It took longer than hoped and it cost more than it should, but Red Wing Digital was finally launched today.

Red Wing Digital is a targeted business that provides products for fine-art and passionate photographers. The initial product is the Panel Print, with more products to follow. What is unique about this web site is the point-and-click selection of the products and the print-on-demand nature of the interface.

The most exciting part of the web site will be the guest contributors. Guests will contribute inside tips for their specific photography niche, with the goal that the web site will become a portal for photographers who are always trying to advance their skills. So far, this will include:

Stacy Bengs (Stacy Bengs Photographer) discussing sports photography and photojournalism,
Barbara O'Brien (Barbara O'Brien Photography), a talented animal photographer,
Clare Polencheck (Off the Cuff Photography), an especially skilled portrait photographer.

It is a privilege to work with such talented and creative individuals and this will be a lot of fun.

The above Panel Print is 'Red Wing Boathouses' by Dr. Jack Alexander and is on display at Red Wing Fairview Hospital.

Visit the new site at RedWingDigital.com.

My niece is a soon-to-be-famous film maker. She recently won a grant from the IFP Minnesota Center for Media Arts that enabled her to film and produce her original screenplay called "Hole in the Wall". It is a short film about intergenerational tension between a father and a son.

I had the privilege of shooting still set photography on the movie set. Exteriors were shot the first day and interiors were shot the second day. The interiors were in a totally dilapidated house in Minneapolis with extremely small rooms. I shot with an extremely wide lens and mostly from the hip to try and capture the tightness of the set and also to minimize camera intrusion.

It was a fascinating and tedious process. Everything was captured with real film, which is in itself a true challenge. A single overhead jetliner can ruin a shot. And you never know if there was a light leak with the film until after it is processed.

My niece Mandy is on the left of the top photo and she is reviewing a shot set-up. The bottom photo is the primary room in which the father confronts the son.