I have a new project. It uses something called The Mechanical Turk. The above video is a sort of proof of concept, using bogus data. I will have much, much more to say about all of this, but my dogs are crying to go for a walk, so I have my priorities…. BRB!

-m

Originally uploaded by The Library of Congress

I love The Commons on flickr. It's just that simple. I was just taking a stroll through some of the great 4x5 transparencies and I saw this one. Stunning color and detail. Why don't we all shoot 4x5 transparencies? If my flickr archive of images look this good in 66 years, I will have died a happy man!

I am still very impressed with the LX3. It has become my "main" camera over the last couple of weeks. I take it everywhere and I have been having fun seeing what it can do. It has a few little intricacies that took me some time to learn, but I am getting pretty proficient with it now and very happy about the results.

The picture above was shot in Standard Color mode and converted to B+W in Photoshop beginning with the RAW file. I used the Silver Efex plugin for P-Shop for this one ( and most of my other B+W images ) as I have been having some great success with it and find it very easy to use.

One advantage to using the Silver Efex plugin in P-Shop vs. Aperture is that I can save the file as a Smart Object, which allows me to go back into the Silver Efex filter and make changes. I really wish I could do this in Aperture.

At school I actually made TWO whole prints. I haven't really printed anything in years, so it was a great bunch-o-fun for me. I was REALLY impressed with the quality, and I went and ordered a whole roll of Ilford Gallery Gold Fibre Silk from B+H. I've also been working with the Grad Lab to get the Epson 4800 printer calibrated for this paper.

The George Eastman House has just released a set of images donated by the photographer James Jowers. Check out the pics above, or click HERE for the set on flickr.

James Jowers American (b. 1938) James Jowers interest in photography began while serving in the United States Army where he was trained in darkroom procedures. In 1965 he became a student at the New School and studied under Lisette Model, who later became a close friend and mentor.

At this time he was living on the Lower East Side and worked as a night porter at St. Luke's Hospital; leaving him free to explore the City during the day and photograph life as he encountered it on the streets. Model later introduced Jowers to the Nancy Palmer Photo Agency where he was represented for several years.

The photography collection at George Eastman House holds approx. 400 James Jowers prints. The majority of the images were shot in New York City in the 1960s and early 1970s, an important and interesting time in US history. The photographs are of the New York City street photography genre. There are some remarkable images in this collection, including portraits of New Yorkers in various settings and anti-war protests in Central Park and elsewhere. There are also approximately 25 photographs of New Orleans in the 1970s. This set contains a selection of 50 images from Jowers' work in New York City. James Jowers donated the photographs and copyright to George Eastman House in 2007.