Our next GoToMeeting (GTM) is scheduled for Thursday,  May 17th, at 6:00 PM Central.  That is 7:00 Eastern, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific, 3:00 Alaskan, 1:00 Hawaiian.  Expect a run time of one or two hours.   These sessions are always BYOB. 

This meeting will occur every Thursday at 6:00pm CST until further notice.

Agenda / Summary

Thursday is our day to socialize and discuss/view photography ahead of foto-friday, using GTM's ridiculously easy to use screen sharing tool.  This is a great way to get to know your 'group-mates' and it's fun to boot.  Bring your beers, wines and spirits and please have some photographs, old or new, yours or something you found on the 'net, ready to share.

Questions of any sort are welcome at all virtual-vinemeets.

Joining the Meeting

The link and meeting ID are located in the group discussion tab (click the Newsvine Photographers tab directly above the comments section), or you may e-mail to request information.  Detailed instructions for joining the meeting are located here.

Upcoming Meetings

Thursday, May 22nd @ 6:00 PM CST - tuesday-techniques

Thursday, May 24th @ 6:00 PM CST - Show & Tell

Donate to Newsvine Photographers

All donations will be used towards the purchase of another year of meeting software and are greatly appreciated.

Our next GoToMeeting (GTM) is scheduled for Thursday,  May 10th, at 6:00 PM Central.  That is 7:00 Eastern, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific, 3:00 Alaskan, 1:00 Hawaiian.  Expect a run time of one or two hours.   These sessions are always BYOB. 

This meeting will occur every Thursday at 6:00pm CST until further notice.

Agenda / Summary

Thursday is our day to socialize and discuss/view photography ahead of foto-friday, using GTM's ridiculously easy to use screen sharing tool.  This is a great way to get to know your 'group-mates' and it's fun to boot.  Bring your beers, wines and spirits and please have some photographs, old or new, yours or something you found on the 'net, ready to share.

Questions of any sort are welcome at all virtual-vinemeets.

Joining the Meeting

The link and meeting ID are located in the group discussion tab (click the Newsvine Photographers tab directly above the comments section), or you may e-mail to request information.  Detailed instructions for joining the meeting are located here.

Upcoming Meetings

Thursday, May 17th @ 6:00 PM CST - Show & Tell

Thursday, May 22nd @ 6:00 PM CST - tuesday-techniques

Donate to Newsvine Photographers

All donations will be used towards the purchase of another year of meeting software and are greatly appreciated.

Our next GoToMeeting (GTM) is scheduled for Tuesday,  May 8th, at 6:00 PM Central.  That is 7:00 Eastern, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific, 3:00 Alaskan, 1:00 Hawaiian.  Expect a run time of one or two hours.  

Agenda / Summary

Tuesday is our day to discuss techniques used in modern photography and other Photographers/Newsvine operations.  The topic of  discussion will be Main Street.  Participants were given two weeks to complete an example of long exposure to bring for discussion on this second session. 

The participants have reluctantly agreed that they would share the results with the Photographers community by writing an article about what each participant learned and display the results.

Joining the Meeting

The link and meeting ID are located in the group discussion tab (click the Newsvine Photographers tab directly above the comments section), or you may e-mail to request information.  Detailed instructions for joining the meeting are located here.

Upcoming Meetings

Thursday, May 10th @ 6:00 PM CST - Show & Tell

Thursday, May 17th @ 6:00 PM CST - Show & Tell

Donate to Newsvine Photographers

All donations will be used towards the purchase of another year of meeting software and are greatly appreciated.

Today I want to review the copyright  policy here on Newsvine as it pertains to Newsvine Photographers. As far as NVP  is concerned, we are all about presenting our own work. If you feel it's necessary (for illustration purposes) that  you use someone else's image as well,   then you need to give credit. Per the User Agreement and Newsvine Code of Honor, you retain all copyright to content you submit to the site, but you also agree to allow Newsvine to use that image. If you haven’t read them I suggest you do!
 
