Elliott C. Back: In Aere Aedificare

I was having some difficulty finding good photography blogs off Google, even under the term “photography blog,” so allow me to post the “keepers” I found. What’s important to me? Startling photos posted in high quality, very frequently.

That said, here are the best photo blogs (photoblogs?) I found:

• www.davebeckerman.com/photo_blog/index.htm
• www.i-gloo.org/shutterlog/
• blog.digitalbohling.com/0.aspx
• blogs.linux.ie/xeer/category/Photography/
• www.dan1el.net/photoblog/
• www.billysheahan.com/bsfap/blog/

This is the most expensive and interesting photo ever taken of a homeless person:

I had filled up my camera with photos for the day, and I had one shot left. I was walking home, and I really wanted to take a picture of someone, some person, some thing that was alive. My joy was realized when a tall, black, homeless man waved me over. We said hello, and I told him I had a deal for him. “I’m coming home from work, I’ve got one more slot on my camera. Lemme take your picture, and I’ll pay you a couple bucks.” That seemed agreeable to him, after inspecting the contents of my camera and receiving assurance that I wasn’t gonna sell it.

Of course, the photo is CC licensed–I’m giving it away, and someone else might sell it.

I then took his picture, got him to smile a little. A random homeless guy, bumming around seattle in my neighborhood. I thought it added a little hometown touch to my otherwise humanless pictures of the day. The closest I had gotten up until now was the remnants of humanity: its trash:

Then it was time to pay up. I pulled out my wallet, and the first bill was a $10 bill, and as he was watching with eager anticipation, I gave it to him. That was my first bad move. Probably, I should have asked if I could take his picture for free, and then toss him a couple bucks. For my generosity, I got pestered with:

• Can I get $15 dollars so (points) this other guy can eat too?
• He has diabetes, really
• We both haven’t eaten today
• The extra $5 would buy me beer
• Do you know my picture is worth a lot more?
• I’m related to some famous basketball player and his family
• Delete my picture and take back your money (as he puts the money in a pocket)

My response to this was silence and “hey, don’t try to play me. You got 2 hours of salary out of 1 minute of your time.” I then cut out, and left. Mr. homeless decided it would be fun to follow me home. This is the route from where I met him to home. You’ll notice there’s a sharp bend in the road there. I took advantage of the bend to sprint across the street, against a wall, and up the hill until I could run into the pacmed gardens, out of site. I then finished my climb to the top of the hill, and went home. The guy was nowhere in sight.

The experience was definitely worth $10.

One of my many tasks at work is being a bounded book buffer:

Demand comes in over the west wall of my cube, and books are buffered out at most 2 at a time from the bookshelf!

My girlfriend gave me these beautiful white and red roses, a half dozen, and I am so happy right now that I could sleep for 1000 years….