This short film by Ava DuVernay is pretty damn awesome. I probably watched it 5 times today.

“The film’s main focus is an actual door and the friends who come through it to help Union through a bitter breakup. “Characters arrive at the door of a friend in need, bringing something of themselves,” DuVernay explains. “Eventually, we witness our heroine ready to walk through the door on her own. The door in the film represents a pathway to who we are.”"

The movement, the visuals, and the music are awe inspiring! Processing the film with my photographer’s eye, I found my self gasping. Especially at the image if Gabrielle Union in the foreground of that vibrant wall hanging.

When the film ended, I felt complete but…. I wanted to know how & why she was hurt. A great feeling to walk away with in this case.

I get requests often from agencies, individuals etc asking me for permission to use my photos for various projects. More often than not, the request come with the following line “I don’t have a budget but will give you credit.”

When I read that bit, it’s a wrap. I don’t need credit, I need cash! Why are people so crazy to think that I will offer free product for them to use to get paid off of? Maybe I’m the crazy one?

Yesterday, I got the request below from architecture firm, Diller Scofidio + Renfro & I started to cuss when I read the last paragraph! See for yourself:

“Dear Tafari Stevenson-Howard,

I am contacting you from Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the architecture studio that designed the Lincoln Center Redevelopment in New York. We are currently designing a book in collaboration with Lincoln Center covering our work on the campus from 2003 through the present. The first edition will be a run of 5,000 books, with an expected publication date of December 2012.

We have found that the Revson Fountain at Lincoln Center has been a focal point for pictures posted online and we would like to feature this phenomena in our publication. We are interested in one of your images of the Revson Fountain on Flickr and would like permission to use it in our book. The image would be small, approximately 2″ x 1″, alongside images by other Flickr photographers, and we are requesting the reproduction authorization of this work. It is found here:

www.flickr.com/photos/bygbaby/6952930643/??

The book is being produced in house and due to our limited budget and the limited run of books being produced, we are unable to provide you with pay or a copy of the book. If you do allow us to use your image could you please provide me with how you would like to be credited?

We look forward to your reply, with kindest regards.

Sofia Balters”

My was response was:

“Hello Sofia,

Thanks for inquiring but I am not interested.

The time, effort, creativity energy and cost of my camera equipment that I used to create this image is worth more than photo credit.

I’m an award winning photographer, Getty Images contributor, style icon and US citizen that has bills to pay.

Should you be interested in purchasing this photo, I’d love to talk more.

And yes, this offer is insulting!

Best,

Tafari”

Who are these people? And did they Google my name before they sent that request?

Many, many years ago, I had a dream where I was visited by the Devil. He came to me while I was half asleep & he sat in my  bedroom chair offering me an opportunity.

From that dream or nightmare, I woke up screaming. My wife asked me what was going on & at that time I was afraid to explain that the Devil was in the room with us talking to me.

Then, before I realized that it was a dream questioned my faith and why the Jesus that I then believed in did not come to help me and escape from this being.

For a long time this dream was a reality and I shared the story with a select few.  One good friend told me that it was impossible that the devil visited me and that Jesus covered me. I simply did not believe that and after a period of time, I abandoned pretty much all of my beliefs in Christianity and other religious sects. Of course, abandoning belief in the devil was included in my religion purge.

But….. Driving home tonight after an evening with friends, I was stopped by this light & was reminded of the devil. Maybe (s)he exists, maybe (s)he doesn’t but for a moment at this cross road, I had a flash back of that one night when I had that dream or nightmare. Whatever you want to call it.

“Early this mornin’, when you knocked upon my door

Early this mornin’, ooh, when you knocked upon my door

And I said, “Hello, Satan, I believe it’s time to go”

Me and the devil, was walkin’ side by side

Me and the devil, ooh, was walkin’ side by side

And I’m goin’ to beat my woman, until I get satisfied

She say you don’t see why, that you will dog me ’round

(spoken: Now, babe, you know you ain’t doin’ me right, don’cha)

She say you don’t see why, ooh, that you will dog me ’round

It must-a be that old evil spirit, so deep down in the ground

You may bury my body, down by the highway side

(spoken: Baby, I don’t care where you bury my body when I’m dead and gone)

You may bury my body, ooh, down by the highway side

So my old evil spirit, can catch a Greyhound bus and ride”

Me and the Devil ~ Robert Johnson

Let me start here – I’m an artist and I’m sensitive about my shit!
————–
Prior to becoming a creative Getty Image contributor via the Flickr Collection, I had dreams of becoming a regular contributor though their “normal” application process.  I actually started the application process then got all nervous and backed away.

