NOTICE – My gmail account has been hacked!!!

Someone has compromised my gmail account. Here is the original e-mail that was sent out on October 25th, 2009;

This had to come in a hurry and it has left me in a devastating state.We are in some terrible situation and we really going to need your urgent help.Some days ago,unannounced,We came to visit a resort center in South Glamorgan UK,England…but we got mugged by some hoodlums and lost all our cash,credit cards,we are financially stranded right now and our return flight leaves in few hours time but we need some money to clear some bills,we didn’t bring our cellphone along since we did not get to roam them before coming over.So all we can do now is pay cash and get out of here quickly.we do not want to make a scene of this which is why we did not call my house,this is embarrassing enough.we was wondering if you could loan us some cash,will def refund it to you as soon as we arrive home just need to clear our Hotel bills and get the next plane home,As soon as we get home we will refund it immediately.Write me so we can let you know how to send it.
–

This idiot is actively monitoring my gmail account, and is replying back to the folks who are writing to him. For instance, here is one of the replies;

Glad you replied back to my email,I have nothing left on me and i’m grateful to God that i still have my life and my passport cos it would have been worst if they made away with my passport.I am so confused right now as i wasn’t injured because I complied immediately.I have limited access to emails for now,I am full of panic now and the police only asked me to write a statement about the incident and directed me to the embassy,i have spoken to the US Consulate here but they are not responding to the matter effectively,all i need now is $950.The only way you can wire the money to me is via western union because i still have my passport with me as verification here at western union location,all you need from me is my name and present location,this is the details you need to wire the money to me below -

Name -TIM ROSS
Location – 59 Dan y Coed Road Cardiff, South Glamorgan CF23 6NE United Kingdom Amount – $950

Do not hesitate to get back to me with the confirmation number so as for easy pick up at the Western Union,Kindly wire the money as soon as you get this message so as to enable me sort the bills and get out of this mess,I promise,i will pay you back once i get home.

To make matters worse, I am getting ABSOLUTELY NO HELP from Google. I have sent them the original e-mail and the header information, and Goggle keeps coming back with this;

Thank you for your report. We’ve completed our investigation and cannot return your account at this time. We were unable to verify that you own this account based on the information you provided.
Well gee, I wonder why they can’t verify my account? Could it be because …….SOMEONE HAS HACKED IT AND CHANGED IT ALL!!!!! I am not asking for the name back, I am asking them to shut it down. I have sent several reports to them, but I get nothing from them except this riduculous auto-reply. Hello Google…..anyone home?

I have this persons IP address, and hope to track down this person and send him a little sumpin-sumpin through the ethers!!!

Where is that global warming thing at?

Boats - Marina Del Ray, California

Well, it is not here in the south! It is REALLLLLLLY cold here in Atlanta, like in the teens cold. I am not going to get any sympathy from the folks up north, but this is the south.  It is not supposed to be this cold!

So I am staying inside this weekend, and going to do a little blog work, Facebook stuff, and web site junk.  I’m sorry, but I am a beach person, and cold weather really freaks me out.  I don’t like it, don’t want it, and folks up north can have it!!! Anyway…….

OK, off my soap box, and on to some good stuff. For those of you out there into Photowalks, here is a nifty little app for those of you who have the iPhone/iTouch, brought to you courtesy of Terry Reinert.

With a couple weeks of 2009 under our belts, I thought we would go back and visit the top 20 photography web sites of 2008.  What is cool is that I have several of these linked here on the blog!

Citizen journalism at its best.  An iPhone picture of the plane crash in the Hudson River makes the headlines.

Here are 3 quick tips to better your photography by Damien Franco.

Here is a great article that all photographers should read. It is by Merlan Mann at 43folders.com.  Really good read.

That is going to do it for tonight.  I am going to try and stay warm, and I will hit the links tomorrow and see what other interesting stories I can find.

An old barn. But then again, there are no new barns.

So,  I am out walking around with my camera a few weeks ago, and stumble across this old barn with an old truck in it.  I take a few pics, then I go about my way.  As I was walking around, I kept thinking about this barn, and the truck inside of it.

I am thinking about how do I take these 2 pictures and make them look old and antique?  Of course, you could just do a black and white, throw some noise and dust scratches on it, and that would probably do the trick.  Then I went way back (like 1980’s way back) when I was a printer, and we used sepia paper.  That was it, I would make it look like it was on sepia paper.  Here are the results;

Then I started thinking, maybe give the barn a little grunge look and scratches.   How would that look?

There, now it looks old.

I was a SportsCenter anchor!

I had to travel up to Bristol, CT to install some equipment at ESPN, and I just couldn’t resist.   The room we installed equipment in was right across the hall from the SportsCenter desk, and all week long, the red recording light was flashing, meaning I couldn’t get within 50 feet of the door that goes into the studio.  I had my camera with me everyday waiting for that one opportunity, and on the last day, I noticed the light was off.  On our way out the door, I asked Ken (the ESPN employee we hung out with all week), if I could possibly take a peek in the studio.  So Ken takes us in, and we get a little tour of the studio.  Sweeeeettttt!  So I am snapping away with my Nikon (hasn’t been out of the bag all week), and Ken asks if I would like to have my picture taken at the desk!  What……you kidding me!  So there it is, Dylan (guy I work with) and myself at THE DESK!!!  No, this is not Photoshop’d, not taken at some picture kiosk at Disney, this is the REAL DEAL.  I made the title screen at the bottom, so yes, that is Photoshop’d, but everything else is authentic.  This picture now hangs proudly in my ‘man cave’.

