PhotoShelter

On April 26, 1986, a reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukraine exploded after a failed safety test, releasing a plume of highly radioactive smoke into the atmosphere. Officials tried to downplay the seriousness of the event at the time, but it's recognized to be the worst nuclear power plant accident in history.

20 years later, National Geographic Magazine photographer Gerd Ludwig went on assignment to photograph the nuclear reactor and its disastrous, widespread aftermath. The adjacent city, Pripyat, was evacuated after the accident and has since become an eerie ghost town. Those who once lived in the area are at high risk for cancer-related illnesses, and it's said that thousands of people have already died as a consequence of the radioactive exposure.

On the eve of Chernobyl's 25th anniversary, Gerd felt compelled to return to the plant and capture more images of its current state and cleanup efforts. But traditional media outlets that would have funded his trip weren't interested. It was then that Gerd turned to Kickstarter.

When it comes to sports photography, Athlon Sports knows what they're talking about. The media company has published a monthly publication as well as preseason annuals covering professional and college athletics for 43 years, and Tim Clark has been the photo editor for 13 of them. I sat down with Tim to figure out what a sports photographer needs to stand out from the rest and get hired for a game these days.

Seattle photographer Elisa Sherman captures what has become a national protest popping up in various cities across the U.S. Below, the protests in Seattle on October 6. 

Here's a sneak peak of some of the book's images, which Brian has shared with us, and now all of you: 

As Facebook continues to expand its service, there has become an infinite number of ways to customize your page. Quite literally, you can now showcase your photo portfolio right on your Facebook page - and you should. It's a great way to engage your social community in a place they likely visit every day.

Overwhelmed by the prospect of optimizing your page? To get you started, we've put together a step-by-step tutorial to show how you can easily integrate your PhotoShelter slideshow into your Facebook fan page in literally 10 minutes or less. It's a great way for people to preview your images without having to click through to your website. And when they do click the slideshow, they're taken directly to your website. The "secret" is using a free third-party app (read: no coding or development experience required).

So what are you doing this afternoon? That's right -- integrating your PhotoShelter slideshow with your Facebook page. (Note: this is for your public *page* for your photo business, not your personal Facebook account.)

Step 1: Log in to your Facebook and go to Static HTML: iframe tabs app. Click "Go to App" .

Self-portrait c. 1989

By now, you've already seen thousands of tributes to Steve Jobs. This one is no different.

Around 1987, my friend Tim Suh and I started to muck around with a Mac Plus, MIDI and Performer, an early piece of "sequencer" software, which is best described as a precursor to Garage Band. One of us would man the Mac while the other tapped out notes on my Korg DW8000, and we layered together various scores of music we found in obscure Japanese fan magazines like a full transcription to Jan Hammer's Miami Vice Theme. On other days, we would mess around with Aldus Pagemaker. This computer, with it's hulking 512kb of RAM, was fueling our creativity.

In college, my Mac was an SE80, followed by my first color Mac IIsi. My use of the computer expanded to Quark Xpress (page layout software) and Finale (music engraving software). The summer before my senior year, I engraved the repertoire of the Yale Whiffenpoofs before I served as its musical director.

During school, I worked at a small design firm in New Haven called Strong Cohen, and in addition to Quark, I had my first exposure to Photoshop.

After graduation, I became a founding employee of hotjobs.com, and design its logo on a Mac. We had an Apple Quicktake, one of the first mass marketed digital cameras. I owned an Apple Newton, which still sits in one of my drawers today.

During the mid-1990s, Steve wasn't around Apple, and then CEO Gil Amelio had licensed the operating system to third parties thinking that Apple could proliferate like Windows. I purchased a Mac clone from Power Computing, one of the first sub-licensors.

I paid $4000 for the first 22" Cinema Display. I marveled at the size of my Nano that Grover and I received at an Apple Aperture user's group conference. I waited in line for the first iPhone and grinned like a child on the subway when I "casually" pulled it out amidst the not-so-hushed whispers of admiration of onlookers.

I watched a teenage boy literally sweep his hands back and forth over a 30" cinema display in the Ala Moana Apple Store two years ago as if he was in a trance. Was it the Millennials version of a pony?

I've cracked myself up by making silly videos with PhotoBooth. I've used Screenflow to create PhotoShelter video tutorials, Garage Band to make background music, Keynote to present seminars, and iTunes to create playlists for lazy trips to the beach. I've passed on old Macs to friends who refused to use their PCs.

Even yesterday, all of the engineers and I sat at our computers on websites like Ars Technica, MacRumors and Engadgets trying to get updates on the iPhone press conference while all three sites were crushed under the heavy load of anticipation.

I've used Apple products nearly every day for 25 years, including tapping out this blog entry.

As an entrepreneur, I've marveled at the constant reinvention of Apple under Jobs. How do you go from nearly bankrupted to the second most valuable company in 15 years? How do you create not only category killers, but categories themselves? How do you drive people to do their very best? How do become not only the greatest CEO of a generation, but also the greatest marketer the world has ever seen? And when your body is breaking down, how do you find the fortitude to continue, and the peace of mind to know when to stop?

"Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes... the ones who see things differently -- they're not fond of rules... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things... they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do."

Steve, you inspired millions, but you also inspired one person in particular. Thank you.

Rest in peace.

People all over the world are unhappy, and they're taking to the streets to say so. That's a pretty obvious point. But the sheer volume of protests taking place simultaneously across the globe is truly staggering. From Yemen to our backyard in New York City, people are protesting (some peaceful and some not) to shine a light on a wide variety of causes.