Finishing the application process remained on my mind for many months but I was afraid of being rejected and honestly, at that time, I was not all the secure with what I would submit.

Months after I kinda said, “I’ll just wait,” I received an email from Getty Images inviting me to join their Flickr Collection.  I had to read that message a few times to make sure that I understood it correctly.  That was back in February of 2009.

Since then, I’ve added over 100 images (small number) to the collection & have been lucky to get sales every month with some months being really GREAT.

Because of the success that I was having with the Flickr Collection, I said that I was backing away from iStockphoto where I had been contributing images for a while.

The decision to walk away from iStockphoto was because, the royalties are low & I was basically getting no sales. For instance, over a 3 year period, I made maybe 100 bucks.  The stock photography thing is a total crap shoot. You may win, you may win a little bit or you may just lose. With iStockphoto, I just lost & that was OK.

Since I was losing, I started to remove my images from their site and concentrate on getting more on Getty Images.

While I was in NYC for Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, I got an email from the Getty Images Flickr Collection requesting me to add 30 more images to the site. I was pretty geeked about that.

Now back to me applying to become a regular contributor… Back in April of 2011, I completed my application, sent in test images & uploaded model releases in hopes of getting that email welcoming me to the family. Thirty days went by; no word. Sixty days went by; no word. I decided to email asking for a status update & got a canned response saying that they were swamped and that someone would get back with me. No one ever did.

Last week, I decided to send another status update request & got this:

“Dear Tafari,

Thank you for your interest in Getty Images.

Due to the high number of image submissions we receive, we cannot respond to all applicants.

If after the 60 day period you have not received mail from us, this means we have reviewed your imagery for our Creative Stills Collections and unfortunately, after careful consideration, your portfolio has not passed our requirements.

As an alternative, you may wish to consider submitting your images to iStockphoto, which accepts a wider variety of file sizes and formats and has excellent resources for adding to your skills…”

When I read it, my jaw dropped & I was just like damn.

Why?

- My skills, quality and talent obviously is Getty worthy, hence the continued success with one of their collections.
- I’m so done with iStockphoto
- I’m an artist and I’m sensitive about my shit.

I’ve been rejected before and I’m a big boy so that’s not a problem. I think the iStockphoto referral is what threw me. I’m like ughhhh, I’m so past them. But… I have to say that as a designer, I often use iStockphoto because there is some great work there. The option just does not work for me as a seller with them.

Oh me & my 1^st world problems….

Over the past week or so, my gardens have been in full swing boasting bold colors, fun shapes and patters with tons of fragrance. I have been enjoying every single moment of it.

While I have been enjoying it, I have been lazy with the camera and not too motivated to capture any macro shoots as I have done in previous years.

Monday, I happened to look over at a Texas rose and found the inspiration that I needed to get off my put to pick up my 105mm macro lens.

I actually got really busy photographing many things. It was like I woke up from some kinda of artist coma.

So yes, floral images are back, bitches!

The other day I received some feedback for something that I did recently. Not really a big deal because I always welcome feedback, but this feedback went in the wrong direction!  Everyone knows that good feedback should be thought out, concise, and constructive.

The feedback that I received was nothing that I just noted and it blew me out. Actually I was hurt. I slipped into a self-doubting mode and it lasted quite a while. I was so done that I called Cousin Dee so that she could talk me down and help get my mind right.

In the usual fashion, she made me laugh about it during the entire conversation, but every now and then, I would slip into that zone that prompted me to call her in the first place. By the end of the conversation I was good and moving on thinking that I can only do what I do; nothing else.

I’m hired because people like my style and the quality of work that I produce and of course everyone loves my winning personality. I’m not gloating but it is what it is.

So yesterday, I reviewed some information that got me feeling some kind of way again then I just had to throw my hands up like for real. I cannot win them all. No one can.

Last night, I thought about my reaction and realized that I let someone get the best of me over something that boiled down to bullshit.

