Blog Almost Hit 20,000 Readers — Where Are They All Coming From?

So this morning I’m talking with Jon over my ever present cup of coffee.  He’s a friend of mine here in town that shoots for a competing paper.  We (good-naturedly of course) have a running competition to see whose photos get the most runs and stuff and he usually beats me.  Not because my work isn’t good…of course I’m going to say mine is just as good as his, but he’s got connections with lots of press outlets that I can only dream about.

Getting kind of tired of always losing the bets to him, I told him that a few months ago when I last checked, my blog was getting between 14,000 and 18,000 reads a day.  Naturally he couldn’t accept my statement at face value, so while he ordered us a couple of refills on the coffee, I fired up the laptop and checked the stats on my blog.

Low and behold, I’ve almost hit 20,000 readers.

Yah, I know in the overall scheme of things it’s not iimportant.  But it was enough to win the bet.  So tomorrow I’m going to enjoy the cup of coffee even more since HE’S got to pay up.

I’ll drink (coffee of course) to that!

Do You Work for a Micro-Manager?

Yesterday, I’m sitting at a street cafe with a friend of mine drinking a cup of coffee and waiting on some things to start happening so we can get some shots…him for a national magazine he works for and me for a little local paper.

We’re enjoying the summer morning, the fresh air, good coffee and good conversation.  Not about much really…just “shooting the breeze”.

Then somehow the talk turns to management styles.  He tells me that he’s got a boss who will not only give him an assignment, but also tell him how to shoot it.  What F-stop to use, suggested shutter speeds, etc.  In short, his boss is a micro-manager.

I listened to him with sympathy for a few minutes and then when he had wound down, shared with him some of my own horror stories of micro-managers that I had worked with over the years.

Seems like they all had a few things in common.

#1) Control freaks — they had a very small vision of the world and anything that didn’t happen according to that vision was wrong.  They couldn’t think outside-of-the-box.  You know the type…you see them in businesses and churches all the time.  They’re the ones who say, “We never did it that way before” or “That’s the way we’ve always done it”.   If you challenge them by suggesting alternative ways to do the same thing, they seem to be threatened and get their knickers in a twist…almost as if by suggesting a different way for something you’re attacking them personally.

#2) Insecure — They’re typically very insecure in their own skills and abilities.  They’re afraid (sometimes at a subconscious level) that there may just be someone smarter than them…or better than them.  Heaven forbid that someone with a smaller paycheck or a lower title might ACTUALLY come up with something that works and is revolutionary.  Why the “micro-manager” just might be replace!  Yah, right.

Something else my friend and I agreed on:  we have zero tolerance for micro-managers.  Don’t like them (no one does); don’t want to be around them (no one does) and can’t wait until they hit the door going home at 5 o’clock (everyone does).

Just about as we were finishing our conversation and coffee, the bus boy was busy cleaning off the table next to us.  His manager, a kid not much older, came out and said, “That’s now how you wipe a table.  Wipe it like this…”  He proceeded to take the rag from the busboy and clean the table himself.  Which shows the #3 thing micro-managers have in common.

They’re pretty damn stupid regardless of how much college they have under their belt.  The busboy just had the manager do his work while he watched…and he got paid for it!

Me?  I finished my coffee, shook hands goodbye with my friend and headed off to get the shots I was waiting for.

The graphic comes from a great article about healthy management styles.  You can read the whole article here.

Free Photographs

In short, because I like to. Nothing more simple… ’sharing makes me feel good’. It is selfish, I know, but it is something I can selfishly do that helps others out.

Almost all of my photos can be shared, used, edited, remixed, reused, redistributed for almost any purpose without notifying me at all. Have at it!!!

Now lets get a little more into what I’m actually talking about. First FREE is not really free. What I am doing is offering everyone use of my photos without monetary compensation. So I can say FREE because there will be no monetary exchange.

