The Derby Returns!

The Dozens of Muslins National Box Derby is back! The field has expanded and the prize money has risen from $25 to $35 but the rules are the same as last year's - specially-marked cardboard boxes will carry backgrounds through as many trips as they can. The box that logs the most miles before falling apart wins, and each studio it passes through on its way gets $35. Good luck to all!

A Prom to Remember

We're a little bit late with this post, but we wanted to thank Mike Knausz of Mentor, OH, who gave us the opportunity last spring to be part of a very special event - A Prom to Remember, whose mission is "to provide the ultimate prom experience for teens who have been affected by cancer." We were honored to have the chance to donate a copy of 3D041, "Moon's Best Friend," to Mike (who does business as MK Photography). Thanks for the call, Mike, and best of luck to the folks at A Prom to Remember as they continue their noble mission.

Box Derby Fall League Kickoff!

We're guessing we're one of the very few vendors who sends things out in used ("pre-owned?") boxes. While it may not be advisable from a presentation standpoint, we just can't stand to pitch out all that structurally sound, relatively clean cardboard. So we decided to make a game of it!

Here's how it works:

This fall we'll send out twelve brand-new specially-marked single- and double-background-sized boxes. Each will carry a label on the outside with the name of a team. With the help of Cracked.com, I've put together a list of a dozen of the professional, college, and high school teams with the best names.

Here, then, is the line-up for the inaugural season of the Box Derby League:

The Thailand Tobacco Monopoly (professional Thai soccer team)
The Cairo Syrupmakers (high school in Cairo, GA)
The Brevard County Manatees (minor-league baseball team in FL)
The UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs (University of California campus)
The Columbia College Fighting Koalas (University in Columbia, SC)
The Scottsdale Community College Fighting Artichokes (AZ)
The Yuma Criminals (high school in AZ)
The Mt. Clemens Battling Bathers (high school in MI)
The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters (pro Japanese baseball team)
The Watersmeet Nimrods (high school in MI)
The Teutopolis Wooden Shoes (high school in IL)
The Hiroshima Toyo Carp (pro Japanese baseball team).

Simply: whichever box survives the greatest number of shipments wins, and everybody on that team (if you receive that box, you're on the team) will win a $25 credit towards a future rental. I'll make the announcement and post relevant stats in a future newsletter.

A little bit of fine print:

I'll ensure equity among travel distances for each box. In other words, an all-California team would have a big advantage over an all-Florida team, so I'll make sure each team recruits from across all time zones.

You can make minor structural repairs using tape only - any re-construction using additional cardboard, sheetrock, or pressure-treated lumber will be grounds for disqualification. We do, however, encourage you to bribe - er, I mean enlist - your UPS driver.

In the event of a tie, I'll calculate the winner based on total mileage traveled.

If you only do proms, sit tight - Spring League will be upon us in a few short months!

3D010 on the USS Hornet!

A couple weeks ago we had the great pleasure of sending one of our backgrounds off to a unique venue - the flight deck of the USS Hornet, a de-commissioned WWII aircraft carrier docked here in Alameda, CA. Our client, Jan Lundberg, print-on-site photographer extraordinaire, sent us these shots. Were not sure what's up with the severed cockpit, but it is certainly possible that the searing laser-like awesomeness of our background cut that jet neatly in half. That's Jan in the orange, juggling asteroids. The afore-mentioned awesomeness of our background combined with Jan's set-up actually caused an aberration in the space-time continuum which disrupted gravity. The astronaut helmets were software add-ons she did on site. Thanks for the shots, Jan!

This summer we had the opportunity again to donate one of our backgrounds to the San Francisco AIDS Walk's Starwalker tent, a party venue for the Walk's big fundraisers. This year they went for 2D40, Bridge at Sunrise. We were happy to participate in the Walk's tremendous fund-raising efforts.

Thanks to Melanie Humphrey of Estes Park, CO, who sent in this extremely well-timed shot from an assigment at a dance school (obviously) last spring. We think it might be the first time a single person managed to take up the entire frame...

The Only Constant Is Change

The March 31st issue of The New York Times contains an article discussing the changes in photojournalism In the last few years"three forces coincided. They were the advertising downturn, the popularity and accessibility of digital photography, and changes in the stock-photo market." For professionals, none of these has been welcome. Want to read more? Click here.