Sunday, April 06, 2008

The Massachusetts Model Mayhem Meet & Greet Wow That's a Lot of M's

A very large New England contingent of the Model Mayhem community descended upon a picturesque mansion in northern Massachusetts to meet, shoot and network.

The photographers were there from the very beginning, most just milling about eyeing the lone one or two models like vultures to carrion. If we weren't all joking about it, it might have been awkward. However, within an hour or two, at least twenty more people arrived and by the evening the place started looking like a party at the Playboy Mansion. Beautiful people galore.

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Viewbook is awesome and free

I've decided to use Viewbook for my non-commercial work. It's a good idea to separate work that disparate channels might see. When you combine your artwork with your commercial work, you tend to dilute, defocus and confuse your viewers. Viewbook doesn't offer unique domains, however I don't think this is necessarily a big problem for me at this point. For now, Viewbook is a great resource, it looks just as good as Livebooks or Foliolink, it has very minimal limitations, and it's easy to use. The only drawback is that there aren't really many templates, but who cares when one third look like this:

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

$399 for fifteen sheets of Polaroid 809???

I've noticed ever since Polaroid announced they're stopping production of all instant films, people think they can sell their Polaroid and 8x10 stuff for ridiculous prices. I really want to know who is buying this stuff. Honestly, these people on eBay are trying to sell a box of 809 for $399, and the stuff expired in 2001! You know damn well that it's going to be totally washed out colorwise... especially anything that ends in "9" from Polaroid. It's made for emulsion lifting and image transfer. The color isn't pro color and it gets even worse with time. And you also know these people were NOT keeping it cool... the boxes are too big. They sat at room temperature... for years.

I'm seeing people trying to sell a Polaroid 545 sheet holder for $85.

I've seen trends come and go with Polaroid stuff. You used to be able to get an old Polaroid 110b camera modified to shoot 6xx for about $225. About a year or two ago, prices went up people are trying to sell them for $500+. More insanity. Now these people that bought them for $500 six to 18 months ago are trying to dump their cameras on eBay with the Polaroid news and they're trying to get even more.

Craziness.

Don't be a sucker. This stuff is perishable. It's not like Polaroid film lasts forever. Don't get crazy on the equipment either. It will be dumped on the market eventually because nobody is going to buy these things at these prices except the absolutely desperate.