The key here is “noncommercial.” I work for a nonprofit and I like helping nonprofits. I’m happy to allow an underfunded organization to use my photos in their blogs or newsletters. But if someone uses my photos in the pursuit of profit (i.e. Mashable), than I require a piece of the action.

UPDATE

The photo has been removed. I received this response from the author via Twitter:

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   jolieodell @nathangibbs Honest mistake – I generally look for CC pics licensed for commercial use! Changing the image now. 26 Apr 2011 from web in reply to nathangibbs

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   nathangibbs Flying tomorrow. Can’t decide whether I want them looking at or touching the #junk. 18 Nov 2010 from TweetDeck

Leaving San Diego was uneventful. There was no scanner at my checkpoint. They did do a quick pat-down of my upper body, but didn’t go below the belt. Leaving Dulles International Airport, I was diverted to a line that had the new scanners.

I decided to try both options. First, the scanner. Hands raised and feed spaced apart, I stood for my X-ray glamor shot. It was quick and silent. The agent directed me to step out and stand in line for pat-down. “Belt,” she said to the other agent. He asked me to remove it and to send it through the standard conveyor. He then told me he needed to check my waistline by running his fingers inside the belt line.

As I put my shoes on, I watched an older, pot-bellied gentleman get the more rigorous physical search. Standing behind the man, the agent spoke in his ear, “We can arrange a private room for screening if you would like.” He didn’t respond, so the agent knelt down to begin. The gentleman’s pants were falling down in absence of his belt, so the agent struggled to hoist them up. He checked up and down one leg, then hitched up the man’s sagging pants again. “Can you pull up your pants, sir?” The man obliged as well as he could with his curvature. It was sad to see this gray-haired traveler with his pants half off in a crowded airport. “He can’t hear out of one ear,” said the man’s wife.

After arriving in San Diego, Rosario and I headed to baggage claim. Yaoska Machado, a reporter for Univision San Diego, heard us speaking Spanish and asked Rosario where she was coming from. Rosario indicated I was the traveler so Yaoska directed her questions at me. She extended the mic and the videographer aimed his camera. I stumbled to answer her questions, suddenly nervous speaking Spanish on camera. But after the interview, I knew which clip she would use. It was the only usable sound byte I gave her.

As my nephews become young men, their passion for soccer only increases. Just two years ago, they were playing on small patches of grass in a neighborhood park. Now, they’ve graduated to the harsh dirt fields of the local school league.

On Saturday, Angel (#4) scored his first goal ever in a game. The team had been on a losing streak and this win was a big lift for the group.

Benjamin (#7) is the team captain and managed to play just about every position during the game.

Alex protected the goal and made some strong plays.

My brother Phil and I made a last-minute trip south to shoot the Todos Santos Big Wave Event off the coast of Ensenada, México, on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010. After shooting Mavericks a few weeks earlier, he let me know they called the Todos Santos contest. With little time to prepare, we rented extra photo gear from George’s, charged batteries, and spent the night in Tijuana. We only got a couple of hours sleep before waking up around 4 a.m. to head to Ensenada.

We were to meet at 5:30 a.m. at the boat but arrived in Ensenada 20 minutes behind schedule. We knew to meet at the marina, but didn’t know exactly where. As the confusion began to peak, I resorted to breaking a few traffic laws, including one right in front of a police cruiser. At this moment, I assumed the day would be a total bust. Thankfully, the officer didn’t notice and we made it to the dock. It was a huge relief to find the group and get our bearings on the boat.

It took about an hour and a half to get to Isla Todos Santos, about 12 miles off the coast of Ensenada. The swells were big enough to have everyone excited. The first sign we were arriving was a broken surfboard floating by the boat.

The competition had already begun when we arrived. The water was busy with jet skis and boats, blocking quite a few shots. Some photographers on skis were using weather-sealed digital SLRs, but without water housings. Our captain was pretty conservative and kept us out of optimal shooting position for most of the day. But considering it started around 8 a.m. and ended around 2:30 p.m., there was plenty of time to get a few clear shots throughout the day.

Heat 1 Qualifiers: Greg Long, Carlos Burle, Kohl Christensen

Heat 2 Qualifiers: Gabriel Villarán, Grant “Twiggy” Baker, Mark Healey

This next shot is Phil’s, but I have to include it because it does a better job than mine do of giving the scale of these waves (check out his Todos Santos gallery). Gabriel Villarán rode this monster, considered the biggest wave of the day:

Heat 3 Qualifiers: Mike Parson, Jaimie Sterling, Ken Collins

Heat 4 Qualifiers: Grant Washburn, Shane Dorian, Ramon Navarro

Heat 5, Semi-Final 1 Qualifiers: Grant “Twiggy” Baker, Carlos Burle, Mark Healey

Heat 6, Semi-Final2 Qualifiers: Shane Dorian, Ramon Navarro, Grant Washburn

Heat 7, Final: Mark Healey (1st), Shane Dorian (2nd), Ramon Navarro (3rd), Carlos Burle (4th), Grant “Twiggy” Baker (5th), Grant Washburn (6th)

The waves were amazing all day. The sets were largest at the beginning of the day and seemed to ramp down slowly through the competition. I’d never seen waves this size in person; it’s an amazing thing to witness. The power and force of the water, the color, the sound. It’s breathtaking to see someone take on a giant.

