"Dusk At Times Square" by Michael Mariano (New York)

Come and take a look at Michael Mariano’s amazing picture! Please visit www.blancworldwide.com and http://bit.ly/uy2Nu7. Fine art photographic prints of this image is now available worldwide for a very limited time only. This is a special project of Blanc Worldwide.

"The Coast" by Kyo Suayan (San Francisco)

Come and take a look at Kyo Suayan’s amazing picture! Please visit www.blancworldwide.com or http://bit.ly/tNFHve. Fine art photographic prints of this image is now available worldwide for a very limited time only. This is a special project of Blanc Worldwide. Thanks!

"Toronto Nightscape" by Lester Callanta

Come and take a look at Lester’s amazing picture! Please visit www.blancworldwide.com or http://bit.ly/un7wrU. Fine art photographic prints of this image is now available worldwide for a very limited time only. This is a special project of Blanc Worldwide. Thanks!

Come and take a look at our pictures. Please visit www.blancworldwide.com. Thanks!

The main title page of Ram's New York fashion portfolio available for viewing online.

I enjoy working with professional fashion models. I love the idea of creating all sorts of interesting looks. It’s hard work for sure, but at the same time it’s undeniably pure play. Working with a expert team of innovative and professional hair and makeup artists, fashion stylists and some of the fashion designers themselves, the whole process has been a thrill. It is all about bringing imaginative fantasies to visually believable and oddly compelling realities.

I particularly had a blast shooting Ram, one of Ford New York’s prominent Asian male models. In this portfolio, we recently created all sorts of looks, from casual to formal, with the multifaceted Big Apple as the grand backdrop. Take a look at Ram’s complete 50-photo NYC fashion portfolio set. Click here.

This is a sweeping view of lower Manhattan's skyline.

This photo that I took shows the grand and sweeping view of a major portion of the Lower Manhattan in New York City. It also shows a little bit of Jersey City in New Jersey, the Hudson River, and at a distance, a tiny view of the iconic Statue of Liberty and the historic Ellis Island.

Download now for free (from this link) the high-resolution JPEG image file (11.41 MB) of the Lower Manhattan Skyline of New York City. You have full, non-exclusive, and perpetual license to the use of this image. The usage license is unrestricted and unlimited in any way for educational, commercial, personal and all other purposes. Please feel free to use, modify, crop, edit, alter, resize, and/or combine this image with graphic designs, objects, materials, other photos, and all other elements. There is no restrictions, limitations or conditions on the download and use of this image. Get this image now and tell others about it.

[Photographed by Dominique James. To get and collect fine art photo prints, visit  the Dominique James Zatista Store. For more information, send email to dominiquejames@mac.com.]

This is the Doppler Radar on top of the Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, New York City.

This picture that I took is an image of the Doppler Radar situated at the top of the Rockefeller Center in midtown Manhattan of New York City. Not too many tourists or visitors look at it and take notice when they go to the Top of the Rock. I can’t say I blame them. Only the most die-hard of weather enthusiasts would probably be really interested to see or look at this. This Doppler Radar has to compete, unfairly, with the magnificent and awe-inspiring 360-degree view of NYC’s downtown and uptown areas.

Download now for free (from this link) the high-resolution JPEG image file (9.90 MB) of the Rockefeller Center Doppler Radar in New York City. You have full, non-exclusive, and perpetual license to the use of this image. The usage license is unrestricted and unlimited in any way for educational, commercial, personal and all other purposes. Please feel free to use, modify, crop, edit, alter, resize, and/or combine this image with graphic designs, objects, materials, other photos, and all other elements. There is no restrictions, limitations or conditions on the download and use of this image. Get this image now and tell others about it.

[Photographed by Dominique James. To get and collect fine art photo prints, visit the Dominique James Zatista Store. For more information, send email to dominiquejames@mac.com.]

On Facebook, my friend Danny recently asked me a couple of interesting questions that I believe needs to be answered.

Here are Danny’s two questions: “Dominique, what in heaven’s name are Hipstmatic Prints? Where in the moon do you get them?”

For sure, these are interesting questions that I cannot ignore. These must be answered properly. And so, I aimed to answer in full and with clarity here.

This is my response to those two questions:

Danny, “Hipstamatic Prints” is the title of my digital photo albums here and here where I post daily all sorts of mostly artistically-inspired B&W photos on my Facebook. (By the way, I also have a similar online photo album on Facebook called “Pixelpipe Photos” here.)

