ESPN'S 2012 Bodies We Want: Naked Olympians and other famous athletes

In honor of the opening of the London Olympic Games tonight, photographer Chase Jarvis posted some photos and a link to the ESPN tasteful 2012 nude photo shoot "Bodies We Want" of Olympians and other famous athletes.  Beautifully photographed by various photographers, they highlight the human form in all its rippled and buff glory, sans the gratuity.

Not sure why I am drawn to the black and white rather than the color, but these are my two favorites:

Megan Hodge, 23, is an outside hitter in the USA Olympic volleyball team. Photographer: Art Streiber.

 

Tyson Chandler, 29, is the Center for the New York Knicks.  Photographer: Peter Hapak

I'm not much of a sports fan, in fact, I don't watch it at all. But every four years I take the time to enjoy the world's best compete. For the most part I root for Team USA, but this year I will be rooting for South African double amputee, Oscar Pistorius, because he deserves it.

Check out the rest of the photos on ESPN.

What Celebs Would Look Like If They Were Like You And Me- Wonders of Photoshop

Just as Photoshop can enhance and make someone look far better than they actually are, in the hands of a savvy photo editor it can also do the opposite.  Take the altered celeb photos posted on the Business Insider. Danny Evans  takes famous people and makes them look like, well, the bulk of humanity, and it's pretty dang funny. No teeth whitening, fat shaving, eye brightening, skin smoothing here.

My favorite is Lady Gaga:

For more click here.  And check out Danny's Facebook page, Planet Hiltron.

Narrow Aperture Vs Wide Aperture Infographic

From Digital Camera World, this pretty much explains it all in simple, visual terms.

 Looks like they have some interesting articles. Am going to go back and poke around.

"Looking Into The Volcano" - A father's photographic tribute to his son

This beautifully filmed documentary short narrative "Looking Into The Volcano", about a father (Tom Townsend) discussing the loss of his son, was directed by Mark Katzman.

"This short film tells a story about parenting, love and coping with the loss of a child. It highlights a long forgotten photographic process, the oratone, while celebrating the lasting power of photography. The challenge was weaving the threads of the story into a subtle, graceful and elegant film that relies less on facts and more on emotions to carry the message. By combining abstract and evocative moving images with the narrative, the piece takes on the qualities of a visual poem rather than a documentary."

Looking Into the Volcano from Mark Katzman on Vimeo.

Orotone (goldtone) was a popular, laborious photographic printing process in the early 20th century.

H/T: Krista Glavich-England

Win A Free Trip To Seattle To Hang With Photographer Chase Jarvis

Debated on whether I should share this or not, but thought I would be generous. :)

Photographer Chase Jarvis is holding a pretty cool contest, and all you have to do is follow Chase and a few others on Twitter, and then post a pre-written tweet. Easy peasy.  And for that you could win an all-expense paid trip to Seattle to accompany Chase while he shoots at the Capitol Hill Block Party music fest.

The Capitol Hill Block Party is Seattle’s premier mid-summer music festival where more than 100 bands take over Seattle’s hippest neighborhood on 6 stages over three days. (Check out the insane lineup here.) And right now I’m freaking STOKED to announce that we’ll be #cjLIVE streaming the festivities — private performances, artist interviews, and main stage shows — for the entire 3 day event.

Here’s how you can enter to win tickets — airfare, hotel, and VIP tix to the festival — to join us in Seattle. It’s easy.

First, this giveaway couldn’t be possible without the support of my friends at the Block Party (love you guys) and TargetSEA (congrats on new SEA store) who are graciously supporting my ability to share this #cjLIVE internet feed with the world, so you MUST be following BOTH of them–and yours truly–on Twitter here:

@CHBlockParty  http://www.twitter.com/chblockparty
@chasejarvis  http://www.twitter.com/chasejarvis
@targetSEA  http://www.twitter.com/targetSEA

Second, tweet this exact tweet below, only be sure to personalize it by inserting a cool word or phrase about music… (ie Music is LIFE, Music is ALL I NEED, etc)

Music is [insert your thought here]! I wanna go to the #CHBP or at least watch it #cjLIVE w @chasejarvis @targetSEA http://bit.ly/OAhg6t

How cool is that?!

For more information click here.

Good luck, but I hope I win.

Happy 4th of July- Vintage 4th of July Photos

Happy 4th of July!  It's Independence Day.

The UK Daily Mail has some great vintage photos of the 4th, dating back to 1922, all taken in New York and in Black & White. Enjoy!

Uncle Sam The Cat- 1956