Wouldn't it be cool to see photographs projected on the sides of iconic buildings and skyscrapers in downtown Boston?

That's the dream of some local photographers and visual artists who are working to put together a festival next fall that would use buildings and huge projectors to highlight some of the best local photography.

Reuters

Eastman Kodak filed a motion Monday seeking approval of bidding procedures for bankruptcy auction of its Digital Capture and Kodak imaging Systems and Services patent portfolios, which together comprise more than 1,100 patents.

Kodak's motion outlines a sale process such that only the winning bidder and the successful bid amount will be publicly announced at the end of the auction, it said in a statement.

Kodak, now in bankruptcy, expects the motion to be heard by the Court on July 2, with the auction being held in early August and the winning bidder being announced by Aug. 13.

"In filing these proposed procedures in advance of the June 30 deadline in our lending agreement, we are moving ahead as quickly as possible with the process of monetizing our digital imaging patent portfolio," Timothy Lynch, Kodak's chief intellectual property officer said.

The company's financial adviser, Lazard, has marketed these assets over the past 12 months, and 20 parties have signed confidentiality agreements to date, the company revealed in a statement.

Kodak, which invented the handheld camera and the digital camera, filed for bankruptcy protection Jan. 19.

The iconic photo of Tank Man, the unknown rebel who stood in front of a column of Chinese tanks in an act of defiance after the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

The author of this compilation calls these "40 of the most powerful photographs ever taken," but I don't agree. Tiananmen Square, of course. But a couple kissing during the hockey riots in Vancouver?

What do you think?

Three professional photojournalists - including former Globe photo editor Peter Southwick, who once judged a RAW contest for us - give their opinions on whether the use of Photoshop's fill flash function in post-processing is ethical for photojournalists.

View of John Long, chairman of the ethics committee for the National Press Photographers Association

View of Peter Southwick, director of the photojournalism program at Boston University

Opinion of Steven Raymer, a photojournalism professor at Indiana University and former staff photographer for National Geographic

Surfing channels last night, I stumbled upon a PBS show about Yousuf Karsh, the famed portrait photographer whose iconic images of the famous (Winston Churchill, Audrey Hepburn, Ernest Hemingway) in the 1940s and '50s helped elevate photographic portraiture to an art form.

John Kennerdell writes at The Online Photographer that even as an arts and humanities guy, it took him years to appreciate how much of photography turns out to be non-intuitive or even counter-intuitive. The hard part is explaining why.

"While most photographs don't aspire to be art, ultimately their value to us depends on something that art teaches us: direct emotional response."

Great food for thought. Read his entire blog entry here.

You may recall that last fall we featured a project by one of our RAW regulars, Justin Lai, and the Discover Product Design (DPD) team at MIT that involved students taking photos. They ran the program again this fall.

Lai and Geoff Tsai's program finished up recently and they're ready to show off the students' photography. Justin was a Master's student and Geoff is currently a PhD student, both under the supervision of their advisor in mechanical engineering, Professor Maria Yang. The program was sponsored in part by MIT's Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Here's Justin's description of the project:

A group of friends visiting an ultra-Orthodox Jewish town north of New York City ended up getting harassed for taking photos and eventually arrested for refusing to provide identification.

Read the full story on pixiq.

Video of part of the incident:

Photography Bay reports that one of Amazon's Gold Box deals is a discount on the Kingston 16GB Kingston UltimateX 100x SDHC card.

Read more here, then check out your Amazon account.

From pixiq.com: Cameras nowadays use mostly proprietary batteries so there’s not much to worry about in that area. Still, if your camera uses AA batteries you have to decide which are best for you … and the short answer is nickel-metal hydride or NiMh, if your camera can take it.

Read the full report here.

(NOTE: This is a press release from Epson, and as such, is rather breathless in its descriptions of the products. Always comparison shop and check with other photographers before making a major purchase.)

Epson America, a provider of desktop printing solutions, has introduced the Epson Artisan 837 and Artisan 730 wireless all-in-one printers for photo and technology enthusiasts who demand fast, reliable and better than lab-quality prints at home. The new Artisan line combines power and convenience in a sleek, compact design, featuring new midnight blue accents and a three-times-brighter emerald green smart touch panel display for easy PC-free navigation.

The Digital Journal of Photography chats with one of HP's ink gurus, and announces HP's new Premium Plus Photo Paper with porous coating technology for inkjet printers.

Read the complete post here.

From our friend Richard of imagesbyrich fame:

"Yesterday, while driving down Hooksett Road in Hooksett, N.H., I noticed an interesting display of a citizen's dismay with the town of Hooksett.

"I believe the broken sign reading 'Welcome to Hooksett' is referring to the current state of the town council and their decision-making processes. The toilet must be referring to the environmental mess the Hooksett sewerage plant caused by releasing millions of sewerage disk filters into the Merrimack River, which are littering the Eastern Seaboard.

"Quite the interesting display."

A Virginia commercial photographer, Casey Templeton, came up with a unique way to introduce himself to potential clients and help his pitch stand out from others. Pretty interesting stuff! If any of you are trying to turn your photography into a business, perhaps shooting weddings on the weekend or portraits of kids, you may get some ideas here.

I went out on my back deck late Saturday to see the so-called Super Moon -- at its closest point to the Earth in 18 years -- as well as to play with a new iPhone app called Star Walk (well, new to me).

Well, I couldn't see very many stars or planets because the moon was almost blinding!

If any of you captured any images of that moon, we'd love to see them. Just upload them to this gallery along with you name, town, and any EXIF information you can grab:

Super Moon gallery

Meanwhile, I visited the Boston Flower and Garden Show at the Seaport World Trade Center Saturday and thought I was going to get crushed by the crowd.

But I spotted LOTS of people with cameras, so if you were one of them, or if you've gone on other days and captured some images of flowers, plants, or overall displays, here's another gallery where you can display your work:

Boston Flower and Garden Show gallery

Thanks.

By Jeff Barnard and Jaymes Song
Associated Press / March 11, 2011

Crescent City, Calif. - A tsunami swept at least five people watching the waves out to sea Friday and ripped docks out of harbors in California, spreading the destruction of a devastating Japanese earthquake to the shores of the United States.

Photo by Barbara Bailey
"Nor'easter" - 10th Place, Stormy Weather contest, September 2010

The other evening I received one of the nicest, most gratifying notes from Jan Claffey, a RAW regular. Although it contained sad news, it made me realize the importance of the community we've formed here. Rather than characterize the note, I'll just run it in its entirety:

If you're interested in printing your own photos rather than sending them to a lab or taking them to your local camera shop, you may be interested in Epson's announcement that it will release a new printer in March.