Three of my pieces (Self-Portrait, Race Cube, Crayola Monologues) were included in the group exhibit "Embracing Ambiguity: Faces of the Future" at the Cal State Fullerton Main Art Gallery from January 30 to March 3.

Artists include Nzuji De Magalhaes, Kip Fulbeck, Nathan Gibbs, Loren Holland, Bryce Hudson, Delilah Montoya, Toni Scott, Laura Kina, Bradley McCallum, and Jacqueline Tarry. The exhibit was curated by Jillian Nakornthap and Lynn Stromick:

Embracing Ambiguity: Faces of the Future

It is estimated that there are 6.8 million multi-racial individuals living in America. It was not until the year 2000 that Americans were allowed to choose more than one ethnic category on the United States census. Embracing Ambiguity: Faces of the Future features painting, sculpture, video and mixed-media works by ten multicultural artists living and working in the U.S. In a world where labels are often forced upon us, these artists are searching for new, more layered ways to respond to the question: "What are you?"

For centuries, the majority group in power has felt the need to label what they deemed to be the "exotic other" or any person that was foreign to them. During the 18th century, in the Spanish colonies, artists used casta paintings to depict the results of the Spanish conquerors intermixing with the native people. Casta paintings were formulaic studies that illustrated couples of different races with their mixed offspring. Reflecting the trend of the Enlightenment to scientifically categorize the world, these paintings contained inscriptions like mulatto, wolf, and coyote. The paintings reinforced the superiority of the pureblooded Spaniards and attempted to quantify the percent of pure (Spanish) blood in the mixed-race individuals.

Going forward in American history, the One Drop Rule stated that any individual with a trace of African ancestry was considered black. In the 1960s, Jim Crow laws kept races segregated in public places. Anti-miscegenation laws forbidding interracial marriage were also still in effect. On June 12, 1967, the Supreme Court case, Loving v. Virginia, set a precedent. Mildred Loving, an African and Native American woman, and Richard Perry, a white man, were sentenced to a year in prison because the state of Virginia would not recognize their marriage; the couple would not have to serve a prison term if they left Virginia. The couple left, but took their case to the Supreme Court, who ruled that Virginia’s anti-miscegenation statue was unconstitutional. Ironically, Barack Obama or 44th president and a child of mixed race parents, was born in 1961 before the ruling took place.

This exhibition opens a year after the election of Obama, our first multiracial president. It was his image on a Time magazine cover that sparked our curiosity about the American identity. The photo of Obama was similar to that of a computer-generated face that appeared on a cover thirteen years earlier. Dubbed "The New Face of America," the image was a composite of many different races. It visually reinforced the idea that Americans were not so easily defined. The artists in this exhibition have an advantage in the search for answers as they represent with images what words may not be fully able to express. Their artistic expressions allow these artists to question the past, and look forward to the future with new visions and voices. We hope this will be a future without boxes, where no one will be limited to "check only one."

-Lynn Stromick and Jillian Nakornthap, January 2010

(The curators wish to thank Mike McGee, Marilyn Moore, Martin Lorigan, Joanna Roche, the exhibition design students, the artists and lenders, the Art Department, the Art Alliance, the AICC, the Multicultural Leadership Center, our families and friends. This exhibition would not have been possible without all of your support and guidance.)

Over the holiday break, we took three of our nephews (ages 13, 13, 16) on a trip to Oaxaca, México. Here, we tried some grasshoppers in the market. They’re cooked with lime, salt, chile and garlic. They taste surprisingly good!

ME: Ok, what’s your wish?

JULIAN: Um, [unintelligible]

ME: What?

JULIAN: [repeats] Ok, it’s your turn next.

ME: Oh, um. I wish… that I had a marshmallow.

JULIAN: Oh cool. I wish I was, uh, bag of marshmallows.

ME: [laughs] You wish you were a bag of marshmallows or you had a bag of marshmallows?

JULIAN: I had…

ME: Oh, okay. I wish I had a fire, then.

JULIAN: Me too!

ME: So I could cook the marshmallows.

JULIAN: Me too!

ME: You have to wish something else.

JULIAN: Um, okay. I just wish marshmallows!

ME: You just wish for marshmallows? I wish all those stars were marshmallows. [laughs]

JULIAN: [laughs] It’s my turn, okay. I wish I was a, I wish my tio (uncle) was a movie star.

