Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with photograph

Need a concept for holiday photo with a baby in the city

xo — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:35:25 -0800

I got stuck on my first idea and now I can't think of alternative Xmas/winter/holiday card photo ideas featuring a baby and NYC. Ideally I'd like the photo be unique and non-traditional... I want to move beyond the cute baby in front of a Christmas tree or on Santa's lap or dressed in fancy clothes.

My first idea was to put the baby in one of those hats that looks like the top half of a plush polar bear's head with paws hanging down, in a white fleece outfit, sitting on the ice on the rink in Bryant park, like a misplaced polar bear. But this idea is running into difficulty because the hat seller's baby-sized hats are stuck in customs and he doesn't know if they'll be in stock again soon, and also I'm nervous about carrying the baby out onto an ice rink without falling and breaking our heads.

Assuming I get the hat, where else could I put a misplaced polar bear? What about other ideas? I'm not opposed to referencing Christmas specifically, like if there's an empty manger in a nativity somewhere, I could put the baby in that. I guess I could also put the baby in a wrapped present box with the lid open and put him under one of the major holiday trees in the city. But these ideas aren't as good as the polar bear one, are they?

My vision, such as it is, is for the resulting image to be cute, funny and a little bit sad/poignant. Like the holidays themselves.

Music for a good mourning

b33j — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:18:53 -0800

Copyright issues with memorial DVDs? I recently produced a DVD of photographs and music for a friend of a friend's funeral. None of the photographs were professional, but the music was from my personal collection of mp3s. As I was not paid for this, I didn't give it a second thought. Now, however, the funeral director has contacted me asking whether I can provide this service to his clients. What issues are there with scanning professional photos (there's bound to be a couple in every set) and buying music to use as a soundtrack? Where do I start to look for this information? If the client provides me with the mp3s to embed, is that okay?

I'm in Australia and I have read the 31 music + copyright questions

White pen for marking photographs?

deliquescent — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:17:22 -0800

Is there such a thing as a white pen that can be used to write on a photograph? My wife and I just received the Christmas cards we bought through Shutterfly - they're basically 5X7 inch photographs. We had fussed over the wording for a while, but because of the multiple edits we now have a very awkward greeting. It's too expensive to start over, and I think I can remedy the situation if I could add an apostrophe and a colon, but with what? I think white out would be too obvious and too difficult to write with, and my google searches have failed.

Thanks!

Why Pay When The Wiki Is Free?

Atreides — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:16:25 -0800

Another creative commons question concerning a photograph. The photo is on Flickr (with generic all rights reserved), and that's where an interested person spotted and communicated to me wanting to buy the rights for use of the photograph. Catch, I also uploaded the same photo to Wikipedia with a CC-attribution and share a like license on it, as well a GNU-Free Documentation License. Now what? The bottom line question is that I can't figure out what my position as the copyright holder is with regard to this photograph. The person interested wants to purchase the rights to use the photograph for their business (as an example of their work). Is this generally a request with an expectation of exclusivity?

I also would feel like a heel accepting money for a photograph I've posted on Wikipedia, if the license attached to that photograph allow for commercial use with only attribution as a requirement (I can't figure it out from the Wikipedia definitions).

One slight difference between the Flickr photograph and the Wikipedia version is size of the file. One is 1,417 × 945 pixels (Wiki) and the Flickr version is 3456 x 2304 pixels (though, the email implied they wanted to use a smaller version of Flickr at 1024 x 683 pixels).

In short:

1) Would the Wikipedia licensing allow commercial use with attribution the only requirement?

2) If no, how would the non-commercial use of that photograph affect the offering price for the commercial use of the photograph? (i.e., You can use the photo, but it won't be an exclusive use except commercially).

3) Are there any other issues that I'm missing and need to be addressed?

Disclaimer: I looked but couldn't find quite the similar situation in previous AskMes, nor enough information about CC to answer my own question.

Thanks in advance. All help appreciated!

Photograph of a girl dribbling milk... Where is this from and / or who is it of?

FuckingAwesome — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:39:13 -0800

Photograph of a girl dribbling milk... Where is this from and / or who is it of? Please help! Thanks...

Help me find this photo taken by Bob Jackson

kingjoeshmoe — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:30:09 -0800

Help me find a better copy of a famous(?) desegregated school photo. You can see it here, on the left side of the second row from the bottom. I went to the Sixth Floor Museum in Dallas earlier this year, where I saw a really great photo of a couple children looking out a window at a newly desegregated school, taken by Bob Jackson. Right now, that little thumbnail is the only copy I can find. I'm interested in finding better, either as an electronic image, or else a hardcopy for purchase. Google has failed me. Do you know where I can find it?