Pixiq says that recently published tests suggest that even the cheap Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, which costs $100, can be better than a Carl Zeiss Planar T50 f/1.4 that costs $725.

DxO, the company that tests lenses and cameras, published tests that, looking at the numbers, "places most of the Carl Zeiss line of lenses behind, sometimes far behind, its Canon and Nikon siblings," according to Pixiq.

Read the entire entry and judge for yourself.

I've always been jealous of anyone with a Zeiss lens. Anybody here own one? Do you like it?

If you use Lightroom, you may or may not have tried your hand at organizing your photos into what Lightroom calls "Collections."

Photographer Helen Bradley writes on Digital Photography School that "Collections in Lightroom are a key tool for organizing images. There are some benefits to working with collections and some things that it helps to know about working with them."

She takes you through whether to use regular or special collections, how to sort images, set a target collection, gather images without duplication, find images, manage temporary collections, and more.

Read the entire tipsheet on the DPS website.

Do you use Lightroom? Do you like it?

"The path of photography is not always cheap," writes The Phoblographer. "As a family man and photographer, I really have to look at how I spend money.

"A person can go broke or in debt, trying to acquire and maintain cameras, lenses, and other equipment. People today have less money to begin with due to the economic downturn.

"With patience, one could save money for their photography needs. To me, it’s about anticipating what’s needed and wanted long before buying it."

Here's a list of his tips for saving money to buy your photo supplies.

How do you afford this expensive hobby?

Start with a half-empty garage with nice, 12-foot ceilings but a budget of just $200. The goal: Build a photo studio by getting control over the space, control over the light, and enhancing the ambiance a little.

Strobist blogger David Hobby is undertaking this project at his home, and chronicling his progress on his blog.

Light Remodeling: Part 1

Light Remodeling: Part 2

Interesting debate going on among photojournalists about New York Times photographer Damon Winter's decision to use the Hipstamatic app on his iPhone to take some of the photos he shot while covering US troops deployed in Afghanistan.

The PBS NewsHour, via Twin Cities Public Television, profiled Minnesota photographer Alec Soth, who uses an 8x10 format camera and has an exhibit at Minneapolis' Walker Art Center.

Michael Rubin, director of product marketing for the Digital Imaging Division of Casio America, sat down with Michael R. Tomkins of The Imaging Resource this week for a chat about the future of digital cameras and Casio's plans for 2011. Among the highlights:

Okay, you hardy New Englanders -- time to clean your sensors and charge your videocam batteries: we're counting on you once again to help us document the severity and extent of the storm that's about to land on our doorstep.

Here are some suggestions, illustrated by your photos from the recent blizzard:

1. Show the severity of the storm without putting yourself in danger.

2. Show how deep the snow is in your area. You don't have to drop your kid into a snowdrift up to his eyeballs, but use some other object, such as a car or patio furniture, to provide some context for the snow.

3. Photograph or videotape something unusual. You may have read that the Charles River turned a weird yellow color during the last blizzard. A few MIT and Cambridge folks submitted photos of it to our last snowstorm gallery, and the Globe reprinted two of them in the paper -- including the one below. So keep your eyes open!

4. Make 'em laugh. There's something absurd about the weather in these parts, and maintaining a sense of humor as these storms wallop us sometimes is the only way to get through them.

5. Find the beauty in the storm. Enough said.

Here's the form where you can upload your photos and see the images others have submitted.

RAW friend Nancy Bray of Harwich, a former Featured Photographer, sent along a video that tells a remarkable story.

It's the tale of Vivian Maier, who worked as a nanny in Chicago, but on her days off, took thousands of photos on the streets of the city. Her stash of undeveloped photos were discovered in a storage locker by a young guy researching a book about Chicago, and he and a friend have made it their mission to scan what he estimates is 100,000 negatives. Experts are calling her work stunning, and have even said her photos may rank with those of Walker Evans.

This video tells the story and shows some of her photos:

Paul Wainwright was a recent Featured Photographer here on RAW in which he discussed the project that resulted in the book that won the award. Here's a press release about his prize:

New Hampshire photographer Paul Wainwright's new book, "A Space for Faith: The Colonial Meetinghouses of New England", has received the prestigious New England Book Festival Award for best Photography/Art book of the year.

Wainwright works with a wooden large-format camera, sheet film, and develops all his images in his darkroom. Every photograph is carefully and individually created. He prefers to create a photograph rather than "shoot" or "take a picture" and uses traditional processes which force him to slow down and really think about what he wants his images to be.

Bruce Haring, director of the New England Book Festival, said: " 'A Space for Faith' shows a true artist's eye for detail and serves as a wonderful guide to a part of the region that deserves more attention."

The New England Book Festival Award will be presented at the Festival's award ceremony at 7 p.m. Jan. 15 at the Omni Parker House Hotel in Boston. The Parker House is the grand literary hotel where Thoreau, Emerson, and Longfellow met at the legendary Saturday Club for poetry readings and high-minded discussions.

"A Space for Faith: The Colonial Meetinghouses of New England" is a collection of Wainwright's classic black-and-white photographs that paints a composite portrait of these once ubiquitous landmarks of the New England landscape. Only a few remain as they were – touched only by time – and Wainwright's photographs give us a glimpse into an age when life was simpler.

"I am extremely honored by this award," says Wainwright. "New England's meetinghouses embody a large part of our nation's history, and my work photographing them was aimed at bringing their story to a broad audience."

Wainwright, who has long considered himself to be a "photographer with a day job," discovered his creative passion with his first darkroom at age 12. In 2001, when the job he had held for 24 years at Bell Laboratories was eliminated, he embraced his love of photography and re-created his life.

"I took a leap of faith," Wainwright says. "I'll admit that like many of us who suddenly find ourselves without a job, I was scared. But that leap of faith led me to create 'A Space for Faith', a book which wouldn't exist if I'd still been working in the corporate world." Wainwright is now a successful landscape and architectural photographer.

Drawn to capture images that reflect our Puritan heritage, Wainwright says, "They were religious dissidents who came to New England so they could live apart from the Church of England. Their lives were simple, and their belief in God was central to their lives. I believe my meetinghouse photographs reflect the Puritans' simple, well-ordered lives and inspire my quest to simplify my own life."

For review copies and author interviews, call 603-362-6589. Additional information and photos may be found in the Media Room section of the book’s web site, www.aspaceforfaith.com.