Lets get even deeper. Anyone can use my photos as long as they attribute the work to me. So…. it isn’t really free; I ask for something back, a link or text credit. Many times I take care of the attribution myself by watermarking my photos, so in lot’s of cases we can still say I give away my photos for free.

Now, one layer deeper. Not only am I asking that if you use my photos you credit me… but you also must share the work you create under a similar license so others can collaborate, share and spread our combined work. So that is another restriction, but a liberating restriction forcing you to share.

Now I come to a very difficult part about offering my work for free to anyone that wants it. I am torn in my decision in this because there are great benefits either way. Do I allow commercial use of my work?… Let’s break it down. First, when someone does offer commercial use of their work one thing they are doing is helping out lots of small businesses. Small businesses typically don’t have big marketing budgets so they can’t afford to pay a photographer to get the exact photograph they need. They usually resort to using stock photos, which are a great way of saving money. Saving money and not spending money are very different.

This brings up a new question, what is commercial use and what isn’t??? Without getting into what has been discussed and debated over and over, I’m going to define it. I get to define it because, after all, it is my work and I can chose how I want it used.

Commercial Use: Anyone or any website that directly or indirectly promotes someone or something for sale or for hire.

Examples of commercial websites: apple.com, craigslist.org, amazon.com
Examples of non commercial websites: NONE I can think of (help me list some…)

You might be thinking “Wait… I have a blog and I don’t sell anything there! That is a non commercial website!!!” I say great!!! But… Let’s think about it for a second before we give it the stamp of approval… Do you have advertising on your website? If so you probably get paid for referrals or clicks (even if it is only $1 a month it is still money) and that makes it a commercial website. Ok, you have no ads on your website… Are you for hire? If so and your website promotes you, then indirectly it can make you money and therefore it is a commercial website. Not for hire and no ads? Great! I’m sure I can find some way of still saying you make money indirectly from your website but I’ll stop here, YAY you have a non commercial website!!!

Here is my point to the commercial/non commercial thing, there are many websites that on the surface look like they are non commercial but I see them as commercial. It is not a bad thing, I love it when people make a living from their website, but just because you don’t make a living from your website does not mean it is non commercial.

So, should I or should I not offer my work for free to commercial users. Well, I have not yet done so. Yes, here and there magazines and websites have contacted me to use my work and I have granted a single purpose use license; but I don’t offer that to everyone. There are some problems with doing so… I don’t have model releases from everyone in all of my photos so technically I cannot do a lot of things with those photos. Fortunately many of my client contracts have a model release in them so I do have full rights to use the images. I can offer those images to commercial users for free.

How do I offer my work to anyone for free?

Currently most of my work is under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike license (learn more about creative commons here). I am always tempted to offer my work under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike license because it will open up my images to many others that can use it. If you are not sharing your work, I highly encourage you to learn more about Creative Commons and consider sharing. I see so many websites and blogs with something like “Stealing is bad, don’t steal my images” on it and I cringe every time I see it.

I was asked if my clients mind (via Twitter) that I do this. My answer is, I don’t think they know I do this. I don’t hide it, but I usually only actively bring it up if I feel that there is a good chance of people using the photos.

After months of thinking about it, and after reading a blog post touching on the subject and mentioning an incident involving my work, I am going to start to re license some of my past work to be Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike and releasing future work under the same license (YAY commercial users can now have at it!!!). I think this will encourage more sharing and hope it will give others the confidence to do the same.

Now what if some massive corporation with millions of dollars uses my work to make millions of dollars!!! AAAAHHHH I’m screwed out of a bunch of money!!!…….. Well…. no. According to my license their new work must be released under a similar license and attribute the work to me. So although I will not get paid in dollars I get paid in attribution and the community gets paid with a new shareable, useable, editable, re-mixable, reusable, re-distributable work. Everyone wins because of Creative Commons.

