November 13, 2009 this Friday from 10 a.m. till 12 p.m. in room 103 at Kendal College of Art and Design. Stephanie Sternberg and Tony Pearson from the Law firm of Rhodes and Mckee, Pc will be hosting a free discussion about basic contracts, copyright info and other generalities of starting a business. There will be a Q&A portion, along with free coffee and snacks, That's right snacks.

Anyone with questions regarding a self startup business would be mental not to be there, that being said I might not be there. However I felt it was a good Idea to pass this on. Sorry it's so close to the lecture date, but I just saw this posted at the school.

I know there are a lot of people here with questions concerning this subject, so now's your chance to talk to a attorney and business consultants on how to do this.

Hope this helps someone out there, have fun...

Has anyone seen the Graffiti piece across the street from the Goodwill on Division st. The piece is about to be torn down on the premise that it doesn't fit in with the historic aspects of the building. Now the neighborhood is creating a petition as well as a letter drive to keep the piece there.
To read more click on title...

To be honest I don't live in the neighborhood, but my best friend lives in the artist's lofts right next to the artwork, and he's encouraged me to contribute a letter as well (not that I needed encouragement).

Since the artwork was put up the homeless people that usually sleep in the old doorway have been forced to vacate the spot and find other places to drink/sleep it off. There used to be between 5-10 people that would stay in that spot at any given time, they usually keep to themselves but at the same time they do nothing positive for the neighborhood, whereas the art piece brightens and enlivens the space that it occupies.

The person that's spearheading the initiative to take it down, doesn't live in the neighborhood and most likely will rarely see the effects of keeping or leaving the work. On the other hand I (as well as you, (I'm guessing)) am in that area all the time, and can see the positive reasons to leave it as is, until someone buys the building and decides to renovate it.

I'm in no way trying to belittle the plight of the homeless by writing this, but there are plenty of shelters for people to go to at night, and a doorway hardly constitutes as a home. The only reason someone decides to sleep outside is because they would rather sleep on the street drunk than sleep inside sober. The petitions are being accumulated now, and will be sent to the person that will finalize the decision to take down, or leave the work.

I'm writing here to generate concern for the subject and hopefully get some extra letters sent out to the right person. If you have any interest in this, please feel free to message me here, or write me at mcgowanm95@gmail.com. I will make sure your letters reach the appropriate source. I will write back with further information, as it is given to me.

For people out there that eat, sleep, and breath photography, Urban outfitters has just the thing to quench your photo fix.

http://images.urbanoutfitters.com/is/image/UrbanOutfitters/20246336_000_b?$detailthumb$

It's hard to tell from the actual photo of the camera, but there's a small pearl inside of the lens giving the appearance of front end lens elements. The lens is also made with real glass, and has a f/.08 aperture with a 500mm reach. (Joking, Joking)

If you have a special photographer in your life, and aren't sure what to stock their stuffing with this Christmas... Here you go. I know that personally this just made my X-mas wish list and at $28.00 it's not going to break anyone's bank. To get to the Urban outfitters page, click on the title of the posting (FOTO FETISH)

Read More 0 comments | Posted by Michael McGowan

By now this is old news, everyone in the United States has heard of the man carrying the semi-automatic to the Obama rally.

After a thourough search I noticed there wasn't one comparison between this man, and Michael Douglass' character in the movie Falling Down.


to keep reading click on title...I have to say that I'm surprised that no one else has picked up on this, although it certainly seems like somewhat of an inside joke. Falling down is the story of a man that has an exceptionally bad day and snaps in the middle of traffic, he get's out of his car and walks through the streets of L.A. getting harassed along the way. Soon he starts buying weapons, using them, and making his way through L.A. to his daughters birthday party in Venice. If the similarities between their looks weren't intended, Than Irony is still the best comedian around.

Can Japan do no wrong? From epic television serials, all the way down to Shampoo commercials. Watch the Japanese get it right, as Kazuto Nakazawa get's it done the right way.


(Animated ad for Kao Corporation's Asience shampoo created by Production I.G
featuring music by Ryuichi Sakamoto.)

Inspired by XVIII century Japanese paintings, he gives the public a work of art disguised as a hair care commercial. The story concept, focusing on woman's hair as metaphor of feminine life, is portrayed as a tragic love story in a samurai drama fashion, and we couldn't ask for more. Keep'em coming this way Japan, maybe America's haircare market will eventually catch on.

