DEWITT — Cultural experiences at the DeWitt Community Library have expanded beyond its walls.
DeWitt library sculpture exhibit takes flight
Indigenous festival ʔəm̓i ce:p xʷiwəl (Come Toward the Fire) releases 2023 lineup, with headliners Black Belt Eagle Scout and Reservation Dogs’ composer Mato Wayuhi
THE CHAN CENTRE for the Performing Arts at the University of British Columbia and Musqueam today announced initial details about the second annual Indigenous festival, ʔəm̓i ce:p xʷiwəl (Come Toward the Fire).
Taking place on September 16, just ahead of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (September 30), the event will highlight a vast range of Indigenous artists from Musqueam and Indigenous nations across Turtle Island (North America). With a mandate to celebrate Indigenous culture, creativity, and community, the festival will feature free outdoor programming from 1 to 5:30 pm then a ticketed evening festival concert from 6 pm, all at Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.
The gathering’s hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ name was provided by Musqueam and elder Larry Grant, with thanks to Musqueam artist Miss Christie Lee Charles for suggesting the name “move toward the fire.” The fest’s overarching goal is to support the movement to return Indigenous voices to the forefront and bring them back to the centre—the fire—and the heart of the community, following generations of erasure through colonization and Indian Residential Schools.
“Musqueam is excited to partner with the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts and welcome Indigenous performers to our territory for the second year of ʔəm̓i ce:p xʷiwəl,” yəχʷyaχʷələq, Chief Wayne Sparrow, Musqueam Indian Band, says in a release. “In our culture, fire is the centre of our longhouses, where our ceremonial work takes place. Being called ‘toward the fire’ is a call to join us in this celebration of Indigenous cultural expression. We look forward to strengthening our relationship with the Chan Centre to continue uplifting Indigenous voices for many years to come.”
The 2023 lineup is loaded with changemakers and top talent.
Headlining act Black Belt Eagle Scout, aka Katherine Paul, is a Swinomish/Iñupiaq singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Paul, who was born and raised along the Skagit River on Puget Sound in the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, grew up immersed in the musical traditions of her culture, performing as a jingle dress dancer with her family’s drum group, the Skagit Valley Singers. Her musical style has been compared to that of Feist, Snail Mail, and Julien Baker, with Pitchfork saying her “reverberant, wide-open sound suggests a sense of possibility and the broad sweep of history” Paul’s 2023 album, The Land, The Water, The Sky, was made in honour of her ancestral lands.
“Through gauzy instrumentation and driving percussion interspersed with hints of the Coast Salish music tradition, Paul paints the soundscape of the Pacific Northwest with an impressive clarity,” according to a release. “The album is a testament to community and the power of coming home, as she reflects on her COVID-era move from Portland, Oregon, back to Swinomish and the healing that followed. The Land, The Water, The Sky recognizes not only her own lineage but the history of the land itself. The music invites listeners to take a journey of healing and resistance through Paul’s eyes.”
This evening performance will be hosted by Musqueam’s Christie Lee Charles, who goes by the stage name Miss Christie Lee. A direct descendant of the great warrior Capilano, Charles is the City of Vancouver’s first Indigenous poet laureate as well as a rapper, storyteller, Coastal hand-drum singer, filmmaker, and speaker for her ancestors. (Charles will also perform a set during the day.) The xʷməθkʷəy̓əm artist and mother incorporates traditional knowledge and ancient hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ dialect into her work as a hip-hop artist and emcee, rapping about life, culture, and empowerment while encouraging Indigenous youth to be proud of their roots.
Unconventional Sculpture by Danny Cole Takes Manhattan’s High Line by Surprise
Discover the intriguing story behind the enigmatic sculpture that appeared on a luxury apartment balcony near Manhattan’s High Line. Explore artist Danny Cole’s creation and the captivating moments it sparked among New Yorkers.
