I have been working toward resuming blog writing for some time. As the moment approached to do the deed, I found myself face to face with the "how to start" dilemma -- which included what to call this new space, trying to be clear about why I want to write, and a host of other niggly things.
This isn't my first blog. I wrote VicarRidge during the last years I worked full time. Meanderings was intended to be a celebration of more footloose days after I stopped working.* Neither of those efforts ended deliberately; I consider neither a failure. They simply ran down as I ran out of things to say and ran out of energy. That Write Light will be any different remains to be seen.
So, a blog about photography, which for me is a practice of contemplating light. A blog about observing life, which for me is a practice primarily of monitoring my own attitude. You will read lots more about that -- the attitude, I promise. In fact, despite the title I gave this post, I'm not really asking permission to begin again and I'm not inwardly snarling at myself for having arrived at a third beginning. Perhaps "three strikes and you're out" is no more accurate than "third try's the charm."
I chose the photograph deliberately. It was made two years and seven days ago in Ward, South Carolina, on what used to be a regular driving route. Almost without fail, I'd see those tracks and think I should stop. On that day I did. The gleaming of the late afternoon sun on those rails was too much of a draw for me to tell myself yet again that I'd stop another time.
Now, I see all sorts of things wrong with the image. The road crosses too near the horizontal center, bisecting the scene too evenly. There's too much out-of-focus track in the foreground. The highlights, especially along the rails, are clipped. In other words, I would compose it differently now and I'd probably develop it differently, too. After all, I know more about photography and the processing software in 2014 than I did two years ago. And, I am a different person. These tracks though Ward help me remember and smile at that.
Maybe one day soon I'll time a trip to stop in Ward close to sunset and photograph those tracks again. But in the meantime, as I start over, I didn't make a new image and I didn't edit the old one. Letting it be seems right.
My big question? Yes, I'd approach a new photograph of this scene differently now. Will I approach writing a blog differently, as well? We'll see, so stay tuned.
* Both previous blogs are available under the Blogs tag.
This isn't my first blog. I wrote VicarRidge during the last years I worked full time. Meanderings was intended to be a celebration of more footloose days after I stopped working.* Neither of those efforts ended deliberately; I consider neither a failure. They simply ran down as I ran out of things to say and ran out of energy. That Write Light will be any different remains to be seen.
So, a blog about photography, which for me is a practice of contemplating light. A blog about observing life, which for me is a practice primarily of monitoring my own attitude. You will read lots more about that -- the attitude, I promise. In fact, despite the title I gave this post, I'm not really asking permission to begin again and I'm not inwardly snarling at myself for having arrived at a third beginning. Perhaps "three strikes and you're out" is no more accurate than "third try's the charm."
I chose the photograph deliberately. It was made two years and seven days ago in Ward, South Carolina, on what used to be a regular driving route. Almost without fail, I'd see those tracks and think I should stop. On that day I did. The gleaming of the late afternoon sun on those rails was too much of a draw for me to tell myself yet again that I'd stop another time.
Now, I see all sorts of things wrong with the image. The road crosses too near the horizontal center, bisecting the scene too evenly. There's too much out-of-focus track in the foreground. The highlights, especially along the rails, are clipped. In other words, I would compose it differently now and I'd probably develop it differently, too. After all, I know more about photography and the processing software in 2014 than I did two years ago. And, I am a different person. These tracks though Ward help me remember and smile at that.
Maybe one day soon I'll time a trip to stop in Ward close to sunset and photograph those tracks again. But in the meantime, as I start over, I didn't make a new image and I didn't edit the old one. Letting it be seems right.
My big question? Yes, I'd approach a new photograph of this scene differently now. Will I approach writing a blog differently, as well? We'll see, so stay tuned.
* Both previous blogs are available under the Blogs tag.
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