Archive for the ‘How to …’ Category

Yesterday I wrote about a photography technique I played with during my last trip to Europe. Called “composite photography,” it basically consists of shooting several frames and then stitching them together to create a single image. It’s very handy when you’re in a tiny enclosed space — or when the subject is too big to […]


While flipping through Budget Travel this morning, I came across a wonderful rundown of the latest tourist rip-offs. I was reminded to watch out for semi-trained monkeys that go after your valuables—and wild ones that may “borrow” your camera for a self-portrait. Photos: David J Slater/Caters, via Telegraph.com I was also reminded that some scams […]


When I accidentally documented the 35W bridge collapse in 2007, my photojournalist friends advised me to hire a rights-management agency—and fast. I was grateful for their advice: Within 24 hours, my images were all over the Internet. Most of the online news sites had acquired the photos through the Associated Press. But a handful of […]


Type “how to” into Google enough times, you will eventually—inevitably—end up at eHow. My query today started innocently enough, with a search for how to change the permissions on a computer file. But before I knew it, I had gone down the eHow rabbithole. My first stop was How to Become a Death Metal Guitarist. […]


With apologies to my male readers: Today’s post is uncharacteristically girly (and truly random). But perhaps you’ll want to read anyway, in case you ever need to cheer up a dejected woman who has accidentally smashed her expensive makeup to smithereens. A few years ago, I was ecstatic to find a pressed powder light enough […]


One of my favorite things about working with graphic designers is that—from a design standpoint—my copy is inconsequential. In fact, my designer friends would just as soon paste in some “Greek” as they would my carefully crafted prose. Never mind that the Greeked-in copy is actually Latin. Look at a rough layout, and more often […]


I can’t believe it’s been almost two years since I last wrote about typography. (If you’re a font geek, you may want to check out my list of common typographic diseases.) Typography is one of my secret obsessions. Maybe it’s because—as a writer—I know that mere words will only get me so far. Words may […]


You know how some people have a “junk drawer” full of broken rubber bands and straightened-out paper clips? I have the digital equivalent on my computer: It’s a folder called “desktop miscellaneous.” For the first time in ages, I opened that folder today and rummaged through its contents. There was a lot of stuff related […]


I got an email from my friend Todd this morning. “Where’d you find that Loch Ness Monster photo?” he asked. He was referring to a little prank I played on my readers a couple of days ago. Clearly, Todd doesn’t know about my obsession with Photoshop. “I made that photo,” I wrote back. I told […]


Mushroom porn

25May11

I’ve been looking forward to today since February. That’s when my friend Pam and I set the date for our annual morel mushroom hunt. “Is this our third year, or our fourth?” I asked Pam today as we tromped through the woods. “I think it’s our third,” she replied from down the trail. And she’s […]



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