Q: Really enjoy your work. Can you give some insight into your first encounters with editors, what did you have in your portfolio, did you have celebrities in there from the start. Do you think that good portraits of ordinary people impress editors enough? — portraitphoto

A: Thank you for that. I started off as a newspaper photographer, so the first portfolios I showed to the magazines had a few celebrities and athletes in them, but mostly regular not-so-famous people. Most editors are more impressed if you can pull off a great, compelling portrait that speaks about your subject’s personality – be they famous or not.

Ask me anything about Photography!

Bath House Studios is hosting a Memorial Tribute service for long-time Time Magazine photo editor Jay Colton who passed away last month at an international photography festival in Brazil. If you’re in New York and worked with or were friends with Jay, I urge you to attend.

Jay was an amazing photo editor and a wonderful friend to many of us in the photo industry. He will be missed…

A Celebration of Life
Saturday November 6th 5:30-7:30pm
Bath House Studios, 540 E 11th Street, NYC

The Unemployed Philosophers Guild (as if there’s any other kind) is offering this swell F-Stop Watch, which is just the thing for photographers who want the whole world to know how bright they are…

Though the lack of a F1.4 o’clock will clearly be a disappointment to the Bokeh-loving philosophotographers, the rest of you who wear your F-Stops on your sleeve (or rather under) can get yours now for $35.95 + shipping.

Hurry to get yours before the clock strikes F11 1/3

On her last visit to Florida, my friend, fine art photographer Linda Troeller stopped by our house with the husband Lothar. I’d promised Linda that I would shoot a portrait of her for her new book. Somehow, by the end of the night, Lothar was looking quite Grace Jones…

I’ve donated a print for tonight’s support the One Case silent auction for Breast Cancer helping one freelancer at a time. The proceeds will be donated to a selected freelancer in need of medical funding. There will be an extended online auction on artnet.com for one week after the silent auction to post any unsold prints.

The unfortunate financial bracket that many freelancers fall into leaves them to fend for themselves with medical bills. One Case hopes to make a difference one person at a time…

Stop by if you can, the auction hosted by Resource Magazine is  at Milk Studios:

7-11pm Thursday January 7th 2010
Milk Gallery, 450 W.15th St. NYC

Here is the link to the online catalog so you can have a sneak peek at some the amazing images that have been donated for a great cause.

Just what our booming economy needs, a $14,400 Hermes leather-clad Leica M7.

And to think people said film cameras and excess spending were going out of style….

Orange you glad Gizmotto spotted this bargain…