Religious Graffiti Project...

I've been working on a personal photo project for a long time now... maybe 15 to 17 years or so. It involves public messages of faith and religion, usually in the form of graffiti, tattoos, scribbling, illegal postings or other unique displays. The project focuses less on the questions and answers of whether God exists or not, and more about how individuals struggle with the idea as they display their level of faith publicly - often breaking the law to do so.

The images below are a small sample of the project, though I'd love to find the funding to complete it, or at least take it further. I have a couple locations that I still want to photograph, and hopefully I'll get to one day. Maybe I should try one of those kickstarter.com campaigns to fund this project. I wonder if there's enough interest?

If you like these images, you should check out my other photography at www.janikphoto.com

Shame On Denver's 92.5 FM The Wolf...

This story about a radio station stealing a photographer's images doesn't surprise me:

pdnpulse.com/2012/02/photog-says-radio-station-stripped-his-credits-infringed-his-c-rights.html

I've dealt with several radio stations in the past, and I've occasionally run into people at certain stations who don't feel like it's necessary to show photographers and their photography any respect. I won't get into any specific details on my negative experiences, since most of them were immoral, but not illegal. However, this Denver radio station (The Wolf 92.5 FM) that Scott D. Smith is battling sounds like they more than crossed the line.

If they are simply going to steal his photos, because they wanted to use them without paying, well... why don't they start stealing the electricity to run the station, gas to power the station's vans and not pay their workers? It's the the same illegal action, no matter what you steal.

New Lensbaby Tilt Lens...

I haven't used my old Lensbaby lens in a long time. I just saw it in my drawer today. Then I got an email from the Lensbaby company about this new lens they have:

lensbaby.com/optics-edge80.php

I think the Edge 80 might be pretty fun to play around with! I can imagine getting some pretty fun stuff at the next concert I shoot or the next environmental portrait I do. Here's a screen grab of my favorite sample pic from their gallery, taken by Kevin Kubota:

Old Polaroid Film...

I pulled out my Hasselblad 501c/m today. It has been collecting dust lately. I found a few sheets of old Polaroid film still in the holder, probably not touched for the last few years. I didn't expect it to work anymore.

I know the type 55 b/w stuff will last a long time past its expiration date, but the color stuff doesn't have the same longevity. The processing chemicals dry up and it becomes useless. Well, this stuff wasn't useless. The colors may have faded and the film isn't quite what it used to be, but it still rendered an image!

Man, how I missed pulling that strip out of the back of the holder and then grabbing hold of the film and giving a firm yank! It was an action that felt purposeful and manly. I can still smell the Polaroid chemicals...

Copyright Scam?!?

If the internet scammers are now pretending to be the RIAA, what's next? I saw a message in my spam folder and decided to check it out for the heck of it. It was obviously a phishing scam, since the attachment was a ZIP file, and not even a PDF of DOC file.

Since I do so much work in the music industry and have even been awarded an RIAA-certified Gold Record for my album photography, it is possible that someone with the RIAA might want to contact me. To taylor this scam even more, these thieves could pretend to be from a trusted photography organization. Who knows what they'll try next?

Here is a copy of the text from the bogus email:

Dear XXX, hereby we notify you that your IP address has been identified as distributing copyrighted content. Please see the attachment to this message for illicit Internet traffic details.

Failure to respond to this message within 14 days will result in copyright infringement accusation and standard legal procedures.

Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).....................

tel: 202-775-0101 fax: 202-775-7255

It's The Thought That Counts...

Sometimes a bad day can turn to good, or a good day can turn to great. All it takes are a few little words from your client. I'm feeling very happy after delivering some images to a Washington client and receiving the message: They are gorgeous!

Beretta Is On The Right Track...

I'm always looking at newspapers, magazines, advertisements and catalogs. I love to study the photos, layout and general design for inspiration. It's a good way to keep moving forward, stylistically.

I recently picked up a Beretta catalog and thumbed through it. The Italian company makes hunting and sporting apparel, firearms and accessories. Most of their products are very pricey. They have good product photography, a nice, manly, retro design and simple, solid layout. However, the lifestyle photography seems to be a bit stiff and cold. Maybe it's just an Italian esthetic that I don't quite get, or maybe they just didn't get the right photographer for the people shots. Either way, I expected more.

I think they are on the right track with their catalog, but I believe the company can do better on the photography next time.

Photogs Beaten Up On Reality Shows?!?

Here is a link to a story about a photographer who was assaulted on a public street after taking a photograph of a reality television series being filmed:

www.pixiq.com/article/san-diego-photographer-brutally-attacked?

I can't personally speak about the details regarding this specific attack, as I was nowhere near the incident and I have never met Ashi Fachler before. However, I can say that I've had plenty of encounters with the people who create these reality shows. Some have been nice, like the people for Bridezillas. Others have been horrible, like the people for some defunct VH1 show that I ran into at Ozzfest one year.

The VH1 security people saw me with a camera near their film crew and threatened me. One huge guy demanded to see the images on my camera and said he would harm me if I took pictures of them. This kind of bullying does happen, as they try to keep information about their upcoming episodes from being leaked.

It is terrible enough to be threatened by someone just because you are near their filming location, but imagine how easy it would be for these people to go from threats to actual violence!

Dallas Concert Photos...

I was digging through some old computer hard drives and I ran across some old concert photos to share. The images are four or five years old, and they include Tony Iommi, Ronnie James Dio (who passed away from cancer in 2010), Alicia Keys, and Robert Smith of The Cure.

If you like these photos, check out more of my work at www.janikphoto.com

Looking Back...

Just glancing back through some old photos, and thought I'd share one from a few years back...

Good Work JCP!!!

I'm liking the new direction that JCP is going with their advertising and marketing! It's not quite at the level of a Neimans or a Macy's ad yet, but it sure is better than their old stuff!

Being a Dallas-based company, many North Texas creatives (myself included) have spent a lot of time and energy up at JCP headquarters or at one of their contracted studios. They have a bunch of talented people working for them, and I think this new direction is a breath of fresh air!

Profoto and Beyonce...

Here is a nice video interview of photographer George Holz describing his shoot with entertainer Beyonce...