Carl Weaver Photography

I found this Ipod yesterday on the street in front of my office building and couldn’t help pick it up so I could show people my treasure. Sure, it’s busted beyond hope but I figured perhaps somebody I knew could do something with it. Surely the owner was long gone.

I flipped it over and saw a name printed on the back and did a quick Facebook search and found the rightful owner, who said she had been looking for it everywhere.

Carly, I am sorry I can’t give you better news, but at least you know you can stop looking now. I think it would take a whole team of techies to do anything useful with it, but if you want it back, just let me know.

I got to do the photography at the installation of officers at a Masonic lodge recently and have the best photos online. Entering the line of officers is quite an honor and really a big deal, especially as you progress toward becoming Worshipful Master. John Clair, this year’s Master, asked me to get some photographs at this event. It was a fantastic, moving ceremony, encompassing many different facets of emotion, from pride and celebration to sadness and remembrance. Check out the photos:

Technorati Tags: photography, Masonic lodge, photos, Worshipful Master, photographs

Yes, you read correctly. I am pledging to give 10% of my sales, not profits, to the Stewart Wilson Miner Scholarship Fund. This fund provides money for young people to go to college, helping to defray the high costs of education for them and their families.

That means that if you come for a $100 portrait session and buy $50 of prints, totaling $150, I will give $15 to the fund. If you hire me for $100,000 of work next week (okay, maybe that won’t happen but stick with me here), I will give $10,000 to the scholarship fund. It’s that simple.

Remember – Carl Weaver Photography is the right choice for your photography, corporate blogging and web design needs. What’s more, I funnel some of the money back into the community. And no, my prices are not increasing to do this. Same great service, same affordable pricing.

About the Stewart Wilson Miner Scholarship Fund. This fund is administered by the College Scholarship Committee of Cherrydale Lodge #42, AF&AM in Arlington, VA. It is volunteer-run and every penny donated goes into helping people achieve their dreams of higher education. If you would like to make a donation directly to the fund, please contact me and I will put you in touch with the right people to make that happen. We appreciate your support.

Technorati Tags: Stewart Wilson Miner, Scholarship Fund, education, photography, corporate blogging, web design, Scholarship, Cherrydale Lodge, AF&AM, higher education

Silver Spring is the latest hotbed of controversy in the line between public and private. The issue started when Chip Py, an area photographer, tried to snap some neat pictures in downtown Silver Spring. He was approached by a security guard – not a police officer – and told that he could not do that.

He asserted his right to take pictures in public and was told that he was not in public, that the sidewalk and land was private property. A management company backed up the security guard. It turns out that the city of Silver Spring is leasing the property, save an easement so that traffic can pass through.

Oh, yeah – you can’t call it downtown Silver Spring anymore. That is no longer a location name or general term for a part of town. It’s a trademark. Technically I’m not supposed to use it. Neither are you.

Is this an issue of photographers’ rights? Yes and no. Photography is the issue at hand and why this has blown up into such a big deal. On the other hand, photography is merely an example of the problem, of how the line between public and private is blurred.

From what I have heard, even townsfolk and people in the local government did not know of the transfer of a public into private space.

Leasing land to a private entity is nothing new. This type of thing happens all the time. In this case, though, the government (read: citizens) paid a substantial bit of money for the co-developing of downtown Silver Spring. Oops, I mean the center part of Silver Spring that used to be known as downtown. It really rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? Doesn’t that entitle the people to some rights when on the property they paid for? At least on the sidewalks?

So come down to Silver Spring and join the good folks of Free Our Streets. What better day than July Fourth to celebrate our freedoms guaranteed to us in the First Amendment?

Downtown Silver Spring Photo Walk
a declaration of photographic freedom
Wednesday, July 4, 2007, 12:00pm Noon
At the Green Turf, the corner of Ellsworth and Fenton Streets

Technorati Tags: Chip Py, Silver Spring, downtown Silver Spring, photographer, rights, Photography, Free Our Streets