“He listens well who takes notes”
Odd that I should begin my blog with a quote from Dante’s Divine Comedy but truth be told this blog will be my notes on the art, and science of digital photography. I recently decided to take a break from pursuing my business degree; finally giving myself some free time in which to pursue my development as a photographer. Unfortunately I’m not in a position to take a break from my full time job so free-time is somewhat subjective.
So if time is so precious why devote any of it to a blog? More then anything to keep me focused and on track, to act as a kind of weathervane of my progress. Through my work with Continuos Improvement I have learned that you can not control something if you do not measure it. So in a sense thehyperfocaldistance is a metric to gauge my progress in digital photography.
This system of checks and balances may be more of a necessity for me then for others. I have a small problem when it comes to toys, I completely addicted to technology and bigger, faster, more expensive, so some measures are required to keep my NAS¹ in check. We all know that photography can be an expensive hobby. We also know that simply possessing good equipment does not make us good photographers. I’ve got the good equipment, now its on me to become a good photographer.
I’m still amazed at the wealth of information, much of it freely given, that can be found online. Tutorials, equipment reviews, podcasts, and forums, make it incredibly easy to find an answer to a question or to get a constructive critique of a photograph. The online experience is one of the topics I intend to explore in this blog; commenting on the tutorials and articles that I have found to most useful, the online communities that I have found to be most helpful and the galleries that I find most inspiring.
For the next four to five months I’ll be focusing on learning what it takes to compose and capture, process a good photograph. Along the way I’ll also be delving into Apple’s Aperture 2 and Adobe Photshop CS4, not to mention putting some time into learning how to blog with Wordpress. I’m not under any illusions that five months will be enough time to build this house, but hopefully I can at least lay a good foundation. While this blog may in practice be nothing more then my notes and what I’ve picked up from listening to the experience and advice of those who call themselves photographers it will also hopefully be, at its core, a chronicle of my journey.
I’ve often heard it said that photographers tend to stand in the shadows rather then the spotlight, preferring to be behind the lens rather then in front it. Yet I have seen that we are not only passionate about achieving our vision but find a bond in helping an other photographer to develop theirs. While this blog began as a means of focusing my thoughts on what I have learned I’m hopeful that it will in some small way allow me to give back what has so freely been given to me. My goal is that the site will develop beyond these humble beginnings, though it may be a while before I get my head around setting up comments, and a RSS feed, not to mention posting some pictures.
1- Nikon Acquisition Syndrome
