Super excited to have had DJ Cosmo Baker spin at my book release party for Photo Trekking a couple weeks ago. We collaborated on this mix tape.

Download the mix tape album in separate tracks here:
http://bit.ly/OnTheRoad_mixtape

Download it as one continuous song here:
http://bit.ly/OnTheRoad_mixtape_cont

Long story short. A couple years ago, I had some travel photo promo books I had done with Blurb. My photography consultant, Amanda Sosa Stone, had used them as examples in her seminars. Randomly enough she was at Photo Plus giving a seminar and an editor from what now is a small publisher called Random House saw the work in book form and got in touch with me about writing a book. Something I was very excited about, it still took us 6 months to write a pitch for it to even get sold in to get published. Come August of 2008, we received great news that the book was greenlit. From there, the March 2009 deadline to write the manuscript and curate the imagery was looming. Amongst the growing business of my commercial photography world, we managed to get everything turned in on time. It’s amazing that from that point of turning in the manuscript and content, it takes one year from that point till the book hits the stands. It has to go through manuscript edits, my approvals of edits, book design/layout, printing in asia, marketing and PR channels, and many other stages that I’m probably unaware of,  which brings us to where we’re at this month: The official release! (oh and forgot to mention the 5 years and 33 countries it took to shoot all the images in the book)

So THAT is why I’m proud and excited to announce the release and release party for Photo Trekking! I’m going to be throwing a release party here in New York City on March 19th. It’s an open invite, but you must RSVP to get in the door and you can do that here:

http://www.nickonken.com/phototrekkingparty/

Photo Trekking is a compilation of the work I’ve shot all around the world from my non-profit adventures, to my short stint of living in Paris. It’s mostly comprised of photos, but in addition to that, I’ve written stories around the images and have a few chapters with my shooting methods and lots of tips.

To see more on the book and/or pre-order it check out the book page: http://www.phototrekkingthebook.com

Lighting Essentials has written a nice little review of the book here.

Michael Muller is one of my favorite photographers. He did an interview like I did on studiolighting.net. Regardless, he is in my favorite photog list. He's got a gallery opening this Thursday from 6-9pm in Santa Monica. I'll be going. Should be worth checking out.

Here's his site: http://www.mullerphoto.com/

Get it here:
http://coldplay.com/song.html

Check it out and download it here for free.

Just read an post of hers that got me thinking: The Age of Social Media. The world of web 2.0 is here. Right now it is on the verge of blowing up. Advertising is moving in this direction, but most agencies and clients don’t quite get it yet. Just wait, in the next 6 months to a year, you will see huge shift in the advertising world. We are already seeing it. Viral content. Blogs. YouTube. Flickr. Facebook. Myspace. etc. Myspace and Facebook are household names. They’re being referenced in movies. Blogging and having a blog is a part of pop culture’s vocabulary. Most hip companies have one. All that to say, I think the people who grasp the concept and utilize it will reap the benefits. After all, most big clients will be shifting their advertising dollars in that direction.

The ad agency Modernista! has definitely grabbed onto this movement. They integrate a lot of the major web 2.0 venues into their website. (besides the fact that the design is a bit of an overload, the idea is there.)

I’m planning on shifting my website to a web 2.0 format. All html/css driven. I think flash is slowly fading. People stealing images? People will do it regardless if it’s right clicking and downloading an image or snapping a screen shot if it’s flash. That just means we have to be ahead and use alternative methods of protecting our images where it’s necessary.

What about you? Are you ahead of the curve? Where are you in the digital 2.0 world?

People watching at fashion shows is even better. You’ve got all the fashionistas that wear some pretty bizarre attire and think they’re all that and a bag of chips. I think that is almost more of a show than the actual show.

I worked at back stage at the fashion shows in Paris for two seasons. It was a great time! Trekking across the city to each nostalgic venue leaves me with many fantastic memories. Not that LA is any Paris, but I thought the shows here would be a bigger production. The big Paris shows have all the top models you see in Vogue and every high end clothing campaign you see. The backstage energy is super fun, especially getting to chat up the models. The hair and makeup can get a little freakish especially when it’s designers like Galliano, The above shot is of Tiiu backstage at the Galliano show. She’s a sweetie.

Here’s a few more shots from one of the shows a couple years ago.
http://www.nickonken.com/Stories/GallianoBackstage/

The hotel has a vintage/retro designed look. It’s fit for the hipster traveler. If you’ve ever been to the Standard downtown LA, The Ace reminds me of a vintage version.

Here’s the room:

Design is progressive and inspirational. The Product (RED) campaign was inspired and created by Bono. A hip way to give back to the world. Sometimes I wonder if giving back has gotten too hip. Doing it just for the sake of being cool leaves me with the question: Is it better to give out of hipness than to not give at all?

All in all, I think the Product (RED) and the One campaigns are great.  Either way, it’s inspiring to see design helping to change the world.