Friday Shout-Outs, Mad Props, and Merit Badges

by Grover Sanschagrin

If you’re looking to spend a few hours looking at images that make you go “whoa,” then keep on reading. This week’s Shout-Outs are loaded with good stuff.

This is our regular Friday gig, and you can be part of the show! Send us your newsworthy braggables and we’ll help you send you some love from the stage.

CLOSE-UP AND INSECT PERSONAL
We recently stumbled upon a really cool gallery of close up images of insects from photographer Clay Bolt.

The gallery features cool close-up imagery of insects, spiders, crustaceans, and other invertebrates from the Southeastern, United States.

Invertebrates – Images by Clay Bolt

BBC BLOG FUN
Funny photographer Paul Treacy is profiled on the BBC News blog. The interviewed him and featured several of his humorous street photos. Congrats, Paul! If you like what you see at this story, you can see even more at his website, photohumourist.com.

DESKTOP BACKGROUND WIN!
Seattle-based photographer Will Austin‘s images are featured on Windows 7, to be used as desktop backgrounds. Six of his images were chosen by the Microsoft Windows 7 design team.

“Working with the team at Microsoft was a fantastic experience,” he said.

GOLDEN IMAGES IN AARP BULLETIN
Washington DC-based photographer Melissa Golden shot a series of pictures of Smithsonian illustrator Alice Tangerini that appeared recently in the AARP Bulletin.

Tangerini, 61, has been a staff illustrator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History since 1972. She is “arguably one of the world’s best botanical line illustrators in the United States–even after losing the use of one eye for close-up work.”

THAILAND RED SHIRT PHOTOGS
Several brave PhotoShelter photographers, including Jack Kurtz and Natthawat Wongrat are busy documenting the protest and conflict currently happening in Bangkok.

“Red Shirts, also known as United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), supporters of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra have occupied Bangkok for over a month in demanding Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve the parliament and call for new elections,” said Natthawat Wongrat.

Jack Kurtz: Red Shirt Street Battle

Natthawat Wongrat: Red Shirts Thailand

BIKE RACE SHOOTING TIPS
Photographer Sherri Meyer wrote an informative blog post titled “9 Tips for Shooting the Amgen Tour of California“

“Last Sunday, we had the incredible opportunity to shoot Stage 1 (Nevada City to Sacramento) of the Amgen Tour of California, as they were rolling through Auburn,” she said. “What a sight to see. One word describes it all – FAST. It was definitely the most challenging event I have ever photographed!”

AMAZING IMAGES OF MAN’S ECOLOGIAL PROBLEMS
If you’re looking to get sucked into a collection of images for a few hours like I did the other day, cruise on over to the portfolio of photographer Didier Ruef. Some super amazing powerful work to be found here, including projects “Kazakhstan 2008 Nuclear Waste” (wow, intense images there), “China 2004 Computer Waste” and “RECYCLE. Man and Waste.“

Ruef is based in Switzerland, and “his photo-reportages are inscribed in time and focus on showing human beings, their environment as well as the ecological problems created by man.”

RECYCLE. Man and Waste – Images by Didier Ruef

ONE TIME, AT BRAND CAMP
Tom Fishburne isn’t a photographer- he’s a cartoonist and illustrator, and his work is pretty damn amazing, and worth a look.

“I started lampooning business and marketing in 2002 with a cartoon called Brand Camp that I emailed from my desk at General Mills,” he said. “Brand Camp is now read by 50,000 people across the world every week.”

He recently started making his work available for sale through PhotoShelter. It’s an honor to have him.

His cartoons are featured each week in Marketing Week and have been published by Brandweek, Market Leader, FastCompany.com, New Products Magazine, and dozens of other business magazines, newspapers, and web sites.

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I am always looking for things to include here in our Friday Shout-Outs – so if you have anything you think is worthy, let me know.

Or, better yet, post a note to Twitter with my name in it (@heygrover) or “friend me” on Facebook, and that way I won’t forget it later.