A Feminist's Bum

whimsicalnymph — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:04:26 -0800

Where can I find a print of this photo (nsfw), taken by Art Shay and featuring Simone de Beauvoir?

Where in the World is Bogoridi?

suedehead — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:20:09 -0800

Can someone help track me down a higher-resolution image of this Bulgarian photograph? I'm looking for this image of Stefan Bogoridi. I've found it all over the internet, but I can't find it in any larger form. I can't read Bulgarian, so I can't search the Bulgarian-language web for a print-resolution image (of which I suspect there is online somewhere). It's in the public domain, so copyright shouldn't be an issue..

Does anyone have any hints/tips/better results than I do? Thanks!

How can I look semi-human in a passport photo?

tavegyl — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 07:11:08 -0800

How can I look like the babe I am in my next passport-sized photograph? I just had a passport-sized photo taken. It was taken by a bored gentleman at a government office who was hired for his admirable form-filling technique, not his photographic skills. This photograph will stare balefully from my wallet for the next few years.

Given the conditions of your average government photography outfit, what precautions can I take next time to avoid looking like a hungover dope fiend with far more ape in my recent ancestry than is appropriate?

The basic restrictions are: full face, no smile, ears showing, flourescent lighting, no special equipment and no second takes.

I'm looking for all sorts of advice, from photographers and people who photograph well.

All kinds of suggestions are welcome. Light makeup, if so what sort? (For what it's worth I have medium brown South Asian skin and strong features). Think happy thoughts? Think abstruse thoughts? Hair up or down? Dark clothing or light? Jewellery or no? Butt clench? Anime style wide-open eyes, or sultry drooping lids? Slap my cheeks before the photo? Look pale and interesting? Last minute checks I should make whilst in the waiting room? Etc.

Governator in Better Days

benzenedream — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:02:16 -0800

I'm looking for a B&W 70s picture of Arnold Schwarzenegger in a tuxedo with a large buck-toothed grin and bad hair backstage after winning an award (for, I assume, Stay Hungry in 1977). I found this on a postcard years ago and stupidly didn't scan it before sending. I'd like to use this image in some craft projects.

Creepy abduction photographs true or not ?

selton — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 05:37:01 -0800

I read a true crime book some years back, I don't remember anything about the book except one story. My memory is hazy, but this is what I remember: some people were abducted in the USA. My memory tells me it was a mother and child/ren. I'm 99% certain it was an adult woman and at least one child even if they may not have been related. Now the very creepy part. Photos of these people were found in a public bathroom sometime later. In the photos the woman was tied up, perhaps a child was also in the photo I'm not sure. I'd like to verify if this story was indeed true or just made up by the author and I've tried googling many times without luck. I'm sure it has nothing to do with Harvey Glatman.

Help me find people on roofs

SamuelBowman — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 02:53:27 -0800

Can anyone find the original image that was used for this mocked-up Mirror's Edge game cover? And more like it? I saw a bunch of these (brilliant) game covers but the Mirror's Edge one really stuck with me, because I love the photograph used.

Can anybody help me find the original photograph and more like it?

I don't know what it is about that particular photo that I like but if there's a particular photographer who did shots like that, etc, maybe there'd be more like it. I'm not looking for general people-on-rooftops photos – the one I've linked to seems to come from a particular time and place (I could be way off, but it seems like 1950s/60s Paris to me), so things like this related to that would be great.

(Incidentally, I have asked the guy who did the faux-game art I've linked to and I haven't recieved a reply. I don't want to pester him and I'm interested in finding more like it as well as the original image.)

Thank you!

Need professional TLC for an important old family photo

bonobothegreat — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 23:09:00 -0800

Can anyone recommend a photo restoration service in Toronto? My wife has a photo of her grandmother as a young woman in the 1920's that I'd like to have restored. I'm only interested in getting the actual photo cleaned up rather than a digital restoration. At some point in the last 80 years, somebody thought it would be a good idea to "matte" it with lengths of tape and then painted over the tape with silver paint. They had a shakey hand and the border of the image is painted over in a few spots and there are a couple of drips in the middle.

My googling so far seems to mostly be for digital retouching (and I don't much care for the samples I've seen). I just want to preserve the original photo and give it to my wife with a nice frame. I'd really like to take it someplace in Toronto if possible.

