Originally conceived to be part of another work, Rodin’s Thinker changed the way we look at modern sculpture. Like most things disruptive, this was not the intent but the result. Something to think about.

Puget Sound is home to a couple of orca pods, but until yesterday I have never seen them near Seattle. These whales usually hang out in the San Juan Islands and will make trips down to the south Puget Sound. These whales were headed towards West Seattle. I was able to catch them as they passed the Magnolia bluff. Only wish I had a longer lens.

It was an amazing way to wrap up an beautiful, spring-like day.

Here is some excellent video by Jessica Papkoff as they passed Golden Gardens

Untitled from Jessica Papkoff on Vimeo.

This is a Kodak Brownie No 2A, Model B that my great-grandmother purchased sometime around 1920. It still works. I was able to find some 116 film for it a few years ago and took this timeless picture of the Space Needle.

Much has already been written about the demise of Kodak and their likely impending bankruptcy filing. Many focus on the “cash cow” of film and how while Kodak invented many of the critical elements of digital photography they never capitalized as they should have. These articles are missing a critical piece to understand the long, slow death of an American great. Kodak had started to abandon and alienate even film customers as early as 1984.

What happened in 1984? Kodak eliminated the dated 116 and 616 formats used by my Brownie above. But that is not the real reason. Truth is that Kodak was starting to feel the heat of true competition from Japanese rivals like Fujiflim. How it responded is why the company failed. The company had twice been slapped with antitrust consent decrees. Kodak litigated its way to having those decrees removed in 1994. Later, Kodak attempted to inflame US-Japanese trade tensions with filing a Section 301 petition against Fujifilm. At the time, then CEO George Fisher had had success successfully used legal and political leverage to alter market behavior in Japan when he ran Motorola. The trade dispute was pre-emptive. Kodak’s never filed its concerned with the Japanese government before filing this petition. Amazingly the company disregarded that at the time it was being outspent in the Japanese market by a ratio of 10:1 while charging more for its own film. Somehow, Kodak was still able to have about 10% of the Japanese market. While the company sought to litigate in the US and Japanese markets, it failed to keep pace with innovation in film. Two examples where Kodak did not live up to its comparative advantage. First is the one-time use camera. Fujifilm introduced the one-time use camera that thrilled the Japanese public. A camera could now be purchased cheaply just about anywhere from a department store, drug store or kiosk. The product became an immediate hit. Kodak did not respond to this new product development for two years. Second is high resolution ISO 400 film, a technical breakthrough that addressed the image quality issues. It was a huge success. Again, Kodak did not respond to this new product development for two years.

Kodak consistently choose to cede two years of first-mover advantage to Fujifilm. This is not the Kodak you will read about over the coming days. This great American company lost its way long before the advent of the digital photography. Kodak lost the innovation edge and resorted to attacking the nature of free enterprise to protect its markets. As a result, it lost in the long-term.

That should be a lesson worth remembering today.

Happy New Year and best wishes for an amazing 2012!

This is a view of the start of the Space Needle fireworks from a few years back with my trusty Xpan. It is one of my favorite images since the Space Needle was encased in smoke about 2 minutes later.

You can check out my entire portfolio at Salmon Bay Photography.

As my 4 regular readers know, I enjoy photography.

My portfolio site, Salmon Bay Photography, has freely available wallpaper images for download (personal, non-commercial use only).

Check out Salmon Bay Photography | Free Wallpaper.

If you like those, check out my other wallpaper posts:

Seattle Skyline

Mac OS 10.7 Lion

Snow Leopard

Mt Rainier

Have an excellent weekend!

Seattle’s skyline from Kerry Park in the Queen Anne neighborhood is one of my favorite views of the city. This panoramic was taken on a cold, clear morning with my trusty Xpan. For this weekend edition, I am making this wallpaper available for all 2 of my readers in 3 sizes. Select the link of the size you want below:

1600 x 555 Seattle Skyline

1280 x 444 Seattle Skyline

1024 x 355 Seattle Skyline

You can check out my entire portfolio at Salmon Bay Photography.

Happy Weekend!

Learned over the weekend that the latest version of Apple’s Mac OS is being called “Lion.” Wallpaper will be needed. This lion if one of two resident males at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. Click the image for a 1920 x 1200 wallpaper freely available for personal, non-commercial use.

You can check out my entire portfolio at Salmon Bay Photography.

I finally got a decent shot of one of the two snow leopard cubs at Woodland Park Zoo. Mac fanboys can rejoice! These cubs are a tough shoot. They are very quick and curious and seem to know how to not be photographed. Enjoy the wallpaper. I will keep photographing them.

These snow leopard photos and the wallpapers on my portfolio site, Salmon Bay Photography, are freely available for personal, non-commercial use. See my terms for the fine print.

1600 x 690 Snow Leopard

1280 x 552 Snow Leopard

Check out the snow leopards at Woodland Park Zoo.

My original post from May is proving popular. So here is another wallpaper.

Mt Rainier is a PNW icon. This panoramic was recently taken on another cold, clear autumn morning with my trusty Xpan. Short hike made a challenge in the darkness before dawn. As usual, 3 sizes are available. Select the link of the size below:

1600 x 605 Mt Rainier from Dege Peak

1280 x 484 Mt Rainier from Dege Peak

1024 x 387 Mt Rainier from Dege Peak

You can check out my entire portfolio at Salmon Bay Photography.

My original post from May is proving popular. So here is another view from Kerry Park in Seattle

Seattle’s skyline from Kerry Park in the Queen Anne neighborhood is one of my favorite views of the city. This panoramic was recently taken on a cold, clear autumn morning with my trusty Xpan. Different light from a more southernly sun. For this weekend edition, I am making this wallpaper available for all now 8 (Count’em 8 daily readers. Thanks!) of my readers in 3 sizes. Select the link of the size you want below:

1600 x 555 Seattle Skyline

1280 x 444 Seattle Skyline

1024 x 355 Seattle Skyline

You can check out my entire portfolio at Salmon Bay Photography.