Today’s Photo from Ted Grussing Photography: Now … Then
… continuing the review of older photos in the portfolio today and a look at some recent ones … the photo above is an azalea plant at Filoli Gardens in Woodside, California that I shot last month when I was up there for a presentation to the Padre Trails Camera Club. I love shooting flowers and the very short lived beauty that they bring to those who take the time to look around. The bloom is gone, but the beauty shared will be here for a while.
Below is a shot of a golden retriever puppy that was calling it quits on being in the warmth of the day … drinking water or not be darned, it was a place to cool down. Hard to believe that it is 21 years since I took this shot … the puppy was trained to be a service dog and during his life I am sure he brought a great deal of happiness to whomever was fortunate to have ended up with him.
Closing it out … have to be up in four hours and it is down to Lake Pleasant whilst the water levels are up then to Lake Mary in Flagstaff for the summer.
Have a beautiful day, keep smiling and for sure do the breathing thing … my plan is to do it every day until I don’t 🙂
Cheers,
Ted
To-morrow, O to-morrow!
Fast fall the fading years. A thought, a dream
Of gentle words; of faith and love a theme;
A smile, a step or two, and all is done.
Quick is the veering stream of life full run;
Yet in the crimson west still gleam
To-morrow and to-morrow’s endless dream.
excerpt from To-morrow by Max Ehrmann
###
The easiest way to reach Mr. Grussing is by email: ted@tedgrussing.com
In addition to sales of photographs already taken Ted does special shoots for patrons on request and also does air-to-air photography for those who want photographs of their airplanes in flight. All special photographic sessions are billed on an hourly basis.
Ted also does one-on-one workshops for those interested in learning the techniques he uses. By special arrangement Ted will do one-on-one aerial photography workshops which will include actual photo sessions in the air.
More about Ted Grussing …
This is an advertisement
Photographer Claims Rights to ‘Boudoir’ to Shut Down Competitors on Facebook
The Mexican photo community is up in arms after a photographer and his wife claimed to have trademarked “Boudoir” and took down scores of photographer’s pages on Facebook and Instagram that mentioned the term “boudoir.”
Jorge Lara and Maria Moscoso have received serious backlash with sponsors dropping the opportunistic pair forcing Lara to backpedal and explain his actions.
Boudoir photographers in Mexico who had worked hard for years to build their social media pages suddenly found they had been deleted after Lara and Moscoso issued takedown notices claiming to have registered the term “Boudoir” with the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI).
“Having a registration gives you the exclusivity of using that name or signs to differentiate yourself from the competition,” Lara first wrote on Facebook.
“Having registered the Boudoir brand I have the right to use it exclusively, therefore, through a procedure, I uploaded my trademark registration to Meta and I am requesting that all accounts, profiles, etc. that use the name as a trademark be canceled.”
Data Noticias published screengrabs of direct message conversations over Facebook between Lara and an affected photographer that appear to show him threatening people to not use the term boudoir.
“It is important that you do not change the name again because right in the message that Facebook sends they mention that if there is information again, they will definitively cancel your accounts,” he writes.
“You can’t carry the word Boudoir. That is precisely the registered word.”
The anonymous photographer who took the screengrab argues back: “Oh really? But why? It’s a global term I don’t think the IMPI says that…I just want my clients back.”
Untrue
Despite Lara’s claims that he had registered the word “Boudoir” as a trademark, it was later revealed that the name IMPI approved was “Boudoir in Mexico” and not just the term “Boudoir.”
“He believed that registering his trademark makes him the owner of the word ‘Boudoir’ and of what it means and represents, he couldn’t be more wrong,” says Mexican boudoir photographer Carlos Dorantes.
“According to the law in Mexico, you cannot register the technical or common use names of the products or services that are intended to be distinguished by the brand.”
In other words, while Lara and his wife may have a claim to the name “Boudoir in Mexico” they cannot shut down photographers such as one called “Victoria Boudoir” who had her Facebook page deleted by the Machiavellian duo.
“They threw my Victoria Boudoir account at me,” writes Victoria on Facebook. “What is being done on Meta (Facebook and Instagram) is unethical,” she says.
