Photos

Looking through my archives I note that I started taking photos when I got my first digital camera in 2002 or so. Back then it was a means to keep me busy during extended travelling holidays; I get bored easily.

In 2006 it looks like I got my first smartish phone with a camera in it. At that time I started taking daily pictures with an active editing and filtering (of the good from the bad) process.

Which means I have been a ‘photographer’ for 8 years or so.

I can now flip through 8 years of photos and, because of the high frequency of effort, I have a visual mud-map which triggers recall of the whole time-frame (or at least the bits worth capturing). This is pretty handy to say the least.

For almost a year now I have been pairing photos with blog entries. Initially I dug back into my back catalog of entries but now I pretty much exclusively use new images that I take around the same time as the blog entry. Which means I have to match the frequency of blog entries with good and relevant photos.

Writing the blog has taken ‘pressure’ off me to take great photos since my focus is on the written word and the image is there simply to engage the appropriate part of the brain that is not usually engaged during reading and contemplation. I do this pretty much subconsciously or in a Gestaltian fashion; I don’t over-think it – I go with gut instinct.

I think that the photos have got better since they have become a second priority, again because I am not over-thinking them and just going with my gut.