I guess that is a better answer to the question “Why do I give my photos away for free?”…

Because everyone wins

Edit: If I have taken your photo in the past and you would like me to be able to re-release your photo under the new license please leave a comment or email me and I’ll get the release to you. I’m currently contacting past clients to get releases but will probably miss some people, so if you know anyone that I have photographed let them know about this.

ARTICLE BY MY FRIEND: Lan Bui.  Visit his blog at: http://www.lanbui.com/

If You Don’t Travel

I always marvel
Whenever I travel

Because if you don’t travel
And extensively explore
How can you open those awaiting doors?
Mysteries always lie waiting to be unraveled

I travel with my eyes
Watching those silently cry
Asking themselves the question why
Someone left them without saying goodbye

I travel with my thoughts
Abundant knowledge I have found and sought

I travel with my pen
To write about children, women and men

I travel with my voice
Speaking sensibly refusing to induce confusing noise

I travel with hope
Believing something new will spring into my horoscope
Whether in Africa or whether in Europe
There is always room, there is always scope

I travel to many places
Mix with different culture and races
Identify tribes by their faces
Everyone I always embrace

I travel with or without money
So please listen to my testimony
Every experience is worth lifes journey

I travel with intensive faith
Lavishing love rather than being defensive with hate

Because if you don’t travel
How can you grow?
How can you know,
What is beneath the dust and below the gravel?

Copyright 2006 – Sylvia Chidi
 

Visit my online gallery: www.JourneyAmerica.org

CNN and Laundry and Humility

A couple of months ago, I was setting around talking with some friends and the subject of our blogs came up.  First the overall topics of our blogs and then we got to talkingabout the number of subscribers we had.  At some point I had mentioned to one friend that the “stats page” on my blog was showing that I had (at the time) right at 14,000 subscribers.

My friend challenged me on this and all but called me a liar.  I’m not sure what my friend based their opinion on, but they didn’t understand how this ol’ grizzeled vet could have anything worth sayiing that would be read by that many people.

This morning laying in the bed, I got to thinking about that conversation.  Then I got to wondering about JourneyAmerica.  Where would JourneyAmerica show up in the searches.  Buried somewhere on page 100 of Mr. Google?  Probably so.  Then I got to thinking how cool it would be if my little online gallery were to show up in the top five pages.  So I got curious.

Fired up the computer, found Mr. Google and did a search on “journeyamerica” (without the quotes, of course).  Lo and behold it came out #1!  Yep.  #1 placement out of 121,000 items for the term, journeyamerica.  I stared at the screen in disbelief for about 5 minutes.  You know there’s alot of businesses that pay top-dollar to get good results from search engines and this ol’ boy got lucky and hit #1 just by being a loudmouth and looking at the world through a camera lens.

So what does all this mean?  In the overall scheme of things — not much.

The sun will still sit tonight, there will still be wars going on in Iraq and the other place (I’d type it, but I can’t spell it), and we’ll still have a lousy economy.

I’m going to take about five minutes to enjoy my token status of being #1 temporarily at something in the world and then I’ll get back to work.  God has a way of keeping me humble.

Remember the other day I mentioned that CNN wanted to interview me about a couple of snapshots I took?  I was basking in the glow of that moment when a friend stuck his head out the door and asked me if I’d throw a load of his laundry in for him since he was in a hurry to get to town or somewhere.

I grinned at him and asked, “So just how many people have you had help you with your laundry right after being interviewed by CNN?”  He had no idea what I was talking about so he shrugged his shoulders at me and left.

I got me a cup of coffee and sat down to think about it for a second.  God has a sense of humor and he keeps me humble.  I’m glad He does.

Now, where’s my coffee?  I’m going to drink a cup and then enjoy this for a few minutes.

NOTE:  The screen capture graphic with this blog is the search results I got this morning.

CNN Interviewed Me — Again

I was interviewed by CNN.  Honest.  Just now.  Really.  It was an hour long interview.  I don’t think I’ve ever spoken so much at one time in my life.  OK, quit laughing. 

From what I can understand, someone who reads this blog (and latest stats are above 18,000 daily), knows someone who works at CNN and told them about my little snapshots.

Must be a slow news day or something. 

They’ve selected 4 or 5 photos that they want to use.  I’m not sure if they’ll be on the CNN website or television.  And in fact, they might end up on the floor of the editing room who knows.

The picture they wanted to talk most about is the one you see with this blog.  I took it this past weekend at Bele Chere.  The organizers of the festival had set up about 5 4×8 sheets of white painted plywood for anyone to write anything they wanted.  I thought it was kind of cool looking, so I took a few shots.  Out of about a half dozen, the one you see here is the one I liked best, so I posted it on my gallery.

Well this lady from CNN wanted to know something about the photograph.  “Mr. Nelson”, she asked.  “What exactly about the photograph depicts mans interaction to man”.  Lady, I don’t know…I just thought it was a cool shot.

“Well, Mr. Nelson, don’t you agree that the chaos of the random writing on the wall is offset by the single hand shown which represents hope for all mankind in the midst of turmoil”.

LADY, I JUST THOUGHT IT WAS A COOL SHOT!!!

So we chatted a little more about my photography…why I do it…etc etc etc.  We talked some about Asheville and some of the folks that I’ve met here.  I put in a plug for JamesYaun.com and The MountainXpress as well.  All in all, it was a friendly little visit. 

So I’m gonna set here on the front porch in the rocking chair for a few more minutes and just think about the fact that I’ve been interviewed (again by the way) by CNN…the world’s largest news gathering and reporting organization.  Then when I’m done feeling kinda special…I have to go get my laundry out of the washer.  Back to earth now.

But first I’m gonna finish this cup of coffee and wonder if they’ll ever need a replace for James Earl Jones saying, “This is CNN”.  I might apply for the job.

Or not.l

Any Excuse is Better Than No Excuse

The following is a guest post by Ben Reaoch, pastor of Three Rivers Grace Church in downtown Pittsburgh, PA.

* * *

It started in the Garden. Adam said to God,

The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate. (Genesis 3:12)

The first man, caught in the first sin, turns to blame his wife. And he extends the blame to God as well! He implies that he would have remained innocent if God hadn’t put Eve in the garden with him.

The blame-shifting in the Garden continues today. Our proud hearts send us desperately looking for someone else to point to every time we’re confronted with our own sin. There must be someone else—our spouse, sibling, parent, boss, co-worker, pastor, friend, or God, himself.

We are so desperate to justify ourselves that we become irrational. Here are 12 examples.

1) Anger

I wouldn’t lose my temper if my co-workers were easier to get along with, or if my kids behaved better, or if my spouse were more considerate.

2) Impatience

I would be a very patient person if it weren’t for traffic jams and long lines in the grocery store. If I didn’t have so many things to do, and if the people around me weren’t so slow, I would never become impatient!

3) Lust

I would have a pure mind if there weren’t so many sensual images in our culture.

4) Anxiety

I wouldn’t worry about the future if my life were just a little more secure—if I had more money, and no health problems.

5) Spiritual Apathy

My spiritual life would be so much more vibrant and I would struggle with sin less if my small group were more encouraging, or if Sunday school were more engaging, or if the music in the worship service were more lively, or if the sermons were better.

6) Insubordination

If my parents/bosses/elders were godly leaders, then I would joyfully follow them.

7) A Critical Spirit

It’s not my fault that the people around me are ignorant and inexperienced.

Bitterness

If you knew what that person did to me, you would understand my bitterness. How could I forgive something like that?

9) Gluttony

My wife/husband/roommate/friend is a wonderful cook! The things they make are impossible to resist.

10) Gossip

It’s the people around me who start the conversations. There’s no way to avoid hearing what others happen to say. And when others ask me questions, I can’t avoid sharing what I know.

11) Self-Pity

I’ll never be happy, because my marriage/family/job/ministry is so difficult.

12) Selfishness

I would be more generous if we had more money.

Making excuses like this is arrogant and foolish. It’s a proud way of trying to justify our actions and pacify our guilty consciences. And it keeps us from humbling ourselves before God to repent of our sins and seek his forgiveness.

Consider James 1:13-15, which leaves us with no way of escaping our own sin and guilt. We cannot blame God, for he “cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.”

Instead, we have to accept the humbling truth that “each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.” This will end the blame game, and it will send us pleading for Christ’s mercy and grace.

Not My Writing…But I Wish It Was

The Lord’s Prayer

Ever wonder what prayer would be like if it was answered during
the prayer?  Would you be shocked, embarrassed, annoyed,
thrilled, or speechless?
Think about how you might respond if this were to happen:

Our Father, Who Art In Heaven.
  Yes?
Don’t interrupt me.  I’m praying.
  But…  you called me!
Called you?  No, I didn’t call you.  I’m praying.  Our Father who
art in Heaven…
  There…  you did it again.
Did what?
  Called me.  You said, “Our Father, who art in Heaven.” 
  Well, here I am.  What’s on your mind?
But I didn’t mean anything by it.  I was, you know, just saying my
prayers for the day.  I always say the Lord’s Prayer.  It makes me
feel good, kind of like fulfilling a duty.
  Well, all right.  Go on.
Okay.  Hallowed be Thy name…
  Hold it right there.  What do you mean by that?
By what?
  By “Hallowed be Thy name”?
It means… good grief, I don’t know what it means.  How in the
world should I know?  It’s just a part of the prayer.  By the way,
what does it mean?
  It means honored, holy, wonderful.
Ah, that makes sense.  I never thought about what hallowed
meant before.  Thanks.  Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done,
on earth as it is in Heaven…
  Do you really mean that?
Sure, why not?
  What are you doing about it?
Doing?  Why, nothing, I guess.  I just think it would be good if
you got control of everything down here like you have up there.
We’re kind of in a mess down here you know.
  Yes, I know; but have I got control of you?
Well, I go to church.
  That isn’t what I asked you.  What about your bad temper?
  You’ve really got a problem there, you know.  And what
  about some of the language you use and the stuff you talk
  about?  What about your impatience with others and
  thinking that you’re better than they are?  What about the
  people you’ve judged?  Remember, that’s MY job, not
  yours.
Now hold on just a minute!  Stop picking on me!  I’m just as
good as some of the rest of those people at church!
  Excuse me?  I thought you were praying for MY will to be
  done?  If that is to happen, it will have to start with the
  ones who are praying for it… like you, for example.
Oh, all right.  I guess I do have some issues.  Now that you
mention it, I could probably name some others.
  So could I.
I haven’t thought about it very much until now, but I really would
like to cut out some of those things.  I would like to… you know,
be really free.
  Good.  Now we’re getting somewhere.  We’ll work together,
  you and me.  I’m proud of you.
Look, Lord, if you don’t mind, I need to finish up here.  This is
taking a lot longer than it usually does.
Give us this day, our daily bread…
  You need to cut out some of the bread.  You’re a little over-
  weight as it is.
Hey, wait a minute!  What is this?  Here I am doing my religious
duty, and all of a sudden you break in and remind me of all my
problems.
  Praying is a dangerous thing.  You could end up changed, you know.
  That’s what I’m trying to bring across to you.
  Remember, you called me; and here I am.  It’s too
  late to stop now.  Keep praying.
…………….
  Well, go on.
I’m scared to.
  Scared?  Of what?
I know what you’ll say.
  Try me and see.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us…
  What about Susan and others who have done you wrong?
See… I knew it!  I knew you would bring her up!  Why, Lord?
She’s told lies about me and spread stories.  She never paid back
the money she owes me.  I’ve sworn to get even with her!
  But… your prayer.  What about your prayer?
I didn’t, you know, really mean it.
  Well, at least you’re honest.  But it’s quite a load carrying
  around all that bitterness and resentment, isn’t it?
Yes, but I’ll feel better as soon as I get even with her.  Boy, have
I got some plans for her.  She’ll wish she had never been born!
  No, you won’t feel any better.  You’ll feel worse.  Revenge
  isn’t sweet.  You know how unhappy you are.  Well, I can
  change that.
You can?  How?
  Forgive Susan. Then I’ll forgive you; and the hate and sin
  will be Susan’s problem, not yours.  You will have settled the
  problem as far as you are concerned.
OK… you know… you’re right.  You always are.  And more than
I want revenge, I want to be right with You.  (Sigh)… All right,
all right… I forgive her.
  There now!  Wonderful!  How do you feel?
Hmm.  Well… not bad.  Not bad at all!  In fact, I feel pretty
good!  You know, I don’t think I’ll be going to bed all uptight
tonight.  I haven’t been getting much sleep lately, you know.
  Yeah, I know.  But you’re not through with your prayer, are
  you?  Go on.
Oh, all right.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…
  Good!  Good!  I’ll do that.  Just don’t put yourself in a place
  where you can be tempted.
What do you mean by that?
  You know what I mean.
Yeah, I know.
  OK.  Go ahead and finish your prayer.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever.
Amen.
  Do you know what would bring me glory and what would
  really make me happy?
No, but I would like to know.  I want to please you now.  I’ve
really made a mess of things.  I want to truly follow you.  I can
see now how great that would be.  So tell me… how do I make
you happy?
  You just did