The Newsvine Code of Honor Section 4a states this:
 
 

“Plagiarism and copyright infringement will not be tolerated. If you did not write something, do not portray it as your own (use the "blockquote" tag and cite your source by linking to the original content). If you do not have the right to republish the content in question, do not post it to Newsvine.”

 
The User Agreement states this under the Prohibited Conduct section:
 

The following non-exhaustive list describes the kinds of illegal or harmful conduct that are prohibited on our Site. You agree not to:....potentially infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any person or entity;….

   
Now that seems pretty clear when it comes to the written word, but for our images you should  interpret  that as meaning any image you post to Newsvine should be one of your own, if it’s not you should give credit to whoever owns it.
 
As for marking your work as being copyrighted, it’s not actually necessary but if you do, you can say something like: “All rights reserved” or use the symbol, the year  and (your name). IE:

© 2012 by Rottlady

I found the following on the internet and think it pretty much covers it all.
 Things to remember about copyright:

• Copyright is a property right.
• Just because you buy a print does not mean you have purchased the copyright.
• Professional photographers are the smallest of small copyright holders.
• Under the Federal Copyright Act of 1976, photographs are protected by copyright from the moment of creation.
• Photographers have the exclusive right to reproduce their photographs (right to control the making of copies).
• Unless you have permission from the photographer, you can’t copy, distribute (no scanning and sending them to others), publicly display (no putting them online), or create derivative works from photographs.
• A photographer can easily create over 20,000 separate pieces of intellectual property annually.
• Professional photographers are dependent on their ability to control the reproduction of the photographs they create.It affects their income and the livelihood of their families.
• Even small levels of infringement—copying a photo without permission—can have a devastating impact on a photographer’s ability to make a living.
• Copyright infringements—reproducing photos without permission—can result in civil and criminal penalties.

After writing all of the previous stuff, now I want to discuss how you can protect your images on the internet. One thing is of course posting a watermark copyright statement on the image. However most don’t know how to do this or find it too much trouble. So one way, is to never post an image in it’s full  size. I generally re-size my images to fit the area on the article. 660 pixels wide and whatever length is appropriate and proportional  for the image to appear in full on the screen. You  don’t want one  so large that someone has to scroll down to see the entire image.
 
If you need help on the resizing of an image I would be glad to help guide you through it, or you can attend one of our Virtual Vinemeets and get help.
 
 

I.have.been watching Six Feet Under and one of the characters is an aspiring artist going to art school.  Photography is her primary medium and she is naturally inclined.  During a scene when she was in class, the students were critiquing their photographs.  The instructor lambasted most of the class' images, explaining that while they were 'technically' perfect in composition and what not, they didn't convey a sense of the creators and that the students weren't pouring themselves into their work as they should.

This popped into my mind several days after viewing that scene as I rested my feet near the overflow drain.  The sight caused me to leave the hot bath and grab my camera for the first time in a month. 

I prefer to work with the available light only so this is not of the greatest quality (and using any additional lighting and tripod was not really appropriate) but the image does indeed say something about the 'artist':

From Wikipedia:

Main Street is the metonym for a generic street name (and often the official name) of the primary retail street of a village, town or small city in many parts of the world. It is usually a focal point for shops and retailers in the central business district, and is most often used in reference to retailing and socializing.

What's on your city's (or neighborhood's) main street?  How are the local businesses fairing in these rough economic times?  What changes have occurred?

Articles should also contain:

• tags:  photo-challenge, main-street
• The photo-challenge branding (further instruction).

Per the results of a photographers-poll, the Tuesday virtual-vinemeets will be used to view and discuss topics related to that month's photo-challenge.  The sessions are designed for participants to learn and teach each other photography (and editing) techniques in order to improve the quality of their images and articles.  The will generally be scheduled on the first Tuesday after the challenge is announced and then again two weeks later.

http://photographers.newsvine.com/photo-challenge for previous challenges and entries. 

Our next GoToMeeting (GTM) is scheduled for Thursday,  May 3rd, at 6:00 PM Central.  That is 7:00 Eastern, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific, 3:00 Alaskan, 1:00 Hawaiian.  Expect a run time of one or two hours.   These sessions are always BYOB. 

