Weblog » Archives » August 2005

  • THE FINAL DIFFUSER SPECS FOR MY POINT-SHOOT DIFFUSER Thanks to David Hessemer who suggested that it should be called something besides the "Delta" diffuser because nobody really knew what delta meant. (state of …
  • WORLDBEAT™ IMAGE COLLECTION I just finished making the selections for my "Worldbeat" image collection that I am going to make available in a limited edition Giclee and wall-decor products. I had to go through a lo…
  • POWER AND ELECTRICITY SUPPLY OUT FOR UP TO TWO WEEKS... The water supply to the gulf coast may be out for up to two weeks - and the floodwaters around it are completely contaminated. Obviously without water for 2 …
  • NO DONATION IS TOO SMALL - HERE'S THE LINK Oh this is just terrible. I have the warmest memories of New Orleans and Biloxi. I visited both of these beautiful cities in the last year and I can't believe that man…
  • QUICK UPDATE ON THE LS2PJ We will begin production of the first batch THIS WEEK! READ ON! You probably saw this week and thought - shipping this week. NO we won't be shipping until the stuff is in the warehous…
  • GREAT MERCHANDISING IDEA AND BRANDING FOR YOU, THE ARTISTE As a professional photographer, you have that mysterious ability to get great images. And you probably have a lot of clients that really appreciate photog…
  • ANOTHER PRODUCT RECOMMENDATION FROM SOMEONE WHO BOUGHT BOTH I like bluetooth wireless headsets because when I have a corded headset it always gets caught on things. Like when I close a door and it wraps around a k…
  • WE'RE PARTIALLY SWITCHING TO WINDOWS COMPUTERS Windows has a lot more software choices than Mac in general. When I went to Europe, I wanted to have the webcam instant messenger on MSN, but it wasn't available on M…
  • HI I DECIDED TO CLOSE THE FORUM, HERE'S WHY I am so behind on e-mails! Well I'll try anything once! Except for "balut". I will never try balut. When I was in Manila, my hosts were kind of bummed that I wouldn't …
  • SCARIER THAN THE SCARIEST OF MOVIES I was eating breakfast at Pepy's and couldn't finish eating after I read this article about the potential danger to the economy from the new bankruptcy bill (click here to read ab…
  • AWESOME HORSE PHOTOS Melissa just posted some photos from that shoot we did in Ohio (remember I did infrareds). This horse is so awesome. Afterwards in the stable, he kept pressing his head up to me so I would pe…
  • JOE BUISSINK TOLD ME THE COOLEST LITTLE STORY There was this french poet, and he was standing on the edge of a cliff, and he kept trying to get people to come and look how high they were. Finally one person came t…
  • FOUND THE QUOTE ON THINKEXIST.COM (I LOVE GOOGLE) I told you it was beautiful. He told me that at lunch and I went wow that is deep. We were talking about leaving your comfort zone, and how the more change you…
  • THIS IS THE LAND ROVER LR3 It isn't mine. It's the dealership's. The Range Rover that I bought last year has been in the shop pretty much more than I have owned it - it has been towed to the dealership a whopping…
  • I GOT PRE-DESIGNED Pre-designing is the process of designing a wedding album beforehand to show the client what the final product could look like. It powerfully illustrates how much better the photos will look in …
  • HURRICANE KATRINA AND THE FUTURE I learn a lot from my friend Jeff Gold who is the director of world.org. We've been friends for a long time and I remember when he was explaining about global warming and how the …
  • HUMAN EXHIBIT AT THE LONDON ZOO When I read about this on the news I thought whoa. How totally bizarre. People putting themselves on display at a zoo - and even more weird is that people actually flock to see it…
  • THIS IS HARD AND LOUD LAUGHTER That is me burying my head in Becker's armpit. I got this photo from David Jay's Blogsite - I don't know what the heck we were laughing at all I know is that we were laughing so loud…
  • THE NEW FORUM IS UP! YAY!!!! This is great because now rather than posting comments, you can jump into the community forum and have a question/answer format that is SEARCHABLE. It is very unwieldy to use th…
  • TREO SUPPORT GROUP PARTY IN BEVERLY HILLS Today it was 92 degrees in Los Angeles, and dark blue beautiful skies, so I went around and took a few photos from my car. Then I invited some of my friends to lunch so we…
  • IT'S TIME FOR A NEW FORUM I originally started the FORUMS at digitalphotographers.net because I thought it would be an efficient way to answer questions. I answer the same question on emails so often that I figure…
  • I AM IN LOS ANGELES FOR A WHOLE WEEK! After two weeks with the Carls in Ohio, I am back in L.A. for a whole buncha meetings for the rollout of my new plastic products. Then I go back to Indianapolis, then back to …
  • ROADTRIP! I AM GOING ON TOUR - JANUARY 2006 - 12 CITIES - $79 After posts like this on David Jay's Forum and seeing people like Kristen Alexander and David Hessemer use my super successful techniques of pre-desig…
  • DO OTHER COUPLES DO THIS? We're working on our websites this morning at Melissa's apartment, and I wondered what it looked like so I took this self-timer photo. The most lame thing is when we want to ask each o…
  • LP2PJ PRIVATE OFFERING UPDATE We will be making the parts Monday and there will be a mailing ONLY to current owners of Lightspheres. My dad will not be doing the shipment for the private offering, because we will be…
  • OW MY STOMACH STILL HURTS!
