Who wants "Sessions with JoeyL"?...

Yup, just found from Joey Lawrence that he is donating a copy of "Sessions with JoeyL" as the prize for our next contest.

How cool is that?

The contest will be starting October 15th, we will post the details soon.

The work of which I am most proud... again...

Robert N. Dechene, 23 / Army – Tour of duty 7/16/67 – 9/17/67

Raymond A. Borduas, 20 / Marine – tour of duty 5/5/68 – 6/4/68

This story was originally posted when I first started this blog, and because of the significance of the work (to me) and the dramatic increase on folks visiting this blog I wanted to dust it off for more people to see.

Of all the work (photographically) I have done, these two images are what I am most proud of. Though they may have little to do necessarily with photographic skills, the families (and fellow veterans) think them to be wonderful “pictures”.

I was a green beret (special forces) at the end of Vietnam, so the fact that seven boys (literally, boys) from this small town in southern Maine where I call home never returned is of significance to the people who live here.

After more than 30 years (and for the first time) I finally visited the Vietnam War Memorial. While there I took a picture of the panels that hold the names of these two of young men.

Here is a (very abbreviated) overview of what I did In Photoshop:

1. Burnt all but their names so they were pushed to the background but still viewable
2. Painted their names white to make them stand out
3. Took one of their old pictures (scanned it) and converted it to digital
4. Combined their old photo with the photo of the wall that bore their name

It was difficult at times working on these images, having these young men literally “looking” back at me… and at one point the Pink Floyd song “Wish You Were Here” came on the radio… I will save you the details; suffice it to say I was glad no one else was at home.

Then it came time to give them to the families. Roberts family had been told something was going to be delivered to them, all of the family and friends in the area had gathered at the house and were waiting… after they passed the picture around several times and looked at it for awhile, they all climbed in their cars and headed to the nursing home where his mom now resides, so she could see it.

Rays family was equally as grateful; his brother has been to my studio more than once to thank me.

I did not do these for praise or recognition, but because these boys deserve to be remembered and I wanted to do my part to make sure that happens.

And the winner is...

A couple things before I announce the winner.

First, I LOVED looking at all the images that were uploaded, trust me when I say I looked at every single image and they were outstanding. Because of all the great stuff that was uploaded I think all future contests will include folks uploading (at least) one image.

Second, this contest was truly random. The name of each person who entered was dropped into a program called "The Hat" and it was used to randomly pick the winners name.

I just don't want folks to think that they didn't win because their mage "wasn't up to snuff" because nothing could be further from the truth. The one thing I DON'T like about contests like this is that I can't award prizes to everyone who entered.

I strongly recommend that everyone go take a look at the images that have been uploaded to our Flickr group, you'll see some real good stuff.

Now, drum roll please.... our winner is... JW Stovall!

Congratulations. If you send me an email with your snail mail address I will get your prize right out to you.

Below are a few of the images he entered and be sure to check out his blog and website to see more of his work.

Our next contest will be announced very soon, as we have some really good stuff to give away.

(click on any image to view larger and in a new window)

loving nature

Dragonfly

Dragonflies spend most of their lives in the larva stage (up to three years, depending on the species). The adult, winged stage only lasts a few weeks. Mating is the primary reason for their winged stage. So when you see a winged dragonfly, you know it's toward the end of its lifespan. Sad but true.

Though you can't see them all with the naked eye, the compound eyes of the dragonfly can contain thousands of tiny lenses. Because of their large, multifaceted eyes, the adult dragonfly can see nearly 360 degrees around it at all times.

Just 36 hours left...

Before the end of the world... no wait, that's not it... photo contest, that's it, just 36 hours left before the end of our September contest.

The winner will be announced on Friday (10/1).

To enter all you need do is leave a comment on any post and upload an image to our Flickr group (contest details here and joining Flickr here).

Below are more images uploaded by our talented readers and fellow Flickr group members.

(clicking on any image below will open it larger and in a new window.)

Lightening

Camera: Nikon Coolpix P80
Shutter Speed 8sec
Aperture f/3.5
Location: Sanpada, Navi Mumbai,India