A Space for Faith: The Colonial Meetinghouses of New England by Paul Wainwright (ISBN 13: 978-0-9817898-5-9) is published by Peter E. Randall Publisher of Portsmouth, NH.

Here's an interesting novelty gadget that a photo buff might enjoy: A stereo speaker that looks like a digital camera and connects to your audio device via a USB cord. The only downside is the price: $75.

USB.Brando.com has this item for sale, and says it connects to an iPod, MP3, MP4, MD, CD player, notebook, PC, PDA, PSP, mobile phone, and other digital products with 3.5mm stereo audio connector. Read more about it here.

Would you buy this device for yourself or as a gift for a relative or friend?

Photoxels reminds us that back in 1972, Olympus introduced the dimunitive M-1 (later renamed OM-1) SLR and kind of revolutionized the SLR world.

Not only was it much smaller and lighter than the typical film SLR, but what captured the imagination of enthusiasts and professional photographers alike was that the OM-1 came with a complete system of lenses and accessories. Not a couple of lenses, but a complete system.

By doing so, Olympus signaled clearly that the OM-1 was a serious SLR worthy of consideration by advanced amateur and pro photographers.

Now Photoxels wonders whether Nikon is poised to introduce the compact mirrorless DSLR in March that may well revolutionize the DSLR world -- just like the OM-1 did.

Read more at Photoxels website.

Have you used an Olympus OM-1?

The celebrated 75-year run from mainstream to niche photography for Kodachrome -- the first successful color film and still the most beloved -- is coming to an end. The last processing machine, located at Dwayne's Photo in Parsons, Kansas, is being shut down and sold for scrap.

Demanding both to shoot and process, Kodachrome rewarded generations of skilled users with a richness of color and a unique treatment of light that many photographers described as incomparable even as they shifted to digital cameras.

At the peak, there were about 25 labs worldwide that processed Kodachrome, but the last Kodak-run facility in the United States closed several years ago, then the one in Japan and then the one in Switzerland. Since then, all that was left has been Dwayne's Photo.

Last year, Kodak stopped producing the film and the chemicals needed to develop it, providing Dwayne's with enough to continue processing through the end of 2010. And last week, right on schedule, the lab opened up the last canister of blue dye.

The New York Times visited Dwayne's and recounted the effect on the photo shop as well as the photographers who made a pilgrimage there to get their last rolls of film developed before the end:

For Kodachrome Fans, Road Ends at Photo Lab in Kansas

Did you use Kodachrome? Tell us what you thought of it.

Business Wire reports today that leading up to next month's annual Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, Samsung has announced the release of the latest camera in its successful NX family, the mirrorless NX11, as well as the ultra-slim WB700, a high-end point-and-shoot.

Samsung says the NX11 contains a feature set similar to its first mirrorless interchangeable lens camera, the NX10. However, the NX11 is also compatible with the new i-Function lens that was introduced for the NX100.

The NX11 will come with an 18-55mm i-Function lens, as well as two new i-Function lenses: a 20mm pancake and a 20-50mm zoom silver color lens.

It has a 14.6-megapixel image sensor, a 3-inch LCD screen, and 720p HD video. It will retail for $649 when it hits store shelves in February.

The WB700 comes with an ultra-wide Schneider Kreuznach lens with a 24X zoom function, made up of an 18X optical zoom and 1.3X Smart Zoom.

It also has a 16-megapixel sensor, full manual control, and full 1080p high-definition video capability. The camera is expected to be released in April and sell for about $300.

Do you have a Samsung NX or point-and-shoot now? How do you like it?

Listen and learn, folks, as Scott Kelby and Joe McNally have an interesting, wide-ranging conversation about photography in a video just released by Nikon.

Kelby is famous not just for his photos, but his extensive knowledge of Photoshop. McNally's known for his mastery of flash photography; he shoots for National Geographic and Sports Illustrated.

Watch the video here.

Have a teen-ager who likes to take lots of photos and share them with friends right away?

A clever designer at the Samsung Art and Design Institute, Jung Eun Park, has come up with a small camera with 3 USB ports. She can just grab her friends' thumb drives and transfer photos instantly.

Student Jung Eun Park’s UCIM camera.

There's a full moon and a lunar eclipse that will turn the moon copper tonight ... anybody willing or planning to stay up to photograph it?

If yes, I've set up a gallery for your photos here.

Now, because of our overcast skies, it's a bit dicey as to whether you'll be able to see it. The National Weather Service in Taunton says that because of clouds and flurries, the eclipse -- the first in nearly three years -- may not be visible in Boston and the surrounding areas. The best chance to catch a glimpse of the eclipse will be west of Worcester.

However, officials at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics are holding out hope that viewers in Greater Boston might see the eclipse.

“Right now it looks like there may be a window tonight. Of course, we live in Boston. We never know,” David Aguilar said, director of public affairs at the center.

The eclipse will begin around 1:30 a.m., and will last until about 5 a.m., as the earth's shadow creeps across the moon and then recedes, Aguilar said.

He predicted that glimpses of the copper-colored moon, at least,should be visible between the clouds.

If the clouds do interfere with watching the eclipse in Massachusetts, you can always watch it online. NASA says it will post streaming video from Huntsville, Ala., at nasa.gov.

Again, if you are successful in capturing an image, please post your photos here.

(Just be careful of the silver halide, werewolves.)

Justin Lai's Discover Product Design project at MIT, where he is a PhD student in mechanical engineering, finished up recently, and he's ready to show off the students' photography. Justin had the help of his fellow co-coordinator, MIT alum-turned-employee Josh Velasquez, and the supervision of their advisor, Professor Maria Yang. The project was sponsored in part by MIT's Department of Mechanical Engineering.

But first, here's a reminder of the details of the project as outlined by Justin:

"Discover Product Design (DPD) is a week-long pre-orientation program, introducing product design to incoming MIT first-year students. DPD is run by members of the MIT Ideation Lab, a mechanical engineering research group studying early-stage design processes.

"The five days are filled with campus lab tours, visits to design firms, and various design exercises and activities to show participants different aspects of product design.

"This photo essay project is intended to give the 22 students a chance to learn basic photography along with documenting their exciting week of experiences.

"Each day, the students will go through their recent photos and share them in small groups. Through the discussion and feedback, the students can develop their photographic abilities, useful for their undergraduate years and beyond."

Justin updated us after the program ended; he and his colleagues gave the students basic photographic composition tips on the first day. Then they met twice in small groups to share their best photos from the day and get feedback.

