halphaoiii's photostream

A University Professor with a yen for the shutter and for astronomy. As a professor I get to travel a bit, and I take the camera with me.

I'm willing to share most of my photos, but I'm not so willing to have them modified. I use the attribution, non-commercial, no derivatives license for my work for those I share. Please attribute it as "Copyright © Thomas R. Dean", or "Photo by Thomas R. Dean". If you want to modify a photo, or use a photo for a commercial purpose, contact me. A few photos are all rights reserved. Be aware that if your blog uses advertising, then it is a commercial site and you need permission to use any of my photos.

One of the things that amuses me when browsing the explore pages is how some people complain about other copying their photos without permission in their profile, but then they turn around and include song lyrics in their profile or in the descriptions they attach to their photos. If you are not going to respect the copyright of others, then why should others respect yours?

The other thing that amuses me is the ones that claim that copying without permission is a criminal offense or stealing. It is true that in some jurisdictions it may be criminal, but in most jurisdictions, copyright infringement is a civil offense. Stealing has a specific legal meaning, and copyright infringement does not meet that definition. Call it what it is: copyright infringement.

One thing that puzzles me is some people's interpretation of what a 365 project is. 365 projects are not supposed to be about you! They are supposed to be about how you see the world. The general idea of a 365 project is to take your camera with you everywhere and take at least one picture a day(see here, here and here).The idea is to broaden your perspective and see the potential for art in everything around you. Some of the very good projects I've seen reflect this. However, too many of the 365 projects (particularly by young females) I see on Flickr are very narcissistic. They seem to be based on the premise that they can only be autophotographs(i.e. pictures of the photographer). How does this help you broaden your view of your surroundings? It doesn't. It only shows how self-centered you are. I even saw one comment from one young photographer about how it was cutting into her life because she was missing out on seeing friends because of the 'chore' of setting up a new photograph of herself each day! What a waste of pixels.

My screen name is taken from my favorite telescope filter, the Hydrogen Alpha Oxygen III filter used to enhance contrast of nebulas.

Cameras:
Cannon EOS Rebel XTi
Cannon EOS 630
Rolliecord DBP 6x6

Lenses:
Cannon 50 mm 1.8 EF
Cannon 18-55mm 3.5 EFS
Cannon 35-80 USM 3.5 EF
Tamron 75-300 EF