My Photography Workflow

Below is the description of my current photography workflow.

I shoot with an Olympus PEN E-PL1 micro four thirds format digital camera. I mostly use the kit lens that came with the camera, a 14-42 mm zoom. When shooting close-up/macro, I set it to manual focus. I also have a 40-150 mm zoom. Also note that my camera is set to record each image in both RAW and jpeg format. Camera is set to take three images in sequence at three different exposure settings.

Here's what happens when I return home from a shoot. Note that on a typical shoot I might create 30 to 100 images.

Almost full circle

One Sunday last April Kate and I went for a walk in the woods. I took some pictures of some of the flowers and such that we encountered, and decided to write about it (Things We Saw in the Woods Today). I didn't know it at the time, but it was the start of a project to catalog all of the native flowering plants (including shrubs and small trees) that I could find in our woods in one year. I call it my "Year in the Woods" series, and you can see all 21 posts (including this one) by clicking the label on left side of the page.

Your First Camping Trip in Your Travel Trailer

So you've bought a new or new-to-you travel trailer. The friendly seller gave you a quick rundown of all the systems, but now you're ready for your first shake-down trip. Here are some tips to help make it go more smoothly.

NOTE: I am not an expert on this subject, these are simply my personal observations based on my experience with our own travel trailer. Yours will be different. For the complete story, consult the owner's manual, dealer, manufacturer or a qualified technician.

PACKING AND LOADING
There are many items you will want to leave in the camper permanently, like dishes, pots, pans, tools, bath towels, perhaps some clothing, etc. These will be stored in cabinets and drawers and you want to be sure they are secure while moving down the road. Place pillows or towels on top of items in drawers and cabinets, and secure cabinet doors and drawers with bungee cords, paracord, etc.

Ramblings on a Mediocre Photo

One time, after posting a photo on Facebook, a friend asked me what kind of camera I have. "It takes great photos!" he said. It was an innocent comment, but it's actually the photographer who takes the photos, is it not? And in fact, a couple of my favorite all time shots were taken with cameras that are not even one-tenth as good as the one on your fancy smartphone.

Photographing Things

At the beginning of the year, I decided I would try to post a photo each day on Facebook. At the time I didn't realize what that personal challenge would mean, or how much I would learn.

It means shooting almost every day. It means editing almost every day. It means walking through the world with eyes that are constantly noticing how sun illuminates buildings and trees and sky and water. 

Impressions from the Long Drive Home

Over the past couple of decades, Kate and I have traveled a time or two or twenty to her childhood home, an old stone house by the Skunk River in the southeast corner of Iowa.

This morning

This morning, as I'm driving to a conference in Raleigh, I'm thinking about the lovely conversation I've just had with Mom, and the pitfalls of aging, and yet how well she's doing in spite of it all, and the tragedy of lives cut short, and how much I depend on Google, and when it tells me to turn left on some winding road, when all the lemmings are going straight, but slowly because the traffic is horrendous, and I wonder if I'd be crazy to turn left on the winding road, or crazy like a fox, but I'm already late, because 10 minutes from home I turned around to make sure I'd turned off the stove,