The importance of photography was emphasized in other contexts, such as documenting one's work for design portfolios and ethnographic research for understanding existing behavior to inform the design process, Justin said. On the final day, students submitted 5 photos which they felt represented their past week.

After looking at all the photos, Justin and the other coordinators decided to select 3 of the 5 submitted photos from each student, in order to create a narrative of the week from the eyes of the students.

He posted them to Flickr; here's the Collection page -- the first gallery of 63 photos contains all of the photos taken by the students in chronological order. The other galleries are the 3-photo portfolios of each student.

Enjoy, and congratulations to Justin and his colleagues for what looks to have been a very enjoyable and educational exercise.

Samyang reveals details of new 35mm f/1.4 lens

They won't officially unveil it until Monday at Photokina 2010 in Cologne, but Samyang has released all of the specifications of its new Samyang 35 mm F1.4 AS UMC lens (above) for Canon, 4:3, Nikon, Pentax, Samsung NX, and Sony Alpha.

From Nikon: The D7000, a new Speedlight, and two pro-level lenses

Nikon has released the D7000 digital SLR, and has announced the pending release of two pro-level lenses and a new Speedlight.

If there's a new baby in your family, or one on her or his way, you may want to think about how to record that all-too-brief period of the infant's life in photos.

A co-worker who just had a baby shared a couple of links on Facebook of baby photo projects she's thinking of emulating. They are quite impressive:

The Chicago Reader published an interesting story today: Organizers of the Pitchfolk Music Festival earlier this month in that city refused to allow concertgoers who carry what they call "professional" cameras, defined as cameras with detachable lenses, into the concert -- even though the concert was held in a public park.

Got a note from our friend Jonathan Parker, park ranger at the Lowell National Historical Park, telling us about another nature-related photo contest that's going on -- this one involving all 586 National Natural Landmarks, of which there are 11 in Massachusetts.

Two years after it halted production of instant film, Polaroid is back -- after a fashion.

Actually, what we've got are a couple of new cameras that bear little resemblance to Polaroid classics from decades past. One is an oddly shaped Japanese import that shoots cramped, wallet-size images. The other is a run-of-the-mill digital camera mated to a built-in photo printer. It's hardly a return to greatness for Polaroid; more, it's a lackluster reminder of what we've lost.

> Read more of Hiawatha Bray's Tech Lab column

SIDEBAR: The Globe's art critic likes the new Polaroids

TIMELINE: Polaroid through the years

RAW reader Nancy Nowak wrote in asking for tips on taking prom photos: "What are some suggestions for getting group photos, and also for photos of just a couple?" she asked.

This sounds like a question for those taking pictures before the prom, so I spent some time perusing tips on various photo sites and have come up with what I hope are helpful tips.

Compelling talk about photography by Jonathan Klein, CEO and co-founder of Getty Images. Be aware that there are some graphic images in this video.

Google says it has switched names with Topeka, Kansas. Starbucks announced that it is introducing two new coffee sizes: "Plenta" and "Micra". Not to be outdone, Kodak has a big splashy announcement on its homepage about a breakthrough in digital image processing: Aromatography.

RAW reader Nancy Vogler of Andover was shopping in Arlington last month when she spotted this well-decorated Saab -- a vehicle that many of us who live north of Boston have seen around and about.

Our parent publication, The New York Times, had an interesting piece about the untenable situation in which some professional photographers, mostly freelancers, find themselves: An advertising downturn that has led publishers to buy fewer photos, an explosion in digital photography -- and the quality of digital equipment -- that allows amateurs to take very good photos, and the willingness of stock-photo companies to buy less-than-professional images for a lot less money than they pay pros.

I've been out of town for several days, and returned today to find an email from our friend Jonathan Parker, a park ranger at the Lowell National Historical Park who ran a photo contest starting last fall. Well, the contest is over and the winners have been chosen.

Here's more about the contest from the park service, as well as information about how to see the winning photos:

I was cruising through our Amateur Photography forum the other day and saw some recent discussion threads from RAW Dawgs looking for help and advice.

Look back over the past year -- the contest entries, Globe critiques, Photo Challenges, the number of you who have started to exhibit your work -- and it's clear that you're making great strides with your photography.

So let's celebrate!

Back in February, I posted an item about the bankruptcy of Ritz Camera. But now it looks like Ritz is making a comeback.

How far will you go to take a great photo? If any of you got up really early this morning to capture the Leonid meteor shower, or are planning to shoot it late tonight or early tomorrow morning, please post your photos in this gallery. (We ran a meteor shower photo by RAW Dawg Evan Sabogal on the Boston.com homepage today ... Evan took the shot at about 4 a.m. Tuesday in Amherst.)

If any of you are Facebook aficionados (I used to play Scrabulous regularly until the Scrabble people forced it to shut down), please join the Facebook group I've set up here. Feel free to write on the Wall, add Photos, and post Links.

Got an email from Jonathan Parker, a park ranger at Lowell National Historical Park and manager of the very first Lowell Photography Contest, a competition designed to celebrate the heritage and visual essence of the city and its national park.

If you're looking for something to do this weekend, go support a fellow RAW Dawg: Northeastern student Daniel Brim, a RAW regular whose photo of the waterfall Dettifoss in Iceland captured First Place in our July "Ripples" contest, will be showing his photographs at The Boston Arts Festival (also known as the Boston Ahts Festival) this weekend at Columbus Park on the North End waterfront.

As many of you know, RAW isn't the only section of Boston.com that solicits photos or runs photo contests. (We just try to attract the very serious hobbyist.) Our Sports section asks for kids in Red Sox gear, for example, or our Lifestyle staff looks for pets in Halloween costumes.

Globe photographer Dina Rudick, who did a Globe Critique for us back in October, recently shot some creative studio photos for the Globe's Spring Fashion guide: The models appeared to be floating or flying through the air. She also made a video with reporter Christopher Muther explaining how she set up and shot the photos.

Folks, this is what I've been spending my time on: We're launching new discussion forums, article comments, and profile pages Tuesday. You can read more about it here. So I'll post more March contest and wildlife galleries as soon as I can ... thanks.

By Paul E. Kandarian
Globe Correspondent

Erica Greenberg was a freshman at Sharon High School last year when she read about the Dedham-based nonprofit Hope In Bloom, which plants gardens for free at the homes of breast cancer patients. She said she saw the opportunity to "be able to contribute two of my greatest passions in life, helping others and taking photographs."

