Ghosts of Christmas Past

30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY 23
See the history of image manipulation in Faking It: Manipulated Photography before Photoshop, an Amazon Editor's Pick for this holiday. This captivating book reveals that almost every type of manipulation we associate with Adobe’s now-ubiquitous Photoshop software was also part of photography’s pre-digital repertoire, from slimming waistlines and smoothing away wrinkles to adding or removing people in images, not to mention fabricating events that never took place. Among the techniques discussed–and beautifully illustrated with works from an international array of collections—are multiple exposure, combination printing, photomontage, composite portraiture, over-painting, hand coloring, and retouching. Save 37%, enjoy free shipping with gift wrapping available!

'Tis the Season for Subscriptions

30 DAYS OF DEALS // DAY FIFTEEN
Give a gift that lasts all year long with a photography magazine subscription! Our personal favorites include: LensWork, Aperture, American Photo, and Photo District News [PDN].
Amazon is running some terrific deals with many titles marked down 20-60%. 

Angilee's Rockport, ME

DAY 1 & 2 // Driving from Portland to Rockport, I pulled over to buy blueberries and local wild honey from a stand next to the road. I was surprised by how the fragrant floral aroma of the honey was inseparable from it's sweet flavor. Seemed I timed my arrival just right as blueberries and lobster are both in season. This place is a photographer's paradise of green lush vegetation and colorful flowers scattered along the landscape and climbing out of brightly painted window boxes. On my first day here, the harbor was heavy with fog and summer rain. The light, heavily diffused in slate gray, reminded me of my days in Scotland as a kid. Today on the other hand, the sun was warm and cheerful and the previous days rain had left the dewy landscape saturated in color. I attended two lectures tonight in Rockport's old Opera house– by internationally acclaimed photo artists Connie Imboden and Sylvia Plachy. Connie said that art is a way to express complex emotions and both artists said they work from a place of intuition rather than concept. I can relate to this method of work. For me, the concept often reveals itself only after the creative work has taken place.