[vimeo video_id=”8595246″ width=”700″ height=”398″ title=”Yes” byline=”Yes” portrait=”Yes” autoplay=”No” loop=”No” color=”00adef”]

When I was asked to interpret the still image of an abandoned teddy bear at an airport terminal – a thousand different interpretations flooded my mind.

I wanted to create a dynamic film that took the audience on a journey and showed off many of the strengths of this new breed of HD DSLR cameras.   This breed of cameras’ low light capabilities and light weight allow you to do things you’d never thing of trying with traditional cameras.    But almost more importantly:  I had to make sure that we made a film that both photographers brand new to filmmaking  as well as more seasoned filmmakers  felt that they could easily follow.

This project is about bringing EVERYONE into the fold – regardless of their prior experience or their access to “toys.”   We’re looking for a series of ORIGINAL films that spotlight your talent and creativity.

We are not asking anyone to try to make a polished Hollywood film… ideas always win in my book. The quality of execution always plays a role of course – but on this one contest it will take a clear back seat.

Hey – let me be honest here for a moment:  I’ve always been a bit skeptical about the value of promoting oneself on one’s blog.  That probably is why I was more than a year late to both the blogging thing and then yet another year late to Twitter party…

That being said,  when you can harness the power of the web to either: a. share with others or  to b. even better, to help others – then I’m totally sold on the concept.

A few weeks ago someone I had just met called me out of the blue.  While we were far from longtime friends  – what she needed to share with me was clearly pretty heavy.  I’ve been a photojournalist for most of my life and I can tell pretty easily when someone is having a tough time sharing something with me – so I pretty much cut her off to try to ease the difficulty for both of us…

“What’s up?”  I interrupted…

“My ____ found out she has cancer and …”

“Ok – no problem” I interrupted ” How can I help?”

The best thing about the web and/or art – is that it can take on a much bigger meaning than you / your initial intent ever purported to do.  Art can exceed our intent as mere artists – and it can  (or perhaps other people’s interpretations can)  lead to things that we (as artists) never even dared to imagine.

I can say that one of the best parts of being an “artist” is to have a total stranger see something in what you (the artist) created, that you yourself never could have imagined or thought of yourself when you first engaged in the act of making the piece that they are interpreting.  And if that person themselves is not what some would consider to be “an artist” themselves – I’ll admit to finding this entire process even more fascinating… I’m not even sure I’m making any sense but here’s what I do know:

You know what’s better?  When that same piece of “art” (a.k.a.: your photograph) can somehow benefit someone else.

In short: please check out the following link: http://issuu.com/resourcemagonline/docs/onecase

Should you ( or anyone you know)  purchase a print, I can pretty much guarantee it will make a big difference in someone else’s life.

Literally.

So check it out – and share the link –  And help someone else get through a difficult period of their lives.

p.s.:  On a totally separate note:  I am extremely excited to help launch the Canon & Vimeo film contest in less than 48 hours from now.  The intent of this contest was pretty simple:  to find a way to let OTHER people partake in this crazy HD DSLR filmmaking thing.   I hope that you will appreciate the little video that I shot to launch the contest, and that more importantly:  you feel that you can push yourselves to take the contest and the following chapters to new heights.   The purpose of this contest is to help spread the excitement amongst all of YOU.   To make everyone feel like you/they/we  can partake in this technological paradigm shift.

To be clear: I think it’s safe to assume that these relatively new HD DSLRs cameras will likely NOT change Hollywood films overnight – BUT – they might just help make filmmaking more accessible to the future generations of filmmakers.  Hopefully we will find that the next generation of filmmakers will no longer be judged by their access to fancy Hollywood filmmaking toys – but instead that they will be judged by their ideas and vision (uninhibited by technological limitations.)

I’ll definitely admit to being a bit of an idealist, but I think that this new technology can help to level the playing field – and enable the yet  undiscovered talent to spread their wings – based on their creativity – and not their access to fancy toys…

I guess time will tell…

For now – check this out if you’re interested in any of what I’m sayin’.

© Gizmodo

I have two predictions on what 2010 will bring that I wanted to share with you as we are about to close the book on 2009:

1. 2010 will be coined the “Year of the Tablet” as different hardware and software companies offer a new platform and delivery system for the media.   This will happen only if print publishers get their act together (this would be a minor miracle given their total ineptitude to date) but I’m cautiously optimistic that we may just witness a noticeable revival of the print industry as it finds a way of delivery that is not dependent on decimating forests.

There have been many rumors, slipups of some of the major print powerhouses getting ready to provide content for an unnamed “Apple Tablet” or “iSlate” – I’ve heard rumblings from The New York Times, National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, Wired, GQ and others that their teams were approached by Apple more than 6 months ago…

Apple is not alone in getting tablets ready… Yet they are in a perfect position to capitalize on the print industry’s weakness right now – and become the GO TO provider for print content as they have done with the music industry (remember how they revitalized the ailing music industry?  When was the last time you purchased a CD?   I predict that they will do the same with print media and that we’ll be saying the same thing about purchasing a newspaper or magazine 3-5 years from now…) Read the rest of this entry »