I have photo galleries that back to Jan 2001, as walljm.com was a personal site before it was a weblog, but the first post as a blog was Feb 15th, 2002. I started writing just after graduating college. Heady days back then, when the blogging community was so small it numbered in the hundreds, and you could track the new posts written on a daily basis on a single page. I’ve grown a lot on this blog, as a writer, a photographer and an individual, slowly loosing juvenile tendencies, slowly getting better as an artist, slowly growing more discerning. This…
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Joe McNally Photography- On location with the Nikon D4 from Joe McNally Photography on Vimeo. A BTS look at several shoots by Joe McNally, for the Nikon D4 campaign. All footage shot on Nikon D4 and D7000 cameras.
Ok, so I’ve implemented redirects for most of the old urls, which should continue to work. I’ve added a number of customizations and tweaks. If anyone runs into anything odd or frustrating, please feel free to contact me via a comment on this post or email via jason at walljm.com. let try this again
for reasons unknown, the server that runs walljm.com and the rest of my web properties ran out of memory and was unresponsive for the last couple days. its back up now.
I’ve been offline here at walljm.com for nearly three years. In that time I’ve moved away from Saint Louis, settled in near Washington, DC, changed jobs (but not companies), and gone back to school (lets give it up for cdia!). So a few things have changed around here. For the first time, walljm.com is no longer being run by the custom cms I built in college, and is instead running on the nifty wordpress platform. Truth is, I just got tired of doing my own support. Things are still a little rough, and hopefully as time goes by, I…
It occurs to me that the word Evolution is often used in contexts that it does not strictly describe. This is because the word Evolution carries with it so many broad connotations. For instance, in a recent excerpt by Jason Kottke on Altruism in Economics the author of an article in Ode Magazine writes this The theory is based on the premise that humans evolved in small groups with strong social contracts and plenty of contact with strangers. Cooperation within the tribe was advantageous so long as free riders were punished. It was also the best gambit on encountering strangers.…
Lately I’ve had a lot to say. Quite paradoxically, this means I’ve spoken less. Words, like many things in life, need context to have meaning. That context doesn’t end with its typographic neighbors, but extends to the time of day, the place, the number and particulars of the persons to whom they are given. Words are a gift. For some, a precious and finite resource, saved up to be given at times most appropriate. I was thinking about introversion today, among other things, and as is my want, my thoughts turned inward. It seems, for good or ill, my self…
Mexico City Policy – Voluntary Population Planning What it does: "The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2151b(f)(1)), prohibits nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that receive Federal funds from using those funds "to pay for the performance of abortions as a method of family planning, or to motivate or coerce any person to practice abortions." The August 1984 announcement by President Reagan of what has become known as the "Mexico City Policy" directed the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to expand this limitation and withhold USAID funds from NGOs that use non-USAID funds to engage in a wide range…
Along the Tracks by Chromasia.You use this HDR technique a lot, and it adds a surreal quality to the images. In this case, I like the subtly. I prefer it in fact, to the the image you posted a few days ago, of the church interior.I’ve always been fond of the desaturated color palate. It conveys a feelings of bleakness, and if you aren’t a bright person by nature, that studied lack of pretension (is use pretense lightly, i’m not sure its exactly the word i’m looking for) is soothing.Compositionally i like the use of leading lines. Looking out into…
Everything communicates somethingStart with what you want to say, start with the story. Know where you are going. (what’s your destination)You are answering the question WHY. Why is the photo important. How am I going to use it. What am I trying to say. Knowing how you’ll use it is important, partially because the end product may introduce constraints such as aspect ratio, resolution, etc…When thinking about the why, ask yourself, what compositional elements do I need to tell that story.Consider not just your own perspective, but consider the perspective of your intended audience. Consider the cultural context you will…
With a post title like above, you probably expect a long article. But i’m not a voluminous writer. Over the past several years one of the things I’ve seen over and over again, both in the news, and in my personal life, is that our perception of the world is rarely complete. We just don’t see the whole picture, and that happens not just occasionally, but most of the time.Too see a situation for what it really is, wholly, is rare. very rare.I cite this article about impressions of Bush as an example.
Lose-Lose on Abortion: Obama’s threat to Catholic hospitals and their very serious counterthreat.If the Freedom of Choice Act passes Congress, and that’s a big if, Obama has promised to sign it the second it hits his desk. (Here he is at a Planned Parenthood Action Fund event in 2007, vowing, “The first thing I’d do as president is, is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That’s the first thing I’d do.”) Though it’s often referred to as a mere codification of Roe, FOCA, as currently drafted, actually goes well beyond that: According to the Senate sponsor of the bill, Barbara…
1) Perception is flawed. To believe otherwise is to open yourself up to deception.2) We rarely have all the facts.3) Until the law came, there was no sin.4) Hope in anything except Christ is false hope.5) I’ve become a very very jaded man.6) I predicted Barack Obama would become the next President of the United States 2 years ago, before he declared he was running. Because people underestimate the power of words, and a silver tongue is more valuable than gold in politics.7) I hope, very much, that Barack Obama’s decisions in the White House do not result in more…
Public Discourse – Obama’s Abortion Extremism, by Robert George is a great article, articulating much better than I ever could, why voting for Obama for President is a patently unwise action to take if you wish to preserve the sanctity of human life. Below is a quote from the last paragraph, but please take the time to read the full article, which documents where Obama, by his actions, stands. What kind of America do we want our beloved nation to be? Barack Obama’s America is one in which being human just isn’t enough to warrant care and protection. It is…
Its going to be a long winter. well. maybe it won’t, but right now, in the middle of the season I love best, I’m beginning to feel the dread of a long winter.I wish I understood how I felt. I’m not usually short on words to describe my feeling, being the kind of rare individual who spends more time than is possibly healthy examining his own soul. Its a complex knot.There are a number of issues I’m currently feeling strongly over. So I’m going to list them here:1) Two of my best friends are going through difficult times right now.…
These are some notes I wanted to get on paper, as a way to remind myself of things to remember. Thoughts and conclusions I’ve come to from leading music at my church for the last 6 years. First and foremost, understand that your job is not to train, it is to minister. The congregation isn’t a choir. Your job isn’t to train them to sing well, or to teach them technical aspects of music. It is to lead them to worship and praise by example and entreaty. Ask, never tell. Repeat the song # at least twice, preferably 3 times.…
You emailed me asking if you could use a poem of mine in a story you were writing. I wanted to let you know I would be delighted. But your email address came back, and I can’t contact you. Please send me another email so we can get in touch. :)Best Regards,Jason
Lore linked to an article on the current Brouhaha raging over Sarah Palin. Reading it I couldn’t help but agree with much of what author Camille Paglia writes. But it wasn’t until the end that I nearly stopped dead in my tracks.She writes, Let’s take the issue of abortion rights, of which I am a firm supporter. As an atheist and libertarian, I believe that government must stay completely out of the sphere of personal choice. Every individual has an absolute right to control his or her body….But the pro-life position, whether or not it is based on religious orthodoxy,…
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Oops. I was trying to get something working and accidently deleted everything in my DB folder. which means all the posts posted after Aug 8th are missing. *sigh* not all that bad considering i had only posted one post and i can get that from my google reader archive. but it also means i have to restore all the photos i posted last night… gah. so um. bummer.