My assessment led me to realize that… I’m an artist, and I’m sensitive about MY shit!

On another note:

- I’m done with my winter semester with two classes knocked out. The end of the tunnel is 1 year away! This time next year, I’ll be inviting you to my graduation ceremony… I’m so looking forward to being down with this chapter of my life!

- I thoroughly enjoyed the 1st installment of the PBS series “Black in Latin America.”

- My hair looks like a hot mess, but not in this photo that was taken by my friend Shades. It’s a hot mess in real life. Cannot wait to get it ‘did’ Saturday!

Losing your images stored on any format is a bummer and a bitch! But… as in all things in life, shit happens. I just hope that it doesn’t happen to me.

When I saw this video the other day, I was inspired and excited at the same time.

I the spirit of Charlie Sheen, I say that Todd Bieber is winning!

Part 1

Part 2

Just last week, I was talking to a friend about posting images online and how there is no real way to protect your work from being stolen once you publish it to the world.

As an artist, I mos def want my work to be seen by as many people as possible, but I want to be the one who controls that experience. Unfortunately, I, you, whoever cannot control that because it’s just out there to be manipulated by those with good or ill intentions.

If you want to decrease or eliminate the possibility of your work being stolen, copied, reworked etc, don’t post it online. It’s simply the best option of few.

I gave up on the fight, generally speaking, but I will contact bloggers and or designers who I have busted using some of my art.

The internet is a big cold place like the Atlantic so it is impossible to comb through and be a detective. Not only that, who has the time?

In the case of Noam Galai, it’s totally awesome that he got his work out there, but the unfortunate piece is that he was unknown, hardly credited & to a point unpaid for his “Screaming For Help” image seen above (6,618 views, 33 comments & 50 favorites on Flickr for this colored version).

It seems like he made peace with it all but I can imagine how he may have & must feel. I know I went on a mini rampage when I thought Microsoft used one of my images without my permission for an ad.

This short video tells Noam’s story and how his image was spread across the globe literally before he had a clue about it.

I love Getty Images, but I guess they don’t always know what they are talking about.

Are you an artist? Do you have a general fear that someone may take your work that you posted online? Talk to me…

Video courtesy of FStoppers
Photo courtesy Noam Galai

So my last trip to NYC was to be the trip that I completed my NYC Analog Portraits series with my Mamiya camera. This trip, I expected to get some GREAT street looks since I would be near Lincoln Center for Fashion Week.

Well, long story short is that I got some AMAZING shots & one shot that I was especially proud of was one of Kelly Rowland who actually stopped & posed for me after I ran to catch up with here. It was a paparazzi moment that I did not intend on happening. You should have seen me. Me running, trying not to fall all to get a snapshot.

Fast forward to the end of the trip & nearly the end of my roll of film  & I discover that my ISO was reset to 100. The problem is that my film was 400 ISO. This means that my exposures were not exposed long enough to be properly developed.

When I noticed this I died a quick death in my head. I was done. At least 20+ photos potentially ruined.

I wanted to cry.

BLAH!!!!! Such a Rookie mistake. I was too caught up into my environment & moving to quick to pay attention to this little detail.

Lesson learned: Check my damn settings between shots!

So I had a few exposures left & spent them in Detroit at a recent event (TEDxDetroit if you must know). This time around, my ISO was set correctly. And… to wrap up the roll, was my girl & super-mutha-fucking-poet Jessica Care Moore.

Jessica, thank you for being a vision of beauty and the hottest shot on my roll!

Wild Irish Rose by Jessica Care Moore
(A poem/song from The Missing Project: Pieces of the D)

“Stay away from women
With stems extended far away
From their flower

Stay away from women
With stems extended far away
From their flower

Women with Sudanese amber hiding behind
Their ears healing with peppermint and dollar
Store candles masquerading in the trenches of a city
With no intention on leaving
Traveling beyond the perimeters of expressways and dirty
Rivers melting into the colors of graffiti
Painting the urban landscape with music
Waiting for the butterflies early morning commute
Praying to be landed on like the old woodward hoes
Wishing for winter clothes

Stay Away from women
With stems extended far away
From their flower

I am Wild Irish Rose

& There are eighty proof reasons
Why I’ve always loved hard
Why my saliva got u drunk
The night u promised to promise
My spirit slid down your throat
Making conversation with all the
Things you meant to say
I see why you always got choked up
When It came to talking to me

My thorns, your rhymes
My poems, your paint
My rhymes, your thorns

I was a field flower
Bleeding purple nectar
Moving the night to make
Your days seems longer
My roots grasping for air
A mouthful of  breath while
Pulling your hair
Anything to make this ghetto turn into

A garden.
My petals harden, hoping to blend with dandelions
We remain friends
Associate with the one who get stepped on
Fighting to keep my weeds remembered
Snow-covered girls forgotten in December.