“These people decided to have someone look for all the pages/accounts that included the word ‘Boudoir’ in their name, to report them [to Meta] and remove them without prior notice. In my case, my account was 7 years old and almost 10,000 followers — it was deleted overnight.”
Backlash
Lara and Moscoso have received strong condemnation from the photo community in Mexico. PetaPixel readers will be aware of just how catastrophic losing a business social media page for a photographer can be — for many, it’s how they pick up business and clients.
For what they have done, Lara has found his sponsors queuing up to drop him. Foto Distribuidora Vyorsa, a major photography store in Mexico, announced on Facebook they would not be working with Lara any further.
“Given the controversy that has been generated with the photographer Jorge Lara, we have decided to cancel all collaboration with the aim that the affected parties find a prompt solution to their requests,” it writes.
Meanwhile, Master Class Photographers, which provides learning courses across Latin America including some taught by Lara, also cut ties with him — deleting his online tutorials from its website and offering free courses for the people affected by Lara.
“There has been a copyright dispute surrounding the word ‘Boudoir’ that has led to the suspension of several Facebook and Instagram accounts,” it writes on Facebook. “This is not right and we do not support it.”
Rectifying the Situation
For his part, Lara has accepted some culpability and in a Facebook post, he offered to help affected photographers get their accounts back. He claims nine Facebook and Instagram accounts were suspended.
“We accept the way in which the protection of the brand was made with the Meta platform, but we were always open and respectful with those who came to ask about their accounts and were released in a positive and timely manner.” Lara writes.
“The word Boudoir is obviously free for any photographer to use as part of their services, advertising, or promotion.”
In another post, Lara claims to have received death threats over the situation and is taking legal action against the offenders. His personal social media accounts have now been deleted.
He did share the email for his legal team so those affected can contact him and resolves the release of their accounts. The email is contacto@notamlegal.com
Note: Most of the correspondence in this article was machine translated so PetaPixel apologizes for any nuance that may be lost in translation.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
Astro Panel X Pro’s Latest Version Should Please Astro and Landscape
I’ve taken a look at some earlier iterations of Astro Panel over the years, a plug-in designed for automating and enhancing both astrophotography and landscape photos. I found it a powerful addition to my editing arsenal, and it was easy to use but could do some very sophisticated editing. This new version from photographer Angelo Perrone adds more than 80 new astrophotography and landscape functions, as well as some features to support portrait editing.
Recently, I stopped using the plug-in as it did not work with Apple Silicon Macs (it does work fine with Windows). Finally, and happily, the latest Astro Panel X Pro embraces the newest chips from Apple, and I did my testing on both a MacBook Pro with an M2 Max chip (12 cores and 32 GB unified memory) and a new Mac Studio with an M2 Max with 12‑core CPU, 38‑core GPU, 16‑core Neural Engine, and 96 GB of unified memory.
Astro Panel Pro X requires Photoshop CC and is only compatible with Adobe Photoshop CC from 2021 to the current 2023 version and, as I said, it is compatible with the new Apple Mac M1/M2 processors and Windows.
Installation is a couple of clicks, and the suite of tools appears under the Photoshop plug-in menu, not the filter menu.
What You Get
Included in the purchase are some e-books (How to Photograph the Night Sky, Landscape Photography, and a PDF Manual). Also included are raw files so you can follow along with the training and overlay files in JPEG and PNG of skies and night skies to use with your photos. Also included are 25,000 Lightroom presets and a good video tutorial available online with a provided link. Coming soon to buyers is a retouch and portrait tutorial.
The package is $56 U.S., but prices tend to fluctuate as the author has sales and upgrades for users of older packages.
Using Astro Panel Pro X
When you open the plug-in, you’ll see it’s divided into two sections, Astrophotography and Landscape.
I started with some astrophotos I’ve taken recently, including the star cluster M13 I grabbed the other night.