Anyway, of course the matter of “artistic merit” is largely subjective, depending on each of the picture and also on who’s looking, among other things, but hopefully you’ll find a few that will prick your fancy.

Anyway, these photos have all been shot using the camera of my iPhone 4 (I’ve gone through all of the iPhone models since it became available) with an app (or application) called Hipstamatic.

The album’s name is not my own choosing. It is the album name automatically created by Hipstamatic when I linked (and authorized) this app to post to my Facebook all photos that I deem worthy or interesting of sharing. By linking, these pictures that I share are automatically and directly posted from the Hipstamatic app in the iPhone 4 to Facebook (either through WiFi if available or through the regular AT&T cellular network).

Hipstamatic, as you can imagine, is one of the most popular iPhone photography apps where images that has been shot are processed using different types of “films,” “lenses,” and even “flashes.” The combination of these films, lenses, and flashes creates enchanting, almost sometimes, otherworldly or unreal images that looks quite different but still familiar and the same from actual real objects or scenes we see that has been photographed. My objective is to show these objects or scenes or even people in a different but still familiar way. I thought it’s an interesting thing to do and a lot of my Facebook friends seem to “Like” it very much

I’ve been shooting all sorts of iPhone photos for more than 2 years now, and I’m happy to share them day after day here on Facebook with appreciative friends like you. If you like the photos, please press “Like.” And also feel free to comment. I read, and sometimes reply, to comments posted. In fact, I’ve had a great many thought-provoking, funny, interesting, serious, joking conversations with friends from all over the world on Facebook through these photos.

If you are interested, there are many fantastic resources available online about Hipstamatic, and also on iPhone photography in general.

For starters, more information about the Hipstamatic app, can be found here -http://hipstamatic.com/the_app.html.

Or, you can also check this out – http://hipstamatic.com/.

And then there’s this that you might find interesting – http://community.hipstamatic.com/.

Wikipedia, of course, has something on it too – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipstamatic.

Then there’s a whole, thriving group about it on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/hipstamatic.

And not to be outdone, on Flickr as well – http://www.flickr.com/groups/hipstamatic/.

Then, there’s this controversial thing about a seasoned war photographer who recently won a major international award with nothing more than a Hipstamatic to create the pictures – http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/finding-the-right-tool-to-tell-a-war-story/.

And this is how and why he did it – http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/11/through-my-eye-not-hipstamatics/.

So that, Danny, in heaven’s name, is what my album “Hipstamatic Prints” and the Hipstamatic app is all about.

And where in the moon did you ask to actually get them? That’s a very good questions because, well, you can actually buy online a real limited edition, signed and numbered fine art photographer’s photographic print (that comes with a certificate of authenticity) from here – http://www.zatista.com/store/index/Dominique-James.

These frameable fine art photographic prints are available from as low as $49 each to as high as $10,000 each (shipping and handling not included). As you can see, whatever your budget, there’s one that’s suitable for you. And, you can choose from almost a hundred available fine art photographs. And the collection is growing.

You can frame and decorate your homes and offices with these awesome (if I may say so myself) fine art photographic prints.

These fine art prints, like any other fine art such as paintings and sculptures in museums and art galleries, are not only a beauty to behold, cherish and covet, but they do appreciate in value over time which makes them a very good and stable financial investment.

Anyway, Danny, thanks for asking. And feel free to ask more questions any time. It’s good to keep “conversations” like this going.

"Red Marks The Spot," a fine art photograph by Dominique James featured on Zatista

BY DOMINIQUE JAMES

I am guessing that for most people, Monday is not a favorite day. It is possible that one’s favorite day could be any other day of the week—Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday, but rarely if at all, is it a Monday. If only to avoid the stress, tension and anxiety that accompanies jumping right into the first a pressure-filled week, a whole lot of people would probably want to skip Monday and move right ahead into Tuesday.

Of course week after week, Monday has to happen. There’s absolutely no escaping it, and different people do all sorts of things to make the most and the best out of it with the hope that the week starts out at least smoothly, if not right.

Sometimes though, Mondays can turn out to be more than just smoothly or right. It can actually turn out great. My Monday this week, for instance, turned out to be surprisingly awesome. Early in the morning, I got a very uplifting email from Christine Clark of Zatista. In her brief message, she wrote:

Periodically Zatista has a guest curator who picks their favorites from the site, and we pull them together in a nice feature. Our next guest curator is Robert Verdi, and he has chosen one of your pieces for his collection. Congratulations on being chosen.

