I Love Cynics!

If I could award one person with Cynic of the Year, it’d go to Alan Weisman. How often have we, as the jaded cynical people we are, considered the thought experiment “What would this place be like if every one of us disappeared?” Usually there’s the addendum “except for me.”
No, in Weisman’s book we all [...]

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In the year or so that I’ve been trying to build up a stock photography business I’ve managed to amass a collection of over 2,500 images. These images are all in Nikon’s NEF file format, a version of the RAW file format.
As you can imagine, I’ve gone through several different workflows as I’ve tried to [...]

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As I work to improve my photography business, Urban Raven Photo, I find that I’m reading more and more on photography. Not just looking at the collective works of others, but even going back to the basics, so to speak. This book is not one of the basics.
If you had to name a photographer that’s [...]

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Last week I spent a wonderful time in Oregon. It was rather unexpected.
Oh, I knew I was going down there for a long time. But, it was for a work related class on writing and photography. I thought, quite arrogantly, that I was going to see and hear a lot of what I already [...]

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I have to admit, the focus of this book review is very very narrow. However, with the recent release of the Nikon D80, the price of older models has dropped enormously. If you are in the market for a digital SLR, but are low on cash, looking to these older models might be a wise [...]

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Reposting this lost book review
There is no doubt that the current administration will be known for its myriad failures. From Iraq to cronyism, Bush Jr.’s reign has been one of corruption and deceit. While the press seems to have done a fair, though not excellent, job reporting these infractions, there’s one that seems to have [...]

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There aren’t many celebrities that I can say have made much of an impact on my life. One actor that has is Alan Alda. From his portrayal of Hawkeye Pierce in M*A*S*H to dedication to education through Scientific American Frontiers, Alda exemplifies the power an actor can have to influence viewers.
In his new autobiography, Never [...]

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We hear the word nearly every day on the news, but do we really know what it means? Each night we receive pictures of combat in Iraq and blame is placed squarely on Islamic fundamentalists. We come to think that it’s an issue far from home.
Fundamentalists are everywhere. That is one of the points that [...]

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There are few certainties about hunting in Alaska. However, whether or not your hunt was successful, the forests and tundra of this beautiful state will provide stories for years to come.
It can often prove difficult to find decent books that provide details for hunting where you live. There are many general books to be [...]

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Continuing my departure from political books once again (I’ll get back into it soon enough!) I picked up a copy of The Alaskan Bootlegger’s Bible by Leon Kania. Having recently developed an interest in home brewing, I figured it was about time I looked into how it fit into Alaskan history.
Now, home brewing has been [...]

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