  • THE EFFECT OF ENDING PRICES WITH THE NUMBER "9" I have learned a lot about marketing having my own e-store. To me it is like a little video game where I play around with images/graphics/words/prices to see the eff…
  • I'M PITCHING HOME SHOPPING NETWORK NEXT WEEK In about 60 days, we'll know if I will be on HSN in their "electronics boutique". It would make sense - they would make great money on the product, and with 53 million p…
  • YAY! PATENT PENDING!! I JUST WONDER ABOUT THE NAME NOW... OK! The Delta Diffuser is now in the Patent Office. Some people have asked me how much it costs to have a patent done, and I don't really know. It is on…
  • NEED YOUR CRITIQUE PLEASE - HERE'S THE CATALOG PREVIEW Hi can I ask for your advance help? I just finished the catalog description for the new LS2PJ and you know since I am so far into the forest sometimes I can't…
  • BULLZEYE2 IS GREAT COLOR CORRECTION FOR THE LAZY PERSON Melissa got one of those new bluetooth mouses, so she can do color correction without a cord. Look underneath her right hand... Neat. It's like having a cat …
  • FREAKING HILARIOUS When we were shooting Angel and Ryan's wedding, they requested some photos at this nice park near the reception. It had a fountain and was really nice and since it was a Saturday there were …
  • GARY FONG'S DATING SERVICE My Canadian personal assistant, Nicole Peach is available to meet Mr. Right. Me and Melissa have been telling her that she needs some solitude time, because she has always had boyfriends…
  • ABOUT THE FIRST SHIPMENTS OF LS2PJ'S... I've gotten a lot of emails asking how to be one of the first to receive the new LS2PJ's. So here is the latest update: 1) There will be an email sent to current owners of Li…
  • MORE WEDDING IMAGES! I haven't forgotten hardly anything! It all came back in an instant. Congratulations to Angel and Ryan, Angela Talley's wedding clients. I have to tell you, I REALLY like shooting weddings! …
  • FIRST IMAGES EVER DONE WITH THE LS2PJ! I just wish you could be here to see what we saw today with the new LS2PJ. It is absolutely amazing. This shot is done in a low ceiling and I did not need the dome, because …
  • INTRODUCING THE LIGHTSPHERE PHOTOJOURNALIST! Tomorrow we will be shooting the final prototype for the new Lightsphere II Photojournalist. This is a design I came up with a while ago specifically for event photogra…
  • HI FROM PITTSBURGH, PA FOR A WEDDING We're in Pittsburgh, PA this weekend to shoot a wedding. I am actually just the 2nd camera, Melissa is shooting a wedding for our friend, Angela Talley I am pretty excited abou…
  • THANKS, DAD Well we are about to wrap up our chapter of filling orders at my own warehouse. I'm about to hire this great distribution solution that Keats found, so we will be transitioning as soon as I return to …
  • BETTER THAN ACUPUNCTURE, BETTER THAN MASSAGE, ETC. I get a lot of stiff neck problems and lower back pain probably from sitting in planes so much. So I tried everything, even this acupuncture thing where they put …
  • SHOOTING HORSES IN INFRARED Today I went on a photo shoot with Melissa doing a horse shoot in La Grange, OH. These horses were so beautiful, there was a gorgeous arabian, and this huge, beautiful Belgian horse t…
  • GARYFONGESTORE.COM IS GREATLY EXPANDING! Keats found this fantastic fulfillment solution company that is going to be able to handle all of our distribution tasks, and handle them with far greater efficiency. Th…
  • PHOTOS FROM CEDAR POINT - FUJI F10 I didn't take too many photos because we spent all day riding the crazy coasters. The lines were really long but we got to go on Dragster - this insane magnetic superconducting c…
  • HILARIOUS ROLLER COASTER VIDEO FROM CEDAR POINT This is pretty funny. I snuck the F10 onto the coaster. I tried it on some other coasters but there is no way to keep it steady, so I put it on the headrest of the …
  • HI FROM CEDAR POINT! Today I am going to be at Cedar Point Amusement Park with the Carls. It has an amazing number of coasters. I love roller coasters. I scream my brains out. Oh no I forgot to bring throat lo…