This meeting will occur every Thursday at 6:00pm CST until further notice.

Agenda / Summary

Thursday is our day to socialize and discuss/view photography ahead of foto-friday, using GTM's ridiculously easy to use screen sharing tool.  This is a great way to get to know your 'group-mates' and it's fun to boot.  Bring your beers, wines and spirits and please have some photographs, old or new, yours or something you found on the 'net, ready to share.

Questions of any sort are welcome at all virtual-vinemeets.

Joining the Meeting

The link and meeting ID are located in the group discussion tab (click the Newsvine Photographers tab directly above the comments section), or you may e-mail to request information.  Detailed instructions for joining the meeting are located here.

Upcoming Meetings

Thursday, May 8th @ 6:00 PM CST - Main Street challenge

Thursday, May 10th @ 6:00 PM CST - Show & Tell

Donate to Newsvine Photographers

All donations will be used towards the purchase of another year of meeting software and are greatly appreciated.

After completing the long exposure "workshop," NVP is looking to resume its regular "technical" Tuesday virtual-vinemeets.  Despite any themes these sessions may have had, there haven't really been specific agendas and it has been pretty much been open forum.  Open forum allows for some good (and fun) spontaneity but not having an 'agenda' at a VV intended to discuss techniques, whatever they may be, is probably going to be all over the place.

Keeping in mind that the monthly photo-challenge will more times than not be based on a photography technique, it makes a lot of sense that the Tuesday GTMs should focus on helping participants to learn and execute that technique or theme properly, not introduce something totally different. 

When photo-challenges don't warrant two virtual-vinemeet per month, the extra time can be used for whatever the Photographers wanted.  Cancel.  New subject.  Open forum.  Show and tell.  Whatever.

I finally got to go to one of the meetings. first let me tell you it was just as easy as they said it would be. after a 5 sec down load and putting 58rose for a name, i was in, and everyone was so nice in welcoming me. they all had mic's so i could hear them, mine is broken ill get it fixed before then next one. so i typed and they all waited on me.

they were talking about iso, which was lucky for me. as many times as i would have liked to change it i could never find out how, then i got this new camera and was lost even more. for me reading something and then trying to put it to use just does not work out well. lol 

now i can't remember all that helped me so don't you go getting mad if i don't use your name. lol

Rottlady, found my guide book for my camera on line and when thur it till she found the iso page. then she put it up on the screen and explained it to me, one thing at a time. lol it was easy because i could look at the screen as she talked to me, well her and the others. well now i know what it is for and how to change it too, all thanks to the virtual vinemeeting. 

all in all it was a good experience for me, a chance to hear all the people you comment to on the vine and  hear just now really nice they all are. 

I thank all that were involved with this old dog learning something new.

to anyone that has thought about going to one of these meeting, i would tell you that it is worth your time to look in and see.

      THE VIRTUAL-VINEMEET GET A THUMBS UP FROM 58ROSE:::)))

Our next GoToMeeting (GTM) is scheduled for Thursday,  April 26th, at 6:00 PM Central.  That is 7:00 Eastern, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific, 3:00 Alaskan, 1:00 Hawaiian.  Expect a run time of one or two hours.   These sessions are always BYOB. 

This meeting will occur every Thursday at 6:00pm CST until further notice.

Agenda / Summary

Thursday is our day to socialize and discuss/view photography ahead of foto-friday, using GTM's ridiculously easy to use screen sharing tool.  This is a great way to get to know your 'group-mates' and it's fun to boot.  Bring your beers, wines and spirits and please have some photographs, old or new, yours or something you found on the 'net, ready to share.

Questions of any sort are welcome at all virtual-vinemeets.

Joining the Meeting

The link and meeting ID are located in the group discussion tab (click the Newsvine Photographers tab directly above the comments section), or you may e-mail to request information.  Detailed instructions for joining the meeting are located here.

Upcoming Meetings

Thursday, May 3rd @ 6:00 PM CST - Show & Tell

Thursday, May 10th @ 6:00 PM CST - Show & Tell

Donate to Newsvine Photographers

All donations will be used towards the purchase of another year of meeting software and are greatly appreciated.

Our next GoToMeeting (GTM) is scheduled for Tuesday,  April 24th, at 6:00 PM Central.  That is 7:00 Eastern, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific, 3:00 Alaskan, 1:00 Hawaiian.  Expect a run time of one or two hours.  

Agenda / Summary

Tuesday is our day to discuss techniques used in modern photography and other Photographers/Newsvine operations.  The topic of  discussion will be long exposure photography.  Participants were given two weeks to complete an example of long exposure to bring for discussion on this second session. 

The participants have reluctantly agreed that they would share the results with the Photographers community by writing an article about what each participant learned and display the results.

Joining the Meeting

The link and meeting ID are located in the group discussion tab (click the Newsvine Photographers tab directly above the comments section), or you may e-mail to request information.  Detailed instructions for joining the meeting are located here.

Upcoming Meetings

Thursday, April 26th @ 6:00 PM CST - Show & Tell

Thursday, May 3rd @ 6:00 PM CST - Show & Tell

Donate to Newsvine Photographers

All donations will be used towards the purchase of another year of meeting software and are greatly appreciated.

Pit bulls and rottweilers, along with several other breeds of dog, suffer needlessly from bad reputations given by an ignorant public.  It doesn't help that the "news" media seems to be constantly reporting on "deadly pit bull attacks," that those reports use the word 'pit bull' based solely on "witness testimony," that the average person can't reliably identify a pit bull, that opportunistic politicians "quell fear" by proposing (and sometimes passing) ineffective measures to score points, and that idiot boys use that bad rap to assert how "bad ass" and "masculine" they are.

The legislation is especially disconcerting because these laws seek to remove dogs based on breed alone and not individual temperament.  Temperament can't and shouldn't be judged based on sweeping generalizations.  These proposals only hurt law-abiding citizens and good people-loving dogs.  They do not remotely affect those that cause most of the problem (@!$%#s who think breeding and conditioning aggressive dogs is cool).

Luckily, there are organizations (and one "journalist") determined to educate the public and help create a better world for these dogs.

A Rotta Love Plus (ARLP) is one such organization.  Their mission is to "[rehome] Rottweilers and pit bulls in Minnesota, raising breed awareness, educating the public about responsible pet ownership, and advocating for the humane and equal treatment of all dogs without prejudice." 

This is likely their mission because of lot of good dogs are needlessly euthanized.  They are misunderstood and unwanted due the bull@!$%# detailed above.

Each spring, Sarah Thorton of Lintu Art holds a benefit art show, Deviant Art:  Dispelling Myths, which displays artwork from local and national artists.  Proceeds go to support ARLP.   The event just celebrated its fourth year.

I didn't know what kind of "art show" I was attending until walking into the gallery.  In immediate view was this portrait of a pit bull by Jeramy Jensen that returning readers to this column will recognize as Coda.  Surrounding this portrait were other various dog-themed art and registered therapy dogs.

Unfortunately, the painting did not sell to benefit ARLP but the event appears to have been successful in raising needed funds.

Please support the causes you believe in by writing about them and supporting organizations you believe are helping.  Without the good people of the world to take a stand by getting involved, the world's injustices will never be solved.  The new media makes this easy, anyone can get involved, let it be empowering.

Our next GoToMeeting (GTM) is scheduled for Thursday,  April 19th, at 6:00 PM Central.  That is 7:00 Eastern, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific, 3:00 Alaskan, 1:00 Hawaiian.  Expect a run time of one or two hours.   These sessions are always BYOB. 

This meeting will occur every Thursday at 6:00pm CST until further notice.

Agenda / Summary

Thursday is our day to socialize and discuss/view photography ahead of foto-friday, using GTM's ridiculously easy to use screen sharing tool.  This is a great way to get to know your 'group-mates' and it's fun to boot.  Bring your beers, wines and spirits and please have some photographs, old or new, yours or something you found on the 'net, ready to share.

Questions of any sort are welcome at all virtual-vinemeets.

Joining the Meeting

The link and meeting ID are located in the group discussion tab (click the Newsvine Photographers tab directly above the comments section), or you may e-mail to request information.  Detailed instructions for joining the meeting are located here.

Upcoming Meetings

Thursday, April 24th@ 6:00 PM CST - Long Exposure "Workshop" II

Thursday, April 26th @ 6:00 PM CST - Show & Tell

Donate to Newsvine Photographers

All donations will be used towards the purchase of another year of meeting software and are greatly appreciated.

Our next GoToMeeting (GTM) is scheduled for Thursday,  April 12th, at 6:00 PM Central.  That is 7:00 Eastern, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific, 3:00 Alaskan, 1:00 Hawaiian.  Expect a run time of one or two hours.   These sessions are always BYOB. 

This meeting will occur every Thursday at 6:00pm CST until further notice.

Agenda / Summary

Thursday is our day to socialize and discuss/view photography ahead of foto-friday, using GTM's ridiculously easy to use screen sharing tool.  This is a great way to get to know your 'group-mates' and it's fun to boot.  Bring your beers, wines and spirits and please have some photographs, old or new, yours or something you found on the 'net, ready to share.

Questions of any sort are welcome at all virtual-vinemeets.

Joining the Meeting

The link and meeting ID are located in the group discussion tab (click the Newsvine Photographers tab directly above the comments section), or you may e-mail to request information.  Detailed instructions for joining the meeting are located here.

Upcoming Meetings

Thursday, April 19th@ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Thursday, April 26th @ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Donate to Newsvine Photographers

All donations will be used towards the purchase of another year of meeting software and are greatly appreciated.

Our next GoToMeeting (GTM) is scheduled for Thursday,  April 10th, at 6:00 PM Central.  That is 7:00 Eastern, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific, 3:00 Alaskan, 1:00 Hawaiian.  Expect a run time of one or two hours.  

Agenda / Summary

Tuesday is our day to discuss techniques used in modern photography and other Photographers/Newsvine operations.  The topic of  discussion will be long exposure photography.  At this first session, we will want to discuss the participants goals, view and decipher example photographs (please bring some of your own!), and make sure no participant leaves without knowing how to use their camera (please bring yours to the meeting!).

Participants will scatter into the "real" world, create long exposure images, and bring them for discussion in the second session two weeks later (April 24th). 

Then I thought the group could share the results with the greater Photographers community by writing an article about what each participant learned, displaying the results.

Joining the Meeting

The link and meeting ID are located in the group discussion tab (click the Newsvine Photographers tab directly above the comments section), or you may e-mail to request information.  Detailed instructions for joining the meeting are located here.

Upcoming Meetings

Thursday, April 12th@ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Thursday, April 19th @ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Donate to Newsvine Photographers

All donations will be used towards the purchase of another year of meeting software and are greatly appreciated.

No Rocky image this month.

This.challenge was inspired by the wildly successful Roll in a day group on Flickr.  The concept is simple but produces some interesting results:  "The rule is that ALL pics must be taken on the same day and ALL must be posted, duds an' all." 

This is "inspired by" because the group disallows the use of digital cameras.  Roll in a day doesn't allow them for good reason.  By imposing that limitation, the photographer is forced to put greater thought into their images before pressing the shutter button. With fewer restrictions than its traditional counterpart, digital photography's technology can be extremely distracting to the user, empowering them to hit the shutter willy nilly and put little thought into the outcome. 

NVP will just have to trust the participants are following the rules.

Any day in this month of April, equip your camera [pretending that it's using film if it's digital] and take 12 consecutive photographs throughout the day and publish the results, in order, duds an' all.

Articles should also contain:

• tags:  photo-challenge, 12-in-a-day
• The photo-challenge branding (further instruction).

http://photographers.newsvine.com/photo-challenge for previous challenges and entries. 

Photographers, as the spring rains arrive and wash the winter accumulation, the flowers prepare their yearly color display.  Let us celebrate the transition into summer with a flower-themed front page header.

