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Mediant

Dan Owen Photography
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PROFILE REVAMP

1 min read
Hello Deviants!

It's been a very long time since I've used this profile, but I just went through and revamped it. I've also added my website URL, which is where all my most recent work can be found.
I may add a little of my newer work up on here as samples as well, but if you're really interested check out the website or my Facebook fan page.
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Greetings journal and deviants,
A little over two months ago my computer died. Completely fried. It was a faithful old machine and I think its time had come. Even still, being a digital photographer without a computer is not cool. Finally-- after three weeks of setbacks-- I have my new custom machine together. I'm loving it so far. In celebration I decided to upload a shot from late last year that I couldn't before due to the computer crash.

I have more work to come, so stay tuned.
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General Updates

2 min read
Another two months go by and, like clockwork, I seem to have found the time and a reason to do another journal entry.
Between school and work the time has flown by. The semester's in full swing and once again I find myself in a never ending scramble for models. I've only been able to do one shoot so far this semester with a model. ONE. On the upside, I'm meeting more people (and models) all the time. It's good to meet people who are taking school seriously rather than just some hobby. But I digress.
That one shoot I did manage to get done came out well. I've just posted three shots from it here. I got to work with Mikol again, so that was fun. The shoot took place in this old half burned out and abandoned building on Mare Island in Vallejo (an abandoned naval base). It was literally about 102 (Fahrenheit) that day.
Last but not least, I'm getting a new camera! My Canon Rebel T2i should be here tomorrow along with two lenses-- a 50mm 1.8 and a 28mm 2.8. It isn't anything amazing, but it'll be a significant improvement on my old Rebel XT. I got a few of the photographic accessories I've been in need of too. So I've come a significant way towards improving my equipment and yet it almost feels like a drop in the ocean. Oh well! Better get out there and make some bucks to buy more.
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I've been meaning to do a journal update for months now. I have a feeling that's going to be a common opening line for my journals.
Updates: Since my last journal I finished my first semester at AAU and got another shoot in. The shoot was a great big collaborative type deal with about a dozen people and a Wonderland theme. There were three makeup artists, eight people in costume, two others hanging out, and myself shooting. It actually ended up being more outdoor party than shoot (since I was the only photographer). With so many people I definitely learned a few things for future reference.
I finished up my paper work for next semester in June and found that my financial aid would be four grand short for my tuition alone. So, after a brief heart attack, I started looking for ways to cover that. Numerous job applications later, my friend's mother (a teacher) managed to swing my a tutoring job for this fall. I should make just enough to cover monthly payments for tuition. I'll be working at a school so I can afford to go to school myself. Funny how that works out. Hopefully I don't drown under the combined weight of school and work.
In other news, a number of opportunities to shoot seem to be lining up after months without. One of the models from the Wonderland shoot wants to do a one on one shoot; a classmate from AAU wants me to come and be the second shooter on a bunch of shoots he'll be doing coming up here in August; and I found a friend of a friend that I think would make a great model and she's willing to shoot with me.
I also bought a gym membership and I'm going a few times a week. So sore. So that's all the ups and downs with me.
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Browsing the site today I came across a piece of work called Yuri by tonee89 fav.me/d2q20ea . The first thing that I thought when i saw the thumbnail was that if the girls were being as sexual in full view as they seemed to be that this image would not be around for long. I checked out the image.. Not only were the girls even more explicit than I expect (one seemingly having the other's nipple in her mouth), but one them at least appeared to be very young. I'm going to avoid discussing the issue of site policy or the ethics of the image, or anything of the sort-- as I feel the comments on the work have that topic thoroughly covered. I want to try to focus on another (to me more interesting) issue.
So I decided to browse the comments. It had about 150 within 16 hours. I expected comments about how 'awesome and sup3r kawai' the image was, accompanied by a similar amount of comments talking about reporting the image. But as I read on I saw just how polarized the responses were. Those that enjoyed the image either said they liked it because it is "cute" or because they said (in so many words) that it aroused them. I'm no stranger to Pedo Bear or lolicon or any of the other related internet trends. It doesn't even phase me any more, but this did. Not for the image itself, but for the reactions it brought out. Right beside all those posts in favor of the piece were posts calling it essentially child pornography.
This really seems to show a truth about the mindset of the site's community. One side of the debate praises this and the other utterly condemns it.  But neither really even considers the quality of the work. The content has become so volatile that whether or not it is even any good ceases to matter. This really seems to say that you can make art of whatever quality you like and it matters less than what the content of the image actually is. Obviously very high and very low quality work breaks from this.
It is disappointing to me that this should be so. It makes the community seem juvenile. Mind you I'm not saying this is every one on DA. It does make up a significant chunk of the community though. Maybe I just find it more distressing than most.

I guess I just wanted to fully formulate my thoughts and put it up in a related space.
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