Remiss I Have Been

As the title says, Remiss I Have Been in not contributing to my blog.
Why So? I ask myself. Many reasons: My parents ill health. Putting together a new image library (see previous post). Re-vamping my own website (click this posts title to view it). Renovating my ancient house in the Dordogne Valley, (currently have half the roof removed and waiting for timber and run out of money to pay for it!). Plus many other mini minor issues that congregate in ones life when one is trying to reach a final goal, as I have no doubt you all feel as often as the next person.
None the less. Onward and upward we must go....
I need to take a trip, not want to on this occasion, Need To. Was going to fly but at my age, the arms are no longer up to it, so am going to drive instead.
The camping car, for those who have not given up on me and still read from time to time, has long departed. In addition to the minor fire calamity, the insurance company arranged for recovery people to take my old girl back to UK for repairs.
Said Recovery people collected my old wagon on the back of an enormous recovery vehicle, en-route to the UK for repairs, the driver managed to hit a bridge with it and the repairs were transformed in to an insurance write off in one simple move....annoyed? Me? Bloody incandescent more like!!!
The insurance company were as good as gold, (not) screwed me down to the last half cent and paid what they could get away with.
For the time being I am back with my very old Mitsubishi 4x4 (I love old things but not a lover of the antique bow-locks) which means I am back using my tent and sleeping bag, gone are the comforts of mobile shower, cooking facilities, toilet and in-built double bed, back are the aching bones, smelly armpits and digging holes behind bushes to crap when not travelling major routes... something I am always reluctant to do.
I am setting off in the next 24 hrs for the UK and plan to be there for no more than two weeks, will have camera gear and sketch books with me so will be do lots of imagery en-route, while there and on the way back (have been finding time for this scarce of late which has not helped my mood in any way shape or form) all of which will be loaded to the various locations it has to go to on a daily or bi-daily basis as I have other work to do too.
Now I have actually re discovered my blog, I shall endeavour to maintain the content as I once did and hopefully re-discover the work ethic that has escaped me for a while. Speak soon.

My Library is Born

Have been working on this for a while and it will be an on going project to improve it constantly. It is an image library with a difference, in that instead of saying the artists come first, they do actually come first. It is a library that covers the spectrum of royalty free, rights managed and rights protected image files in photography, video and graphics.
It does have a micro-stock section but I do not want it perceived as just another micro-stock site,
In addition to the micro it has section dedicated to RM/RP and has a section that I currently call 'Contributor Specials', for want of a better name, for contributors to the site to offer images at the price they decide.
The key differences, apart from the above are:
The commission structure starts at just 30% for the site across the board reducing to 20% after a pre-determined number of sales.In time I aim to have the 20% as standard or even less if it can be financially viable.
The site is more or less portfolio based, in that each contributor has a portfolio created with a brief bio and links to their own sites, (for those with no website their is an on-site mail system for direct contact from potential clients). The portfolios are directly accessible from the front of the site.
Two things here, would appreciate your thoughts etc on the site and the concept and invite you to sign up with the site.
There are no fees involved, no binding contractual obligations,no back door tricks, the only conditions are that every image loaded is offered for sale, the site can deduct 30% of the sale price as the fee for the sale and the file quality is acceptable. Image content is not checked except for the micro section but no pornography.
The site is just a few weeks old and contains images from a few colleagues, so it is all very, very new. here is the link http://www.tops-image-library.com/

There has to be a better way...

The thing I love, the thing I am passionate about, the mistress in my life is; Creativity.

I probably work an average of 14-16 hours, 7 days a week. I do so because there is so much I want to get done. I am described as a 'workaholic' by some, whatever one of those is; antisocial by others and even a 'loner' by some others.

They miss the point, most of the time I am doing the things I want to do, the thing I love.

Being creative in terms of my art, my photography, my house renovations (I am on my third successive renovation project in 6 years and I do all the work myself) because it is all about creating.

I believe, in creating we are learning and in learning we are understanding. In in understanding we are growing and in growing, we should, hopefully, become better people.

More tolerant, more giving and more caring.

I am not the brightest soul on the planet. I am not the most gifted soul on the planet. I am though, possibly, the most confused soul on the planet.

I am confused because I am unable to work out what has gone wrong with our global society.

I am unable to get any understanding of the wanton destruction that is occurring around us in almost every walk of life. The terrorism, in all its guises, as well as the extremists we read about every day, I refer to the governmental terrorism as reeked by the so called civilised western governments.

