Fog and Blogs

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[I have no idea why, but lately posting on Blogger seems to be a matter of playing chicken with a photo. Periodically, the shot that ends up on this site bears almost no resemlance whatever to the image at the main gallery. I thought I had a solution, at one point; but, today that didn't work, and I have officially given up on this one. Click on the link, please, and ignore the mess above.]

Since fog seems to be a theme in my corner of the blogosphere, I decided to join the fun. I don’t have much experience yet (note the optimism with that qualifier) shooting in fog and frankly, have never been a huge fan of fog—especially in long and large doses. (Once when I spent a few days in San Francisco, I made a note to never consider living there. I was certain that I would go stir-crazy with so little sunshine.) However, it seems there are a great number of changes afoot.

This morning started out busy, since The Husband was getting off to Los Angeles for chores down there. But, from the moment my feet hit the floor at 6:30, I had been admiring the fog hanging over the Tehachapis and wishing I could get out the camera and experiment instead. As soon as the oatmeal was done, I stole a moment to see what was going on at some of my favorite photoblogs, only to find both Paul Butzi and Paul Lester talking about fog! Well at that point, fog won the tug of war, and The Husband was on his own.

I was already too late to get to a point where I would find any interesting foreground for my shots as the fog was burning off fast, so I settled for shooting from the backyard. I wasn’t satisfied with any of my photographs (the shot above just shows I did get out and there really was fog here), but I had a wonderful time. Moreover, I have decided that fog may not be so bad after all.

Perhaps another fog is lifting.

Looking Up

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This last week I have been overwhelmed with how little I know about photography, On second thought, maybe I just need to substitute life at the end of that thought. To compound my discouragement, I am becoming uncomfortably certain that in the time I have left on this planet I will make only minuscule progress. Life is too damn short. And, why on earth do many of us waste so much time on what are essentially trivial matters? If only I could go back and buy some of those wasted hours.

Every day, I am humbled by the posts that I read and the images that I view. The names of the artists that I am referring to are familiar to anyone who stops by here even occasionally. I mention the contributors by name repeatedly, and if I linked each and every post here that has blown me away recently, this entire entry would be nothing but a long series of links. Just click on any of the links in the sidebar on the left, and work your way back through page upon page of inspiration and enlightenment.

No doubt about it, most of the time it’s invigorating to spend time listening to and watching the work of people who are far more talented and smarter than I will ever be. After all, looking up helps to keep me focused on my goals and be reminded that just because I can’t make many images that work, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. It only means that while I am mostly bored with everything I am producing recently and don’t feel I am seeing anything in an interesting way, the situation may not be hopeless. Perhaps it only means that I have a great deal to learn.

Still, sometimes it’s downright depressing. Now, I admit that my personal life offers more than enough reason to get depressed these days, but the deepest concern right now is frustration about how little I know. A couple of days ago, I ordered Photography for the Joy of It by Freeman Patterson. A quotation from Mr. Patterson, posted by David duChemin at http://www.pixelatedimage.com/blog/2008/09/for-the-joy-of-it/, got me thinking that I need to keep reconnecting again and again with why I am doing this in the first place.

Thus, I will look forward to the arrival of still more inspiration. Meanwhile, I will continue shooting and continue discarding. Thank goodness there is no Society for the Protection and Preservation of Pixels, since I make ‘em and destroy ‘em at an alarming rate.