It’s a very simple and straightforward message. But it’s one of those messages that Zatista artists don’t receive every day. Since I just woke up when I read it, I had to read it several times to make sure that I really understand what it meant. When I finally and fully absorbed the good news, I know that my week will be all right.

I joined Zatista, an online store, in December of 2009. To date, I have about a hundred fine art photographs available for sale. I have managed, so far, to attract a number of buyers and has made good sales.

Every once in a while, some of my works will be prominently featured in Zatista’s website. I always think it’s a big deal whenever any of my pictures are featured. This means that more potential buyers will be able to notice what I have to offer. But this is the first time that a guest curator has proclaimed one of my fine art photographs as a “favorite.”

Eleven industry insiders have so far been invited as Zatista’s guest curators. This includes prominent names such as: Michelle Adams, Sasha Adler, Laura Kirar, Abby Larson, Amy Preiser, John Robshaw, Kim Seybert, Jason Oliver Nixon, Elizabeth Bauer, Ryan Korban, and Anthony Cochran.

Robert Verdi, this week, is the twelfth to be invited. Verdi is the head of the very exciting Luxe Laboratory in New York.

According to Zatista, Robert Verdi “is a leading lifestyle expert, celebrity stylist and television personality. Verdi stands alone as the sole expert to bridge all-three major style categories: fashion, entertaining and home design. He is the go-to style guru for celebrities like Eva Longoria and Tony Parker, Bethenny Frankel, Kathy Griffin and Hugh Jackman. Famous for his wit and wisdom, Verdi has become one of the most highly recognizable faces in the world of fashion and design today.”

As a guest curator, he selected 6 favorite pieces from the roster of Zatista artists. Other than selecting my work, Verdi also chose the works of Nina Fuller, David Page, Chris Horner, and Justin Wheeler. And in an interview, he talked about his selections while sharing his bright ideas about art, design, photography, among other things.

Looking at Verdi’s choices and looking at the choices made by the previous guest curators, I cannot help but wonder how a work of art is chosen from among thousands and thousands. Zatista artists are never really told when, how and what goes on in a curatorial process such as this. I’m inclined to think that a whole lot of factors are involved, including pure luck. In any case, I’m very thankful that someone such as Robert Verdi decided to pluck out one of my pictures as one of his top picks.

For an artist such as myself, I am deeply humbled when someone of great esteem, impeccable taste and exquisite aesthetic perception such as Robert Verdi bestow approving appraisal of one of my works. In all humility, can only view such affirmation as an honor.

[Note: To view Robert Verdi’s selection, please click here. To read the entire Zatista interview with Verdi, go here. To check out Verdi’s website, Luxe Laboratory, visit here. For free professional advise and consultation on advertising and commercial photography and visual media design, contact Dominique James at dominiquejames@mac.com. Also, you can view and purchase the fine art photographs of Dominique James online at Zatista’s website. Thank you.]

"On Golden Pond," a fine art photograph by Dominique James featured in Zatista.

DOMINIQUE JAMES

Every now and then, as I sometimes foray aimlessly into the endless wilderness that is the Internet, I stumble upon gems that serves to enrich my experience as a photographer and as a visual artist. I’m sure my experience is not unique.

What with the incredible wealth of information all around, it is hard to imagine anyone in today’s world living a sustained creative life in a vacuum. However, I can still say that the way I go through the morass of materials, the meandering path that I take, the serendipitous nature of my discoveries, the mental coagulation that takes place and whenever things fall into place, are all uniquely mine.

Creativity, like most everything in life, must be nourished and nurtured in order to grow. And what with the Internet’s big pipes, among other things, we are mercilessly subjected by the strong currents of great swirling forces of creative influences all around us—all the time. There’s almost no way of turning it off.

About the only reasonable thing we can do with the deluge of information is to allow ourselves to open up to the countless bits that scurry along and pluck upon those which we feel matters the most. It’s almost like picking the pieces of huge puzzles floating aimlessly all around in a huge vat of information pool.

So, we build our lives today by bits and bytes, actually just like for the most of our past, but in a more intensely interesting way than ever before.

[Note: To view some interesting results of the visual, and sometimes philosophical, mish-mash of such “influences,” visit the Dominique James online gallery of fine art photographs over at Zatista. Thank you.]