  • DIGITAL INFRARED IMAGES WITH THE NIKON COOLPIX 4500 I.R. I just got a new NIKON COOLPIX 4500 I.R. conversion from Brody Dezember. It cost me $750 and it is awesome. Faster and more rugged than the 990 Coolpix, I …
  • HOW TO PUT MOVIES ON XANGA A lot of people are curious how to make webmovies. Well the fastest way to do a slick slideshow is to use instantmoviesonline.com, but that is with a fixed number of still images set to a s…
  • WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS MOVIE? Click here Oh watch carefully the TSA officer walking toward me .
  • OFFICIAL AND UNOFFICIAL MEET THE CARLS REPORT! Last night we went to Melissa's sister Jen's house and it was so fun! All of these people that I had heard so much about over the last year and a half I finally got…
  • OK WE FOUND THE TV CLIP! Thanks MJ Wilson for emailing this to me - this was done on a Fuji F10. It's hilarious This is the appearance of the Lightsphere II on "Queer Eye for The Straight Guy". The photographer was…
  • I JUST HAD THE MOST WEIRD, BUT VIVID DREAM This post is for me, because they always say it's good to journal dreams that wake you up in the middle of the night. While I keep a separate, personal journal, I spend m…
  • THE LIGHTSPHERE WAS CALLED "TUPPERWARE" ON QUEER-EYE FOR THE STRAIGHT GUY Hey Gary - I was watching one of my favorite shows on Bravo "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" (this week's episode) and they had a photog…
  • THE DELTA DIFFUSER PATENT - WE DO THINGS FAST AROUND HERE We being me and the law firm of Christie, Parker and Hale, Inc., my intellectual properties lawyers. A few weeks ago I came up with the idea of the Delta D…
  • HI FROM THE CINCINNATIAN HOTEL I used to be in Cincinnati a lot. I had a girlfriend, Samantha, who lived here - and since she lived in Ohio the only way we could see each other was if I flew out here. So for a wh…
  • INTRODUCING KEATS ELLIOTT I am so excited to get to work with her. She has been to every workshop I've offered, and the more I got to know her the more noticed not only her passion for photography, but what a fun p…
  • SPEAKING OF THE TREO 650 This phone continues to be interesting. It freezes all the time now. So I am always having to pull the battery out to reset it. I would replace it, but it would be the same since this i…
  • RACING FUEL Since gas prices are so freaking high the difference between regular gas prices (now at nearly $3 per gallon in L.A.) it doesn't seem so crazy to pay $7.25 per gallon for racing fuel. Racing fuel is …
  • TOMORROW AFTERNOON I AM OFF TO OHIO! to... Meet the Carls! I am so sure I am going to say something REALLY stupid because I always do when I am not supposed to! I'm sure it's going to be hilarious! I am really l…
  • YAY!!! THANK YOU KATE!!! It is so happy to come home and having these little surprises laid out. My L.A. assistant, Kate, left me this cool note and a bowl of mixed nuts, and put PROPELS in the fridge! So freaki…
  • JENNIFER ANISTON ARTICLE IN VANITY FAIR I just read the article and all I have to say about it is that I think women are better human beings than men. One time I was at the Roxbury and the bodyguard was like stero…
  • DENIS REGGIE IN HAWAII!!! How great is this! On October 25-26, Denis Reggie will be giving a two-day workshop in Honolulu at the Halekulani hotel right on Waikiki Beach. I've stayed at this hotel and it's specta…
  • I THINK I MINIMIZE THE DIFFICULTY OF SOME THINGS The other day, Melissa was telling me that her sister Jen was training for a marathon. I asked her how long a marathon was, and she said 26.X miles or something. And…
  • FOREST FIRE OUT OF CONTROL - WOW NICE MOVE! It's so weird to watch this happen. We were watching the tiny smoke barely visible in the trees... and watching the water tankers not move, and hearing air traffic contr…
  • AERIAL PHOTOS OF TWIN HAVEN (PART II) Today we flew back to Twin Haven Resort because yesterday when we flew there, I totally didn't know where it was. Yesterday we flew all around the region looking for my house …
