Month: November 2008

The Best Gifts for the Holiday’s!

November 28, 2008
Quiet Light Publishing

The Lewis & Clark Trail American Landscapes - Limited Edition 

Let’s face it – there are always a lot of choices one can make when shopping for gifts over the holidays, so why then do we always ask ourselves, “Now what can I possibly get for…”

Well look no further as this year you can give the BEST GIFT OF CHRISTMAS (or any other Holiday you may be celebrating!) The Lewis & Clark Trail American Landscapes! Many of folks who have bought the book as a gift before come back and buy more just because it was such a great gift the first time. So get one for the traveler, photographer, historian, nature lover or Lewis & Clark buff on your list this year. We’ve been told by many folks, once this book hits their coffee table, it stays right there. What could be a better endorsement! Or for the ultimate gift give the Limited Edition of the book, which comes in a Leather Slipcase and includes Three Fine Art Prints.

Note Cards - Cades Cove Barn

And of course if you don’t want to give a book, look at our Note Cards, Posters or Fine Art Prints. Or for the photographer on your list how about a spot in one of our Nature Photography Workshops?

 

Why fight the crowds at the mall for yet another tie or pair of socks…Check out the better options at Quiet Light Publishing!

ORPHANS WORKS BILL MUST BE DEFEATED!

November 19, 2008
PoliticsQuiet Light Publishing

Lincoln Memorial

Once again, and in that spirit I talked about last time of getting political, there is no better time nor cause for photographers or publisher’s to make their voices heard over than the Orphans Works bill in the House and Senate. Very powerful lobbying groups have pushed this cause to the detriment of individual artists, be they photographers, painters, illustrators, writers, poets, film or video producers or musicians.

YOUR WORK IS ON THE LINE! Your copyright will not stand much ground if this bill is passed by the Congress. They have come back into a lame-duck session and while they say they won’t bring this up again there is also talk of killing the entire Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property, where this issue currently is in debate. Then it would be taken up again by the full Judiciary Committee, where it was hatched many months ago.

Why do we need to abolish this bill? Because, it will take away your copyright protections without any due process. If some says they tried to find out who the artist was, they will be protected. How can we prove that?!? We will also be required to not just register our images with the copyright office, but also pay to have them listed with some new company – and this will be fee based depending on the number of images in the case of photographers.

To see the news release from the Advertising Photographers of America (APA) and the Illustrators Partnership use this link: OrphanWork.

Then write your congress person and Senators. But do it NOW! It will only take a few minutes and you can follow the links on the APA & Illustrator partnership pages to get it done in minutes – they even have the letters written for you – which you can customize to your liking.

Do it now, before you loose your rights.

Obama Euphoria

November 11, 2008
ObamaPoliticsQuiet Light Publishing

Obama Sign in Paris 

It has been a week since the election, and the Barak Obama euphoria may have worn of only slightly, but it has been replaced by the hope for which he so eloquently spoke of during his campaign. I have seen it in the faces of my friends, I have heard it when a car pulls up to me at a stop light and say’s “nice sticker – glad we won – I am so happy!”,  I have heard it from waiters in the heart of Tennessee. Of course I have also heard the opposite side, how could you support a Muslim! Yes, I have actually heard that more than once. Ignorance I can’t understand. But I’ve also heard very encouraging words from some folks who voted for McCain.

I knew this election was about something special when I was travelling in Patagonia earlier this year and several people asked, “Is the US read to elect a woman or a black man?” And in September my wife and I were walking the streets of Paris and saw the above image of Obama used in an ad for the French news station. And once again, we were asked, “Are you ready?”

But that euphoria, that wonderful feeling we all felt last Tuesday night, still feel today, if you are an Obama supporter anyway and maybe a little bit even if you weren’t, must now be put into the actions we all are hoping for. I believe that last Tuesday, most of us were still only hoping for a win by Obama, yet the last two elections hung heavy on us and we wondered, can we do it? So, as the polls closed and it became clear we had elected someone new, we had voted for change, we had beaten those who mostly talked in scare tactics and anger and meanness. So it was natural for us to be euphoric. And I watched it unfold from my home in Evanston, a Chicago suburb and most definitely an Obama town.

We ended up staying home – not going to Grant Park, since the expected crowd was to be 1 million. But the noise around here at 11 was great. I think we were more excited than if the Cubbies had actually won the World Series! Of course that may be in great part to the sea change everyone is hoping for in our political and historical place in history. I think the majority of folks, slim as it may be, truly believe we can be a better people. We can be better participants in the world. We can leave this place better than we found it. It is that hope which I believe spilled into the streets and parks in downtown and in various suburbs all across America last night. It is that spirit in which we bask this morning. And I believe it is that spirit which will bring people together to actually do some of the hard work, both in Congress and in our own towns to solve the problems we face today. It is now the time to ask what you can do for your country, whether it is working for change by writing to Congressional leaders, working in neighborhood organizations or working one on one with folks to make things better. It is now our time. Let’s make it happen.

 

Peace,

Richard