My GPS Camera Phone

Evidence that deep down inside, all guys are blockheads.

I took this today while waiting for my most awesome wife, Nancy, to pick me up from work. Taking a note from the Stop Sign of the Subconscious post, I used the hour to take photos of things. I’m particularly happy with this one, aside from it being a bit overexposed – I had to work with the image in Photoshop to tone it down a bit.

If you haven’t already noticed the huge graphic in the sidebar, then look there now. Submit your camera phone photos with a story and you can be eligible for a super-awesome guest posting spot! Since Google updated their PageRank, I’m now happy to say that I’ve gone from 3 to 4. That means the link love you get will be better than before.

I’ve already received some photo submissions, so get yours in soon! The line is growing…

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Do you have a camera phone? Do you have what it takes to be a guest poster on this blog? Are you ready to extent your online visibility to at least 10 more people?

If you answered “yes!” to all of the questions above, then you’re ready to become an honored guest blogger on My GPS Camera Phone, listed under the category, “Your GPS Camera Phone.” (Clever, I know.)

Here’s how it works:

• Take a picture with your camera phone.
• Send it to photos@mygpscameraphone.com along with some text that describes the image or whatever else you think it should say. Make it post-length.
• Get ready for Digg-like traffic. You get a solid link to your blog when (and if) I post your image.

OK, you won’t be inundated with traffic, but it will be fun. I’ve had great luck with posting the previous two guest bloggers, Shiera and Diane, though it was a test-run to see if I actually liked the idea. It turns out that I love the idea, hence, this post.

So be sure to wipe the lens clean before shooting and send me your photos! I’m eagerly awaiting your responses and hope to have something posted this week. If you have any questions before submitting, just contact me and I’ll get back to you right away.

Happy shooting!

My daughters had a drama rehearsal last week for their big Saturday night dinner theater. The drama teacher is notorious for going long on time, which is not a bad thing, but it does entail a lot of suspense-filled waiting, akin to watching water come to a boil. The question of the moment on every parent’s lips is, “Are they done yet?” Even the most involved parent’s demeanor can be shifted from excited hopefulness to that of a sedated mental patient with a simple horizontal nod, at which time they resume their sidewalk pacing and small talk.

Finding myself in this undesirable situation, I did what anyone else would do – I paced around and stared at the concrete sidewalk, stopping once in a while to engage in some small talk. After what seemed like hours, the late afternoon sun lit up the street in a way that only the late afternoon sun can. Feeling a subconscious urge to mentally stop and redirect my attention, I took out the camera phone and started shooting.

I like traffic signs for some reason. Maybe it’s the precision of the message they deliver (though it’s not always precise enough). Maybe it’s the symmetry and angularity. Maybe I’ve got some strange attraction to lines and angles. Maybe I was a stop sign in a previous life. Whatever the reason may be, it was certainly enough to make the Monday morning edition of the blog.

With regard to the rehearsal, it finished late as expected, but I learned that “late” is relative. Without the time to pace around and process my situation, I’d have never caught this photo. Having a sign that says “stop” was a great mental cue as well, one that I will pay a bit more attention to in the future.

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In the last few months, especially the last few weeks, I’ve found some new sites and re-discovered some old ones. Some deserve props because they rock, others because they rock harder. Either way, it’s time for some well-deserved (and long overdue) link love.

1. Martin Gommel’s 10 Cameraphone Photographs that Rock by Martin of KWERFELDEIN via Darren Rowse’s Digital Photography School. I’ve been seeing more articles about camera phone photography in recent months, so I thought this was a nice find.
2. Four Concert Photography Tips from Luis at LightChasers Photography. This is neat because I wrote a similar article after attending a Rush concert in Jacksonville. Good tips, especially if you can incorporate the girlfriend factor.
3. Chica at Photo Projectz almost won it all in the Iron Chef Photography project put on by Neil Creek. Her entry included a marble which prompted a funny response from one of the judges: “What’s up with the marble?” If you know Chica, you know she’s into marbles.
4. I found a relatively new Digg-like site for photography called PhotographyVoter. It’s a great repository of photo-related stuff, where these articles stood out for me:
   • I noticed that Shawn Duffy of SDuffyPhotography also joined and submitted a story about shooting auroras posted over at ADIDAP (All Day I Dream About Photography), who I first discovered via Entrecard. The tips are great, but even if you don’t get to see auroras, the images are astounding and definitely worth the visit.
   • Susheel at Beyond Phototips wrote an awesome article about getting people to look through the lens instead of looking at the lens. An excellent tip that I will be using in the future.
   • Haje Jan Kamps at Photocritic lays out some detailed tips for making your photography site more search engine friendly. Personally, I’d love to do this, but alas, I am too tired at the end of the workday at my real job to make this happen.

