2020 did not turn out how I planned. I don’t expect 2021 will either. If 2020 has taught us anything, it is that nothing is permanent. The things you think will last might be gone tomorrow. If you have been thinking about doing something, don’t put it off. The time to act is now.
So I am starting this blog. It’s not much, just a tiny step forward, but it is something I have been thinking about for a long time and never got around to doing. Thinking is great, but sometimes you Just Gotta Do. I am not sure where this blog — or this year — will lead or what it will look like, but I am curious and a bit excited to see where it goes.
Last year was not at all what I expected. I mostly retired from my day job at the end of 2019, with plans for lots of travel and photography in the coming year. I had been passionate about making images for most of my life, but I lacked the time — and, candidly, the commitment — to fully embrace it. But my creative desire never waned, and at the ripe young age of 59 I finally found the time and dedication to focus my full attention and effort on photography. My first post-retirement trip — to a Yosemite workshop in February — went off without a hitch. But as we all know, the rails came off soon after.
So I found other things to do. I redesigned this website from the ground up. I took part in, and was inspired by, more zoom workshops than I care to count. I read many photo books, and wrote a book of my own that catalogued over a decade of abstract, blurry, and impressionistic images I’ve made. I found groups of photographers to connect with, both online and in a local photo club. I started sharing on Instagram. I began shooting film again, with an old Bronica S-2A and a Widelux 35mm pano-camera. I taught myself to scan the many film slides and negatives I have sitting around from the ‘70s and ‘80s. I learned a new camera system (the Fuji GFX 50R), and played around with some old ones. I embarked on many new photo projects. Some worked, some didn’t, most are ongoing.
And I continued to make and print photographs. Day trips around the Bay Area kept me sane amid the pandemic. To Pt. Reyes, the GGNRA, Napa, San Francisco, Samuel P. Taylor, Mt. Tam, and more. A few socially distant road trips took me further afield. Back to Yosemite in October, and to Oregon and Northern California in August and again in December.
In all these endeavors I did my best to be present, to experiment, to play, to learn. I was excited and energized, and felt more creative than I had in years. (Maybe not as creative as you, but way creative for me.) But something was still missing. (Check that, a lot was missing.) I wanted to share this journey I was on. To find an outlet for all this work. To write about what I was doing, what I was discovering, what I was feeling. Because keeping it all bottled up inside me and my hard drive was killing me.
This blog is the natural next step. Regardless of what happens this year, I will do my best to keep trying new things, to continue to be curious, and to keep moving my photography forward. I hope along the way I find some interesting things to write about and to share.
If you are interested in joining me on this journey, you can use the link to subscribe below. I would be honored to have you along the for the ride.
Buckle up, here we go.