Maintaining your digital rights

This is an article from the folks who build FotoQuote and FotoBiz.

Last roll of Kodachrome

I shot a little Kodachrome and a lot of Ektachrome when I started out as a pro photographer in the 80's. This is a nice piece by a shooter I've always admired but have never met, Robert Cohen. He was leaving South Florida when I was starting out as a Miami Herald intern there.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/multimedia/vmix_4e9f782a-aca0-11df-806f-00127992bc8b.html

After Charo and Mike’s Old San Juan wedding…a beer and some jazz

The Island Wedding Fotos Puerto Rico team of Jose Jimenez, Isaida Ortiz and myself (Angel Valentin) shot Charo and Mike’s awsome wedding in Old San Juan last weekend. It was a hot hot Puerto Rico summer day. Destinations weddings in Puerto Rico in the summer are beautiful and fun, but HOOOOTTTTT. I changed shirt 3 times !

After the reception ended Isaida and I decided to grab a beer @ the Old Harbor Brewery (http://oldharborbrewery.com/) less than a block from the venue. Traffic out of San Juan was brutal and we were tired. To our delight Old Harbor had a jazz sextet jamming away next to the bar which is where we sat. Had a good hour or so of R & R with nice music, cold beers and some appetizers.

Here’s a snap I shot with a 5D Mark II and a 50mm 1.4 @ 2000 ISO.

Zmo in bikini, Miami

Was in Miami recently and was recruited to shoot a promo campaign for a bathing suit designer. The model, Zmo is a good friend. This was fun and easy to do. The only problem was the underwater housing started leaking water in the middle of the pool shoot but the camera wasn’t damaged, I don’t think.

My Review of Flashpoint Vertical Battery Grip for the Canon 5D Mark II

Originally submitted at Adorama

Flashpoint Vertical Battery Grip for the Canon 5D Mark II

Flashpoint Vertical Battery Grip for the Canon 5D Mark II

Great (for the price...)

By Fotorican from San Juan, Puerto Rico on 5/3/2010

 

3out of 5

Pros: PracticalCheap

Cons: You get what you pay for

Best Uses: Portrait Photography, Digital Photography, Travel

Describe Yourself: Pro Photographer

I never buy 3rd party items. I only got this grip after a colleague's highest recommendation. I bought 3 of them, 2 for 5D2 and one for a 7D. Out of the 3 I only got 1 bad one. It sometimes fails to operate and when on disables the top dial on the body. This is frustrating when it happens in the middle of a wedding or news event. I called Adorama and was told to return it, no questions asked. I wish I'd had the money to buy the Canon brand ones but I didn't and I have to say that the other two I got work perfectly. I love the option to use the grips and to take it off when I do some jobs. I just noticed the price dropped. Nice.

(legalese)

Jobos Beach, Isabela

I overnighted with some friends in their rental apartment last night. This morning I got up early, as usual, and drove around the beach and spotted this fisherman getting his “yola” wood motorboat ready to go out and check on traps left overnight to catch fish. Shot a few frames with my Canon S90 point and shoot but got the best frame with my iPhone. Go figure.

Federico y Kiki

In the middle of a marathonic imaging session as I imaged photos for my upgraded wedding photojournalism website I decided to take a 15 minute break to shoot pictures of my min poodle Federico frolicking on the grass with my neighbor's weiner dog Kiki. I also used the opporunity to finally test my new 7D, a camera I know will only see limited action as I concentrate more and more on the wedding side of photojournalism.

Camera performed flawlessly and Federico caught up with the speedy Kiki. Good times !

La Vuelta de los 9 Faros, Puerto Rico, 2010

I was recently hired by Bicycling Magazine to photograph a three day bike ride around the island of Puerto Rico where I live. The event, called La Vuelta de los 9 Faros, is a grueling 375 mile ride. Over 400 riders participated this year. I didn’t realize I would end up so tired. Each day started @ 6AM and would end around 5 or 6PM. The 1st two days I followed the different groups in my car and would stop to shoot the things they’d see along the way. The last day was the worst. I decided to ditch the car and jump on a chase truck to shoot the riders. I alternated between the truck and a couple of motorbikes that were ferrying photographers. I shot over 2600 photos. Edited down to 170 and now I’m waiting for the magazine’s picture editor to select her favorites so I can tone and transmit them. The article runs in the summer.

Here the riders are seen leaving Ponce @ 6AM to begin the second leg of their journey.

Haiti fundraiser, La Respuesta, Puerto Rico

La Respuesta, without a doubt Puerto Rico's coolest spot to see live music, art and pretty people, held a two day fundraiser for victims of the earthquake in Haiti. Last night, Isaida and I went to see friends and enjoy the vibe.Our friends Tere and Xavier were there. We heart them both tremendously.

I shot a couple of snaps. This is a couple getting cozy lit by street lights.

(Shot on Canon S90 @ 800 ISO)

More Miami reaction to Haiti earthquake

Sunday I went back to Notre Dame D'Haiti Catholic Church in Miami's Little Haiti neighborhood. Hundreds came to pray and pay their respects to the many victims of the natural disaster. Church in the Haitian community is always a moving and energetic experience. This Sunday's services had a very intense tone to it.

Miami Haitian's reaction to earthquake

In Miami for a wedding and personal time when the 7.0 magnitude earthquake devastated Haiti a couple of days ago. I normally travel with my passport. I didn't this time. I was actually called by an agency and asked to fly to Haiti for them but I had to turn that request down.
Getty Images's news picture desk hired me for a couple of days to shoot South Florida's reaction to the catastrophe. I went to several regular places looking for visuals. Veye-Yo is a Little Haiti gathering place for Haitians to discuss social and political issues. There were only two women present. A tv crew had just left. I figured I could make some general images with some of the flags and posters on the walls. A few minutes later one of the ladies who was sitting behind me, started singing a Christian Spiritual song. The lady in the photo started crying, screaming uncontrollably. I recorded a 2 min audio piece of the event. Real moving and emotional.

Please Help Haiti. You can make a quick $10 donation from your cell phone.
Faster than you can complain about some trivial crap today you can make a $10
donation to the Red Cross Intl Response Fund for Haiti. Simply text 90999 and write Haiti in the subject line. The amount will be added to your phone bill.
Also http://yele.org/, which is the Wyclef Jean organization, is a solid group.

Do it, please.