I am appalled and saddened by it all. It makes me weep to think of the atrocities that man does to man. Even on a local scale, kids killing kids. In the UK this last year, a child playing kick-about with a football in pub car park, shot dead simply because he was there.

UK this year again, a motorcyclist shot dead on a motorway, because he wore a particular jacket.

America & the Netherlands, kids wandering into college and shooting dead as many other kids as possible before committing suicide.

Where will it all end? Hold up. Where the Hell did it all start?

My last post was about an art & photography drop in centre. (I am still pursuing that, its just hard to get people to listen right now, but I never quit until the fat lady sings). I refer to that because, I truly, truly do believe in the creativity that is in even single person on this planet. I not only believe, I have proved time and time again that the phrase 'I Can't...' as uttered by so many billions of people is the anti-thesis of creativity. I say that because, I have had so many people say to me over the years 'I can't...' about them being creative, for me to then sit them down and show them, they can.

I don't suggest for one moment that art, creativity, is the answer to the worlds woes, it would be brilliant if it was but, no, I don't suppose it is but, if was to help bring an end to some peoples anger, frustration and disillusionment, wouldn't that be a small step in the right direction?

I am thinking one of my life goals should be to give up everything I have and travel the world on foot, teaching people that the phrase 'I Can't...' can be expunged from their vocabulary and thinking! Maybe it would help to slow down the 'angry' epidemic that is sweeping the globe like some out of control virus; maybe it would start to bring about an end to the contagion of disillusionment that fills so many lives.

Why have I written all that? because I need to. What I really wanted to do was talk about the new art and photography forum I'm putting together.

A community forum for anything art & photography, for artists, photographers and anyone interested in art & photography. No special requirements or knowledge needed, just enthusiasm for art & photography.

The forum http://www.terryodee-forum.com was initially created to provide a service for the members of my terryodee photostock website, however, once I started to put it together I wanted it to be more than just another exclusive forum, I wanted to create some thing that really is a community forum, somewhere for anyone with an interest in art or photography can express themselves, find out anything and or just read what others are saying or thinking.

One of the important aspects is that anyone can ask for help, its my on-line drop in centre too, I am even including a 'crisis' board for anyone who wants to ask for help about/with anything.

This forum was started in November 2008, it really is that new, so you truly have an opportunity to join now at its very conception and actually help shape it into something to suit you, you can suggest additions to the boards or even removal of boards. It costs nothing and there are no spamming or junk mails. I don't do news letters or try to sell stuff for other people and I certainly wouldn't use the forum to advertise my wares.

I want it to be a place users can describe as 'our forum'. So why not give it a try, join up and see how it develops, its free to leave as well as join.

Times they are getting hard

Times are getting hard. The reality is, there is a world recession happening as we speak and the worst hit people are right here, right now and things are going to get worse. People are going to get desperate, people are going have some serious issues to deal with and they are going to feel like they have no-one to turn to and no where to go, no refuge from the storm that is surrounding them.

I want there to be a place, some-where that is marginally better than the pub, the park or even a soup kitchen. A place people can just arrive at, no matter their circumstances, a place to really be a part of something, an art and photography drop-in centre. The idea is that any-one can come along and pick up a pencil, a paint brush a bit of clay, even a camera and have a go. In doing so, many people will find an out-let for some issues that they may have to do with losing their job, being made bankrupt, having their home repossessed, relationships breaking down and a host of un-imaginable crisis that happen when the finances go to the wall. It's painful and I know because I've been there!

First off, I am looking for an empty work-shop, store, garage, high street shop, that is possible to use for such a project.I would ask you to 'donate' it's use for an initial period, to be negotiated, free of charge to enable the project to get up and running.

I anticipate that quite quickly, a fair number of the attendees of such a project would find them selves producing work that is of a good to high quality, this work can be offered for sale via the drop-in centre with a percentage of the price being taken as a commission and this money being put back into the centre with, hopefully and maybe ambitious thinking here, there being, in time, a reasonable income to enable the centre to start to pay it's own way. Particularly, to pay the rent, rates and utility bills and turning your donation of a property you are finding hard to let into a let property. Speculate to accumulate, if it's been empty for months, it's going be empty for a lot longer now so why not consider it.

Even better, the attendees start to earn a bit of cash and the benefits of that are huge in terms of finances and self esteem.

It goes beyond the current financial crisis, it can be of benefit to all manner of people in any circumstances at any time. It can help in many ways and does not have to end with an up-turn in the economy, it can be and will be a gate-way centre for people to find their creativity and find solace from all manner of demons in their lives, real or imagined; material or spiritual. My belief in the natural creative ability in people is total and my belief that this is a starting point for people to overcome adversity is also total, because I speak from a personal view point.