  • THIS IS HOW A FLOAT PLANE LANDS In case you're curious, here's how a float plane lands... click here What is really trippy is once he lands, he has a rudder behind the pontoons so the float plane steers like a boa…
  • INFRARED IMAGES OF KELOWNA Today we had the Nikon 990 IR camera laying around - I gave mine to Melissa because I got a new one from Brody Dezember that I'll be testing on a new format... anyway, the images are s…
  • IMAGES FROM OUR LAST DAY IN CANADA FOR A LITTLE WHILE Today was a beautiful day. We just took the speedboat out to the middle of the lake and stopped the engine, and watched the sunset from our boat. For s…
  • FLOATPLANE IMAGES Today I went up in the floatplane to photograph my lake homes. It was freaking awesome! I'm so jazzed I asked a zillion questions and I'm going to get my pilot's license in September. Today was…
  • CANADA HAS A RECREATIONAL PILOT LICENSE! YAY! Oh this is so freaking cool. I can get a recreational pilot license with only 20 hours of student time and five hours of solo flight. Oh man I am so excited here's…
  • A COMMENT ABOUT THIS EGO THING I'm not insensitive to these comments about people feeling that I have a big ego. Weird. Those of you who know me know I just hang out. I am very confident about some things, and …
  • YAY! ANOTHER UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIAL FROM A GREAT PHOTOGRAPHER! Charles Maring was one of those students I'll always remember because he had a huge smile on his face and just took a zillion notes and had so much …
  • PARASAILING ON THE OKANAGAN There's always something to do around here. Every day I spend in Kelowna I love it even more. Temperature today was high 80's, dry heat with a breeze, and we went parasailing. I took …
  • NEW WEBSITE I'm often asked how to place higher in search engines - there's no secret to it really, just ask yourself how could a human (or software robot) quickly find the page you're looking for, without silly …
  • SWIMMING WITH THE HORSES AT LAKE OKANAGAN RESORT I've never gone to Lake Okanagan resort because by car it is about an hour drive across the bridge to Westbank. But it is right across the lake by speedboat, so we …
  • THE LIGHTSPHERE IN COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHY It flatters me when I see the Lightsphere II on tv in use at a press event, or when it is being used by the world's best photographers. Like Andreas Avdoulos, one of the m…
  • A LAZY DAY AT DISCOVERY BAY Today we woke up at 5pm. I think it's the lazy feeling of this lake but it is also ridiculously spectacular. There is always something beautiful or fun or interesting around here. We to…
  • PICTAGE PROFILED IN THE L.A. BUSINESS JOURNAL I had a nice phone interview with Amanda Bronstad of the LABJ and they did a really nice article about the success story of Pictage. They did a lot of research, interv…
  • LET'S SEE YOUR PROGRAM BIG GUY The following person ("Jeff") tried to slam Kamran Zohoori, of http://www.zohodesigns.com: in a letter after a recent program Kamran gave... Why do people do this? Kamran Zohoori is…
  • AVRIL LAVIGNE CONCERT - click here to see the video! It was pretty good. Melissa, Nicole, Tyler (her brother) and I couldn't have had seats further back, but it was fun. Avril said she went tubing and waters…
  • AVRIL LAVIGNE NEXT DOOR There were two massive luxury coach motorhomes parked in our parking lot. Since we are right next door to Prospera Place, this means that there's probably a concert next door. So I asked t…
  • MORE THOUGHTS ON INDOOR CLAYCOURTS Found this quote doing a google search: "You could call them big spenders. Or, you could just call them big profit centers for health clubs. They are the people in your clubs …
  • TENSIONED FABRIC STRUCTURES FOR INDOOR TENNIS Today I got the bad news the Gold's Gym in Kelowna is closing its indoor tennis facility in January. This is awful news for me because one of the things I really like …