Since Holly got me that new Canon (see above) last October as an early birthday gift before my Kansas City trip, I’ve taken it everywhere. One of my first posts of 2009 was a recap of the favorite photos I shot in 2008: That Canon shot three of the five I chose, and it’s sure to be accountable for almost every one my “Best of 2009” (of course, that Canon Mach 3 in Florida was pretty sweet though).
I’ve never considered myself a photographer. Let me rephrase that, after high school I haven’t considered myself a photographer. I shot many events and sports for my high school newspaper and yearbook (even winning some major awards along the way), but I was a big fish in a little pond. Since, I’ve settled with being a writer and designer.
But slowly I’ve gained a new obsession with looking through the lens. Maybe the friendly competition we had back at NIC as everyone tried their own photo techniques helped percolate my interest again. They always had way nicer cameras (but they planned on being professional photographers, so they should have nice cameras). Tim Sorenson and James Hannibal are my two favorite and I constantly strive to shoot something that makes them say, “Damn, Jake!”
Needless to say, I never really compared myself to them. And that was fine; while they took award-winning photos, I used those pictures to design award-winning pages. We needed each other.
But now I’m just shooting to shoot. And while I slowly teach myself how to maximize the full power of Photoshop CS4, I’m getting even more excited. Maybe I should have started a separate blog where I only post photos (actually I tried that: www.jakeshoots.blogspot.com). But the designing part of my brain still loves to mix photos with text.
Throw in a few videos thanks to my Blackberry Storm (see mouse), YouTube (see Ari Gold and the Most Interesting Man in the World), not to mention my Poynter summer project (meet my pelican friend, Spot).
I may not write as much as thought I could muster, but I’m a multi-media maestro these days. Could it be for the best? Who knows. It’s my blog, after all, and I’m the only critic I listen to when it comes to this thing.
But to the countless people who actually do read this thing, I just want to say Thank You. Just when I think I'm essentially talking to myself, someone I haven’t seen in a long time comes up and says, “Hey man, I love your blog.”
And then I get excited again. I guess whatever I’m doing works so far.
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