This is a slightly self serving edition of Fresh Finds, but then this site is called SamirBharadwaj.com, so what the hell. Online social networking is the new porn. It’s official. I’ve never been an early adopter of this stuff, because random online socialising has never been my forte. But, I do see the benefits of some of these social network sites and I’m trying my hand at it..

• At long last I succumbed to StumbleUpon
  I’ve always found StumbleUpon to be the most homely of all the social-bookmarking-Web2.0 coolness that is out there and forever growing. For one, the people involved actually seem to care for what they’re promoting, and there’s a healthy dose of community involved in the best parts of the network. I signed up, and after plenty of procrastinating I’ve also started participating occasionally.

  While I often post themed sets of links in my Fresh Finds posts, StumbleUpon is a good way for me to tag and keep track of random stuff, and more one-off finds. There’s plenty of photography related material there, which seems to be quite popular on the site, and that fits in perfectly with my tastes.

  So, head on over to my StumbleUpon page, browse around, add me as a friend if you like, and I hope you find plenty to keep you busy.

• That XING Thing
  Professional networking through one of the handfull of online business social networks has intrigued me for a while now, because here is finally some purpose to the whole party. I actually got into Xing after someone contacted me through this site to use one of my comics. That’s how I signed up and I’ve had a account there for a while.
  I find the focused nature of this sort of network quite interesting. Sure, it has some of the random banter and incessant “friend” adding that comes with the territory, but at least most people connect here for common interests that go beyond the purely social. I’m not saying it is better, just different, and if you are at all interested in building contacts in your own field and others, it can be a useful resource.

  You can see my Xing profile to get an idea of how it works. The inclusion of “wants” and “haves” into the profile data is a clever one. It immediately adds purpose and common ground into the mix, something a many social network services lack.

• Shut Your Face!
  And then there’s Facebook. It is the most popular network of them all at the moment. I take that with a pinch of salt because there have been different “most popular networks” every few years ever since the birth of the internet. I do have an account there, but do I think it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread? No, not really.

  Facebook has to be the best example of a perfectly efficient machine that is almost perfectly ineffective. Of course, it is popular, and millions of people join, and I’m sure plenty of commerce takes place over it, but in the great cosmic balancesheet, the end result of somthing like Facebook will always be zero. It is what has unfortunately become the norm in internet social networks, to be self feeding, viral and completely incestual in focus.

  The reason people do anything on Facebook is purely so that they can be seen as being socially relevant on Facebook, by other socially relevant people on Facebook, for greater social relevance on Facebook! It’s a guinea pig on a running wheel.

  Could something like this be a positive force? Of course it could, but I don’t see it here. If anyone can explain to me what the greater purpose of this thing is besides a way to waste time when you are bored, or convince me that it really is more important than the discovery of electricity, feel free to go over to my Facebook profile and give me a good lecture on my wall while simultaneously hugging me, poking me, and paying to give me tiny pictures called “gifts”. Yikes! It really is the future!

Samir

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After a long gap, I present you with another Fresh Finds and this time I have been browsing with an interest in recreating the look and style of old photos and other vintage visuals.

• Bert Stern recreates Marilyn Monroe’s last photo shoot [CONTAINS NUDITY - If you are alergic, you have been warned]
  If you’ve been anywhere online that’s pop culture or entertainment-centric in the past week or so, you’ve probably come across the fact that Lindsay Lohan has posed for some Monroe-a-like nude photographs. Going beyond the tabloid facts, this is actually a great study for the challenge of recreating old photos, because in this case you have a photographer trying to recreate his own work from 46 years ago, for New York magazine. That has to be a unique situation, the results of which are worth a look.

  While Lohan is no Monroe, the photos themselves are interesting, though I get the feeling the shot selection to decide what goes into the magazine might have been a bit rushed. The set includes some beautiful shots and some mediocre ones, where it seems to be a split-second before or a split-second after what would have been a better composition. Also of interest to photography buffs will be the unfortunately sparse collage of shots behind the scenes of the shoot. Really nice dramatic stuff, on par, if not better than, the final presented pictures.

• Kate Boswort does Vogue retro shoot
  It would seem Kate Bosworth has also been upto retro photo shenanigans for the US edition of Vogue. Only in this case the inspiration is more indirect and what they came up with is more regular fashion photography with a retro twist. Some interesting images, with a bit of behind the scenes stuff to also keep you busy.
• Achieving the vintage look
  If you’re interested in the mechanics and technicalities of producing images with that old-world flair using in-camera and studio techniques, this discussion should be of interest. While there is no step-by-step instruction for anything, there are many valuable tricks you can pick up along the way — everything from setting the right depth-of-field, to choosing the right lens.
• Bokeh
  Bokeh is as much a specific phenomena as it is the lack of something, and that thing is sharpness. Bokeh is that particular smooth fuzzy look you only get when a camera lens is pointed at something that is out of focus. Ken Rockwell explains how this effect is formed and how it is actually being made difficult to achive due to the increasing quality of camera lenses. Sometimes progress comes at a price. If you want to achive those soft portrait photographs of old, you must understand bokeh.
• Coco Chanel in action
  If you want to recreate old photographs you muct study plenty of good examples. A wide variety of ’study material’ is best. Take these crisp shots of Coco Chanel in her element, for example. They’re excellent examples of the photographic conventions of an era, but they are also simply great photos that any photographer can learn from. As the lady said, “Fashion fades, only style remains the same.”
• Vintage Valentines Day Photos
  Vintage Japanese Photos
  For more inspiration, look no further than this embarrasingly large collection of old Valentines Day themed photographs, and this blog that is dedicated to posting old Japanese photos. Some of these images are not as staid and static as you might think. A lot of the composition and framing is as dramatic and challenging as any you would see today.
• Alexia Death’s LOMO and Vintage Effects for GIMP
  GIMP Old Photo Tutorial
  If you’re more of a digital photographer, or would just like to recreate the vintage look with some of your existing images, software comes to your rescue. Here are some interesting automated scripts you can apply in the GIMP. For the more hands-on amongst you, there is also a detailed tutorial on how to create the typical sepia faded vintage look. There is plenty of room for your own personal adjustments in the described techniques.

And that brings us to the end of another round of Fresh Finds. Hope you enjoyed this little stroll down the photographic memory lane, and I hope you have got a few new ideas for recreating some old photo tricks. Enjoy.

Samir

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Fresh Finds is back in a new form. I was using a special plugin to create my link blog within WordPress, but I’m switching to plain old link posts in a special category. I will convert my older links into back-dated posts in time to make everything consistent. Now on to the links.

• 43 Exceptionally Useful AJAX Applications
  Not just is this a great showcase of the variety of uses AJAX techniques can be put to, but also a very useful list of scripted applications that you might like to try out on your site.

• Guide To Making Money Online With Blogging
  “Oh no! Not another one!” might be a valid response, but if you truly are interested in the monetization of websites and blogs, it is always useful to see yet another take on the subject from someone who has actually “made money online”. The links to articles and resources in this post at Connected Internet are a good reference too.
• Google Ranking Factors - SEO Checklist
  Who doesn’t want to know how to rank well in Google? This is a very comprehensive resource on the subject.

If you have any favourite resource lists or comprehensive online guides that you swear by, I would love to hear about them. Please share them in a comment below.

Samir

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