Why a blog?

At the beginning of July 2006 I switched from 35mm film (Canon EOS-3, before that a Canon T90, and waaay back in antiquity a Nikon Nikkormat and a ancient Contax body) to Digital (Canon EOS 5D). Shortly after that switch I began to realize how much the new camera has been teaching me about Photography. The extremely low per shot cost and the very rapid turnaround has prompted me to try things with the camera that I would have never attempted with film. Combine that with a extremely challenging and yet very available subject (my 2-year-old son Miles) and I have an excellent test bed for improving my skills. Over the last 6 months I have shot around 4000 frames on the 5D. Small change for a working pro, but quite a few for a hobbyist. More to the point, in a significant fraction of those shot I have been deliberately pushing (and sometimes exceeding) the bounds of my abilities. That may actually be less common among working pros because they have take a large number of more conservative money shots to earn their living.

Somewhere along the line I decided that I should start writing down what I am learning. Both just to organize my own thoughts, but also as a resource for anyone else going through the same process. As I started to follow the online photo forums I found many people with the same questions and problems as I have faced. For a little while I was fairly ambitious about responding to these posts when I felt I had something useful to day, but watching that thread get buried and then the same question resurface 2 weeks later gave me the feeling I was spitting into the wind. Not that I really expect to be heard here either but at least this way I can find the post again.

At various times I have entertained the idea of writing a book as a way of getting my ideas written down in a way that will last. I still think I might go there, but organizing something of that scope is daunting and I never seem to get started. A blog, however, seems much less intimidating. The nature of a blog as a living and breathing document makes it much easier for me to get started. Every post has sort of an implied ellipsis not only at the end, but also at the beginning. These are my thoughts right now. I'll fill you in on the background later and I'll let you know if anything more on this topic comes up.

Someday as I get the topics better fleshed out I may yet turn it all into a book. I have a working title and an outline. All I need is a text...