Ancient History

nothing new locally, and nothing coming in the next week. Perhaps I can do some catching up over the holidays, I don't know yet. However, fans of Petra Verkaik might want to take a look at this page; I have no financial connection with this project, but I do know Petra, and I believe that the charges this ex-boyfriend has made against her are nonsense. The sad truth is that a lot of models find themselves in abusive relationships. (see above for how this person is now harassing me for writing these words)

While I'm here, I should mention that folks looking for a picture site that's been updated more recently than mine should visit my friend John Chennavasin.

– 2001/12/5

I still have some more work to do on Glamourcon 14, and I still haven't gotten approval on some earlier private shoots, but I do have a small sample from GC25. Hope folks like it, and I'll try to get some more in when I get caught up on my day job.

– 2001/7/16

I have some more stuff scanned in, and I hope to have approval from the models before I leave for Los Angeles for this weekend's Glamourcon. Just 30 or so cute outdoor shots featuring Stacy Fuson and Roxanne Galla. In other news, my scanner is still holding up, but my wonderful color printer has now started misbehaving. It won't stop the site updates, but it's clear that hardware just plain hates me.

– 2001/5/30

Everybody who thought I was kidding when I said I'd finally post new pictures, raise your hand. Surprise! Here are the first three rolls from Glamourcon 24.

– 2001/5/24

It took me a while to free up the time to sort through some slides, then it took some more time to convince the supposedly-repaired bulk slide feeder to feed reliably. However, the first batch is now happily loading, and I'll start on them when I get home from work in the morning. This will be the November 2000 Glamourcon, and the captions will have to come later, when I've found and sorted my notes. The 800x1200 "much bigger" size will not be available right away; I haven't decided yet how to best slow down the thieves who sell printouts of my pictures on eBay.

– 2001/5/22

There was a box on my front porch when I looked outside this morning, and in it was a replacement for my not-very-beloved LS-2000 scanner. This one actually works. I've just done a test scan and an 8x10 dye-sub print of it, and they both look fine. I haven't tested the repaired bulk slide feeder yet (not much point when the scanner didn't work for so long), but it wasn't nearly as much of a lemon to begin with, so I'm hopeful. Bottom line, I can update the site now, so I will.

Department of Picky Little Details: I'm a little miffed that Nikon didn't request a signature on the package. Having UPS just drop off something this expensive and drive away is annoying. They didn't even ring the bell. Also, the replacement unit actually does suffer from the same problem as the old one, but to such a minor degree that I wouldn't be able to detect it if I hadn't been sensitized by my previous experiences. It won't affect picture quality in any way.

– 2001/5/8

Nikon is sending me a prepaid mailer, and promising to completely replace my defective scanner. This will chew up another week or two of my life, and I can't say that I'm feeling particularly confident, given their track record. I can't find anyone who's still renting these turkeys, and I'm just not in the mood to pay $40 a day to tinker with installation and color issues on another brand of rental, so there will be no updates here until they ship me another one. If that one works, I'll use it, otherwise I'll sue the bastards and buy something else.

– 2001/4/19

Nikon has once again returned my scanner, once again replaced several motors and performed a general check and cleaning, and, sadly, once again failed to do anything about the problem. After all my previous testing, I don't believe that there's anything wrong with the hardware on my end that could be causing this, but since they refuse to allow me to speak to a repair technician directly, I might as well do their jobs for them again and rent another LS-2000 to compare side by side with mine. While I'm at it, since I just found the SCSI card that came with the original replacement unit, I'm going to set both of them up on Yet Another computer and see what I get. "Nikon quality", feh.

– 2001/4/18

Just finished testing the scanner now that Nikon has shipped it back to me. There is no evidence that they did anything to correct the problem besides charge me $250 and waste nearly six weeks of my time. When their service department opens Monday morning, I'll be on the phone trying not to shout. For obvious reasons, I have no idea when I'll be able to resume updating this site. For anyone interested in exactly what's wrong, look here.

– 2001/3/23

Another day, another thief on eBay. I am not connected in any way with seller "jaxhavok", and have not given permission for his many auctions of printouts of my pictures. (quick update: All his auctions have been shut down, and he claims to be very, very sorry, having purchased the prints he was selling from a third party who lied about their origin. I have no way to evaluate the truth of this claim.)

– 2001/3/20

Today, Nikon claimed that they've actually fixed my scanner, and I should see it by the end of the week. If they're not kidding, everything is set on my end to start posting updates; the bulk feeder returned a few days ago, but for obvious reasons I haven't been able to tell if it's working yet.

– 2001/3/19

Yes, it's been more than a month since my scanner went back to Nikon. No, they haven't finished fixing it yet. They claim that the bulk slide feeder will be shipped back to me today or tomorrow, which isn't a lot of use without a scanner to attach it to. One would hope that taking longer means they'll do a better job, but my previous experience with Nikon service suggests otherwise.

– 2001/3/12

it's taken me a while to decide how to break the news that my scanner didn't really survive the move. Actually, at first it was just the bulk feeder, which had never failed before, but then close examination of all of the scans I was making showed that the stepper motor was flaky on the scanner, just enough to ruin about a third of the pictures. This time, the folks at Nikon didn't treat it as warranty service, so I just finished authorizing $350 of repair and shipping charges. I should have both pieces back in a few days, and this time they'd better work and keep working, or it's doorstop and lawsuit time.

– 2001/2/14

to my surprise and delight, my Nikon LS-2000 film scanner actually survived my most recent move. For more fun, I have now found all of my film, and the new place has sufficient storage space to sort it all out and start scanning it in. Very, very soon, I'll have at least one show up. On a side note, if you're looking for a color photo printer, take a good look at the Olympus P-400; I spent the whole weekend burning through paper and dye ribbons on mine after picking it up last week at Keeble & Shuchat.

– 2001/1/30

Note: I am not selling my pictures on eBay or anywhere else. The seller "thecandidstore" is not me, is not associated with me, and has no permission to sell my photographs. Thanks to all the (many!) folks who wrote to inform me of these auctions.

While we're on the subject, after a great deal of woolgathering and many, many distractions (including a new house and studio), I'm getting ready to start catching up on this site. However, due to the constant illicit commercial use of my pictures on pay sites and eBay, I am currently considering restricting access to the larger, higher-quality images (in a way that does not involve paying memberships or ad banners, don't worry). It's not that I'm upset that these clowns are making money and I'm not, it's that they're making money and the models aren't; unhappy models won't pose for pictures in the future, and we all lose. Things coming soon: the two most recent LA Glamourcons (I skipped Chicago to buy a house...), and a bunch of outdoor shoots, including Corinna Harney, Stacy Fuson, and Roxanne Galla; I've also got a nice indoor shoot with Nathalie that I have to ask her about sometime. The outdoor stuff has to wait for the model's approval once it's scanned in, so it might take a while, depending on how often she reads email.

Oh, yeah, one more thing: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry; I won't go away for so long ever again!" :-)

– 2001/1/16