Thanks to all who purchased my first book! With the proceeds, I've been able to sponsor many entrepreneurs through Kiva. Together, we are working to making the world a better place, one person at a time.

Mr. Alioune Mbaye, aged 33, is a young and highly dynamic single man who has been selling haberdashery items for ten years. He chose this activity because of his love for this trade. He will use the loan to buy haberdashery items in order to boost his inventory and diversify his supply. He lives in Dakar, Senegal.

Napoleón Perez Vallesteros is 44 years old and offers musical services in Leon, Nicaragua. For 10 years he has been dedicated to this humbling business and is a hard working man. He uses the income he earns for his 2 children who are most important to him. For this he is very interested in giving them an education and maintaining his house. He enjoys his job. Since he was a young child he liked playing the piano and it was later that he decided to offer his services in different places. It is for this that he is soliciting a loan to buy music accesories.

Elvira Quino Condori of Bolivia sells polleras (skirts worn by the women in the western part of the country) and blankets made of llama wool. Elvira has a stand on the panoramic avenue named La Riel. She is a very shy person, but she is very kind. She relates very well to her customers. Her husband is a driver and they have a son. Her dream is to give a good education to her children and that they become good people. She will use the loan to buy five rolls of lace for making the skirts.

Señor Ángel Ricardo Ortiz is 30-years-old and lives in Managua, Nicaragua. He lives with his wife, who works as a domestic employee to help him pay their home's expenses since they have two children: a 6-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl. They are currently in school. Their plans for their family are to be able to construct two rooms so their children can live more comfortably. Don Ángel has worked in agriculture for 10 years. The most difficult thing he has faced is the lack of financing and the gases from the volcano, which affect the blooming period of his crops. He started as a farmer with the help of his father, who taught him how to work the land starting when he was young. He will invest this loan in the purchase of supplies and fertilizers so he can have a better harvest this year.

I want to sincerely thank all of you for adding my book to your collection. My goal is to help several more people, and as such I will continue to donate ALL proceeds from my book sales to Kiva. If you would like to pick up a copy of the book, here is the link. Thank you very much!

Are you a visual artist who needs a website to showcase your work? 

I'm giving away a free pre-designed site website from SiteDesingWorks (value of $475). 

In addition, you will get free "image transfer" which is the ability to upload unlimited numbers of images in the future (value of $275).  You'll also receive a free email account. 

 The only thing you pay for is the monthly hosting fee of $10.99, and a domain name. If you already have a domain name, they give directions to set it up with your new site.

 Every SiteDesignWorks Pre-Designed website includes the following features:

• Minimum of 6 pages, unlimited expandability
• 17 starter images added for you by SDW staff
• 1 GB of storage (approximately 5000 images)
• Use of your own logo or an SDW-designed title
• Use of your own domain name (www.domain.com)
• Unlimited access to design staff
• Unlimited technical support
• Reliable, secure hosting
• User-friendly Content Management System
• Unlimited text update
• Image search (optional, some restrictions)
• Meta, image alt & title tag entry
• Image title and caption entry
• Control of image display
• Easy to add links to other websites

Here's how to win. 

Email me, (chris "at" christography "dot" com) with 2-3 pictures of your artwork, and a paragraph or two about how you are using your creativity to make a positive impact in the world.

The deadline is 11:59pm EST on January 15th, 2010.

I will announce the winner right here.  Get your stories in, and good luck!

Subscribe to the blog for the latest updates.

Each September in Japan, fishermen emerge from their dwelling with a secret mission. Their goal is to capture and sell exorbitant numbers of female dolphins. They will be used by resorts for tourist attractions like "swimming with dolphins." Others will be placed on display in tiny aquariums, and viewing tanks. Any creatures deemed unsalable are crudely slaughtered.  Photos and video are strictly prohibited in this area.

Enter the filmmakers from the documentary, "The Cove."  Using high-tech Navy Seal type tactics, conservationalist Ric O'Barry and his team were able to set up remote cameras to gather evidence.  They eluded militant authorities in order to complete their mission.  Success however, was nothing to celebrate as the footage is sobering.  It's an arresting sprawl of convulsing creatures fighting for their final breath. In a wicked sea of murderous red, the air hangs heavy with the smell of death. Audio recordings play to reveal the dolphins shrill chorus of terror as they anticipate their demise.

Why am I sharing this? 

As Emily Dickinson wrote in her poem:

If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching;
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.

These filmmakers risked their lives to capture the footage, and create this documentary. They strongly believe that increased public awareness will help to cease the killing.  I was profoundly affected by this film, both as a photographer, and citizen of the planet. In the video below Ric talks about how you can help save these Dolphins.  

UPDATE: THE ORIGINAL VIDEO WAS REMOVED FROM YOUTUBE.  Here is an alternative: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Oq8xuqkVH8

I have also gone ahead and filled out the petition below.

"The Cove" is available on Netflix, as well as from Amazon.

What's on your horizon for 2010?

