Wired Rocks, and Dan is The Man

Shootin' the Orioles vs. Royals baseball game tonight, except that I probably won't be. It is supposed to rain cats and dogs starting at about 6:00pm.

On days like this, you show up at Camden Yards and wait it out. But in the end, your shift is very likely to be an evening off with free hot dogs. I'll take it without a smidgen of guilt, as it partially offsets some other days where the workload is all but impossible to accomplish.

UDATE #1: I was right. It rained the whole time. But they played anyway. It rained nearly the entire game. Cold rain. Wet rain. Football is cool to shoot in the rain. Baseball is not.

So I am sitting here going through Wired Magazine, my favorite monthly dose of visual stimulation. I never fail to read it cover-to-cover. And usually the day it arrives.

Wired is a photographer's playground. They tackle hard-to-illustrate, conceptual topics better than any mag I have ever seen. They take chances. They are not afraid to risk failure in the pursuit of something great. I love that.

It is also the go-to place for interesting tech news and trends. And when I say tech, I do not just mean interesting gadgets. They look at technology in a holistic way that comprises all of the ways in which it affects us.

The scope of this magazine never fails to amaze me. In that sense, I consider it my very favorite biz mag, too.

Better yet, they are only $10 for a whole year if you live in the USA. That's two cups of Starbucks. Makes no sense to me, but I'll take it.

This month has a photo illustration (left) by Dan Winters for a story on how science is hacking, improving and altering our senses. Not an easy thing to illustrate.

But Winters' approach shows why he is one of my very favorite photographers, both in his lighting and his conceptual execution. Take a look at Winters' website to see what I am talking about. His photos are at once sparse and sophisticated. He brings a fresh eye, a playful mind and a craftsman's touch to just about everything he does.

If someone put a gun to my head and said, "Dan Winters, or Greg Heisler?" I do not know who I would choose.

This is a thinking photographer's photographer.

UPDATE #2: I just spent the hour from 1:00am to 2:00am studying every single photo on Dan Winters' site. Two things: (a) Dan is a genius. (b) The wee hours of the morning is a fantastic time of day (well, night) to look at that kind of stuff.

Wherever you are headed in your photographic path, you should be getting regular stimulation from inspirational sources like Dan Winters and Wired Magazine.

What about you guys? Are there any magazines that you find especially good inspiration for your photography? Lemme know about them in the comments. I am always on the lookout.