O.K. I never brought this up when I bought my 28-70 2.8 sigma lens from Norman, but until I actually filled out my warranty info for sigma I had no reason to...
A little more than a month ago I had an issue with my lenses: They were stolen. When something like this happens sans insurance you get a really sick feeling in your stomach knowing that you won't be able to get your daily fix of photography until you buy a new one. Normally if I was going to buy a lens I would scour Craigslist, Amazon, or KEH/BnH to find something new, being that I had to shoot my wife's cousins senior photos in the U.P. the next weekend I was under limited options. Enter Norman Camera...

I went to Norman's looking for a new lens and the first trip there resulted in a 17-50 2.8 lens which I was told was going to cost 137? It seemed to good to be true, but if the salesman wanted to sell it to me at that cost, who was I to argue. When I jumped at the deal, he decided to go in the back and see if they had the Nikon mount. He came up to the counter empty handed and told me it would take a week to order it (personally I think he just realized his mistake on pricing). I told him I was going to hold off, and I went searching around for a lens elsewhere with no such luck.

A couple days later I decided to bite the bullet and spend a little more money than I had originally wanted to spend. I decided to land on the 28-70 2.8 sigma. Now I know that in the realm of photography 379 plus tax isn't a whole lot of money for a lens, but out in the real world when I'm not making money off of my photography (yet, hopefully someday?) 379 makes my month a whole lot easier. So I think I was entitled to not be badgered by my salesman.

He spent close to ten minutes trying to talk me into the extra 3 year warranty coverage they have, he told me that it would be more important than having a filter to cover the glass, and he basically worked as hard as he could to try to make me feel like a complete ass for not getting it. I'm in no way exaggerating when I say that he would have been physically pushing me if the counter wasn't blocking his way. I left there happy to be able to take photos, yet angry that someone would treat a customer that way.

This all came to a head 2 nights ago when I got online to register my glass and found out that I receive an extra 3 years warranty protection when I register online, bringing my total coverage to 4 years (one year more than the 3 year plan he tried to sell me).

I'm normally not the kind of person that vents on the net, but besides getting out my frustration, I want people to make sure and register their lenses online, and not to pay more money for less coverage Unless in the long run you feel spending that extra $50 on coverage that won't get you any more than what your already getting.

Disclaimer: I'm in no way attacking the fine folks at the Sparta Police Force. I have no personal agenda against Officer Mathews, or the Rockford EMT. I would however hope that somehow word of my blog would reach their superiors, and a crash course on the law would be instilled upon them.

To keep reading click the title...

Hello loyal readers, I come to you today with trepidation in my heart, and my heart on my sleeve. About a month ago, there was a storm here in my hometown of Sparta, MI. When I say it was here I don't mean it was only in Sparta, for it hit the surrounding areas as well. Kent City, Cedar Springs, and Sparta made national news that night for being ripped apart by 70 mph winds, lightening, and rain. Trees were downed, power was out, roads had become impassible, and I was at a friends home enjoying a nice homestyle dinner.

I had no clue, what was happening at home, but soon after eating dinner I received a frantic phone call from my mom explaining the situation. On the way home the state of disrepair was obvious, with downed power lines and trees littering the roads. I saw quite a few 90 year old trees that decided to lay down on top of 20 year old homes. Getting closer to home there was a realization of how bad things were when I couldn't reach our house, iwaiting in turn for the fire services to clear the next set of branches of the roads.

After many struggles I reached the house and was filled with relief, no damage at all. A couple years before my father passed on, he decided to clear out the larger trees from around our house. At the time I was upset, being that I'm a lover of nature. Now I was relieved. A half hour at home with no electricity passed by, and being the adventuring type I decide to go estimate the damage. Armed with a longboard and a camera I set off to record what had happened.

Just down the road I came accross my first and only subject of the night. An ambulence with 2 EMT's and a Minivan that had a tree branch land on the winshield. I took the time to walk around the scene to find a good angle, being careful not to get anywhere close to the accident. Well as it turned out I could have been a thousand feet away from the accident, and it would have been to close for thier taste. The first thing I heard come out of the EMT's mouth was "get out of hear, you can't be filming this". To which I replied, "I have a right to be here, this is public property". My statement was soon followed by him getting angry and telling me, he was going to get the police here if I didn't leave. I stayed, to shoot a few more pictures, and when I decided to actually leave he shouted, "That's it, you want the cop's your going to get them".