It seems that surprises lie around every corner. 

I'm planning on working towards another year decade filled with

adventure, creation, and joy.

I appreciate you joining me.

Wishing you a very Happy New Year!

My website has been through many changes since I started it in 2003. For a long time it was built and maintained with Dreamweaver. This allowed me unlimited creative control, and was very affordable. As great as this was, there were a few downsides. First, was a lack of mobility. In order to make a change, I had to be at my desktop computer with Dreamweaver installed. Simple design changes would be very time consuming, and required a solid understanding of some of the program's complexities. In addition, a great deal of browser compatibility testing was needed. What worked in Firefox did not necessarily work in Internet Explorer or Safari. Considering how many different browsers are out there, this was a daunting task. As a busy photographer, my days are often filled with shooting, editing, and client communication. I needed to know that my work was getting in front of the maximum amount of visitors without me having to spend hours under the hood fixing things. I began to search for a solution with a web based interface. Ideally, this would be as easy as updating a blog. Just log in from any computer in the world, upload the image, add your photos and text, and you're done. Of course I still wanted the ability to quickly customize the design, and be confident that it would work on any computer, browser, and mobile device. Sounds simple right?

Well, it should be, but there are many web based solutions out there.

Each one has pros and cons. Over the course of a few months I carefully researched several options before making my ultimate decision. I believe the information I found will be helpful to those looking to build their own website.

Several photographers I respect use Livebooks, so I started my research there. Livebooks uses flash technology which most people either love or hate. It has a sophisticated look to it, but can be terribly slow to load. Also, it does not work very well on mobile phones. After giving Livebooks a "one time fee" of $3199.00 for a customized site, plus $90 a year for hosting, there's a potential chance that people will get impatient and click off your site before the flashy intro piece even finishes loading.

If someone visits a Livebooks site from an iPhone , they'll get a message like the example below.

Some people will proceed to the HTML version, others will not. That is a chance I don't care to take.

Livebooks also offers basic predesigned sites for a one time fee of $1199.00 plus an annual $90 hosting fee. You are charged extra for any "add-on" features. 

Next I checked out NeonSky. They also have flash websites, but they seem to work much better on iPhones as mobile visitors are automatically routed to an HTML version of your site. Their package is a $350 one time fee, and $45 per month for hosting. Although this is priced very competitively, they currently only have two main navigation styles to choose from. You can modify many aspects of these two styles, but if you want to add more customization like a spash page or contact form, you have to pay a design cost of $125 per hour.

Clickbooqs runs $499 per year plus a $99 annual hosting fee. They also have an option to make a one time payment of $1699, plus the annual hosting fee of $99. Like Livebooks and Neonsky, Clickbooqs is a flash based site and requires users to have a java script enabled browser and a flash plugin. People visiting on mobile devices will get a similar message to the one in the above livebooks example.

After reading many complaints about Blu Domain, I quickly ruled them out.

I also discovered that you can not add caption info with blu domain. This essentially makes their services useless for Photojournalists. They seem to be catering more to wedding photographers who want music on their homepage.

I checked out BigFolio and their plan for a one time set up fee of $450 and a monthly hosting charge of $20. They have some really nice, simple templates that allow some modifications. Further customization is done by emailing them for a price quote. Unlike any of the options above, Big Folio offers a "small folio" add-on for people who are browsing with an iPhone or iPod touch. It is an extra $49 fee to set up.

Finally, I came across Squarespace through a colleague who was satisfied with their services. Adding photos, video and text can be done very quickly from any computer with Internet access. There is no set up fee and the monthly plans range from $8 a month and up. They are not flash based sites so everything loads rather quickly. It also works perfectly with iPhones and other mobile devices.

Then came the game changing announcement. Squarespace launched an App that gives users full control over their site or blog using an iphone. You can post, edit, see your referring links, incoming traffic, and subscribers. In fact, this entire post was written within the App. You can even insert images stored on your phone. It also features one touch sync capability with your desktop computer. You can start a post on the road, and finish it at home. This App is free for all Squarespace users.

Squarespace also offers an excellent blog importing tool. This enables you to import all content from your old blogger or wordpress blog directly into a new squarespace blog. I had 450 posts in blogger, and they transferred over without a hitch. This benefits my site's SEO as all of the blog content now falls under my domain name, rather than some third party blog host. No other website service offers this streamlined feature.

The design and customization of your site is virtually unlimited. You start by choosing one of many templates and modify it however you want. While this does take a little getting used to, the system is very user friendly and requires no HTML or coding experience.

Since switching to Squarespace, the number of new clients I've attracted through the site has increased significantly. Best of all, it saves time and allows me to focus on photography and business. Whenever I've had questions, their customer support was very responsive. They are even on twitter, listening in real time should you need their assistance. Site uptime has been great with no noticeable slow downs or bottlenecking.

