Author: Paurian

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The creative photographer

Where there are thousands of fantastic photographers there are hundreds of thousands of amateurs who have taken fantastic photographs. I’ve had to think a bit lately about what separates the two. Some very well established photographers have posted work up on Flickr or on their personal site that I thought – ehhh, that’s okay. Likewise, some very average photographers have posted some striking photos on Flickr that draw my admiration.

What is it that gives a photo that “WOW” factor? I think it’s the ability to give notice to things and move us by visuals that nearly everyone else takes for granted. It is also the ability to tell a story in a unique way, such as Carl Iwasaki’s famous photo of teenagers going steady. Sometimes it’s an unexpected gamble that produces a photograph, like Phitar’s photo: salomé spinning. Sometimes it’s just seeing a detail in the environment that others overlook.

I could try to imitate, but that only takes me as far as being a good imitator. It seems that in photography, using a fresh approach is what gives any shot the potential. That frustrates me because I feel so stale – writer’s-block, inhibition, whatever you wish to call it.

Joseph O. Holmes’ gallery of photos of people staring at African veldt dioramas is an extraordinary example of a good artistic result. (These pictures somehow remind me of a related Ray Bradbury story.) It would be amazing to delve into his brain with a few questions: What made him think to do this series (AMNH)? Did he naturally envision the result and go for it, or did it strike him at the moment? Was he inspired to do this work, and if so, what inspired him? Is this an imitation of another piece of art that he’s seen? Whatever his answers might be to some of these questions, I think we can all agree that he well deserves the $650 a-piece that each of these photographs sell for.

Poughkeepsie Journal Article on Joseph O. Holmes

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Total Geeky Binary Love

greenKarat-Jewelry Product Detail Page

This is a geeky-cool-lovr product.

It’s a binary ring with five pits going across the ring to represent 2^5, or a binary representation of the digits 0-31. That’s more than enough to represent the 26 characters of the English alphabet.

There are a series of 20 spaces around the ring for your characters. Even better, it’s made out of recycled gold or titanium. These people are very enviro-friendly.

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Living on the edge

Baker's Edge Pan

When I bake brownies they usually end up a bit soft in the center, if you know what I mean. I’m talking gummy. (Note to self – chocolate flavored gummy bears… hmmm). But for many others suffering the same result, that’s changing.

The Baker’s Edge pan has been reviewed by nearly every baking company and food-based organization under the sun. That is, except the main chefs at the Food Network, which I suppose will hold off on their reviews until the Food Network can sell it. Although, Emeril and America’s Test Kitchen have reviews on it. But where’s Alton, the kitchen-gadget-geek-extraordinaire’s review?

So what’s the buzz? No more gummy brownies and more slightly-crunchy chewy edges. This pan distributes heat evenly across the brownie, baking it’s middle volume at the same rate as the outer pan. Several famous foodies including Alton Brown might call this a uni-tasker … but this is a glorified pan that could bake nearly anything a regular pan could.

My first thought is how difficult it might be to get the portions out of the pan – particularly if you’re dealing with Lasagna or “Mississippi Mud Pie/Cake” (aka “Sex In A Pan“).

My second thought is – it’s aluminum. I believe that the strong ties between aluminum and Alzheimer’s merits enough concern to stay away from aluminum when I can. I even go through the labels of toothpaste and deodorant to verify it is aluminum free. Why would I want it in my food, or want my food baking in it? Other than how aluminum heats up and cools off quickly (i.e. being a good conductor of heat), there is no reason not to go with stainless steel or cast iron or even silicon – all without Teflon, of course.

It would be interesting to see if this ever comes into stainless steel or silicon variety. Silicon would be particularly interesting since the weaving bars should give it more stability.