By Sinead Carew Reuters Sony Ericsson is betting heavily on camera phones in the United States this year, hoping high-end photography will convince consumers to buy a new phone or replace digital cameras. The Sony Corp and Ericsson venture has seen strong international sales of its

While some analysts are skeptical about the timing for such devices, Sony Ericsson plans to launch its C905 8 megapixel camera phone (above) in the hope the boost in picture quality and carrier promotions will help it increase sales here.

It's time for another off-contest solicitation; we haven't had one since your Food shots last month.

As I was shoveling my driveway earlier this month, I was thinking about the weather adage about March, "In like a lion, out like a lamb." Turns out it really has nothing to do with weather, but concerns the positions of the constellations Leo (the lion) and Aries (the ram) at the beginning and end of the month. Also, there were some good zebra shots in the B&W contest, and POTW Caitlin Smith had a nice close-up of a camel.

So how about sending me your best wildlife shots? No pets, please. Ideally, I'd prefer wildlife unencumbered by fences or cages, but I'll take farm and zoo animals. I expect birds to be a popular subject.

Since I like to display these photos in a full-screen gallery, I prefer 1024 px wide for horizontals, 800 px for verticals. Full-res is fine; I have an Action set up in Photoshop that reduces it to 72 dpi.

Also, let's limit it to no more than 3 shots per person, ok?

Really examine your photos for quality and composition. It's easy to just point your camera and click, but I'm not looking for snapshots. We've all seen enough good photography posted here in the past 7 months to understand that the elements of subject, composition, lighting, context, focus, lack of clutter, color, texture, proportion, and more all come into play to create a great photo.

As longtime Globe photographer Bill Brett used to tell me, "I don't take a photograph; I make a photograph."

So let's see your wildlife creations. As always, email them to raw@boston.com.

Hope everyone had a great weekend and took advantage of yesterday's weather to practice some outdoor photography. I'll post the winners of the February Black & White contest early afternoon.

I'll also start posting the March entries for "Nighttime is the right time". Watch this week for another Globe critique as well as tips for shooting sporting events from the Globe's Jim Davis.

Also, it's time for another off-contest solicitation; we haven't had one since your Food shots last month. As I was shoveling my driveway earlier this month, I was thinking about the weather adage about March, "In like a lion, out like a lamb." Turns out it really has nothing to do with weather, but concerns the positions of the constellations Leo (the lion) and Aries (the ram) at the beginning and end of the month. Also, there were some good zebra shots in the B&W contest, and POTW Caitlin Smith had a nice close-up of a camel.

So how about sending me your best wildlife shots? No pets, please. Ideally, I'd prefer wildlife unencumbered by fences or cages, but I'll take farm and zoo animals. I expect birds to be a popular subject.

Since I like to display these photos in a full-screen gallery, I prefer 1024 px wide for horizontals, 800 px for verticals. Full-res is fine; I have an Action set up in Photoshop that reduces it to 72 dpi.

Also, let's limit it to no more than 3 shots per person, ok?

Really examine your photos for quality and composition. It's easy to just point your camera and click, but I'm not looking for snapshots. We've all seen enough good photography posted here in the past 7 months to understand that the elements of subject, composition, lighting, context, focus, lack of clutter, color, texture, proportion, and more all come into play to create a great photo.

As longtime Globe photographer Bill Brett used to tell me, "I don't take a photograph; I make a photograph."

So let's see your wildlife creations. As always, email them to raw@boston.com.

By Christopher Shea

The Cambridge-based artist Peggy Nelson has come up with a new "urban intervention" that plays off the Boston tradition of saving parking spaces after snowstorms, and she invites her fellow citizens to join in on Flickr. While Southie residents are famous for using anything at hand to reserve the spots they've shoveled (or even haven't shoveled), Nelson's Cones Project focuses on that icon of space-saving: the orange traffic cone.

Partnerships are bringing photography new fans

By Terry Byrne
Globe Correspondent

At a time when most businesses are cutting back, Winchester's Griffin Museum of Photography is expanding.

A few things:

> Early next week, we're unveiling a new homepage for RAW that will make it easier for us to highlight good photography and stories and easier for you to find the features you want. Look for the new page Monday afternoon or Tuesday.

> Want to chat live with a Globe photographer? Mark your calendar and join us at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday for an hourlong talk with Jim Wilson, assistant photo director. Jim knows all there is to know about camera equipment; he does all of the purchasing for the Globe's Photo Dept. So if you have questions about camera bodies, lenses, filters, lights -- you name it -- Jim's your guy. He also loves to take time-lapse photos; you can see his latest handiwork here.

> Also next week, Globe photographer Jonathan Wiggs will choose another RAW Dawg for a critique.

> Our judge for the February Black & White contest will be the Globe's Stan Grossfeld, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and an associate editor at the Globe. He'll narrow the field to the Final Fifty next Friday, March 6.

That's it for now ... Don't forget the deadline to enter February's B&W contest is midnight tomorrow (Saturday the 28th). I'll keep adding entries to our big galleries over the weekend.

If you're looking for something a little extra special to slip your photographs into, try the Back Bay Framery at 303 Newbury St., Boston, 617-424-1550. Frames are 25 percent off and photo albums 50 percent off as part of the store's annual spring sale. We were partial to the delicate, ribbon- and button-adorned frames and albums by Jill Schwartz (above), but you'll find plenty of options in leather, Italian wood, sterling silver, and more.

Bloomberg News

Ritz Camera Centers Inc., the largest camera store chain in the United States, has filed for bankruptcy protection, blaming the deepening US recession and the consumer transition to digital photography.

By Lara Jakes
Associated Press

Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently ordered a review of a Pentagon policy banning media from taking pictures of flag-draped coffins of military dead, signaling he was open to overturning the policy to better honor fallen soldiers.

Eric Draper spent the past eight years alongside George W. Bush as the chief White House photographer. Draper, 44, who had covered the 2000 campaign for the Associated Press, took the White House from film to digital as he met world leaders and mixed it up with Britain's Prince Philip. He also received an unexpected farewell gesture from No. 43 last week. Here are excerpts from a telephone interview by Boston.com Editor David Beard with Draper, who spoke from his home in Alexandria, Va.

Boston photographer rendered the essence of his subject into an exacting art

By Bryan Marquard
Globe Staff

A street troupe caught Al Fisher's eye more than 20 years ago as he shopped at Quincy Market, and as one of Boston's best commercial photographers, he studied the performers with a more penetrating gaze than others who stopped to watch the show.

Just 4 days left to enter the January contest, with the theme of "Cold". Read more about the theme and how to enter. I'll start posting the entries in a gallery soon.

