I will also be presenting a short talk at the Pictage booth on Saturday at 11am. Details to follow.

I’m REALLY looking forward to this trip. It has been a while since I have been back in the states, and I decided to fly into DC to see my family before I head up to New York. I’ll be off the island for a week and as usual my first stop will be a Taco Bell, then to Starbucks, then to the closest Outback Steakhouse!

Hope to see you at the show!

PS - I saw this on Strobist, but it is so good, I just had to post it. Go, Chase Jarvis, GO!

This is just one of those things you should DO. The America At Home project begins tomorrow, so get out your cameras, sign up and submit your photos. More info can be found at their website by folowing this link.