Joe Flood

  • Slow Shutter Makes Long Exposures Easy

    ghost cabs
    Took this within minutes of trying out Slow Shutter – and it was the DCist Photo of the Day!

    I heard about Slow Shutter from James Campbell, an iPhoneographer who I’m pretty sure has every iPhone photo app ever created. I was fascinated by the blurry, abstract long exposures that he had created with it.

    I have a “real” camera, a Canon DSLR, that I could use to get long exposures. I’ve done so before, but it’s always a bit of trial and error, since I don’t create long exposures that often.

    Slow Shutter and it's rather cryptic controls
    Slow Shutter and it's rather cryptic controls

    Slow Shutter has enabled me to get long exposures just with a click – the app is that easy. I downloaded it, played it with a bit (the controls are little cryptic), then went out into the street. I wanted a photo of cabs going by.

    But the cabs weren’t going fast enough – they didn’t have the long lines I wanted. So, I went to another corner and waited for the stoplight to change. Taxis took off and I got my shot.

    I ran the photo through Slow Shutter, adjusting the “freeze” until it was dreamy, blurry and ghostlike while still retaining enough of the scene to make it identifiable.

    Then I used Instagram (best iPhone photo app ever) to crop it to a square, Polaroid format using the X-Pro II filter. The filter also vignetted the photo, something I always like.

    Slow Shutter preferences
    You can do a lot with these Slow Shutter preferences.

    My dreamy cab shot made the DCist Photo of the Day. It’s one of those common urban scenes but with a slightly different, mysterious perspective.

    Some photographers might look at Slow Shutter and say, “That’s cheating.”

    My knowledge of f-stops and exposure times is, at best, limited. Just a few years ago you’d need fancy equipment, technical knowhow and darkroom experience to get such a shot. Now it can be done with just a click.

    But what can’t be duplicated by technology is a good eye. Apps like Slow Shutter just make it easier for photographers to achieve their vision.

    And like a good iPhone app, it’s also a lot of fun.

  • Friday Photo: Sears Tower Edition

    Sears Tower in legosThis is a photo of the Sears Tower from the LEGO Architecture: Towering Ambition at the National Building Museum. It’s a small exhibit but strangely fascinating, with iconic buildings reproduced in LEGOS.

  • A Book for Anyone Who Wants to be Famous – The Winner Stands Alone

    The American dream is no longer about accomplishment – it is about achieving a Kardashian-level of fame. We’ve become a society that values the famous more than we do the virtuous.

    This desire to be seen, to be known, to be recognized (no matter your dubious accomplishments) is insidious, teaching people that having your own reality show is the ultimate American achievement.

    For anyone that thinks that happiness comes from being on screen (or having millions of Twitter followers), I’d recommend The Winner Stands Alone, a thought-provoking novel by Paulo Coelho. He’s the author of The Alchemist, a global phenomenon of a book about the authentic pursuit of your dreams.

    Set in the glamorous world of the Cannes Film Festival, The Winner Stands Alone starts out as a murder-mystery but is more a meditation on the desire for fame. It’s a cruel book, at times, as it illustrates the lengths that the aspiring will go to become members of the “Superclass” – and the hollow center that they encounter once they arrive.

    It’s a great book for anyone who wants to go to Hollywood, exposing the phony and worthless nature of the “fame game.”

    The Winner Stands Alone is far from a perfect book. With all of Coelho’s novels, characters and dialogue are largely secondary to the parable that he wishes to tell. Everyone sounds like Coelho, the wise teacher.

    The Alchemist is about following your dream; The Winner Stands Alone is about the danger of following someone else’s.

  • Art, Food and Protest: My Year in Photos

    A ship in harbor is safe — but that is not what ships are built for.
    – John A. Shedd

    2011 was the year I decided that a camera in a bag was a dead camera. Our photographic tools (DSLRs, point-and-shoots, iPhones) are designed to be used. That’s where they’re built for.

    I’m also fortunate/cursed to live in interesting times, as protests descend upon Washington. I know the city well and can get just about anywhere quickly by walking or biking.

    So, I decided that I would use my Canon T2i and iPhone 4 to document political protests, art events, food and just interesting things I saw in the city.