   I tried submitting Gale Rainwater’s nature photography gallery (one of my favorites), but it hasn’t gotten anywhere yet. Maybe it’s because I’m a noob over there. Heck, I’m a noob over here, too. All noobishness aside, Gale’s work is incredibly inspirational.

5. Dan at dcrBlogs is back to posting cute photos of his Chihuahua, which reminds me of how cute mine used to be. OK, she still is, but her breath smells terrible.
6. Diane shows off some more beach photos at Much of a Muchness, making me want to pack up and travel to the east coast for a beach day. Unfortunately, I don’t have a bazillion dollars to pay for the fuel needed to get there, something that DeboHobo has recently reminded me of.
7. SoapboxMom has been posting some amazing photos, but she isn’t the photographer. Her tween daughter has got the eye for good composition and I’m going to keep my eyes open for more shots from her. Kids rule.
8. One more mention to my friend of 32 years, Phred, who correctly named the song I was referring to in the post about shooting camera phone photos at a live concert. He doesn’t do photos, but he helped set up an independent radio station here in Gainesville, which is no small task. He says the shows will eventually be posted online as podcasts, but there’s no set date as to when this will happen.

There’s tons more, but I didn’t want to overburden you. Take small bites because this is some good stuff and may take some time to digest properly.

Finally, a huge thank you to those who stopped by and commented on my way-too-late Wordless Wednesday entry this week: Di Vixen dcr Marsha

Thanks for reading.

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Check out how to maximize traffic via Wordless Wednesday or view last week’s entry.

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Now for something completely different.

Last Thursday night, I was sitting in the 7th row for a Rush concert. I have been a fan of Rush for about 22 years now and I’ve seen them maybe five times, possibly six. Regardless, I’ve never been so close to the stage. Since the band didn’t seem to mind the hundreds of camera phones, I snapped a few shots.

Of all the photos I took, this one is my favorite. Yes, it’s a bit blurry, but that’s exactly where I’m going with this post.

I learned a few things shooting in an unpredictably lit, concert environment. It’s hard to pull off with a camera phone. But if you try, here’s a few tips:

• Hold the camera steady. It’s dark in the arena and slight motion will blur everything. (Note: consuming too many beers may increase this task’s level of difficulty.)
• Don’t be afraid to turn the camera sideways. Yes, it looks dumb as a wallpaper for your phone, but that’s not the point. Get the best shot and then get it off of your phone for further enjoyment in all its 1200×1600 glory.
• Try to capture your shots while the subject is not moving around too much. Good opportunities usually come while Geddy Lee is singing or Alex Lifeson is doing a guitar solo. Neil Peart never stops moving, so don’t even try. Wacky light conditions + flailing guitarists = blurry photos. Also see note above regarding beer consumption.
• Hold the camera proudly, high in hand.* If the band is tolerating camera phone photography, then hold your camera phone up as high as possible to eliminate as much crowd as possible. To the camera, the crowd is a big, dark mass that will overcome the well-lit stage and possibly confuse your light sensor, resulting in a bad exposure.
• Utilize the projection screens for interesting compositions. It’s a great way to get a neat picture-in-a-picture effect and enhances the photo drastically. In this photo, the foreground subject (Geddy) is visible, but Alex is just a blur. With the projection screen, we can achieve great detail of Alex playing his guitar, giving his overexposed outline some much needed personality. Neil is invisible because he drums faster than the speed of light.
• Know when the pyrotechnics are fired. If you’ve already been to a bazillion of the band’s shows, it’s likely that you know when the good parts will come. Be ready for them.

By the way, the concert was great. Any other Rush geeks out there?

* Name the song I’m alluding to and you win a super-duper link to your blog from my most-awesome PR3 blog. I know, it’s hard to resist.
Congrats to Phred on being first to correctly name the song reference! “Hold the Red Star proudly, high in hand.” Rush geeks unite!

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Be sure to check your fonts carefully to avoid unintended innuendo. That’s about all I can say, because I think this photo says it all.

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