I have another Photographer of the Week feature; I'll post that Wednesday.

Also this week we're getting a new tipsheet on taking photos in the cold from Globe staff photographer Mark Wilson.

On Thursday, Essdras M. Suarez, another Globe photographer, will sit down with RAW vice president Eric Bauer to choose one of your portfolios for a critique. Look for that early next week.

Finally, in a few weeks we're introducing a new monthly feature on RAW that will provide head-to-head camera and lens reviews. More on that later.

Another helpful tip from a RAW Dawg: Dan Sullivan says that since many of you seem interested in critiques of your work, check out PopPhoto Flash, a blog by the editors of Popular Photography & Imaging magazine.

"I signed up awhile ago to receive regular e-mails from PopPhoto which include numerous equipment/book reviews and daily critiques of submitted photos," Dan writes. "These critiques or not very involved or lengthy, but still I find them interesting and helpful."

Here's a link to the critiques.

This Friday, Jan. 30, is the deadline to submit up to three entries in the Town of Chelmsford's annual photography contest. There are categories for students, amateurs, and professionals, but you must be a resident of the town to enter. All photos will be displayed next week at the Community Center as part of the town's WinterFest, sponsored by the Chelmsford Cultural Council. More details and a submission form can be found on the town website. Town Hall is at 50 Billerica Road and the phone number is 978-250-5201.

By Lynn Asinof
Globe Correspondent

Heather and Jesse Ciras have a dream. The couple, who have a fledgling photography business shooting weddings on weekends, wants to build their part-time venture into a full-time operation.

Photographer Kerry Brett of Hingham is offering a portrait package for January and February to raise money for the Ellie Fund, a nonprofit dedicated to providing breast cancer support. Brett's portrait program has raised more than $100,000 for the fund since 2001. The $150 package includes a one-hour studio sitting and a black-and-white 8-by-10 portrait; payment goes directly to the Ellie Fund. For information, call Kerry at 781-749-8205 or e-mail info@brettphotography.com.

With three major works of documentary photographs to his credit, Glenn Ruga of Concord has long been aware of the need for a virtual repository of similar exhibits that explore the human condition. His new website, socialdocumentary.net, provides a forum for photographers to post their work and viewers to learn about social issues worldwide.

By Elsa Dorfman

My love of Polaroid began in 1962 when I met photographer Nicholas Dean at the Grolier bookstore in Harvard Square. He worked at Polaroid as a technical researcher, and part of his job was to test new films. On his lunch hour and after work, he would drop by the store, then as now a destination for poets, and take pictures of anyone who was hanging around. They were black-and-white photos. Peel apart, with a stick of preservative to fix the image from the ravages of light.

A settlement was reached in the fight over seven photographs taken during Marilyn Monroe's "Last Sitting" in 1962. The pictures were among 2,500 erotic shots Bert Stern took of the movie star for Vogue magazine just before her death. Two photographers approached Stern last year to make a deal involving seven film transparencies from the shoot. Stern sued because he believed the items had been stolen. Photographers Donald Penny and Michael Weiss said another colleague found the transparencies in curbside garbage in Manhattan in the 1970s. Under the settlement, nine sets of photos will be jointly produced and sold. (AP)

This Food gallery is done -- whew! You certainly are enthusiastic about taking food shots. We'll have to have another call for food photos in the summer or fall. Use the "Full-screen" link to see the images full-size.

Now I'll turn my attention to the January contest. Just one week left to submit your best "Cold" photo.

Meanwhile, enjoy the food:

Wow - you are inundating me with your food shots -- it's great! I'll continue to post them until early next week, so if you haven't sent in your best food shot yet, just do so by emailing it to raw@boston.com.

By the way ...

Hi everybody -- I want to explain two issues that have cropped up in some comments from a few of you:

The Globe carried an LA Times story today about how in the Gaza conflict in the Middle East, Arab media are using a potent arsenal of photographs to try to influence public opinion about the conflict. You can read it here:

January is allegedly Diet Month, a designation surely foisted upon us by the same people who have declared March as "Adopt a Rescued Guinea Pig" Month and September "Pleasure Your Mate" Month. However, Diet Month does make sense, falling as it does in the month of New Year's resolutions that often involve eating -- or rather, not eating.

So I was thinking: Since we're finished with the Moon shots (see the entry right below this one), and it's rather nippy outside, why don't we try food photography -- something you can practice right in the warmth of your own kitchen?

Several of you sent in more moon shots over the holidays, and I've added them to our gallery. That'll do it for the moon shots ... thanks for the contributions!

In the gallery below, use the "Full screen" link to see the photos full-size.

When we see the best pictures, no words are necessary. The images say it all. But sometimes it's nice to know what went into capturing those moments. The Jan. 4 issue of The Boston Globe Magazine takes you behind the lens, hearing from the photographers of the Globe staff who shot the most memorable photos of the year.

Steve Centamore's family has owned Bromfield Camera since 1966. He knows a thing or two about film, repairs -- and Robin Williams.

A Q&A by Courtney Hollands
Boston.com Staff

Do people still buy film cameras?
Ninety percent of our business is in digital cameras. But we also sell dinosaurs that still use film; about 8 to 10 percent of our customers are looking for film cameras. There's a certain romance about film cameras; they render colors differently, with depth.

Scituate photojournalist's images captured drama of the Obama campaign

By Mark Arsenault
Globe Correspondent

Sometimes a news story becomes so big, so compelling, that its every twist makes not just headlines, but history. On the trail of that kind of story, there's almost no hardship a journalist will not endure.

Earlier this month, David Pogue, the very funny technology columnist for The New York Times, published a list of photography tips and tricks that he says are the best he's ever run across. Here's an excerpt, and a link for you to read the entire piece:

By David Pogue
The New York Times

It's a crazy time of year to be finishing a book. But in between present wrapping and tree trimming, that's exactly what I'm doing. It's a book on digital photography, which, as you probably know, is among my favorite hobbies.

As I write, I keep coming across these important tips and saying to myself, "Man, this is what people REALLY need to know. I should pull them out into a special list at the back of the book called, 'The Best Photography Tricks of All Time,' so people can't miss it."

So that's exactly what I'm doing. Thought I'd send you the list as it stands today, so you'd have it when you unwrap that shiny new digital camera that you get as a gift. (Most of these apply to consumer cameras, not S.L.R.'s.)