Axe the ex?

cachondeo45 — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 09:14:40 -0800

What to do with pictures of exes? I have three ex-boyfriends. The first has since become a good friend, and we dated before the advent of the digital camera. The few pictures that I have of us I keep in an old album that I rarely look at. The second proved to be an ass and was also around before the advent of digital cameras (or at least before the widespread distribution and affordability of digital cameras), and we are not only NOT friends, but we ignore each other completely. I have a bazillion pictures of the two of us before things went south. Should I just pitch them? Some are decent memories of a fun trip or a nice evening with friends. Do I just get rid of them? And as for ex #3, a relationship that ended a few months ago, I have lots of digital pictures of the two of us, but although it was an amicable break-up, we are definitely NOT together anymore. Do I put them in the "Ex" file? Leave them where they are, just kind of in random folders in My Pictures? Delete them? I have very fond memories of this man, and would hate to just delete him, but we're over and out and haven't quite made our way into the friendship zone.

What have YOU done with photographs, digital and otherwise, of you with an ex?

Old picture stuck to frame - how can I lift if off?

bristolcat — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 07:35:58 -0800

I have a really old, treasured picture. I need to scan copies of it to give to relatives, but it is stuck to the glass in it's frame. Ideas? This is a large picture in one of those antique oval frames with the domed glass. It's about 19 inches long, so quite large. Seeing as how it's my great grandparents' wedding picture, I estimate it to be dated to about 1900-1905. One of the sides of the picture has experienced some water damage at some point and while it didn't show up on the picture side, it's fairly visible on the back.

We took the backing off and saw that the picture is actually printed onto a rather thick cardstock of some kind. The thick paper is really, really brittle and my mom already took a hunk out of it. When I carefully pried it up, however, I did even worse damage and some of the picture coating lifted from the cardstock and stuck to the glass.

I am afraid to go any further!

So, my questions are these:
-What is the best method to lift this picture from the glass without destroying it? I have found sites that tell you to use scrapbooking knives or other tools and I don't really trust them because I assume they are referring to glossy Kodak-style photos. This definitely has a paper texture on the picture side. Steam, perhaps?

-What would be the best way to ensure that no further damage occurs to this picture? It's pretty darn special and I want it to last for quite a while. I know this probably involves getting professional assistance, but what kind? We live in a small town, so resources are limited.

Thanks so much!

Help me find this photo!

Spyder's Game — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 10:58:14 -0800

Help me find a cool poster! A cool image that a (long ago) ex-girlfriend used to have on her wall... The image was a photograph of a man and a woman. You couldn't see the man's face, as he had medium length blond hair that hung over his face. They seemed to be in a train station or bus station. He was sitting on a suitcase and so was she (I think) and they were holding hands and looking down. It almost looked like they were praying. They also looked like they were saying goodbye. The whole photograph (B+W) seemed to have a period feel from the 40's or 50's, but not quite, as the man's hair would've been too contemporary for that time. But the suitcase he was sitting on was definitely vintage.

The photographer was Sheila Rock - a photographer who has now gone on to do much more spiritual and deeper work...which I'm not interested in! All of my googling comes up with her shots of monastery life or horses. I would love to get a print of this image, but I can't even find it anywhere. It was popular in the mid-late 80's or 90's. It had no "title" on it, just the name of the photographer. Halp!

Just a tree, please.

wrinkle — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:22:57 -0800

I'm looking for a gift that is somehow tree related. This hasn't been an easy search. Help! I'd like to get something for my parents and in-laws to thank them for all of the help and support they gave us in the days leading up to our wedding. We like the idea of a tree and all of its wedding appropriate symbolism with the roots and branches and so on. We'd like to keep it under $300 per gift.

Ideally it would be some sort of sculpture but we're open to other ideas including paintings, photographs, or rugs.

We don't like the semi-precious gemstone wire trees or bonsai trees. Also, we're not interested in planting or adopting a tree.

I like the botanical pieces from Michael Aram but he doesn't have anything that is just right. My husband likes this photo of the Angel Tree but $650 and not even framed is a bit out of our reach.

I've googled myself stupid with this for over three months, and it feels great to surrender.
Thanks for the help!

Camera lens question

Beautiful Screaming Lady — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 13:25:11 -0800

What kind of camera lens would have been used to get such dramatic angles and straight lines on this photo of an office? I don't know much about photography, but I know what I like. And I like this effect. The stark, bold geometry is very appealing. Is it a conventional wide angle? Something unconventional? Or is it more likely a post-process photoshop effect? If it is photoshop, what kind of lens would do this in-camera?

Where can I find free photos online that I can use to practice my Photoshop retouching?

Chorus — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 10:28:13 -0800

Where can I find free photos online that I can use to practice my Photoshop retouching? Hi all. I'm looking to improve my Photoshop skills and would like to try my hand at retouching photographs of female models, in the style of something you might find on the cover of a fashion/beauty mag.

