Hey, regarding my last journal entry with all those new JPGs, some people wanted to see previous versions for comparison.

Would appreciate the feedback, so if anyone wants to compare, all the old brightness levels (of the model photography) are still on display in my OMP portfolio. (If it asks you to log in, it'll also provide a link to click through as a guest.) You'll also see a treat or two there you've never seen before, couple of method studies and a couple of "drafts" that will get finished up for here someday. (My greatest piece ever is lurking there in unfinished form, waiting for me to get the time and CPU horsepower and CS2 to do it right. I won't confess which one it is, though it won't be too hard to guess. But, then again, you'll never guess what's in store for it either.)

So, if you're inclined, would suggest just picking a couple of favorites from that big batch of thumbnails last time around, and then using those for before-and-after evaluations.

For my part, am quite confident that the dark ones are drastically improved - particularly Life by the Horns and Cliches Because They're True; suitably confident that Every Little Thing She Does and All That You Can't Leave Behind finally look "right;" but more concerned that d.a.y.d.r.e.a.m has turned out far too bright, and wondering about But for Somewhen Else too.



(For what it's worth, though you can't compare them, There Is No Name For This and The Descent of the Royalty should definitely finally look "proper" now, notice the detail in the shadow perimeter of Descent that likely wasn't visible before. That had been one of my biggest bafflements before I figured out the AdobeRGB gamma problem last year. But how about Evidence? The original small version/brightness of that was put in my Scraps this weekend.)



But that's all relevant to the JPGs. Am VERY confident the revised prints will all be properly spectacular now. (Several looked really good but not perfect before, brightness-wise.) Got them all pumped through DAPrints last night, and also made many more sizes available than before. Most my images need that "title buffer" at the bottom, but I was very pleased how many of them widened well with new space to the sides. That'll influence my sense of composition in the future. (Still gotta do the big nature shots and the Lances though. And two prints were taken down altogether for further revision.)

It was my parents who'd point out to me that 2:3 is a damning ratio for buying frames off the shelf, and that 4:5 is much more conventional, so made 4:5's available for my vast majority. But isn't that interesting that the frame industry hasn't gotten with the program of the typical photographic ratio? Weird.

Anyway, am in a very strange mood this week, between numb shock and profound unease. Got fired from my job Monday under very shady circumstances. That treacherous bitch mentioned this spring had been making nice with me for quite some time, evidently in a plot to collect the basis to stab me in the back more drastically. She had been acting like my best friend and supporter until she had what she needed to get me fired.

So am unemployed and fearful for the roof over my head, but keeping busy with various productive ways to try to turn the situation around. Unfortunately, I SUCK at self-promotion in any way (other than to people like you who seem to unconditionally love me), so I can't just go around saying "pay me to take your picture," but am lining up a couple well-connected people to provide informal agency for me. Working on my website, getting some business cards print up this weekend (with Life by the Horns as the compelling image), and basically trying to forestall selling the camera rig to pay the rent.

Icky.

Anyone know any literary agents? Would rock to get an advance on a book contract. Could draft a thorough proposal in 48 hours, but it would overcome my own weaknesses to have an eager audience waiting for it. (I suck at selling, I rock at pitching, if you see the difference. Responding to interest verywell, but not generating it worth a damn.)

Anyway, if I seem even more erratic than usual in coming days, you'll know why. Lots to sort out, both emotionally and logistically. I'm not taking the treachery too personally - it reflects more on her and I know that - but that doesn't mean it's not upsetting. And of course stinging ruefully from having given her any benefit of the doubt. I could have gotten her fired (or at least severely reprimanded) for the incident in April, but it just seemed so obviously out of the question to me to risk her job or livelihood.

And then besides all this, of course, there's the verge of World War III. Which has a more direct relevance to my possible future than you'd ever guess. But let's just say it's not helping my outlook, it's not at all abstract to me.

One foot. In front. Of. The other.

My survival mantra.