Sometime last week while picking up something at the local Apple store I noticed way up on the top rung of the accessories wall a really slick iPad stand simply called Compass made by Twelve South and was immediately drawn to its sturdy looking simplistic approach that would allow for use with the Speck Candy Shell case I use for it at times. I took a chance and bought it on the spot and I have been really happy with it. The stand is able to function in two different ways. One, as a slightly elevated and tilted surface for typing and two, a tall upright easel like position that is able to support the iPad in either orientation. It accomplishes these two functions effortlessly using simple mechanics and a minimal approach that I love. There are two small rubberized arms that fold down out of the stand in the bottom for its taller standing position which I find get in the way while in the typing position but I find that the rubber pad at the top of the stand does a fair job of holding it in place while I type without these little tabs poking into my palms as I type. The construction is incredibly solid and has a really nice weight to it. Im sure this will last longer than the iPad itself.

The only negative I could speak of is something that is unavoidable with this design style and that is the fact that if you tap with any force int he top edges of the screen while its on the stand it does shift in position a bit but I quickly adapted to this and tap lightly when using the upper corners of the display. The only other thing that has happened during its use is that if pushed back slightly in its taller setting the supporting leg in the back starts to fold in on its own and a couple of times I have had the stand collapse but again, its something I was able to quickly realize was happening and adapt to. These negatives are simple compromises for such a wonderful minimal design and I am overjoyed to have such a perfect portable stand that I wouldn’t be embarrassed to use in public hehe.

Also worth noting is a little black sleeve that it comes with that further added to its obvious inspiration a compass meant for drawing perfect circles. The sleeve is a nice tight fitting affair and while I wish there were a small snap rather than a little piece of stretchy material to hold its flap I still find it a really useful addition to the package that I did not expect to find in the package.

When I first bought the Compass I tried to find information on it online and was surprised no one had reviewed it or talked about its release but that was quickly remedied as I have seen it popping up all over the tech web the past couple of days and there is a product page in place now for it. Im sure they will sell well so get em while their hot. I can easily recommend this to any one looking for a great portable stand for their iPad!

Ironically, thanks to the flash video wars, the video above wont work on the iPhone, I will put up a link when I have it somewhere that does.

I have not come across many opportunities to capture something nice with my new iPhone 4G camera but while I was at work this weekend at a concert in the mountains I looked up above me and saw this long flag slowly blowing around in the wind set against this beautiful sky and pulled out my phone to record for a few seconds before going back to loading a truck full of audio gear.

The thing that caught my eye was the fact that I knew YoungDoo would enjoy its peacefulness and the vibrant blue of the sky so I think it’s good some of her influence has rubbed off on me. Pushing me to find that light sort of peaceful touch in my imagery at times I feel is a good thing because I often gravitate toward the darker, shadowy side of things which is great but too much of it just gets old I think and I love to push myself all the time to learn new methods and approach subjects in new light.

So enjoy the video, I will have some new wallpapers up this week I promise! Also, thanks to everyone who tossed their hat into the ring and claimed one of the prints.

At any rate, the photo here is of 9 prints, small ones (5“x5”) that I had made as simple proofs when I had the last couple of 120 film developed. I have scanned and posted most of these here or on flickr already and was sitting at my desk yesterday thinking to myself that it may be nice to give some prints away to readers. Just for the sake of giving and sharing art and kindness and the like. If you would like to exchange one of my prints for one of your own that would be great! But not a requirement.

I considered selling them but they are simply small matte prints that would have just been stuffed onto a shelf somewhere and not been looked at so why not give them away right? If I decide to sell prints of these images in the future they will be bigger and sold through an edition available but for now, I have these proofs and an urge to spread some kindness.

Also worth noting, I rounded the corners when I got them back from the photo shop (yes, a real one, notice the space between words there)  because I thought that it looked nice so they will probably best be suited to simply be taped up onto a wall or a fridge but I still think that some of you would enjoy having them around. They are a bit lighter in contrast than the ones you see online but I like them all the same.

The only trouble is that I don’t have a lot of extra money to throw around so I will have to ask anyone that would like to have one of these prints send me $3 USD through Paypal so I can cover shipping. I am pretty certain that this will cover the cost of postage and an envelope to pretty much anywhere in the world.

They are first come, first serve so if you are interested then don’t hesitate to jump in and claim your print while they are here. There is only one of each and I think I should limit one per person to make it fair.

Simply leave a comment here with which one you would like and I will get back to you via email with Paypal information. This way it’s easy to see who’s first and whats available.. If no one wants one thats ok too

To say which you are interested in simply mention the number of the photo you like in your comment based on the numbers below:
-1-2-3-
-4-5-6-
-7-8-9-

Update: Im off to sleep, the only two left are 1 and 3 so anyone who wants to claim them with agreement to pay that little shipping bit to help out is welcome to them! I will check in the morning and then send off mails to those of you who put your name in tomorrow afternoon.