There are already a few flower images in the pool so this one is partially complete.  The deadline is whenever Mal has enough photos (about seven) from as many people to finish it or two weeks.  Old photographs or new, it don't matter.

This a ongoing project that Mal explains here and, for ease of all, utilizes this Flickr Pool.  Photographs may also be emailed to photographers.newsvine.com@gmail.com.  If just signing up with Flickr, you can connect with other Photographers here.

Our next GoToMeeting (GTM) is scheduled for Thursday,  April 5th, at 6:00 PM Central.  That is 7:00 Eastern, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific, 3:00 Alaskan, 1:00 Hawaiian.  Expect a run time of one or two hours.   These sessions are always BYOB. 

This meeting will occur every Thursday at 6:00pm CST until further notice.

Agenda / Summary

Thursday is our day to socialize and discuss/view photography ahead of foto-friday, using GTM's ridiculously easy to use screen sharing tool.  This is a great way to get to know your 'group-mates' and it's fun to boot.  Bring your beers, wines and spirits and please have some photographs, old or new, yours or something you found on the 'net, ready to share.

Questions of any sort are welcome at all virtual-vinemeets.

Joining the Meeting

The link and meeting ID are located in the group discussion tab (click the Newsvine Photographers tab directly above the comments section), or you may e-mail to request information.  Detailed instructions for joining the meeting are located here.

Upcoming Meetings

Thursday, April 12th@ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Thursday, April 19th @ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Donate to Newsvine Photographers

All donations will be used towards the purchase of another year of meeting software and are greatly appreciated.

There is a general interest in using the Photographers GoToMeeting (GTM) software to hold "workshops" to learn photographic concepts, image processing techniques, etc. 

The first subject, due to expressed interest, is 'long/timed exposure photography'. There will be two sessions for this topic.

Wikipedia defines the technique as "using a long-duration shutter speed to sharply capture the stationary elements of images while blurring, smearing, or obscuring the moving elements."

That means we'll be discussing how to go about photographing nighttime scenes, light painting, and "silky" waters. 

A tripod and a remote are helpful but one can do without. A steady surface and the camera's timer is all you need.

This won't be a boring lecture or demonstration.  With fellow Photographers at hand, participants will leave the workshop with some sort of idea of how to accomplish a long exposure.

The biggest challenge for most will be how to use the camera.  We'll stop the meeting and wait for you to retrieve your camera if you forget to bring it.

It's recommended, in preparation, that participants peruse the internets to find photographic examples of what types of images they would like to accomplish.

All Photographers are welcome to join the session, to learn, to listen, to share knowledge (and get smarter here). 

"Tutorial" sessions are held on Tuesdays.  We're looking at holding this one on April 2nd or 10th.  The poll results will determine which. 

Participants will be given two weeks to apply anything learned and bring the results to a meeting for discussion.

Any questions or suggestions?  Leave those below.

Our next GoToMeeting (GTM) is scheduled for Thursday,  March 29th, at 6:00 PM Central.  That is 7:00 Eastern, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific, 3:00 Alaskan, 1:00 Hawaiian.  Expect a run time of one or two hours.   These sessions are always BYOB. 

This meeting will occur every Thursday at 6:00pm CST until further notice.

Agenda / Summary

Thursday is our day to socialize and discuss/view photography ahead of foto-friday, using GTM's ridiculously easy to use screen sharing tool.  This is a great way to get to know your 'group-mates' and it's fun to boot.  Bring your beers, wines and spirits and please have some photographs, old or new, yours or something you found on the 'net, ready to share.

Questions of any sort are welcome at all virtual-vinemeets.

Joining the Meeting

The link and meeting ID are located in the group discussion tab (click the Newsvine Photographers tab directly above the comments section), or you may e-mail to request information.  Detailed instructions for joining the meeting are located here.

Upcoming Meetings

Thursday, April 5th@ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Thursday, April 12th @ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Donate to Newsvine Photographers

All donations will be used towards the purchase of another year of meeting software and are greatly appreciated.