Contact me if you feel you can help or have an idea of where a property may be.

We will also need volunteers and financial support in the early stages. This is not a charity so there are no 'tax-breaks' or other benefits to be had for giving a couple of euros, dollars or pounds. It's just giving a bit if you can. Visit my website via the link below and click on the donate button if you want to give a bit of money. If you want to be part of the group, contact me via any of the options available here as soon as possible. Thanks

You can check me out here http://www.terryodonnellphotographs.com/about_terry.html

and the painting of the German shepherd is one of mine.

To make a donation please visit http://www.terryodonnellphotographs.com/photo_news1.html or explore another option at https://www.terryodeephotostock.com/gallery.php?gid=61


Terryodee

What we do

What we do is go to great extremes to dump our trash and junk anywhere but where it should be

The trash bin is full but hey, what the hell does that matter I aint taking the crap I generated home with me, and I did dump it near the bin so that makes it okay.

So the bag split, whats that got to do with me? The trash here is bagged and carried way out into the country side, people go to extreme lengths to dump their rubbish, this stuff was miles from the nearest road, just like the stuff below...

If you saw the tiny track I had to clamber down to get to this spot in the middle of a woodland, you would ask the same question as me...How the hell did these people get this old engine block here?

And how about this old washing machine? When i walked through these woods in the morning, No washing machine.. When I walk back through the woods in the afternoon, a washing machine. No trackway this time, just woodland and a dumped washer.

When I was a kid we used to get a shilling, five pence in modern England, for every bottle we took back to the shop, if only that was still do-able

Global Warming? Part 2

I'm British by birth and it is in my genes to complain about the weather. Actually, it's in my genes to complain about everything, well, that's my cover story for being a miserable, sour faced prat and I'm sticking to it.
I am still in a bad humour generally because all my projects this year are way, way behind schedule.
All the reasons are my responsibility really but I can say, hand on heart, that the weather has and continues to play a major role in the delays, which brings me on to the theme most prevalent in the thoughts of all right minded, non-selfish people.
Global Warming.
I travel a great deal, I travel because I need to and in recent times I have travelled by air a great deal.
Air travel is a recent development for me, I have always preferred to go overland and sea as it gives opportunity to see what is around us and enjoy what is around us. On an aeroplane we can 'enjoy' the company of complete strangers who are too wrapped up in their own little worlds to see the real one; take in an in-flight movie (generally a mind numbing action film involving aircraft hi-jacking and plane crashes to give great comfort whilst flying) the back of the seat in front and of course, the in-flight plastic meal in it's plastic wrapping to be eaten with plastic cutlery. All disposable and contributing to the tons of landfill rubbish we all produce annually and even the recyclable stuff is, in my view, very debatable.
The bee up my arse today is... contrails.
For the few who may not know a contrail is the pretty white line scored across the sky by aircraft as they fly over our heads. It is nothing more than water vapour really and, in itself, technically, a totally harmless phenomena, after all, water is the source of life.
However, this day I rose early from bed to find another gloriously beautiful morning, clear blue sky, sun climbing upward over the distant hills and although a little chilly in the shadow of the house, the sun was wonderfully warm in the garden so, breakfast for me was out-doors.
Sitting at the garden table I was looking skyward to spot any Buzzards or Eagles that may have been soaring above in search of their own breakfasts, usually some hapless reptile or small mammal that hadn't quite got the sleep out of it's eyes, when I spied a glint of sun reflected from an aircraft fuselage ahead of the ubiquitous contrail, as ever, my camera was to hand and I snapped the image at the head of this article.
What happens to the vapour, I pondered and watched.
Ten minutes later, I snapped image number two. I started to look for more contrails as I sat there in the garden and found them easily.
Although the noise from aircraft here in central south west France is non-existant, many aircraft do fly over at a great hieght travelling from all manner of international locations to all manner of other international locations. (Just how many aircraft and people are in the air at any given time I wonder?).
As I finished my coffee sitting in the garden, I snapped shot three. This is the many contrails, clearly visible amid the general image, all merging together.
This was the beginning of the death of the gloriously beautiful morning that had greeted me and impelled me to have my breakfast in the garden.
Aircraft alone had turned a clear blue, sunny sky into a hazy sunshine, overcast morning.
How alarmingly depressing is that?
How alarmingly depressing is it that we think we can off-set our carbon emmissions with a tree or some other self justifying act of greeness?
What is the point of that when what I am witnessing is nothing to do with carbon emmissions at all? Yet the phenomina is having a huge impact on the very weather conditions I am sitting in right now!!!
As said before by me, I do believe that the climatic changes we are witnessing are part and parcel of the planets natural processes and to think we can stop that or change it is, basically, a fools errand. However, as also said before by me, I also believe that we, the human race, by our own selfish actions which will not change because of our own self justifications, are accelerating the process and, my own hypocrosy is evident in the fact that later this week I shall myself be climbing into an aircraft to leave this country to fly to another country. Shame on me and shame on all us air travellers.

