I haven't been near an internet photographic forum for quite some time now, and I must admit its having its benefits. I'm getting a lot more work done, thinking much more about photography rather than gear, and I'm certainly a lot calmer!
So do I miss the bickering, the ignorance, the bad temper and the misinformation? Well no, I really don't. Much of them seem to involve an endless recycling of the same old opinions anyway (including mine!) , and after hanging around them for a while, I definitely get a strong sense of deja vu about much of what is being written.
There were some that I enjoyed, and there are certainly some good people out there, but in the main they seem to be a vehicle for people to either justify their own purchases and / or criticise the purchases of others.
I really did think that I would get withdrawal symptoms, and at the beginning of this hiatus I had to force myself not to see what was being posted in those forums I used to frequent the most, but as time goes by I find myself far less interested.
Its yet another benefit of this heavy duty scanning of old material that I've started. I'm remembering a time before the internet, and before digital cameras when things were simpler, and more focused on the photography rather than the cameras.
Its also having implications on what I'm contemplating using in the future and even the pictures I'm planning to take. Its a process of re-introducing what might be described as a "film sensibility" into a digital workflow, and as time goes on I will explain what I mean by that. I have only just realised that this is happening, and I feel very positive about it.
Finally here are a few pictures that I was planning to post together with a piece on silhouettes, sunsets and backlight. However I've decided to shelve that, since all I was going to say about it was that I like taking shots "against the light", as I suspect do many photographers, but in terms of stock photography sales they aren't very popular at all.
So rather than elaborate, I've decided to leave it at that.
