I have an opinion

It's been a while since I've vented on my blog.  I think the last time might have been back when Leno stole The Tonight Show back from Conan...TEAM CONAN!!!

Anyway, I think I might try to start writing little opinion posts... maybe...

So one of my favorite new websites is pinterest.com.  I love it!  If you don't know, it's another social media type of site.  You "pin" (or save) things you like onto different customized "pinboards".  They're pretty much visual lists of things.  Images you like, DIY projects you want to try, decorating and fashion inspiration.  You follow other peeps and can "pin" or "like" what they're pinning.  Everything you pin has a link to the site it came from.  So it's also visual bookmarking.  And this is GREAT for me, since I'm a very visual person, and my bookmarks list in Firefox ends up being pretty useless for me because by looking at the titles of the bookmarks, weeks or months later, I have no clue why I bookmarked that site. 

Sometimes I get sucked in on Pinterest for an hour or two.  But I tell myself that it's great inspiration for my photography, painting or decorating.  AND the DIY stuff will save me $$$!

So here's where the venting starts: A couple weeks ago, I saw this. (It's a picture of a baby with a string of plugged in Christmas/twinkly lights.  They're PLUGGED IN, and she's got them in her mouth.)  I was immediately HORRIFIED by this.  And I couldn't believe the number of times I was seeing it "re-pinned".  I finally pinned it myself- to a new pinboard I created called "NO".  I ranted a bit and added this link to a post I found on bloomberg.com.  (It explains the hazard that Christmas lights pose to kids due to the fact that: "Fifty-four percent of holiday lights tested in a U.S. study had more lead than regulators permit in children’s products, with some strands containing more than 30 times those levels.") So not only is there the fact that they're PLUGGED IN and the baby is chewing on a live electrical cord, there's the lead.

So.  NOT a very good idea to let your kids chew on them. 

Since I first saw this image a couple weeks ago, it pops up on Pinterest once in a while, with comments claiming it to be "cute", and a "possible Christmas card idea".  I cannot tell you how much this makes me crazy.  How do people not know this is a bad idea?  Every package of lights I've ever purchased comes with a warning to wash your hands after handling them due to the LEAD.  LEAD, people!  There's a reason why the U.S. banned lead paint in the seventies!!!  Kids/people were ingesting it and getting sick!  Here are some facts.

But what prompted me to write this post is that just now, I saw this picture.  (This time it's a photo of an adorable dog with the Christmas lights draped over him.)

I am completely horrified that this is seemingly becoming a trend.  Or maybe it has been a trend and I'm just seeing it now. 

I don't like to see things that endanger kids or animals.  Maybe people don't know about the lead content.  Or maybe the strings of lights in those photos don't have the high lead content.  But the viewer of those photos doesn't know that, and without knowing the possible risk, might try to re-create those photos for their holiday cards, and end up making their babies and pets sick.  I would hate to hear that story on the news.  And I don't mean to lecture, I just wanted to vent a bit, and maybe someone will see this info and think twice about re-creating those images. 

To end on a positive note, check out Pinterest!  So fun!  Come follow me!  And let me know if you need an invite!

brand new website is up!

hello!  just wanted to let you all know that I now have an official website!  Woo hoo!  It was hard work.  Not that I didn't have respect for them before, but I my respect for graphic/web designers has increased exponentially!!! It's seriously hard work! 

 

You may have seen some photos here on the blog or maybe on virb.com, but there's lots of stuff that I haven't posted anywhere else!

Take a look!

rachaeldumoulin.com

Also, my cousin reminded me of this photo today- it's her son... I forgot that I had scanned it.  (It is, of course, shot with actual b&w film!)  Thought I'd share it.  It cracks me up!

(It also features my new little watermark, that I made to match all my new graphics...)

Broken Heart

May Ann Licudine is an amazingly talented illustrator.  I stumbled onto her website last year, and she instantly became one of my favorite artists.  (I love her blog too!)

I love the detail and emotion in her images.  They are so sweet and playful and delicate and quirky and sometimes sad...

This is one of my favorites: 

Broken Heart by May Ann Licudine

piiiiinnnnnk!

I love pink and I love stars.  I have a little collection of them actually.  My dear friend Karly even brought one back from Africa for me once! (By the way, Karly is an amazing designer!!!  Check out her website and blog)

So, here's some pictures that are pink and have stars.  Pretty straightforward...

fotocommunity.com

I have found yet another site to post photos on!  I've uploaded just a few images for now (including the one below of the Wonder Wheel at Coney Island).   I haven't explored the site much yet, but seems okay... why not?

fotocommunity.com

wonderbirds

links! links!! links!!!

THIS JUST IN:  I've been fiddling around with different blog layouts, and I just lost all the links I posted last night... bah!  working on restoring, and finding a better layout!

I have just added several links to some websites and blogs.
They are all people I know, and they're all talented!
Most are photography, some aren't, but either way, you should check them out, asap!

yet another site...

I've just uploaded my beach images to imagekind.com
after seeing how many hits my images are getting on RedBubble.com and fineartamerica.com, I looked into finding a site that gets a bit more traffic... imagekind has apparently been around for a bit, and is now owned by CafePress.
although I realize that I haven't been on redbubble and fineartamerica for that long, hopefully this one will be a bit more successful...

Coastguard Beach by Rachael DuMoulin

a couple new sites

so I found some more sites for sharing photography (and other art too!)

The first one is foliomo.com
It's a networking site; you upload your photography, art, etc, and create portfolios.  Potential employers can search for photographers and artists that they want to hire for freelance jobs or even full-time positions.
It's free (to have 25 images posted at a time) or you can upgrade to Pro.
It's a beta version right now, and I believe they say they're planning to officially launch in January 2010.

The next one is artlimited.net
I'm not sure what to make of it, but I've only added a couple images so far, and within the first 1/2 hour, the first one had been viewed almost 100 times.  So it seems as though your work will be seen!
I've opted for the basic free version for now.

new image available

Okay, so I'm trying to figure out which site might be the best to sell my work through.

I have images available on 3 sites:
deviantArt.com
redbubble.com

fineartamerica.com

I don't know which I'll stick with... opinions, suggestions?

UPDATE 12/30/09: I've decided not to sell through deviantArt.com ... I still love the site, and you can still see my images there though! 

In the meantime, here's the newest image available: