danajohnhill.org | Hard Times Come Again No More

I follow a number of photographers’ streams on Flickr, the website where I keep tens of thousands of my own photographs.  I have met none of these photographers in person, though one, whose Flickr name is Gato Ranch, lives in north central Florida.  She has many pictures of nature and bands.

On her stream today, Gato Ranch, whose real name is Jana, posted something that I found disturbing.  The Gainesville Sun has taken one of her photographs, and, without her permission, posted it on their webpage in conjunction with a story.  Worse still, in spite of the fact that the stolen picture had her real name and a copyright symbol, the Sun gave her no credit, and posted a link for readers to buy the image.  From them!  It is the most blatant copyright violation I’ve ever seen.

Jana tells me that she notified the Gainesville Sun of their violation, but this isn’t the first time they have done this to her, so one must assume that this is par for the course with them.  She doesn’t believe that they copied the picture from Flickr, but from MySpace, which explains the low resolution.

I’ve never thought much of the Gainesville Sun.  In fact, I have a hate-hate relationship with that paper.  They publish unsolicited Craigslist-style rants in their letters section, which I feel violates all standards of journalism; they have been adversarial in their coverage of WUFT-FM, where I work; they have misquoted me in articles, and acted offended when I alerted them to that fact.  They are simply a bad newspaper.  Now I see they are also criminals.

Shame on you, Gainesville Sun.

So, I have a polite request for anyone who reads the Sun online:  if you ever see any photographs you recognize as mine, please let me know.  If it can happen to Jana, it can happen to me.

Filed under: Gainesville, Photography, Rantings on June 17th, 2009 | 2 Comments »

I recognize that 2008 was, for many, a bad year.  The worst economy in generations, rising unemployment, and record prices for almost everthing stemming from gasoline that topped $4.00 a gallon made life difficult for a lot of people.  In spite of all this, 2008 was good to me.  Some highlights:

• I began classes at the University of Florida.  This is remarkable, because had I waited any longer the window would have closed on me, probably forever.  The University announced this year that they were changing their admissions policy for transfer students.  Unlike other universities in Florida, UF doesn’t have to admit students with transfer degrees from community colleges.  They can pick and choose.  And when the average GPA for entering freshmen at UF is over 4.0, there is little incentive for them to take people like me.  I got in just under the wire.  School is challenging, but rewarding.  I feel very grateful to be where I am.
• This year I became active in a roller debry league.  I am not a skater, of course, but I spent a lot of time with the girls who are skaters, and contributed to the league in my own small way.
• I did lots of traveling in 2008.  In January I spent a weekend in Daytona Beach at the wedding of my closest friends; in June I spent almost a week in Chicago, which is surely one of the world’s great cities; in early August I spent several days in Hilton Head, South Carolina, which I didn’t care much for as a place, but can now say I’ve seen; went to Savannah twice; had a great weekend in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, which is a delightful little town; had an incredibly memorable week in Washington, DC, where I saw a million amazing things.
• I made lots of new friends, and reconnected with many old friends on Facebook.  I saw Burt twice.
• I got myself an amazing Fender Telecaster, which is ideal in nearly every way.
• I continued my incredible no-vomiting streak.
• I paid off all of my credit card debt.
• I watched lots of Olympics on TV.
• I became the last person I know to buy a laptop computer, and it’s changed my life.
• I discovered Samuel Johnson, which also changed my life.
• I had several photographs published in books, magazines, and even the website of the Wall Street Journal.
• I ate an astonishing amount of Hungry Howie’s pizza.
• I perfected the grilled cheese sandwich (the secret ingredient is salt).
• I read: Emma; Persuasion; Oroonoko; Wuthering Heights; Lady Audley’s Secret; Evelina; Robinson Crusoe; Roxana; Oliver Twist; The Monk; Clarissa; Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and tons of poetry.
• I saw Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in concert; they played “Jungleland”.

So long, 2008.  You were good to me.  As I do every year, I close with the Stephen Foster sentiment that has become my credo: Hard Times Come Again No More.

Filed under: Cost of Living, Dana Heritage Project, Food, Friends, General, Literature and Books, Photography, Popular Music, School, Sports, Technology, Television, Travel on January 1st, 2009 | 1 Comment »

I’ve been using the lowly D70 for years, and, as a part-time professional, I am well aware of its limitations.  Had I not bought the flagship F5 just before digital caught fire, I’d have surely bought one of the top-of-the-line digital bodies.  Alas.

Tonight I read about the new Nikon D90.  Blimey! it looks spectacular!  The most appealing thing to me is that this is the first Nikon SLR that shoots video–720p high definition–and it supports geo-tagging, which is something I have longed for since I began using Flickr.

Christmas is coming!

UPDATE: So, it turns out that the video mode doesn’t allow autofocus.  That makes sense, since the mirror would be locked up during video.  Less than ideal, but still, a step up.

Filed under: Photography, Technology on October 23rd, 2008 | No Comments »

Boston.com has some stunning photos of hurricanes taken from space.

Filed under: Meteorology, Photography on September 9th, 2008 | No Comments »

If you travel a great deal, or just enjoy keeping up with the airline industry, you may be a regular reader of the Wall Street Jounral‘s “The Middle Seat Terminal”, written by Scott McCartney and Matt Phillips.  It details all the ups and downs [rimshot] of air travel, and gets a lot of attention. 

Last week I was contacted about a picture I took in Atlanta this past June.  I am proud to say that my photograph was published in today’s “Middle Seat”.  It is exciting to think that it will be seen by so many eyes.  So, now I can add the Wall Street Jounral to my expanding resume of published photographs.  Huzzah!

Filed under: Photography on August 4th, 2008 | 1 Comment »