ME: [laughs] You wish I was a movie star?

JULIAN: Yeah.

ME: That’s cool. I wish you were a superhero.

JULIAN: Oh that’s cool! My turn.

ME: Yeah. [iPhone screen went black] It’s on don’t worry keep going.

JULIAN: I wish I would fly to the moon so faster than a bird.

ME: You wish you could fly to the moon faster than a bird?

JULIAN: Yeah.

ME: Oh, that’s good. Um, I wish, I wish I could touch the stars and change the colors.

JULIAN: Cool! It’s my turn. I wish, I wish I could play all the hard/card games.

ME: You wish you could play them or bring them.

JULIAN: Play them on your phone.

ME: You want to play all the games on my phone?

JULIAN: Yeah, when I get six.

ME: When you turn six?

JULIAN: Yeah.

ME: How old are you now?

JULIAN: Still five.

ME: You’re still five, but when do you turn six?

JULIAN: …be big.

ME: I know you’ll be big, when? When’s your birthday? Do you know your birthday?

JULIAN: July 28th.

ME: July 28th! That’s only in a couple of weeks.

JULIAN: Mhmm, yeah it’s just a couple of weeks. It’s your turn.

ME: My turn, um. I wish I could swim like a fish.

JULIAN: Cool. I wish, I wish, I wish I would ride on a fish.

ME: A what-fish?

JULIAN: I wish I would ride.

ME: What kind of fish, a ride fish? I don’t know what kind of fish.

JULIAN: Um, it’s an animal that you can pick him and you can ride on him.

ME: You can ride on him.

JULIAN: Yeah.

ME: A riding fish.

JULIAN: Yeah!

ME: [laughs] Okay.

JULIAN: You know what? And a riding fish eats sharks.

ME: The riding fish eats sharks?

JULIAN: Yeah.

ME: Is it like Shamu or is it like a whale? What’s a riding shark?

JULIAN: I think it’s like a whale.

ME: Okay, what color is it?

JULIAN: Big and huge and pink.

ME: Big and huge and pink?!

JULIAN: Yeah, and Nathan you know what?

ME: What?

JULIAN: A ride fish is faster than a whale.

ME: He’s faster or fatter?

JULIAN: Faster.

ME: Oh, that’s cool.

Here’s a very rough track. I’m recording using the laptop’s built-in mic and an acoustic guitar, then processing it with Garage Band effects. It’s quick and easy, but not exactly pretty. I added some drums to fill it out a bit, which points out my wandering rhythm. You can grab the full mix, guitars, effects, or rhythm track to use as you will.

This work by Nathan Gibbs is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.

Rosario surprises her nephews with a few cascarones, hollowed out eggs full of confetti (luckily these weren’t full of flour!). This is a great example of the innocent play and spontaneous laughter that fills our time in Tijuana.

Here’s the problem. The legality of cameras inside polling places isn’t black and white; the laws vary state by state. Plus, some poll workers have only received basic training and will apply their own judgement. The Citizen Media Law Project suggests four things to avoid getting yourself into trouble: follow the rules, be discreet, don’t interfere with voters or the process, respect the buffer zone.

In California, election codes aren’t particularly clear. They prohibit recording within 100 feet of anyone entering or exiting the polling place with the intent to dissuade others from voting. This is where the above guidelines come in; stay low-key and they’ll likely leave you alone. I spoke with the San Diego County Registrar of Voters and they said photography and video will be allowed up to 25 feet away.

While inside the polling area, California Elections Code says you must be in the process of voting (i.e. not using a camera), are limited to 10 minutes, and can’t show your vote to others (i.e. not documenting your vote). While it doesn’t specifically state “no cameras allowed,” legal precedent hasn’t cleared up the specifics. Government officials err on the side of caution. The California Secretary of State’s office says it has “historically taken the position that use of cameras or video equipment at polling places is prohibited, though there may be circumstances where election officials could permit such use.” When I spoke to the San Diego County Registrar of Voters, they said they won’t allow cameras inside the polling place except for credentialed journalists.

From a certain angle, this all seems very oppressive. This is a free country and I should have the right to video my vote, right? Yes, but other voters should also have the right not to be surveilled while voting. Poll workers are commissioned to protect the vote and can kick you out, even calling the police if you cause enough of a disturbance. This can all be avoided by sticking to the suggestions mentioned above. Pay attention and be careful not to record other people unwillingly.

Publish Your Photos and Videos on Election Day

• YouTube and PBS have partnered with Video Your Vote to gather first-hand accounts on election day. They’ve arranged the videos on a map to note voter intimidation and other problems at the polls.
• The New York Times’ Polling Place Photo Project collects images to create “an archive of photographs that captures the richness and complexity of voting in America.”
• Video The Vote is a watchdog group organizing people to document voter suppression and other problems.