THE BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TRICKS OF ALL TIME

Lots of catching up to do this week, gang ... I'll post another On Assignment essay, another critique of a RAW Dawg's portfolio by a Globe photographer, some recent Globe exhibit reviews, and of course, entries for the December "'Tis the Season" contest.

Eloquent Nude: The Love and Legacy of Edward Weston and Charis Wilson
Film at the Museum of Fine Arts next Saturday (Dec. 20) at 10:30 a.m.

By Sebastian Smee
Globe Staff

She was preposterously beautiful, their story intensely romantic. But Charis Wilson, who was once the lover, model, and collaborator of photographer Edward Weston, wants you to know above all how to pronounce her name. It's "Karis," folks.

Lorietta Snyder Shactman, who taught digital photography in the Merrimack Valley and worked at Ritz Camera stores in the region, died of lymphoma at her home in Plaistow, N.H. recently. She was 51.

Mrs. Shactman was born in Malden, Mass. She graduated from Stoneham High School and attended Northeastern University. She taught workshop classes on digital photography in the Merrimack Valley and worked as a professional photographer. She also worked as a manager at Ritz Camera stores in Massachusetts and New Hampshire for 15 years.

Mrs. Shactman leaves her husband, Steven of Plaistow; two sons, Scott of Norwood, Mass., and Jordan of Plaistow; her parents, Carol and Robert Snyder of Plaistow; and two sisters, Wendy Bush of Plaistow and Nancy Nadler of Atkinson, N.H. Burial was in Sharon Memorial Park in Sharon, Mass.

Beloved shop steps out of the picture

By Justin A. Rice
Globe Correspondent

To the sounds of Sunday morning jazz playing on his stereo, Steve Walker drained bleach and other chemicals from a series of tubes inside a large device that transforms film into printable negatives. While Walker shut down the machine, his friend Raphael Pol unhooked an even chunkier machine that prints negatives on paper.

"This machine has had very little use lately; I used to do 50 to 75 rolls [of film] a day," Walker said. "The last year or two, I've done 20 or 15 a week."

With the age of digital photography in full bloom, Walker's shop, the South End Photo Lab at 597 Tremont St., will close its doors at the end of this month after 20 years in business.

Hey, gang -- sorry I was out of commission yesterday ... believe it or not, I have other responsibilities outside of RAW, although a completely RAW life would be a nice indulgence ...

Here are some Thanksgiving images from around the country for you to enjoy this holiday weekend. Click on the full-screen link for large images.

By Mark Feeney
Globe Staff

Jules Aarons, a Boston University physicist who was an internationally known expert in the study of radio-wave propagation and an acclaimed photographer whose work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, New York's Museum of Modern Art, and Paris's Bibliotheque Nationale, died last week at his home in Newton after battling congestive heart failure. He was 87.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Here's some food for thought: If you have nude photos of your wife on your cell phone, hang onto it.

By Christopher Shea
Brainiac blog

The writer John Hockenberry has soured on the postmodern metropolis -- a view he airs, not unironically, in the November issue of Metropolis magazine. "From the ground, megacities have trouble conveying a distinctive skyline," he writes. "Shape and texture are best appreciated from the air. From the foreground, sheer density trumps all other qualities." And he has little good to say about the modern skyscraper-office, which he refers to as "stacks of boxes" and "factories for making to-do lists."

By Michele Morgan Bolton
Globe Correspondent

For a decade, Patricia Fanning has navigated the delicate balance between two passions and worlds.

One is her job as an associate professor and head of the sociology department at Bridgewater State College.

The other, a biographer of F. Holland Day, a Norwood native and one of the world's most influential photographers at the turn of the 20th century.

E-mail your Democracy in Action shots to raw@boston.com.

Hope you've all voted or will at lunch or on your way home from work. It appears that many polling places were crowded this morning, so democracy is in full bloom.

There are a few ways you can take part in our coverage of today's voting.

If you have your camera handy when you vote, send us your photos of the scene at your polling place.

Or be one of our poll-watchers; that is, after you vote, report to us on where you voted, who you voted for (if you don't mind telling us), how crowded the polling place was, and any other details you want to add. You can read what others have written so far here (and sort by town), and if you want to add your observations, just fill out this easy form.

Feeling patriotic? Then belt out a tune for all to hear. All you have to do is dial a number, wait for the beep, clear your throat, and start singing. We even provide the lyrics to four popular patriotic songs. Believe me, you don't have to have a good voice -- just listen to some of the clips others have already recorded. Here are the details.

Meanwhile, I've uploaded the last of the foliage shots into the gallery; next up are your action sports shots, which are pouring in.

Also on tap: Another On Assignment essay and photos, a Globe tipsheet from photographer Joanne Rathe on taking good photos for holiday cards, polls to choose themes for December AND January (to give you time to shoot), and soon, voting for the October "Up Close" contest winner.

We've featured dramatic shots of the Boston skyline and colorful foliage; how about some action shots of people? It's fall sports season, and kids are playing football, soccer, field hockey, volleyball, running cross-country, and more. Adults are running road races, playing touch football, and pulling muscles.

Let's see some action! Send in your best sports shots to raw@boston.com.

Several things going on and coming up in the Queendom of RAW:

> The October "Get Close" contest ends at midnight Friday, so add those tags or upload those photos as soon as you can. We'll give photos added to brand-new Flickr accounts a couple of days to show up, and then a Globe photographer will help us narrow the voting choices to 50. Everybody here at B.com and El Globo are flat-out with election coverage, so if our Voting Machine doesn't get posted until the end of next week, please understand why.

There's more:

RAW is a site for amateur photographers; a place for you to showcase your images, enter contests, and get recognized for the wonderful work you do.

But it's also a place to learn -- the monthly critiques by Globe photographers are an example -- and to get inspired.

The photo above is an example of the latter. It certainly impressed the editors at Editor & Publisher magazine -- a trade journal for us journalist types. They named this photo by Globe staff photographer Essdras M. Suarez its Feature Photo of the Year. It, along with other winning photos, are in the magazine's November issue.

We're very happy for Essdras, who has won lots of awards in his career. If you want to see more of his work, visit his portfolio on the Globe's Photography site. And be inspired.

Late Columbia University librarian amassed a stunning set of historic images

By David W. Dunlap
New York Times News Service

Herbert Mitchell was a Columbia University librarian who filled his high-ceilinged Morningside Heights apartment with rare stereographs, seductive daguerreotypes, Majolica ceramics, Parian statuary, and cabinets full of 19th-century architectural books.

