Reflection

It's been a while since I've felt like I have anything worth writing on my blog, but as I sit on the cusp of what might be the hardest 10 days of my life (my Vico 587 magazine shoot) I decided to do a little retrospective on myself and my photography. I've spent the better part of my night (and what soon became morning) going through the last few years of my blog. While this may have begun as a way to avoid writing a film shot analysis, it soon turned into a lovely experience of watching my own stop motion film of my life. Ever the pessimist on my own work, I try to always look at my photography for what it isn't; the mistakes I've made, the moments I've missed, the time I've wasted worrying about getting rejected instead of plowing ahead and fearing that I have. . . dare I say it. . . wasted too time with friends and loved ones rather than making frames of other, more important things. Going through my blog has, in no way, given me confidence that I am a great shooter i.e. an ego. That is one thing that I feel has no place in photography. Humility has always been the highest virtue a photographer can have, in my mind. So while this personal reflection has in no way given me a big head, it has made me feel as though I may have accomplished some small feat, if that feat is to have only made a great attempt at providing myself record of wonderful memories and set in stone/html that I have been to beautiful places, seen great events unfold, and met wonder people. I will have stories to show my children and constant reminders to myself as my mind grows too old to house them all. Realizing that I have only kept a blog for about two years, I'm wondering what the next years will bring.

I suggest all you in the blog world/photo world take a little time to take step back (on your own work of course). Learn who you are, how far you have come, and prepare for what might come next. Shoot everything in your life as if it were anything else. In a few years when you look back and find the people and places you all but forgot about, you will thank yourself.

As always this is a photo blog so I will post a photo. I can't count how many frames have been fired by my bony hips as I walk from here to there. Blurry photos of the ground have taken refuge in many of my folders, and I think that I will start to save them from now on as little reminders of where I've been... or as nothing more than reminders of the shoe trends in years gone by. Here's one from tonight.