Recently in Life Transitions Category

This is one of my most "interesting" photos from 2008, according to Flickr, so I'm sharing it with my blog readers. If you're starting to diet or workout today, I'm feeling the pain, too. Not only did I have to dig through a 100 cupcake shots to find this, I also endured Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. Ouchie, ouchie, ouch.

Looking at sweets + moving like a bowlegged Texan = one sad little photog carrying her camera from bakery to bakery. Anyhoodle. I'm getting away from my resolution sorrows and heading to the movie theater in a bit. Gotta keep the spirits up!

I hope your fresh start for 2009 is joyous, fraught with icing (if that's your thing), and free of work-out DVDs!

Idle capacity -- Ratio of a rated capacity to its actual utilization, expressed as a percentage.

In the search for a new direction to take my career, I've read through a lot of job descriptions seeking inspiration. I haven't been tempted by what's out there. Maybe that's because jobs seemed to be defined in terms of their limitations instead of their possibilities. Maybe it's because I left my last position after being hampered, defined and redefined into something that no longer made sense or felt relevant. Or maybe it's come from summarizing my body of work into two pages and then having it characterized in ways that are convenient for a recruiter's understanding and/or time constraints.

I know the truth, though. I'm fighting the disincentives and lack of imagination that came from working someplace that didn't understand what I could deliver. I also kicking myself for staying as long as I did.

*whew, ahem*

Hello. My name is Tammy and I'm a recovering bureaucrat. Any kick in the pants or 12 step program is welcome.

I enjoyed photographing Caryn's bridal shower yesterday. It wasn't too sappy or too corny, plus there was good food and even better company. Congrats to her and her dashing D----. ;)

I took the liberty of taking several candids of people I don't know. It's not the same as photographing total strangers, but it was still good practice.

I have over 7,000 photos on Flickr under a Creative Commons license. It's been a great way to promote my photography and I've enjoyed seeing how others have used my work.

However, Creative Commons has become too much work for me lately. People consistently ignore the conditions of the licensing. Either they don't attribute the work to me, don't include the CC license with the photo, or put their site (including my photos) under their copyright. It's work to track down how my photos are being used and it's work to explain how their use is in error. It doesn't help that the CC terms of my photos aren't used consistently -- people have found exceptions and used them to justify their own misuse. *sigh*

It's also a big job to field requests. These come in several flavors:

• individuals who want a one-off use of my photos on their blog and want to make certain their use is correct
• sites that are out to make ad revenue off their entries and don't want to pay me, but want me to agree to it anyway
• sites like Now Public that want to use my photos but want me to sign-up and agree to separate terms of use

It's hard for me to be consistent and to make certain these sites keep up the agreed upon use.

I don't feel good about moving away from CC. I have photos on Wikipedia and my work has appeared on several big sites. That probably wouldn't have happened if they weren't listed as CC. It's time to move on. I've had recent opportunities to profit from my photography, and I may also explore monetizing my work through the podcast I run or through my personal blog. I think CC licensing on future photos may convey the idea that the photos are amateur work not worth paying for.

It's time to save time and position my photography for other things. I'll keep what's under CC listed that way, but I'll retain the rights for all new work.

What won't you put on-line?  It's an interesting question because that answer has changed a lot for me over the years.  I've felt more responsibility in managing the on-line identities of friends as I go around blogging, photographing, and twittering.  I think about it a lot more than I did when I started. 

What did I come up with?

• The names and likenesses of friends who don't have or don't want an Internet presence.  I try to respect this and have gotten more in the habit of asking for people's preferences.
  
• Time stamps during business hours.  Even though I may have the day off, I don't want to give the impression that I do personal blogging, etc. on the job.
• Indecent photos or photos that are socially questionable, ie, chugging beer.
  
• Personal attacks.
• Opinions about monetary policy.  I don't want to give my employer any reason to look at my on-line activity.
• No diatribes or screeds about current or former employers or co-workers.
  
• Work that's easily found or distributed elsewhere.  That wasn't always true, but it's true now.  I don't do this mostly because I found it boring and unnecessarily contributing to the echo chamber.
  
• Things that I consider to be gross or distasteful.  I just don't want to associate that stuff with who I am.
• No LOL cats.  I like them.  I enjoy them.  But I will not create items for or perpetuate this meme.
• Unverified information.  I try not to post things without checking it out first.
  

What's missing?

• Financial information.  I don't make this publicly available, but I do bank on-line and make purchases, so I can't say I don't have this out there.
• Passwords.  By its very nature, this is information that I have on-line.  However, I don't post or store them in on-line docs.
• Other's phone numbers & addresses.  If someone asks me for contact information, I pass the request along to the person to let them make that decision.
  

There's probably more, but that's all that comes to mind at the moment.  If I append the list, I'll note it.

*Apologies to Meatloaf.  I couldn't help myself.