Is there anywhere online that'd have a stock of untouched but 'studio shot' photos? I think random, candid photographs gleaned from the net might be unsuitable. I'd naturally like a free source, but would be willing to pay for a source that allowed me to post the retouched images on like a personal blog or site to get crit/feedback.

Thanks!

Who took this photograph?

bjrn — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 14:27:08 -0800

Help me identify this photograph. The form I have it in is cut from a magazine (or similar) and then glued to a piece of sturdy paper, the person I got it from doesn't remember where she got it. I just think it's a really nice picture and wonder if it'd be possible to get a better quality version somewhere. I've tried googling around, but to no avail.

1. Rare photo 2. ??? 3. Profit!

kimdog — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 06:55:33 -0800

Found a rare photo in an out-of-print edition of a book. How can we make the most of it? We've found a reprint of a daguerreotype of a famous incident in an out of print book. The image is long out of copyright and the original photo is thought to be lost. However, accepted knowledge of this subject (including scholars on the topic) state that there is only one know photo of the incident (and it's different than the one we've found). So basically, through some fluke, this second photo has been forgotten. How can we make some money off this situation? Once the photo is publicized, it's likely that other copies of the book will be found, and the photo will be reproduced by other people. We've considered setting up a website with ad revenue (because we think it could get a lot of hits in the short term), but what would be the easiest way to do this? Or is there something better we haven't thought of?

Do you remember a picture of a naked melting person?

sergeant sandwich — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:29:55 -0800

I'm looking for back story on a somewhat disturbing photograph which was circulating around the internet around 10-15 years ago. Trouble is, I no longer have a copy of the file, and can't find it. The photo in question was an internet meme from back before they were called that. It could best be described as "face-down naked melting woman". I say melting because.. well, that's what it looked like. A big puddle of skin, with feet; sort of like what you'd get if people were made of wax and one was made to lie face down in the sun.

The melting person (who for some reason, we thought was a woman, but it was hard to tell) was completely naked, face down in the middle of what I recall to be a city street, possibly cobblestone. It was daylight, and the photo was taken from behind at what looked like about a distance of 40-50 feet. We called her Melta.

Does this ring a bell for anyone? I've been searching the internets high and low for a copy of the picture, with every possible combination of search terms I can think of, and I've crawled up and down sites like rotten.com and ogrish until I couldn't take it anymore. Not for the lulz, but because for nearly half my life now, I've been absolutely mystified by the origin of this photo. I need some sort of explanation.

Our best guess was that it was a photograph of a suicide jumper who had been overweight and the impact was so violent that the flesh liquefied and spread out like a puddle.

But I don't think flesh does that in reality, and there was absolutely no split skin, no blood or gore or anything at all, no cops standing around, no rubberneckers gawking, in fact nobody else in the picture at all. No other visual clues that would be indicative of a suicide scene. And why would they be completely naked? It just.. it didn't look like a suicide to me, and this explanation never quite held water for me.

The only other conceivable explanation for this picture is that a person who had recently lost a great deal of weight, and therefore had very loose skin, was running down the street buck naked and tripped and fell on their face. But then this is weird enough as it is.

Anyway, I'm hoping someone at least remembers this picture. Better yet would be a link to it somewhere. But what I'm really looking for here is to learn Melta's story. If you can help me scratch this fifteen-year itch, I will be forever grateful.

Not a dandelion, then what?

fearfulsymmetry — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 03:49:37 -0800

What's this plant...? Thought as first it was a dandelion, now I'm sure it isn't. Was photographed in the UK a couple of weeks ago. Saw it beside a path near farmland among other weeds and grasses. Seed head about the size of a large dandelion's. I've tried tracking it down online but my google-fu is weak.

Tell me where this old photo was taken

nanhey — Sun, 18 May 2008 10:41:50 -0800

Can anyone tell me where this picture was taken? The photo was taken in Europe during the 70's by my parents. they think it might have been somewhere in Germany, but Denmark and Sweden are also potential options.

I Seek Decay

grumblebee — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:06:24 -0800

I'd like to photograph the interior of a run-down old building. I live in NYC. My wife found this site, and I immediately fell in love with the photos of dilapidated asylums. I wish I could buy prints and hang them all over my apartment, but I'm way too poor for to afford his $300 - $500 asking price.

It occurred to me that I have a good camera, and I'm a competent photographer. I'm not fooling myself that I could take photos like the ones on that site, but I'd love to try.

But where?

I don't want to go somewhere where I have to sneak in, take a bunch of really quick shots, and then sneak out before I get caught. I need to take my time. I need to take hundreds of shots so that I can pick the best for printing.