I'm not one to run from a fight, especially when I'm not in the wrong, but I didn't want the lady in the van to become any more aggitated than she already was, so I decided to go about a block away, on the way out I talked to a volunteer fireman and explained the situation. Minutes later a barage of firefighters showed up to try and clear the trees that were blocking the road. They asked me what was going on, and agreed to let me shoot them. Seconds after talking to them the Sparta Police Department showed up and started talking to the firefighter that had been talking to the EMT. I was taking photos of the firemen as I waited for the Sparta policewoman to come talk to me, and the next thing you know I was being questioned.

Officer Mathews started out with asking me what had happened, and once she realized I wasn't 15 and I knew my ways around the laws concerning photography, decided to go a different route. She appealed to my decency as human being by asking me how I would feel if someone was photographying my family in an accident? Now humans are very withdrawn creatures and normally we don't like personal events being recorded, but my question is: Would life be better if we didn't see the horrible things that happen every day? A soldier in Afghanistan might not like the photographer keeping him in check, but isn't it for the betterment of humanity? We might not enjoy seeing the photos of soldiers torturing Abu Ghraib prisoners, but what if noone had taken the photos?

In the end I was told: if someone in uniform tells me to do something I have to do it, if I didn't have a way home they could give me one, and if I was seen out photographing again that night I would be arrested for disorderly conduct. Now compared to some of the videos I've watched concerning police injustic this doesn't seem that harsh, but that doesn't mean it was right. This is America, the land of freedom and opurtunity. I could have went to jail, fought the charges and been exonerated, but who wants to spend the weekend in jail?

The problem I have with what happened is 1. I have a legal right to photograph anything in plain view, especially if it happens in a public space. 2. I was told I have to follow someone in uniforms order's regardless of what they say (this isn't Poland 1939). Finally 3. Officer Mathews was willing to make up a charge against me if I wasn't willing to comply with not photographing the accident.

Short and sweet I went home, it wasn't worth it, but noone should ever face arrest for doing something within their rights. I should have stood up for myself, and the others that will come after me, because this will happen again. We photographers shouldn't be afraid to stand up for what's right, and the next time this happens I will say "I guess, I'm going to jail". The main questions I have for you the reader is this, has this happened to you, and if so how did you/would you handle it? Am I just Bitching, or did something bad actually happen?

Today started out like any other day, I woke up and check my messages on my phone. To my surprise I had a text message from my brother "That girl is calling about the skateboard again and had the police call here - call mom". Well I have to say that wasn't what I was expecting to wake up to...
To keep reading click the title...

This whole thing started three years ago when one of my friend's ex-girlfriend decided to move to New Mexico to run from her already raging Heroin habit. She had a long board that she wanted to get rid off, and I had a urge to ride a long board that summer so I agreed to buy it for $50.00. By the time I had the money to spend on it, she had already left, but she made a agreement that I could stop by her parent's house, get the board from the garage, and send her the money.

I went to her parents house and called her to let her no there was no one home, she told me where the board was (in the garage), and I left with the board in hand. The next thing to do was buy a money order to send out her way, so I went out and bought a money order and sent it out post-haste to the address that she gave me.

My girlfriend went to New Mexico for a couple of months and I decided to got there as well, I knew Kelly was living down there and figured she had straightened out her life and had been down there long enough to get a handle on the bar and music scene, so I decided to call her up. It was still the same old Kelly, I talked to her for about a hour and decided that meeting up with her would be against my better interest, still the whole time I talked to her she never once mentioned the long board.

The next time I heard from Kelly was about six month's later when she called my mother claiming that I never sent her the money. Now Kelly has been using junk for the past 10 years and to me this was just a way for her to worm into my life again and get a extra $50.oo dollars from my mother. My poor momma was scared to death of the whole situation and wanted to pay her to get her off of my back, but I refused to let her do it. It was a matter of principle, I didn't want to be blackmailed for something I had already paid for and didn't want to give her the power to keep doing it. She stopped calling her after being ignored and I thought that was the end of it.

