Looking for information about photographic techniques, tips, and software reviews?  Then you might like to know Blue Earth photographer Steve Simon is a contributor to the popular podcast This Week In Photography.  Co-hosted by Alex Lindsay and Scott Bourne, TWIP is an entertaining but very informative podcast on all things photography – cameras, techniques, software, developments, and more.  Both Lindsay and Bourne are experts in photography and computer graphics, and all the contributors are equally good at sharing the benefits of their experience in an approachable format.

And if you are a computer geek like me, you may also know Lindsay and Bourne as regulars on MacBreak Weekly, another favorite podcast.

- Bart J. Cannon, Program Manager

Technology is not always the friend of storytelling.  If it were, the most elaborate, big-budget special effects films would be the best ever made – and that’s hardly the case.

Occasionally, however, even old-fashioned newspaper publishers can come up with a clever use of technology to add life to the stories they’re trying to tell.  This is the case with a recent David W. Dunlap article on the Hudson River shoreline in the New York Times.  Rather than simply posting comparative images side by side, or in a static slideshow, the paper’s web site allows visitors to pull the present over the past in a literally “sliding” show.  Admittedly, it’s not a major piece and only two photos.  Still, the article demonstrates a use of technology that actually adds value to the photographic presentation – something one doesn’t often find.

- Bart J. Cannon, Program Manager

If you are in New York for this year’s Photo Plus Expo, be sure to stop by our booth and see your friends at Blue Earth.  Our booth is #1921, and we’re here in the exhibit hall starting today, Thursday, October 23rd through Saturday, 25th at the Jacob Javits Convention Center.

Stop by and find out more information about Blue Earth’s mission, become a member, attend book signings, learn about our project photographers, or even just say “hello” to members of our board and volunteers.  See you in New York!

- Bart J. Cannon, Program Manager

Along with collaborator Peter Matthiessen, nominated this week for the National Book Award for his novel Shadow Country, Blue Earth Project photographer Subhankar Banerjee will be speaking at the Salt Lake City Main Library on November 13th.  Banerjee is a visiting scholar in the environmental humanities program at the University of Utah and will be teaching a graduate level course this fall.

Read more about the presentation in the Salt Lake Tribune.

- Bart J. Cannon, Program Manager

On The Commander © Alejandro Tomás

Last evening at the Seattle Central Community College, Blue Earth project photographer Alejandro Tomás presented to an overflow crowd his documentary project “Who Rules US?” profiling an elite group of American power brokers.  The crowd of attendees included students, members of the American Society of Media Photographers (who hosted the event), Blue Earth board members and supporters, as well as the general public.  All were treated to an extended photographic essay detailing a glimpse into the face of power in the US.

Joel Connelly’s article on the presentation in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer includes a slide show of several photos from this intriguing project.

Congratulations to Tomás for a great presentation!

- Bart J. Cannon, Program Manager

Blue Earth photographer Gary Braasch’s work was selected for the new United Nations global warming stamp set, and now we have the stamps themselves (pictured above).  This stamp set, released as part of the United Nations Year of Planet Earth, uses images from his book Earth Under Fire: How Global Warming is Changing the World.

Everyone is invited to attend a launch event being hosted by the UN Postage Administration at the American Stamp Dealers Association Fall 2008 Mega-Event at Madison Square Garden, 34th Street & 7th Avenue in New York on Thursday, October 23rd, at 11 a.m.  This coincides with the 2008 Photo Plus Expo, in case you might be in the area.

Additional images from Gary’s project can be viewed in a slide show on our web site.

- Bart J. Cannon, Program Manager

From LIFE: A Journey Through Time © Frans Lanting

Blue Earth project photographer Frans Lanting’s multimedia production ORIGINS, an adaptation of “LIFE: A Journey Through Time” and including music by renowned composer Philip Glass, will be performed October 21st in Geneva, Switzerland, at the official Inauguration Ceremony for CERN’s Large Hadron Collider.  ORIGINS will be presented as the entertainment centerpiece of the ceremony, which will be attended by over 20 European heads of state, as well as other scientists and dignitaries.

Our congratulations to Frans for this great honor!

- Bart J. Cannon, Program Manager

There are quite a few photographers working here in the Northwest, and I just wanted to pass along a great opportunity to showcase local work.  The Seattle Mayor’s Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs is requesting community exhibition proposals and artist group shows for display in the City Hall Lobby Gallery and the Anne Focke Gallery during 2009.  Blue Earth hosted an exhibition in the City Hall gallery this past summer, and it’s a very nice forum to bring your projects before the public.  The deadline for submissions is November 13th.

For more information, visit the web site.

- Bart J. Cannon, Program Manager

While working on issues of social and environmental concern, many documentary photographers spend much of their time focusing on a larger story, on getting the big picture, as it were.   Sometimes, however, the details on the small scale are just as intriguing.

“Eyes of the hunter” by Stavros Markopoulos

Smashing Magazine, which I‘ve found to be a wonderful resource for photographers as well as designers, recently featured an article highlighting several examples of terrific macro photography.  Sometimes the detailed, close images of the natural world can restore our own personal wonder of the beauty we are trying to protect.

- Bart J. Cannon, Program Manager

Blue Earth project photographer Heather McClintock’s work is being displayed as part of the 2008 International Exhibition of Fine Art Photography.  Juror for this exhibition is Hossein Farmani, founder of the Lucie Awards.   Photographers working in diverse areas across the globe are part of the exhibition.  The artists’ and public reception will be held from 6-9 p.m. on Friday, October 3rd, during the Fort Collins, CO Gallery Walk.

If you are in the area, be sure not to miss this exhibition!

- Bart J. Cannon, Program Manager