In 2007, the Metropolitan Museum of Art was able to add to its photography collection the 3,866 stereographic views of New York City from the 19th and early 20th centuries that Mr. Mitchell donated that year. Most show Central Park not long after its construction. Some of them were published in the winter 2008 issue of the museum bulletin, "Creating Central Park," by Morrison H. Heckscher.

Fame is the name of her game

By Mark Feeney
Globe Staff

"Annie Leibovitz: Life Through a Lens" is, in effect, an infomercial. To be sure, it's an infomercial for a quality product. Leibovitz has long been the world's most celebrated celebrity photographer. But it's still an infomercial - for a family firm, as it were. The documentary, which aired on PBS's "American Masters" in January 2007, was written, photographed, and directed by Barbara Leibovitz, Annie's sister.

The chat has ended, and it was great. Lots of good suggestions and tips, and a lot of photo exchanging! Thanks to all who took part. We'll do it again soon. Meanwhile, you can read the transcript:

A RAW reader writes: "Hi, I was wondering if you can suggest any photography classes to take? I do not want a "school", as the course duration is often long and they can be pricey. Thank you."

First, let me tell you about the classes I've taken, then I'll throw it open for everybody to chime in.

OK folks, we have a lot on our plate today.

> In about an hour, Globe photographer Dina Rudick will sit down with RAW staffer Eric Bauer to choose -- and then critique -- a set of photos submitted by one of you. We'll post her thoughts and tips later this week. Our first critique, by Globe photographer John Tlumacki, was a big hit with all of you. If you missed it, you can read it here. And then apply for your own critique by sending five photos to raw@boston.com.

> We're testing and tuning up the Voting Machine today so you can start to vote for your favorite September "My Neighborhood" photos. And we'll start accepting entries for October's contest, which you voted to have the theme "Up Close".

> Globe photographer Suzanne Kreiter has written a tipsheet on composition; I'll post that this morning.

> Finally, you have sent in a ton of great foliage shots already ... I'll start to post those as well as soon as I can.

Thanks ...

As Arnold Kaplan pointed out in his item about good spots in Vermont to shoot foliage, it's the season to try to capture those vivid colors in interesting ways. Over the next few weeks e-mail your best fall foliage shots and I'll post them. Meanwhile, here's a sample of photos from the Globe's photography staff that may help you think about how to shoot these classic pictures in interesting ways.

Our friend Arnold Kaplan, who has written a book about shooting lovely landscapes (he calls them "scenics") in Vermont, has graciously shared some of his inside tips with us. If you're planning to shoot foliage up north this month, you'll find his information helpful.

By Arnold John Kaplan, APSA-AFIAP

Vermont: A Photographer's Paradise
Vermont is a special place. A photographer's world of perfect compositions. Small picturesque villages with white steeple churches and quaint houses nestled in the valleys. Old farmhouses and red barns on the rolling hills and meadows. A countryside that changes colors and character with the seasons.

The green mountains, hills, and forests of summer change to brilliant hues of orange, red and yellow in the autumn. Next comes winter with deep marshmallowy snow and crisp, clear, cold air.

Everywhere you look, you see photo possibilities and each photo scenic should be visited again and again to catch the various moods, whims, lighting, and designs of nature. All these ingredients add that extra touch for award-winning photographs on your first visit to "Photographers Paradise".

Since I wrote an earlier entry about Boston skyline shots, more RAW readers have sent in their contributions. Here are a few more:

Another good conversation going on in the Amateur Photography forum, where people are debating the merits of various online photo storage services such as Picasa, Flickr, and SmugMug.

A couple of comments:

I like Picasa. I tried to use Flickr and I like the idea, but Picasa is just so much more easier to use and upload things on to.
-- ajstarsurprise

I use Flickr. It's not free for me; I needed to upgrade due to the amount of photos I had. But I had started on Flickr, so I just kept it going. It's a well run site, in my opinion.
-- BuzzardBoots

Here are more comments. Add your own here as well.

I asked in an earlier post for people's best tips on getting a good shot of the Boston skyline, and invited anyone who had such photos to send 'em in. We've received several:

Joao Bustolin of Somerville sent in several shots, including the one above, about which he wrote: "Taken in front of MIT, a classic view of Boston. I shot this on July 3rd, when I went out to actually find a good place to photograph the fireworks the next day. I love this shot for the colorful reflections on the water. Now it hangs on my living room wall. Canon 5D, focal length was 38mm from a 28-135mm lens, f/11 through 10 seconds and ISO 320."

Joao loves shooting the city at night, he says, "even though before I leave I always think it's a burden carrying a bag with 3 lenses and a tripod, but as soon as I start, I just let the city lights take me away." You can see more of his photos on his website, Frozen Emotions.

Three more Boston skyline shots from Joao:

Hey, there's an interesting discussion starting over on the Photography forum that I wanted others to get involved in ... the question posed is this:

"I've been shooting pictures in Boston for years, but I've never taken one of those classic night shots of the Boston skyline. What's the best spot to shoot from that's not in the middle of the harbor?"

Here are the responses so far:

Everybody's taking pictures! Sammy Morris, a 9th-year running back who was doing well in his first season with the Patriots last year when he got injured, loves to take photos around New England and of course, of his family.

This photo that Sammy Morris took of his children playing in the back seat of the car while waiting for their mother is one of his favorites.

Morris enjoys photography so much that he told the Globe's Mike Reiss that although he has an interest in a career in coaching or counseling after his NFL career, he wouldn't mind if photography and writing are part of his future.

"It's just another part of what makes me me," Morris said. "I've just kind of found that I enjoy to write and take pictures."

Here's Mike's story:

We're interested in hearing what photo storing and sharing sites you use, and why. Picasa ... iPhoto ... Photobucket ... Shutterfly ... Flickr ... Smugmug ... what do they offer that you like?

Also tell us about more obscure sites that you've discovered or are emerging as good sites to store, catalog, share, and get comments about your photos.

Your information will help us compile a good, thorough resource list for everybody, so please be specific in your comments.

Tomorrow's an interesting date: Aug. 8, 2008, or 08/08/08 or 8/8/8. It's not as auspicious a date as say, 01/08/35 (Elvis Presley's birthday), but an interesting combination of numbers nonetheless.

So Flickr is celebrating the date by asking photographers to submit one photo taken at some point during the 24 hours of that day. They're calling it Flickr 888, and it's the latest in their "24 hours of Flickr" series. Not only will they publish your photos on the Flickr 888 site, they also are printing postcards to be sold in packages on Moo in the fall.

Check it out on the Flickr 888 group page.

There are several ways to submit your photos for publication on RAW. Here's how: