Thursday, June 19, 2008

Blah Blah Blog, will be on vacation!


I am taking a much needed vacation. I'm not even going to bring my laptop, and my cell phone won't work. Needless to say you won't see anything new on this blog until I return the first of July. I hope I return with a lot of great images and a few new ideas for blog posts. In the meantime, here's an image from my last vacation to Puerto Rico.
Buenos dias, amigos!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Model: Chrissy Hill

"Want What You Have"

What a shame that we always want what someone else has. I read a post on the photography forum of Model Mayhem in which the poster lamented the fact that she met someone who was not even a serious photographer, yet owned very expensive camera and lenses.

She admitted she was jealous, and she seemed resentful that someone should have better equipment only because he had the money to buy it.

My response to her was the title of this post: "Want what you have". What I really wanted to say was there will always be someone with a better camera, a nicer car, a bigger house. No matter how much you have there will be those with more, and if your happiness depends on having the most, best or biggest, you are sure to be very unfullfiled.

Why is there such resentment towards those that have the means? It seems there's almost a sense of entitlement; that no one should have more than me, and if they do, they don't deserve it. What a sad way to go through life. If you want something, work to put yourself in the position to purchase it. If you can live without it, do so until you can afford it.

As my wife says: "You can have ANYTHING you want. You just can't have EVERYTHING you want.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Be better than anyone cheaper than you. Be cheaper than anyone better than you.


It's a bit over simplified, but this little bit of homespun wisdom is actually a good guide to value marketing. Whether it's photography, modeling, or any other commercial enterprise that depends on your skill and expertise, you need to know how to value your services in the marketplace. You don't have to be the best. You don't have to be the cheapest. You just have to present a value that satisfies buyers.

While this may be useful to Alien Photography as a commercial enterprise, this does not address the other aspect of my serious preocupation with photography: Art.

I'm currently in the process of discovering how much of Alien Photography will be dedicated to commercial enterprise, and how much I will do just for the sake of my love of the art of photography. I suspect that the former will help sustain the later, but standby for further developments on that front. I like both. And there's no reason they must be mutually exclusive.
Model: Miss Melibea

Monday, June 9, 2008

Picture of the Day

Since this is ostensibly a photography blog, I may, from time to time, offer a photograph in lieu of text. A picture is worth a thousand words, right?

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Quote of the Day

"If you think health care is expensive now, wait until it's free."-P. J. O'Rourke

Friday, June 6, 2008

What would my mother say?


I've decided to blog. (Is "blog" a verb? It is now). It's against my own better judgement. It's peer pressure. Almost anyone I know and respect has one. I need one too. My mother would say "If everyone jumps into the lake would you jump too?" Well mom, yes I probably would, I don't know. BTW, I love your blog, mom.


Stand by for more stuff from what will possibly be the world's worst blogger. The low quality of my posts will be offset by their infrequency I'm sure.
Neil A