Today I got the number of the Sheriff that was calling me and I called him back, we talked for about fifteen minutes about the whole situation and I had this feeling that he was profiling me, well turns out I was right because he had gotten my name wrong and had a different Michael McGowan, and the person he thought he was talking to has a previous record filled with felonies. I think he was slowly changing his mind longer I talked to him, and the more he found out about Kelly.

Next order of business was to call Kelly herself. I'm pretty sure she's still getting high because she sounded faded, her main argument was that I couldn't have sent her the money because the place she was living at (Taos, NM) would only accept packages that came through Fed-Ex.

All in all there was no way for me to prove that I had payed her, I bought the board over three years ago and didn't keep the money order receipt. I talked to her and told her I was going to give her the board back. The more I think about the situation though the more I realize that she was probably hoping that I no longer had the board, so she could black-mail me for the money all over again. She had told the Sheriff that the board was worth over $200, but in actuality her boyfriend had traded a $50 bag of pot for it.

I only have one piece of advice for anyone out there that decides to buy something second hand, GET A RECIEPT! You can buy a book of blank reciepts at any dollar store. It could save you a big headache in the end, and you won't have to worry about people stealing back whatever you've purchased.

Read More 0 comments | Posted by Michael McGowan

Happy Valentines Day everybody,

So "What are you doing for VD?" you may ask. Well I'm doing the same thing I did yesterday, the day before, and so on. I'm wasting away in my apartment trying to keep mice from finishing off the little food I have left in the house. Those little guys are resourceful and it takes quite a few tries to actually get one into a trap, but they have met their match in intelligence when they met me.

To keep reading click the title...

I was really happy last week when it started raining. The rain was clearing out all of the God forsaken snow. It started getting warm out and even reached the 50's, but like all good dreams it had to end and the snow is back. At least when it was warm out walking around town was a option on my list of things to do. Now it's back to "do I want to sit in the living room, or should I sit up in bed?".

My job search is driving me crazy, I stay awake all night searching through posts on Craigslist and the locally driven Mlive.com sending out resumes and getting replies that read "Sorry the position you applied for has been filled, but we found another job that's perfect for you. Sign in now and pay our one time finder fee and you'll have your dream job...". Well if I had 20 dollars I might be tempted to sign up but theirs a reason I'm looking for work.

Oh well such is life, I guess I can't complain too much, at least I have my health. Speaking of health I've been really sick this whole winter, I never knew why until one day I was checking out the stale meat in my fridge and noticed that there's a huge patch of Black Mold growing in the back. I hope It doesn't kill me. Happy VD everyone.


PROBLEMS IN THE HOUSE

Last night I had an amazing time at the Celebrating Heartside event in downtown Grand Rapids, MI. The Event was geared towards Grand Rapids "Elite", but all types of people showed up. There was free beer, wine, and beverages which were sponsored by Founders Brewing Company, and a vast array of free food (including sushi yum) by Republic.

Don't stop now click the title...

A novel concept was introduced into the Grand Rapids art scene, the feature film by photographer Brian Kelley was projected onto the Wall of the parking garage next door to the party. The projection is part of the aptly name "projection initiative" which is a new pet project of Brian Kelley's to use projection's all over the city as live art installments.

The whole night was supported by a soundtrack from D.J. Shannon Williams, who is somewhat of a local celebrity and has been bringing D.J.'s from around the world into Grand Rapids.

The art showcased was a mash-up of local artists', with work from Patrick Millard (PatrickMillard.com), Tom D., and Dave Wormenhoven representing the Folk Art Gallery. Hugo Claudin was also showing paintings that he's done of Lucha Libre stylized people in all their glory. In my opinion though it was photographer Sandy Gunnett (work pictured) who really stole the show , she's part of the Tanglefoot Studio's collective and has her own blog here at http://sandig.blogspot.com/ her pieces were reasonably priced and are very cohesive as a set (if you buy one than you should buy them all).

By the time I left I had a full stomach and a few beers in me, all in all a great night in my books.
Thank God there are still free events in Grand Rapids. I would have shot myself a long time ago if it weren't for these types of events. Yeah, thank's a lot God, and Thank you Heartside.