    Protests

    One of my favorite photos of the year was from an OccupyDC protest:

    hippie star (more…)

  • Don't Outsource Social Media to Interns

    I’m old enough to remember the early days of the web. Back then (not too long ago, the 1990s), organizations didn’t take this online medium seriously. The web site paled in importance to the newsletter or magazine, at least according the leaders of the time. After all, who reads things on a computer? The Internet was a place for nerds and geeks, for them to discuss Star Trek trivia and learn arcane HTML codes.

    If you ran a company or a nonprofit, you really didn’t need a web site, or so people believed. And if you wanted a web site, you could have your nephew build it. He could make something flashy and “cool” like MySpace.

    I see the same attitude today toward social media. Why should an organization invest in Facebook or Twitter? Let the interns handle it…

    But would you trust an intern to be the voice of your organization? That’s the point I made in a recent article in AOL Government. If you accept the fact that social media is important (and you should, because that’s where the audience is), then why would you hand over these communication efforts to those who know the least about your company? Do you trust college kids to spread your message, respond to questions and interact with potential customers? Do they know the hot-button issues within your company? The language that you use with customers? Your customer service standards and policies? The things that they’re *not* supposed to talk about?

    And what happens when the interns leave? They take all that hard-won knowledge about your organization with them, as well as valuable expertise in social media. And they may take the Twitter account as well.

    Social media is too important to be left to a transient workforce. Companies and organizations should take a deliberate approach to this dynamic new tool. The keys to the social media kingdom shouldn’t be in the hands of someone who just walked in the door.

    Your voice online should be controlled by someone who both knows your company and is familiar with the culture of the web and social media. Look around – you probably have someone already with the requisite experience and interest. They’re probably doing something perceived as more important. But what’s more important than representing your brand in a medium that reaches millions?

  • Murder in Ocean Hall – 99 Cents for Kindle Owners

    Murder in Ocean HallDid you get a Kindle for Xmas?

    Get my book Murder in Ocean Hall for just 99 cents in this holiday offer exclusively for Kindle owners.

    My novel is a murder-mystery set in Washington, DC. Inspired by my experience in the city, Murder in Ocean Hall follows a veteran detective as he investigates the death of the world’s most famous explorer.

    My book takes you behind the scenes of our nation’s dysfunctional capital, revealing the real place beyond the monuments.

    Amazon reviewers call it:

    “a fun, quick read”

    “a howdunit with some good research on the author’s part.”

    Get Murder in Ocean Hall today!

  • Don't Mess Up My Block – Cover Preview

    Don't Mess Up My Block - cover previewThis is a preview of my next novel, Don’t Mess Up My Block. It’s a parody of self-help books like Who Moved My Cheese. Look for it after the holidays!

  • Friday Photo: We're All Famous Edition

    audio warholThis is from the Audio Warhol concert at the National Gallery of Art. It was a beautiful and weirdly moving, as the strings played with a DJ accompaniment of sound clips from the 1980s.

  • HARD ART DC 1979 and the Art of Possibility

    hard art DC 1979Washington in 1979 was a scarred metropolis just ten years removed from riots that had hollowed out the city. It was a grim time, with hundreds of buildings boarded up just blocks from the White House.

    1979 was a tough year for the county too, as the Carter presidency ended in economic malaise and the humiliation of the Iran hostage crisis.

    In these dark times, however, some people saw opportunity. Artists and musicians saw empty houses that they could turn into art galleries and practice spaces. Rents were cheap because few people wanted to live in neighborhoods filled with junkies and prostitutes.

    HARD ART DC 1979 by Lucian Perkins documents some of this fascinating story. It chronicles the nascent punk rock scene in Washington, featuring seminal bands such as Bad Brains. (more…)

  • DC Shorts Screenplay Competition Open for Entries

    Can you write a simple ten-page film script? Enter the DC Shorts Screenplay Competition and you could win $2000 and see your vision on the big screen.

    And I’ll help – here are my tips on how to win the competition. I’ve been a judge for the competition for several years now.

    You’ve got all winter to put your story on the page. The early deadline for the competition is March 31.