Double Click on the photo to see more.

Dancing Queen vs Drama Queen

Here in Asheville every Friday night at Pritchard Park there is a drum circle.  Lots of folks drumming on a variety of drums.  Lots of people standing around watching.  Lots of people dancing in the middle of the drum circle.

One Friday night several weeks ago, I was at the drum circle and snapped this photo.

Just one girl in the middle of the crowd dancing.  No one was paying any attention to her.  She wasn’t dancing with anyone.  Just enjoying the beat of the drums and the energy in the moment.  I’ve had lotsa of positive comments on this photo and it’s being used on the cover of a book to be published soon.  But I can’t take any great credit for the shot…just one of many that I took that night…I just happened to be pointing the camera in the right direction at the right time.

I named it “Dancing Queen”.  It’s also in the header of this blog, so I’m sure you’ve seen the image before.  Recently this picture and the unknown girl in the picture have been on my mind lately.

Here’s a lady who is just apparently enjoying life…at the moment she is at least.  I have no idea of what happened in her life in the days and weeks before I captured her spirit on film and I have no idea of what has happened in her life since then.  But I do know that for one split second at least she was enjoying life and all was right in her world.

How different from some of the “drama queens” I’ve known in my life.  You know them too…you may have a couple of drama queens in your life.  You know the type at least: the people who aren’t happy unless they’re miserable about something…the ones who rush around pitying themselves and exclaiming “they just have so much work to do”.  They’re not happy unless they’re on the “pity pot” and making sure that everyone else knows how miserable they are.

Funny thing is, so many of the “drama queens” I’ve known in my life have chosen to call themselves “Christian”.  They speak alot about turning everything over to Jesus, but when it comes right down to doing it in their own life — OH NO!!  If they did, then no one could see how “busy” they are and how “stressful” their life is and they couldn’t enjoy the sympathy of those around them who haven’t gotten sick-and-tired of their perpetual “Woe is me” attitude.

The way I look at it is Jesus was either who He said He was or He was a liar and a lunatic.  If He was who He said He was, then He meant the many things He said.  MMmmm…something like “cast all your cares on me” comes to mind.

So if given a choice between hanging out with the “christian” drama queens or the Dancing Queens, I think I’ll choose the latter.  They’re a whole lot more fun to be around.

Now excuse me if you would…I’m gonna dance my way to the coffee pot for a refill.