Well, whatever works for you. The truth is this is from a cemetery in northern Lebanon. Not too far from Tripoli.

But if you want to call it a Cupid, I won’t tell anyone.

Ended up with a shot from Harissa, Lebanon. It’s just outside Beirut and there’s pretty amazing statue of  the Virgin Mary. This image uses the tiniest part of that statue, but i like the wide open possibilities of what a fresh year may bring.

You know the drill—image link is below. Enjoy and Happy New Year.

So to close out 2011, here’s to a nice snowy winter. . .

Thousands of people have written about him and his passing. What it means. What his legacy is. Many of those authors, like myself, had never met the man. And while some of those words were touching and brilliant. I don’t think any of them really sum things up better than the man himself.

Jobs was a commencement speaker at Stanford and his speech there really seemed to sum up how he viewed his life—and death. It’s frank. It’s sincere. And very inspiring.

I feel like an earlier version of this philosophy was behind the 1997 Think Different campaign Apple launched. And this version that was released a couple of years ago featuring Jobs doing the voiceover compounds that. The broadcast version was narrated by Richard Dreyfus.

For me? I think it’s safe to say that I wouldn’t be self-employed today if it weren’t for Apple. Everything around here runs on Apple hardware and operating systems. Apple builds the tools that let me do the work I want to do.

So thanks Steve. For everything.

This is a shot from a while ago—a long time ago when I think I had the passing thought of perhaps being a wildlife photographer. This is someplace as exotic as Falls Lake here in North Carolina. Laura and I had taken off for an early winter, weekend camping thing. Not the hardcore, hike in 15 miles with all your supplies (and gear) and set up camp. No, this was the nice and easy pull the car up and dump everything in your spot sort of camping.

Anyhow, hope you enjoy. More later.

Hit the image above and grab the high-resolution option from the lightbox that comes up.

It’s complicated. But taking pictures shouldn’t be.

Chase Jarvis kicked things off with the “Best Camera is the One That’s With You.” Complete with an app for the iPhone and it’s own built in eco-system. The sentiment is true—without a doubt. A camera is better than no camera. Even when the Best Camera app was announced I think the iPhone 4 was still an undisclosed, rumor of a myth. And—to fall back into the well of gear geekery—the iPhone 4 really does have an extraordinary camera in it.

An entirely random image. The only reason it applies is that it was, indeed, taken with an iPhone.

David Duchemin consistently has some good rants about the gear thing, like this one on spending the money on tickets instead.

One of my all time favorite photographers Norman Mausfopf has been shooting with the same Leica kit for years. With the same film. Processed in the same developer. It hasn’t slowed Mauskopf from making absolutely magical photographs.

Other options followed for iOS—Hipstamic, Camera+ and finally Instagram—which really took off and started spawning it’s own set of services for sharing. But still, for people not keeping up it’s easy to write the whole thing off as “it’s just a phone camera.”

This is a good thing.

People change when you reach into a camera bag, pull out a some giant, begripped digital SLR with a gaping, hooded lens on the front of it. They get worried. They start second guessing what your motives are. You’ve become part of the situation instead of documenting it. Plus, you have to get it off that card, into a computer or iPad. Some people get obsessed with editing, culling, doing hours of post-processing.

Your iPhone on the other hand isn’t hanging off your shoulder along with another twenty pounds of additional lenses, a flash and extra stuff. You see an image or a situation and quietly retrieve your phone. Capture your image and move along. Plus, you can share it almost instantly—right from the “camera.”

The longer the majority of the population views the iPhone as a “not serious” piece of camera equipment the better. You can catch people a bit closer to being themselves. And it can be used to create compelling, challenging, work. Want more proof? Look no further than the results of the Basetrack project featured at Foreign Policy.

This isn’t to say I’ll be selling my dSLR any time soon. I do enjoy shooting with it—but it’s just way past time to stop thinking of the iPhone as a toy.

Anyhow, you’re probably wondering—what the hell this has to do with the August wallpaper. Fair enough. I grabbed this shot earlier this year on the way back from the Lincoln Doubleheader. I’m not entirely sure why I like it.

Is it the weird combination of the industrial and agrarian? The sky? Maybe I’m just happy I snagged it at 70 miles per hour with an iPhone.

Anyhow, I hate talking about work. You guys should do that instead in the comments below. Or not.

Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy it.

Anyhow, this was shot the evening of July 4—just as the sun was starting to set and the natives were preparing for round two of fireworks on the beach. I only brought the little LX5 with me. It really is a great little camera. I just need to remind my self to use it more often. The allure of the iPhone and Instagram’s. . . well. . . instant gratification is strong.

I’ve got another handful of digging out to take care of this weekend but hope to get back into photo mode early next week and see if there’s anything good