I’m mostly a deep sky photographer, so I concentrated on those tools. There are a lot of one-click options that are time-savers, like removing the green cast in photos caused by light pollution. There are methods to remove gradients, reduce bright star halos, reduce stars in nebula photos, and enhance star colors. I found the functions worked well, and happily, there was an undo menu and a redo menu. Many of the functions in AstroPanel Pro X create a new layer, leaving you with plenty of control.
The app also includes some nice features for Milky Way processing, including removal of light pollution, enhancing color, and increasing sharpness. Star trails are covered as well, with the ability to increase star colors, increase sharpness, and remove distortion.
On the landscape side, there’s a wide variety of tools, such as fixing white balance, sharpening, noise removal, increasing sharpness and contrast, shadow and highlight recovery, Orton and glow effects (I found these very nicely restrained but effective), dodge and burn tools, and tools to fix the geometry of panoramas.
Of course, all these things can be accomplished on Photoshop or Lightroom, but the automation here is quite slick and time-saving. With many of the tools, you can control the amount of the change and undo when needed. Think of Astro Panel Pro X as a sort of sophisticated macro generator with sliders and controls that let you decide the amount of some of the effects.
Astro Panel X Pro offers luminosity masks, and tools like Forward and Back, the Quick White Mask, Curve Level and Tonal Values, White Brush, and Black Brush. Hue/Saturation and Color Balance have been optimized compared to the previous version.
With these tools used together, you get very complete control of lighting for landscape photography, and for some, these tools alone may justify a serious look at this package.
My View
Astro Panel Pro X has been significantly improved over previous versions. While, as I’ve said, some functions are one click, there is a learning curve when you get into luminosity masks and some of the other advanced functions, but if you take the time to watch the tutorials and go through the electronic manual, you’ll have a set of powerful tools you will use in every editing session.
I found the app stable and crash-free, working on both the release version of Photoshop and the new beta. It also behaved well under the beta of macOS Sonoma 14.0.
I think the only thing I’d like to see are tool tips for each functions, as sometimes, the icons aren’t obvious in what they do.
At $56, I think Astro Panel Pro X is a bargain. Just the extensive guidebooks to night sky photography and landscape photography are worth that.
If you are willing to dive into the documentation and use the many features, Astro Panel Pro X is a really good investment. It’s available for purchase at this website, where you’ll get more details on what it can do for your astro and earthbound images.
A Mysterious Sculpture by Danny Cole Surfaces Atop the NYC High Line
It’s not clear whether the piece was commissioned or not.
Waterfalls Spill Across the Dramatic Lush Landscapes of the Faroe Islands
All images © Jennifer Esseiva, shared with permission
Steep cliffs, narrow passes, waterfalls, and wide, sloping hills are fixtures among the ocean bound landscapes of the Faroe Islands. The archipelago in the North Atlantic is a cluster of 18 individual islands, a few of which Swiss photographer Jennifer Esseiva (previously) visited last April. On Vágar and Kasloy, she documented the dramatic vistas, peering out from summits and across vast swaths of land and sea.
Esseiva shares that reaching her destinations required a significant amount of hiking, made extra difficult due to intense wind and rain. She explains:
The rain comes in whenever it wants, often accompanied by a strong wind! We’re in a wild environment where the weather changes rapidly…Suffering from vertigo, this trip was a real challenge for me, especially on the island of Kalsoy. On its northern tip is the small lighthouse of Kallur, nestled in a spicy setting and surrounded by sheer cliffs. The best photographic compositions require you to get close to the cliffs, which are battered by the wind.
In the coming weeks, Esseiva plans to share photos from Eysturoy and Streymoy islands, so keep an eye on Instagram for updates. Prints are available on Etsy.
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Waterfalls Spill Across the Dramatic Lush Landscapes of the Faroe Islands appeared first on Colossal.
Laramie artist selected to paint mural
A Laramie-based artist has been chosen by the Cody Public Art Committee to complete a mural on the south-facing wall of By Western Hands.
Depth Of Field: Captures By Clark