After several previous attempts since 3/15 , halted because of visibility, wind or range-safety, NASA successfully launched five (5) ATREX rockets beginning at 4:58am Tuesday morning (3/27/12).

ATREX ,(Anomalous Transport Rocket EXperiment), is designed to study the ulta-high altitude jet-stream winds, "and their intimate connection to the complicated electrical current patterns that surround Earth". [source]

For explanations on the ATREX program, use this link, and the link above.

For explanations on Heliophysics, use this link.

[All images are property of the author, please respect the copyright and do not download with out prior consent].

by Samuel Gerald Firman

Since the days of mob leaders and chiefs, through Kings and Emperors, right up to CEO's and Bankers, the masses have always sent  their assets, money, produce and labor up to those entities in exchange for the necessities in life.  This tithing or taxing has continued because a few individuals keep managing to monopolize commodities and services so they can siphon wealth from the bottom up.  If the masses  would only educate themselves and realize they could live more abundantly  by harvesting their own food, building their own habitat, generating their own energy  they might at last retrieve control of their lives and let the current powers that be fend for themselves.

Alternative energy,  including solar, will become a world wide phenomena. It is just bound to happen. Believe it or not, solar energy has created all the other forms of energy we use. Oil, coal, gas and wood were all created by way of the Sun. Using solar power can cut out all the middle steps which sometimes take millions of years to change solar into burnables. A change in the philosophy of the masses can cut out all the middlemen and monopolizers of energy as  we know it today. Solar allows the masses to generate energy for themselves instead of owing allegiance and money to the utilities and conglomerates which they now pay on a regular basis.

Going solar doesn't mean we can do away with power companies. We will still require a grid to help make electrical energy transportable and reliable. What will change is that those companies will only receive payment for use of their grid plus a small amount to  ensure an available backup source. Going solar will mean the most effecient and effective use of our Sun and its abundance. Going solar will help keep our Earth from the ravages of current abuse of her resources. We will go solar.

Think about it. This change in viewpoint could reverse the flow of wealth in this world. Individuals would become master of their destiny. Localized generation of energy would lead to stronger communities through joint operation of systems. Our world can be a better place.

Previous in this series.

Other such articles. 

Our next GoToMeeting (GTM) is scheduled for Thursday,  March 22nd, at 6:00 PM Central.  That is 7:00 Eastern, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific, 3:00 Alaskan, 1:00 Hawaiian.  Expect a run time of one or two hours.   These sessions are always BYOB. 

This meeting will occur every Thursday at 6:00pm CST until further notice.

Agenda / Summary

Thursday is our day to socialize and discuss/view photography ahead of foto-friday, using GTM's ridiculously easy to use screen sharing tool.  This is a great way to get to know your 'group-mates' and it's fun to boot.  Bring your beers, wines and spirits and please have some photographs, old or new, yours or something you found on the 'net, ready to share.

Questions of any sort are welcome at all virtual-vinemeets.

Joining the Meeting

The link and meeting ID are located in the group discussion tab (click the Newsvine Photographers tab directly above the comments section), or you may e-mail to request information.  Detailed instructions for joining the meeting are located here.

Upcoming Meetings

Thursday, March 15th@ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Thursday, March 22nd @ 6:00 PM CST - Photo-sharing!

Donate to Newsvine Photographers

All donations will be used towards the purchase of another year of meeting software and are greatly appreciated.

Buildings.  Lines.  Shapes.  Stories.  Ceilings.  Patterns.  Abstracts.  Murals.  Homes.  Stories...  Let's see what the Photographers can do with buildings!

If you don't mind contributing these images to the front page header, please also add them to the Newsvine Photographers Flickr Header Pool. 

Articles should also contain:

• tags:  photo-challenge, buildings-architecture,
• The photo-challenge branding (further instruction).

http://photographers.newsvine.com/photo-challenge for previous challenges and entries. 

Pololū (Hawaiian spelling: Pololū, stressed on the final 'ū') is the Northernmost of a series of erosional valleys forming the east coast of Kohala Mountain on the Island of Hawaiʻi. The word Pololū means long spear in the Hawaiian language.