This table was left behind, and freshly made from the looks of it, by a scout troop most likely. Typically they should take down things like this that are built but for some reason they left it up and so I went ahead and used it for the three days I was in the valley there. It was great to have a place to prepare food that wasn’t the ground! A nice surprise that made a nice camping trip even better.

I will have more shots posted each day on flickr. (which has a great new layout for viewing photos!)

Follow the read more link for the rest of the photos…

The company that makes the straps is based out of Chicago and is called Souldier. Some of you may recognize them from a popular photography blog/store called Photojojo which sells a few colors from their shop but I would suggest buying straight from the source on Souldier’s website where you have well over twice the color selection than Photojojo carries and the option to add padding to the strap. The company also sells all sorts of other types of wonderful vintage looking straps for both cameras and guitars and really I cant recommend them enough for those of you looking for a nice strap for your camera.

You can visit their website by clicking here or visit the shop page for the seatbelt straps here (which is located in the 2“ strap section).

For the past 6 months or so I have been working on a photography project with fellow photographer, YoungDoo Moon. The idea is described best in the little bio that I wrote for the project:

“OUR WINDOW began in September 2009 when YoungDoo Moon and John Carey started to create a weekly photographic diptych hoping to find serendipitous discoveries where two visions colided into one.

Once a week each photographer submited a photo based on a pre-determined theme unaware of what the other had shot. The two photos were then combined to discover an often beautiful connection found in both the concept and vision each photographer brought to the idea. While they started the project as a way to get to know each other in a unique way YoungDoo and John continue to work on the collaboration for the love of the art and the unexpected connections that are created within it.

Our Window is an ongoing series which can be seen on the official website of the project, www.ourwindow.net, and this is the first exhibition of photographs from the series.”

Its been a wonderful experience and we have had a lot of fun working on it. While we have taken a small break in posting while I have been here in Korea with her we will get back to regular posting soon I’m sure. I feel that the series has just begin and I am looking forward to seeing where it ends up in another 6 months and hopefully we will build a book from many of the images eventually.

The other big news around the idea and the reason for posting is that together with YoungDoo we are having a small exhibition on friday here in seoul at a fantastic french bakery here featuring nine images from the series. The opportunity sprung out of nowhere and we have jumped right on it and have printed up postcard flyers and the photo prints are being framed nicely now. The opening will be this friday and there will be food and drinks for those who come.

The website for the project is sort of half way done but it works well enough for now but hopefully we will get that updated this week before the opening but you can click through the photos to see what we have done so far. I have included the postcard here after the read more link as well for those interested or if any readers are living in Seoul and want to come out and say hello!

Hmmm, outside of one strange incident on a subway a couple of days ago when I was sitting on the train cleaning up one of my cameras with YoungDoo and a woman that I noticed walking towards us from the corner of my eye lifted her foot while walking down the train and stomped down onto the top of my foot while quietly muttering “This is not your country.” For whatever reason, I didn’t react to what had happened. I wasn’t even sure what she said until YoungDoo looked over at me, a bit confused asking if I had heard what she said. I figured getting upset or reacting to it would simply give whoever it was the satisfaction of making her point. The way I see it, there are people in this world who, for whatever reason, were taught to think in a way that leads them to hold a higher sense of honor within their race/religion or possibly distrust of people from other parts of the world whether that be from the past or possibly a personal experience that left a scar in their mind that conjures up feelings of anger and distrust. Its a complex world we live in and thoughts like these are bound to be present among some people in the world and so reacting to such outward aggression, even something as understated as stepping on my foot, seems pointless and would most likely simply fuel the flame. Its good to remember sometimes in this life that we are all in this together, no matter what land mass we live on or what beliefs we may hold within ourselves about our origins. Anyways! Sorry to ramble, Enjoy the bananas!

To download the desktop wallpaper size image of the bananas you see above simply CLICK OR RIGHT CLICK HERE to download the zip file containing the image and the terms of use. On a side note, I occasionally have someone write to say they have had trouble with a zip here or there, don’t hesitate to write to tell me about it as I am here to help when I can. Usually simply downloading it again will solve the problem but if not let me know and I will see what I can do.

After posting the last set of desktops I knew I had some video of the same object that I wanted to make into something at some point and so I went ahead and put together the few clips I recorded of it into a short video. Im starting to see a lot of possibility in these short videos because in a sense they are simply moving photographs. This and they are a lot of fun to create. The only thing I could complain about here is maybe that I was shooting at too high of an ISO so its a bit grainy but still I thought it was pretty nice footage and could not wait to throw something together to share. I hope you enjoy it!