Month: August 2015

Trey Ratfliff Photowalk in New York City

You may have heard of Trey Ratcliff. After a slow start, his Stuck in Customs blog grew in popularity as did his HDR techniques and vivid style of landscape photography. He's now one of the most popular and influential photographers on the web. Alistair Arthur

Three years ago I attended one of Trey's photowalks. The New York City event was organized with the help of Scott Wyden and B& H. The turnout was impressive. It was the spectacle as hundreds of photographers walked down Broadway toward Bowling Green. At one point we chased away by New York City police who thought we were part of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

After the photo-walk, I had the opportunity to have dinner with Trey and a select few of the photographers. He's doing it again, in New York City, this Thursday 6 August from 5 pm , with the walk starting at 7 pm. It's sure to be fun. Being around Trey is magical.

Discipline Over Passion

This post by John is timely as I am thinking hard and long about making some changes in my life. I'm wearing myself out chasing too many passions and, for far too long, have lacked the discipline of focus. I want to focus on fewer passions while using deliberate practice to enforce discipline around my efforts.

My true commitments are small, just like the set of my true disciplines. In contrast, my passions are as wide and as varied as life itself, and many of them are just temporary, fleeting and fanciful parts of history that will be gone before I know it.

So, naturally, it's better to invest in all of the areas of your life around your disciplines, the set of core commitments you've made, and the things that you are fundamentally for and not against. Again, that set is smaller than you and I probably realize and/or admit.John Saddington

Two Questions

Maid of the Mist

Today we’d love to ask you two questions.

The first one is for fun. The second one is more serious.

First: if you could have any skill or knowledge, what would it be?

Anything goes here, as long as it’s humanly possible. No superpowers. If you think x-ray vision might be humanly possible, that’s fine, but please explain why in your answer.

There is an inquisitive thing inside me that yearns to understand everything about everything. It wants so see and do and experience everything. To follow it's curiosity where ever it leads and to spread a hunger for the same.

Next: what specific skills or knowledge are you working to gain right now?

List up to three if you’re working on multiple things at once.

Right now I am working on regaining lost knowledge. I set my technology inquisition aside a few years ago and I want to restart my journey. I am currently enrolled in an intense pen testing course that I am hoping will force me to regain what I had lost and prepare for further adventures. The reward for completing this training is that I can become an Offensive Security Certified Professional.

I am learning in other areas as well. I have had some setbacks but I am well on my way to completing my journey in The Arcanum. The goal is to raise my level of mastery with my photography, to be expert enough to produce art that can be framed and sold.

Then, here’s a follow-up question (and something for you to ponder):

If your answers to question and #2 are the same, congrats on “walking the walk.” Do you think your sights are set high enough?

If your answers are different, why aren’t you working towards what you answered in question ?

Thanks for sharing, I can’t wait to hear your answers.

Also, if you answer the questions, please share this post with a friend or on Twitter or Facebook. We’d love to get as many answers to this question as possible with your help.

Corbett Bar

I think my answers are in alignment. Do you?