How many Pulitzer Prize winners do YOU know personally?!?

I know quite a few Pulitzer Prize winners. I'm not bragging. I'm actually just using it as a segue into the following topic: Cheryl Diaz Meyer. I met her up at the News years ago and remember when she won a Pulitzer for her work covering the Iraq war.

Apparently, Apple (the computer company) thinks she is cool enough to do a profile on:

www.apple.com/pro/profiles/cherylmeyer/index.html

I tend to agree with Apple. She is pretty cool. Check out the link and learn more about one of Dallas' coolest photographers!

Texas State Sales Tax?!?

This is a VERY confusing subject for most photographers. I will link to a few important website you should read regarding the collection of tax:

www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/sales/faq_exempt.html#resale1

www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/sales/

www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/sales/new_business.html

And finally, a fancy PDF with a bunch of handy info:

www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/taxpubs/tx94_105.pdf

Basically, you NEED to be collecting sales tax and paying it out to the government. I have several clients who are not required to pay sales tax. Some of them are exempt, because they are charities or schools. Some of them have a state sales and use certificate, and my photos will become part of a product they are going to resell (like a magazine or newspaper). Some clients are out of state and I will be shipping the final product outside of Texas' borders.

However, other clients I DO collect sales tax on, and I send it in to Austin every January. If I shoot a wedding or family portrait, I am REQUIRED to collect tax. You should be doing it as well. If they can't fill out a resale certificate form for you, then you have no other choice. They won't be reselling the wedding album they bought from you. They have to pay tax.

Anyway, the above links will help you get a better idea of when to collect sales tax and what to do with it when you do. Hopefully, this will help make sense of such a confusing topic.

Vinyl, you elude me...

I've had my photos on a bunch of albums over the years... many local, some regional, and a handful of national/internationally-known bands. I am also a big music fan. I love listening to music, collecting music, and enjoying music.

Today I realized something. I've never had (that I'm aware of) a photo of mine on a vinyl release. Vinyl has become a real hot thing lately, so many bands are releasing special pressings of their album on vinyl - especially indie bands. So, if you can find all sorts modern albums on vinyl, thanks to its recent resurgence, why has it still eluded me?

I really want to shoot an album that will be released on vinyl. I mean, look at this: www.newburycomics.com

Both classic re-issues and new releases on that faithful old format. Brand new and ready to play. And look at that huge artwork!!! CD's and digital downloads just can't compete...

Another video...

Here's a link to another video story I did recently.  I think I did a pretty good job on it:  

lakehighlands-dallas.blackwhiteread.com/view/article/12206  

This video is about a local, community library that is just a little bit different from your normal public library.  It's called Launa's Little Library and it was a blast to document!  

Screech?

Considering the fact that most professional photographers need to use Photoshop on a regular basis, I figured I could just barely make this story relevant.  Of course, I really just wanted to post a link about Saved By The Bell:  

nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2009/07/poor_screech_cropped_and_photo.html

OMG! OMG! OMG!

Please, God.  Tell me that I will soon have enough money for this:  

www.hasselbladusa.com/products/digital-backs/cfv-39.aspx  

www.hasselbladusa.com/media/1928194/uk_cfv39_datasheet_v4.pdf  

I so want to use my old Hassie 500c/m and 501c/m in the digital world.  I have a few beautiful Hasselblad lenses that would be fun to use with this digi back...  

PS - For those of you who don't know me well enough, I don't make it a habit to use omg, lol, lmao, or any other silly abbreviation like that.  The title was actually a bit of a joke, since this digital back got me all excited like a little kid at Christmas.  Trust that I never actually use those terms when working with clients!

Does it inspire you?

I found these "inspirational" videos and a couple of them are quite good.  At least they inspired me to step it up a bit on my shoots.  I wouldn't mind trying a few of the techniques seen in the videos.  

I found a couple of the videos to be kind of lame and dated, but hey... they can't all be winners I guess.  And I'm sure those lame ones must appeal to the more conservative shooters out there.  They just seemed like a "been there done that" moment.  I want to see more new, edgy stuff.

Anyway, watch these and see if you find something to inspire you:  

www.creativelight.com/inspire