For me Squarespace provides a next generation web solution that is both affordable and attractive. They are offering cutting edge features that no other web hosting company compares to. With a user friendly web based interface, SEO benefits, and real time traffic analysis, I believe Squarespace has quietly positioned themselves as a leader in web and blog publishing. If you want to check them out for yourself, here's the link.

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Many months ago, Kathaleen Donnelly approached me about using five of my photos in a book she was compiling about Long Island.  I was happy to oblige, and arranged to provide her with some images I took locally.  Some time passed and I forgot about the project all together.  Just the other day I got a pleasant surprise with an e-vite from Kathaleen to celebrate the book's release at the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington.  I headed over, got my free copy of the book, and was very pleased with its quality.  It's hardcover, heavy, and filled with beautiful photography and poetry.  Yet, nothing could have prepared me for the feeling I got when I saw my photo below next to a poem written by the great poet Walt Whitman!  I think his words are rather inspiring.  Check it out below:

Inscriptions: Song of Myself #46 

I know I have the best of time and space, and was never measured and

      never will be measured.

I tramp a perpetual journey, (come listen all!)

My signs are a rain-proof coat, good shoes, and a staff cut from the woods,

No friend of mine takes his ease in my chair,

I have no chair, no church, no philosophy,

I lead no man to a dinner-table, library, exchange,

But each man and each woman of you I lead upon a knoll,

My left hand hooking you round the waist,

My right hand pointing to landscapes of continents and the public road.

Not I, not anyone else can travel that road for you,

You must travel it for yourself.

It is not far, it is within reach,

Perhaps you have been on it since you were born and did not know,

Perhaps it is everywhere on water and on land.

-Walt Whitman

The book features work by many other excellent photographers and poets.  It was published by Cross-Cultural Communications in New York, and is available now at amazon.com. 

When I first started my Twitter account over 250 days ago, the internet was saturated with articles advising people to follow everyone who follows you. It was supposed to be good "twettiquette", designed to make social media a more effective networking tool. At first, this theory worked quite well. When someone followed, I would automatically follow back. I watched in amazement as my number of followers grew at a rapid pace. I even wrote an article about it here.

During this same period, Twitter was being hyped in the media each day. It seemed you couldn't even turn on the televison without hearing a buzz piece about it. As social media became more mainstream, a massive influx of businesses flocked to Twitter in an effort to monetize it. As a result, businesses and marketing gurus started following people at an alarming rate. They did not have any specific interest in what people had to say. Their sole purpose in this venture was to make money. My Twitter stream became much less interesting, and quickly filled with spam. It appeared that the old model of "following back", needed to be re-evaluated immediately.

On October 2nd, I tweeted the above announcement , and began to sift through my list of 975 followers. I expected to delete some spammers, but I never would have imagined how deep the problem really went.

For starters, I was following people whose language I didn't speak.

I was also following people who by their own admission, were "Completely Uninteresting".

There were automated followers who promised to make me more cash.

And those who never posted a single tweet, yet had hundreds of followers.

Worst of all were the people PAYING for followers!

Clearly, a good majority of these people were spammers who were playing the system to build inflated Twitter numbers using any means possible. As quickly as I unfollowed them, they stopped following me. It was a liberating experience. In a matter of days my 975 followers dropped to around 715. I also noticed a drastic reduction of marketing junk in my stream. I started to re-connect with my real Twitter friends. These are the people who actually have something to share, not just to sell. They are the ones who make Twitter a worthwhile tool for communication. My friend, @Lecheval put it very nicely with her tweet below:

I would rather have less staggering, but real numbers, rather than inflated counts based on deception. I've already heard from many others who feel the same way. Twitter users are growing tired of being treated like ad targets, and dry marketing tests. Each time you block or unfollow one of these people, you are sending a clear message. It's about the quality, not the quantity. The next time you see someone with twenty thousand plus followers, ask yourself how they got there. Some will be legit because they post some unique, quality content. The majority however, will be all smoke and no fire. Do yourself and the entire twitter community a favor and unfollow them right now.

The idea: Let's have fun, be creative, and use our imaginations to tell a story based upon this image.

How: In the comment section, simply add the next part of the story as you would like to see it. There is no wrong or right. It's all up to you. Add as many parts as you'd like.

I need your help: I've always wanted to try something like this, but it will only work with your participation. Please help me tell this story! Thanks!

I just got word from Ted Fisher that our short documentary film, "Hoop Springs Eternal" will be screening at the Olympia Film Festival this November!

Earlier this year I was involved in the creation of a short Documentary along with filmmakers Ted Fisher, Linda Goldman, and Maya Mumma. I was the Assistant Director, and one of the camera operators. It was done as part of the International Doc Challenge which allows you only 5 days to shoot, edit, and complete a film. It was my first time doing anything like this, and I learned a great deal. Ted details some of those lessons on his blog. Up until now, we were unable to show the film online as we were submitting it to other film festivals. Today, I'm happy to be able to share it with you via SnagFilms. If you enjoy it, please take a second to rate it, or leave a comment. Thanks!