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    Grand View Photography

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    alt="Grand View Photography" border=0 width=167 height=60></a>

    grandviewphoto.net: free photographic services for non-profits in King and Pierce counties of Washington state.

    Not Quite Right Photography

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    alt="Not Quite Right Photography" border=0 width=376 height=39></a>

    GPB Technology Services

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    irgth.net: focused on my portfolio

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Party Photos
updated: November 3, 2007

NEW: Nerdvana Hallowthanksmaseen photos.

Note: these document debauchery that you may find offensive and/or titillating.

If you happen to be in any of these photos and want them pulled from this site, just let me know.


Motorsports
updated: July 1, 2007

Sovren Vintage Race photos.


Yellow Pages Ad Design
August 28, 2005
Announcing Yellow Pages Ad Design service.

Photojournalism: shooting at local Exxon
July 6, 2005
While returning from getting groceries, I noticed a large number of police officers at the the local Exxon gas station/convenience store. Of course, I had to take pictures. Nothing special, but good practice for the next time I see anything newsworthy.

grandviewphoto.com
June 11, 2005
Need a photographer?
I've launced a new site dedicated completely to photographic services. Grand View Photography also has a non-commercial site where I am offering free photographic services to non-profits.

irgth.com
April 9, 2005
Want a print of one of my images?
I've just launched irgth.com as an ecommerce site where you can buy prints. Package pricing for photography services can also be found there.

Anti-War Protest
May 5, 2005
Semi-Photojournlistic coverage of an anti-war protest in Downtown Tacoma that took place on May 11, 2005.

New article
May 5, 2005
Recipe for a good photo

Messages Movie set
updated: April 9, 2005
movie set photos

My ten best 10d pictures
updated: June 13, 2004
Best - Click on any thumbnail to view larger image.

1512 stump fungus
1512 stump fungus
view or purchase

5484 snow tree
5484 snow tree
view or purchase

9772 squirrel planning something evil
9772 squirrel planning something evil
view or purchase

9371 subjugate your filthy canine
9371 subjugate your filthy canine
view or purchase

11765 feather sand
11765 feather sand
view or purchase

0448 dandelion
0448 dandelion
view or purchase

3240 laundry kitty
3240 laundry kitty
view or purchase

6593 ant tower
6593 ant tower
view or purchase

12275 another seagull
12275 another seagull
view or purchase

12454-9 redondo pier
12454-9 redondo pier
view or purchase

I consider the first six of these to be 4 star images, and the last four to be 3 star.
My photographic goal for 2004 is to fill my entire list of top ten photos with 4 star images, and at least one 5 star image.


More photos
updated: March 23, 2004

my public portfolio

This does not include any of my event (parties, graduations, movie set), commercial or nude photography.


This page best viewed with Safari
Updated April 25, 2005
I use the Adobe RGB color mode when taking photographs. Unfortunately, most browsers do not yet support Adobe RGB color. If you are not using Safari, you will be shown versions converted to standard RGB. Some older images are only available in standard RGB.

About how I rate my photos.
updated: March 3, 2004
There is approximately one order of magnitude increase in the standard to qualify for each star. Fractions of a star are rounded down. This is highly subjective, and I probably spend way too much time thinking about what rating to give any particular image.
* (one star)
Crap.

A one star image is neither technically good nor aesthetically pleasing. A typical example of a one star image would be most snapshots or vacation photos taken with a disposable camera, or a drivers license photo.

** (two stars)
Mediocre.

A two star image might have something of interest in it, but be nearly ruined by major flaws. A two star image may be technically good, but just boring. A typical example of a two star image would be any portrait you get taken in a mall or Sears portrait studio.

*** (three stars)
Decent.

A three star image has some emotional, intellectual or aesthetic impact, at least if you know the story behind the photo. A typical example of a three star image is an average newspaper photo. It is likely to resonate for a sizable percentage of viewers.

**** (four stars)
Good.

A four star image is worth framing. It usually has something to say, and doesn't need any explanation to have an impact. It is good enough to be the focal point for an article in a major magazine. A typical example of a four star image would be the fashion photography in most catalogs from large retailers.

***** (five stars)
Excellent.

A five star image is perfect, or nearly so. Any flaws somehow manage to work to its advantage. Good enough to be considered an important work of art. A typical example of a five star image would be many of the popular photos by Ansel Adams.

I have not yet taken any photos that I would give 5 stars to. There are very few of my photos that I think are "Good".

I have learned enough that for any given shooting session, I will almost always get at least a few "Decent" images. Overall all, I think I am a decent photographer, which puts me on the same level as most other professional photographers. There are many "Good" photographers out there, but most of them will charge many times what I do.

A note on post-processing. Using Photoshop and other tools, I can often make enough improvements to get one more star than what the image looked like straight out of the camera. Of the four star images I have so far, half started out as a 3 star that just needed some tweaking.


Copyright, prints and allowed use
Updated: April 25, 2005

All of the images here are copyrighted. Permission is granted to download copies and/or print these images for your personal noncommercial use.

You may NOT include these images on your website without my express permission. You MAY include these images in a 'blog posting, provided that you clearly attribute the source of the image, and include a link to either this page, or the page the image was featured on. $3 donation suggested for personal sites, $10 for profitable sites.

Information about purchasing prints of these images.

If you wish to use any of these images for commercial purposes, please contact me. All of these images have been resized for use on the web, if you purchase a license for commercial use of an image, you will be provided with the best quality digital file possible.


Camera Stores Compared
Updated: June 13, 2004
I've bought camera gear from a number of stores. Since I'm feeling a bit aggravated at the moment with the low quality of service that I have received, I thought I'd post brief reviews of the places I've bought photo gear from.
Kits Camera, Tacoma Mall
Mediocre service from camera salespeople (one of them did let me know when to expect their first Canon 10D to arrive, which was nice). However, they screwed up both print orders I placed. They were unable to print the first order, and made many many many errors with the second.
Adorama.com
Screwed up 2 out of 5 orders. One order didn't ship until 3 or 4 days after I placed it. The customer service was lousy when I called in to straighten out the messed up orders. You can tell that the guys who answer the phone do not enjoy their jobs.
Robis Camera
They are expensive, but have good service. The salespeople can be slightly pushy. No screwups yet. I've only made relatively small purchases from them.
BHPhoto.com
Screwed up 1 out of 5 orders. I called in an order once, and the salesperson was great. For the screwed up order, customer service was mediocre when I called in.
Amazon.com
Flawless, but you have to pay sales tax.

Old photos
updated: March 23, 2004

If after looking through here, you want to see some of my older stuff from a low quality camera, try my dc4800 gallery. Most of my dc4800 photos are ** out of 5, but there are a few *** out of 5 scattered about. There are also quite a few * out of 5 in there, especially in the older sections. The ratings are not shown though.


Equipment
updated: June 13, 2004
I currently use a Canon 10D, and a variety of lenses. For the most part, I use prime lenses instead of zooms. Currently, about half of my lenses are from Canon, and the other half are Sigmas.
          

With the exception of a few graphics used with permission and small amounts of quoted material all of the contents were created and © by gpb at gpb dot seanet dot com.
gvim was used to edit all text files.
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