Check out Zoom Magazine’s website.

About the magazine:

“Together with a group of friends I decided to create a magazine dedicated to all people who are not stopping in their efforts to make our lives fuller and better. It is dedicated to thoughts and  creations of man’s imagination that encourage us to turn to that which is exceptional and luxurious.  We believe that surrounding ourselves with beauty serves good life and therefore we always look for that beauty in people, places and objects. finelife.pl is a magazine which is created based on the outstanding pictures and comments of the extraordinary people. We want to narrate a story about luxury of a beautiful life, taking inspiration from meetings, talks and recommendations from specialists and authorities of different fields” — Lidia Popiel

© Tanyth Berkeley for The New York Times

“I turned to the wisdom of the ancients. I went to Ovid, where women run from rapacious gods, and Dante, where women writhe in purgatory, and Homer, where women unravel their work, and finally I pulled off the shelf the old black leather-clad King James Version of the Bible I was given in high school. I read feverishly from cover to cover. I had forgotten how much of it is about fear — over and over again, the response to change, even to the miraculous, is fear. I was fighting fear. And what was I so afraid of? Being alone with myself long enough to wonder what is the purpose of my life?”

The above is from Dominique Browning’s “Losing It” featured in today’s New York Times Magazine and is an except from “Slow Love: How I Lost My Job, Put on My Pajamas and Found Happiness,” to be published next month by Atlas & Company.

I’m very pleased with the layout and the way the photographs ran. Thanks for a pleasureable experience, Markku and Apu!

Before leaving I scheduled meetings with 4 magazines, 1 photo agency, and 1 gallery. I had two good friends helping to bring together 3 of the meetings and I couldn’t be more thankful for their help. I believe the meetings were successful not only because I began showing my work in New York to creatives I want to work with but more importantly because I began building relationships. Good work is great but relationships are so important. I hear all the time about photographers who have had the same clients for 10+ years. I want my relationship with my clients to be like this.

After returning from New York I immediately began printing thank yous. These consisted of a printed image / brand logo on the front and hand-written note on the back with my contact info. Turn around time is always essential in my opinion because I want my clients to know I value our relationship and that a thank you should not come two weeks after we’ve seen each other. These are busy individuals and departments who are taking time to meet with a photographer they probably know little about but will ideally want to know more about upon meeting, and vice versa.

One hopes it’s mutually beneficial. The client gets a new photographer to work with who’s endlessly passionate about making photographs and the photographer continues to work, progress, and build a relationship. The relationship starts young and is always becoming stronger based on product delivered, trust, compassion, and work ethic.

If any photographers or creatives want to chime in on their thoughts, I’d be curious to hear them as I’m sure would others.

Mailing thank yous, Syracuse, New York, 2009

“People aren’t going to remember the things you do. They’re going to remember how you made people feel and I’ve always really tried to adhere to that. I try to be kind and gracious, and appreciative,” says Dan.

Profound, simple words to live by.

Watch and listen here.

More info on Dan here.

Watch here.

10. Think about thinking. Metacognition, as this is known, is a crucial skill. Many scientists argue that the best predictor of good judgment isn’t intelligence or experience; it’s the willingness to engage in introspection. The brain is like a Swiss Army Knife, full of different tools. When picking out a couch, we can trust our emotions, but we should rely on the rational brain when scrutinizing the fine print of a mortgage. Unless you think about which mental tool is best suited for the task at hand, you could end up flustered, even sweating, in the sofa aisle at Ikea.

via 10 Ways to Be a Better Thinker.

I made this photograph while driving through Vermont after skiing and visiting an old friend and his wife.

What is pictured is a nearby river beginning to overflow it’s banks due to rapid snow melt combined with heavy rainfall the previous night.

It brings to mind Reuben Cox’s photographs that were recently published in the New York Times Magazine. The photographs accompany an article and it is a must-read.  If you’re going to spend 20 minutes of your day reading something, do so here.

The article focuses on how severe the foreclosure crisis is and will continue to be, much like the river overflowing it’s bank and running through the landscape.