End of the line for Digital Railroad

Well, after signing up with Digital Railroad for distribution of my stock images and regretting it soon thereafter due to their inferior product, the company has just announced an immediate cessation of all business operations. Photographers using DRR's services are at risk of permanently losing their images unless they have them backed up (as mine are). So, I am sitting in my hotel room in China, trying to migrate 1,500 images over to PhotoShelter (who, incidentally, is also facing tough times).

This makes the stock photography market feel more like that other stock market, doesn't it?

Bank of China at 6:15pm

This IM Pei landmark lights up the Hong Kong skyline at 6:15pm every
night. I snapped this while my big camera was doing a timelapse video.

Live From Kowloon!

It's 5:30pm at Victoria Harbour and while my auto exposures are going, here's a live iPhone dispatch from the Star Ferry Terminal. You can see my most valuable piece of equipment is an old ferry cleat and a new Novoflex MiniPod.

These shots will be part of my redesigned portfolio site which is set to launch in December.

Hi, Hyatt

At this very moment I'm sitting in Continental's Newark lounge, testing my iPhone's direct-to-Blogger posting abilities which are, so
far, impressive. And, as I flip through this month's in-flight
magazine, I recognize one of my shots.

Back in 2004, we went to the Hyatt Regency Kauai and cleared a
restaurant of its tables, brought in lounge chairs and wet the floors
in order to make it look like a private waterfront cabana (they pay
us to think of these things).

One thing we did not plan is the tiny sparrow on the left, who landed
just as I snapped this exposure. He quickly left as the strobes
popped so I was unable to get him to sign a release.

Please Prepare For Takeoff

I know my last blog post was a while ago but I've been preparing for two big, long trips. The first is to China where I will be shooting in Hong Kong and then attending a trade show in Guangzhou (the trade show is to meet suppliers for Kamra). Then, I'm home for three days to participate in Florida's second presidential election debacle before heading down to the Caribbean for another shoot.

Despite the economy, current bookings seem to be good through 4Q/2008 and 1Q/2009 (if I can offer myself as an economic indicator). The other purpose of this post is to test the direct email-to-blog posting system which I plan to use while traveling.