Photoshop World Conference and Expo

According to Scott Kelby, this years Photoshop World Conference and Expo will have a lot more Lightroom seminars then in years past.  In fact, this year they are calling it “The Lightroom Conference at Photoshop World”.  This years conference will be held in Boston, MA at the Hynes Convention Center March 25-27, 2009.  If you do not have Lightroom yet, I suggest you download the trial version here and give it a test run.  IMHO, it is the best application on the market for photographers.

Things that make you go hmmm….

Story courtesy of Scott Bourne;

Since purchasing my iPhone the day it launched, I’ve shown my portfolio to more people than I did the ten years before that date.

It’s amazing to me how much this has changed the way I show my work. In the old days, I’d spend literally hundreds of dollars (those are old days dollars mind you) on portfolios. Then I’d spend more money shipping the portfolio around. And more still keeping it up to date.

Now, most people see my portfolio on my iPhone. Of course, fewer big shot buyers see my portfolio this way, but the everyday exposure I get from showing images on my iPhone makes me as much money as I earn from the big shot buyers.

At the dentist a few weeks ago, I showed my portfolio via the iPhone to someone in the waiting room. Boom – “Cranes in the Fire Mist” sold.

I showed my portfolio via the iPhone to a man who just happened to own a new gallery in town. Boom – I have a show scheduled at his gallery.

Back when I did weddings, I would have made a killing if I could have kept my wedding samples on the iPhone. Every time I had a conversation with a potential client I could have immediately showed off my images.

Now the iPhone or iPod isn’t going to be the “be all – end all” portfolio. In many cases, it is just an excellent ice breaker. And that’s okay. Even if I have to eventually make a separate presentation on laptop, or send the buyer to the web, or even build an old-fashioned paper portfolio, the first contact via the iPhone makes it probable that I will have better success than if I had just started the old fashioned way.

I have a Blackberry that so far I am pretty happy with, but I do have an iPod. I have a few images on it, but mostly music and podcasts.  I have thought about buying the Epson P5000, but this just might do the trick.  The images on my iPod are small, but the image quality is clean and crisp.  Hmmmmm…….

Maybe the government will give me some of that buy out money.

I can only dream of having all this camera goodness.  One day though….one day.  I think I will contact Obama and ask for some of that buy out money.

All this joy is owned by Alan Hess, and by seeing his work, he knows how to use it. Very impressive work.  I heard him mentioned by Scott Kelby and the Photoshop Guys in their podcast. If your name is mentioned by these guys, you have made it to the top.  Alan is a commercial photographer in San Diego, and also an author.  If you have a minute, click on the link and visit his site.

Another site of interest is Digital Protalk.  This is the site of David Ziser, an internationally renowned portrait and wedding photographer.  I do not do portrait shots, or let me say I have never done them, but I am willing to give it a shot.  His site is full of tips, gear talk, and pics.

Dude, is it really 2:30 am?  Note to self, no more caffeine after 6:00 pm!!! That wraps up my tour of the web, I am going to hit the hay.

Get organized in Lightroom 2.

If you have tons of pictures and you use Lightroom 2, here is a link on how to organize all your shots and keep a clean catalog;

• blog.ericscouten.com/2008/10/lightroom-technique-how-i-organize-my-catalog-and-why/

Uber-app for iPhone users!

If you are a landscape photographer and an iPhone owner, you will really dig this new app.  For landscape photogs like me, there are only 2 times of the day.  Sunrise and sunset, and this app lets you know when both happen. Head on over to Scott Kelby’s blog and check it out.

And another app for the iPhone estimates the depth of field, aperature, subject distance, and also lets you know when the sunrise and sunset is, provided you own the iPhone 3G model with the GPS.

• blog.ericscouten.com/2008/08/photocalc-a-nifty-iphone-app-for-photographers/

Its a brand new day.

Well, I guess it had to eventually come to this, a blog.  It is what all the cool kids are doing!  Why am I doing this?  Because I am a glutton for punishment! I am also getting a web site ready to post, and I just had to have a “Blog” link on my site.  Another thing all the cool kids are doing.

I am Tim.  I take pictures.  I take a lot of pictures.  I have people that want to see my pictures.  So instead of lugging all my DVD’s around, I will post pics on my web site, and they can look around.  This blog will just be a place to discuss some of my pics, and also a place to blow off some steam, pass on some funny things I have seen, heard, done, and whatever else I want to post.  It is my blog, I can do that.   So if you just happened to stumble across this blog while surfing the internets, thanks for stopping by.

So, why start with this picture? Well, this is one of my pics that I took at Grand Central Station in New York, and it just exudes “busy”.  But notice the one woman in the middle.  She seems to be oblivious to the commotion around her.  Reading an e-mail, checking her missed calls, texting someone?  I have no idea.  I wanted to capture all the scuffle, and as luck would have it, here is 1 person standing in the middle, calm, cool, and collected.  I wish I was that person, but I am not, I am like one of the people running around.  Between being a dad, a husband, and a worker bee, that leaves me about 15 minutes to sleep, eat, shower, and shave.  Restroom breaks are only authorized after written request.

I have work to do, my 15 minutes are up.  I will check back in later with something else.