Stay away from women
With stems extended far away
From their flower
Feet familiar with the soil of many cities
Camouflaged inside the gritty

A Wild Irish Rose says
Come and get me baby
Pick me.

If I leave a seed on every corner
Maybe my people won’t forget me

I know God sent me
Or the wind might of  dreamt me
So many spirits sitting on top of motor cities
But I gotta do something with the power my
Ancestors leant me.

Maybe a farmer or a hustler will
Make me calm
I read from Psalms
Another garden gone
Another black girl song paused.
Daddy and the greenhouse
Disappeared at Dawn
I’mma give birth on the damn front lawn

I want to be a rose
But all I see are flaws
It’s hard being young gifted and black
And fucking with y a’ll

Stay away from women
With stems extended far away
From their flower

I am a Wild Irish Rose.

Come and get me baby.

Pick me.”

I drove past a field of sunflowers yesterday & in my head, I was transported into some place far far away. Sunflowers are already the perfect youthful summer bloom but to see a huge field full of them is quite magical.

I just wanted to get out & run through them all but because I’m not a fool, I did not do that. I did not want to get stung by pollenating bees, bite by a snake or ate up by mosquitoes.  So instead, I took a few snapshots from afar & accidentally took a few home.  I have no idea how the 5 sunflower got in my car.

Strange!

One issue that I have when I photograph anything is that I over photograph, then I switch lenses etc. Each shot has subtle differences so when I’m deciding on what to keep & what to toss I go crazy.

While photographing the sunflowers today, I took about 124 photos & kept about 80 of them. Of the 124, I only wanted to post 4 & this is what you see here. Decisions!

The 1st set of photos was taken with my Nikkor 105mm macro lens. As you can see, there are some very sharp elements with lots of detail & soft edges.

The 2nd set was taken with my Lensbaby Composer outfitted with the macro kit.  Images taken with the Lensbaby are often dreamy, with a nice soft focus, little detail & lots of imagination.

It’s always hard for me to choose a favorite version when I compare the Nikkor macro to the Lensbaby. They both offer something very special.

Taken with my iPhone 4 then processed in the iMovie app for the iPhone 4.

My assessment:

- When you upload a 720p (HD) version of your iMovie creation to either Youtube or Flickr directly from the iPhone, the conversion/compression totally destroys the quality of your mobile masterpiece making it look like a hot mess!

- For better results (720p HD), it’s best to export the movie from the iPhone (i used iPhoto to export from the phone) onto your desktop then upload to either Youtube, Flickr etc.

- What you see here was exported from my iPhone to iPhoto then uploaded to Flickr. This version looks 100x’s better than what I uploaded directly from the iPhone to Youtube & Flickr earlier today as part of my experiment.

On a side note:

- I need a little tripod for my iPhone!

- Suite Suzy got an iPhone 4 today. We spent a little time setting it up this evening & I gave her the quick tips & tricks guide. I hope that she will have fun with it.

- Once the novelty of then new phone wears off, I’ll stop talking about it. I promise!

Art Credits:
Music: “Aquarian Moon (LP Version)” by Osunlade
Setting: Float Bar at the Hard Rock Cafe San Diego

Don’t get me wrong cause I love the rain. When it rains, I don’t have to water my plants or grass, which not only saves me money, but it saves me time. And my lawn looks amazingly lush right now.

But……. Most recently, the rain has been tapping into my pocket because I’ve had to cancel a few outdoor photo sessions.

Sure they were all rescheduled but all this time shuffling is a bit much & has been putting me in a time crunch.

I’m sure in a few months, I’ll be complaining about it not raining enough as my water bill starts to skyrocket. On the other hand, I hope to be happy with scheduled & executed photos sessions.