Global Warming?

I've been reading and listening to the multitude of recent new/rehashed arguments about Global Warming

Global Warming? The very phrase now leaves me cold.
There are, undoubtedly, changes in the weather systems. There are, undoubtedly, changes in the climate. I have no doubt that we, the human species, have contributed in some way.

However...
I am tired of the political exploitation of the phrase 'Global warming', (I have a vivid memory of a senior UK politician giving a sincere, heartfelt interview about his concerns for the environment and demanding that we, the 'General Public', should consider our own behaviour, our travel.

(The Politician was giving this interview on a chartered executive jet flying him to the city of Manchester UK from the city of London UK in the spring of 2007).

I am tired of the commercial exploitation of the phrase.
Organic food costs an average of 15% to 20% more than the usually produced food stuffs. The so called 'Environmentally Friendly' products in the stores are always more expensive than the products we all used to buy but they still come in the same plastic and cardboard packaging, much more than is needed to transport it in.

I'm tired of the scientific worlds opposing views.

I've listened to scientists hammer on about this gas and that pollutant. I've also listened to other scientists hammer on about sunspots effecting the oceans, amongst other contributory factors.

I'm tired of the charities exploiation of the term.

My biggest bugbear is GreenPeace and the sheer hypocrisy they fail to see they preach. Without question, the single biggest polluting machines on this planet are ships. Ships chuck out tons and tons of carbon emissions every time they start their engines, far more than any other machine, factory, process yet there we have Greenpeace and their ships sailing all round the world and to boot, I'd wager that most of their onboard garbage turns into 'seaboard' garbage more than once per trip.

As for "...donate for the sake of your children and your childrens children"

Sorry, don't wash as I have no children. If I did, I don't wear emotional blackmail.

The earth does go through climatic cycles and some of the cycles are extreme. Have we contributed to an extra extreme in this particular cycle? In all probability yes we have.
Is there anything we can do about it? In all probability no, there isn't.
Many, many people are changing their behaviour, buying smaller cars, recycling their household waste, installing energy efficient this and energy efficient the next thing.
Wonderful.

Bloody futile. Why? Because a car is a car and it still produces carbon emissions.

An energy efficient light bulb is still a lightbulb and uses energy, just as switching on the kettle for a brew does when we step back to proudly admire our new energy efficient this that and the next thing.

Recycling as much as possible is great, in the UK and here in Europe, there are specially produced PLASTIC bags and bins for our recyclable plastics, boxes, paper, tins and bottles. All collected by huge gas guzzling lorries taken to either energy hungry recycling stations for sorting, (approx 60% of the waste is NOT suitable for recycling and is either incinerated or put in landfill sites or dumped at sea from barges) then transferred on to other energy hungry factories for processing. Much of it is put in containers and put on gas guzzling ships to be transported to places such as India and China for processing whom we then accuse of being excessively polluting. Which they may well be but largely because we send them the bulk of our crap to process.

I agree that we can-not judge climatic change on local weather, as I write this it is literally teeming down with rain and has been for the last 16 hours, I think it has rained like this on and off since last November, I have a flooded utility room down stairs to prove it!.
Last year at this time it was 36 degrees Celsius. So? We had this same rain fall four years ago.
My own view is the earth is well into one of it's major climatic changes, changes that it has undertaken many times in its billions of years of existence. As mentioned earlier, I do believe we, the human race, have contributed to a possible acceleration of this change but, we are not the cause of it and we will not be able to stop it either.
Modifying our behaviour may make individuals feel better and lay claim to being greener beings but, as said, a car is a car and the emissions it produces may be less but emissions it does produce. The manufacturing of the car, the processing of the raw materials, the fuel it uses... the same applies to all manufactured goods we purchase. It may well have a 'Green Badge' to wear, but the same damage was done in it's production and emissions are still produced.

If you're reading this, you have a computer. Oh dear, thats not very environmentally friendly is it.

If you really want to help the environment, why not start by NOT fly-tipping your rubbish in country lanes, that does include the tissue you blew nose on too.