Latest reading, with lots of references

The library books on hold arrived the morning of the 24, meaning I had to brave the traffic if I wanted something to read over the holidays. We aren't much for going to the mall, any mall, pretty well any time, and even more so in December. I was not surprised to see that South Center was a gong show, but there was hardly anyone in the library. I got in, found my books, saw another interesting one along the way and escaped.

So unlike a trip earlier in the week where I am quite prepared to say I spent more time sitting at red lights than I did driving. So much traffic.

Yes, it was minus WTF out then, and it still is now. Plus it's snowing more. And it's getting windy. 

Yes, we put up our tree on schedule. Two photos for you. Yes, Celina loves it, and lurks under there almost as much as she does apricating.

Art Work by Sally Mann.

For whatever reason I thought this would be a picture book, but it's not. It's so much better than that.  I'd read one of her other books, and cannot for the life of me remember which one. Nor can I find it in the library, so maybe it was a chapter about Sally Mann in another book.

In any case, this is great reading for someone just starting out in their career. Why? All the great advice. One of the great bits is, do the work. Keep doing it, and put only your best out in the world. That really resonates with me, since I was surrounded during much of my (so-called) career by people who couldn't or wouldn't do the work. I will cop to the accusation of putting less than my best out into the world, but the problem is that there is no general agreement on what is best. I look at earlier photos and wonder what I was thinking to take the photo, let alone publish it. And sometimes, the converse, finding an overlooked gem.

I told one summer student that if they wanted to get ahead of the majority of the job hunting crowd, all they had to do was reliably show up on time ready to work, and then do the work competently. At one time I had much advice about work life, but it is mercifully fading into a foggy haze. I blogged about it here, while it was still fairly fresh in mind. That is part 1 of a 5 part series, which I was told was amusing in places.

She was a prolific letter and journal writer and shares some of those. They're a fascinating insight into what's going on in her head during a very busy life. It tied back to a recent book, The Notebook, here. I've been doing a lot of writing in a notebook lately, trying to think about what I think of a particular project. No conclusions so far, except that big surprise, the initial concept is unworkable, and I'm unsure if the road from it to explore variations will bear any fruit.

It actually led me to another book, Borrowed Time by George Webber, (here), because that is a variation of what I was thinking about. That blog has several other books that are influencing my thoughts about a 2026 film project.

The Revenge of Analog by David Sax.

I thought I'd read this one before, but no. It's actually about 10 years old, catching just the beginning of the analog revival. It didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know. I checked out several of the situations mentioned and they're still around. 

I certainly think of myself as an analog kind of guy. I tried reading books on an iPad, and once on a borrowed Kindle, but I infinitely prefer paper books. For my own photography I prefer film, and black and white at that, over digital, though of course client work and some specific situations is digital, unless of course someone wants to pay me to shoot film, which nobody has done, and I don't expect anyone will. 

I prefer older cars that don't 'help' me drive, and I'd love to get a new 1984 Accord hatchback, just as it was made then. No infotainment screen. Although I will admit that having the map on a screen is handy when driving in some place you don't know, though I've never understood the vagaries of why the system behaves different ways at different times, which annoys the heck out of me. 

I don't much listen to music any more, and when I do it's through a computer, and yes I know the music snobs are looking down their nose at me because of course a wax record on a turntable played through a tube amplifier is better. Except with my hearing I can't hear the subtle stuff anyways. The hearing aids are good, but not that good. Even with my poor hearing, autotune grates.

 

Of the Day

Driftwood (NZ)

Driftwood (NB)

Film

Linda

After we finally got there. It was quite the adventure. 

Newfoundland

New Brunswick

Part of the view from Miscou Lighthouse 

Why ever didn't I publish this, and maybe I did

This is one of the ones I worked on during my Lightroom upgrade last month.

90 days, or so ago

Flower

Landscape

Dino related

A Christmas time blog

Here we are. Christmas Eve again. I'm taking a break from decorating the tree while Linda adds the final touches and tweaks it so it looks nice. 

This is how cold it is out there. 

I can't believe how quick 2025 has gone. It's totally a cliche to say that, and the editor within wants to drop it. For us it went quick, and I suppose that's because we enjoyed ourselves. Time goes quick when that happens.

Facebook is an off and rarely on thing. Still. Mostly off. Generally whenever I get the itch to look at it, I ask myself what else I could do instead. Just about anything is enough to distract me from Facebook. Reading a book. Going for a walk, which I should do more. Washing dishes. Paying attention to the demanding cat. Whatever.

I don't intend to give a summary of what we did. If you've been following along the 130-some blogs this year, you already know. If you haven't been following along, and are interested, you can scroll back through my sometimes cryptic but enigmatic blog titles and read what catches your attention.

Yes, I'm working on Image of the Month, and have it picked out. Unless something better comes along in the next few days. The Image of the Year is down to fewer than a dozen candidates, and I think I know which three. Order is tricky. Also on the photo front I'm giving serious thought to a 2026 photo project. I'd like to do something on film, maybe trying to go through a roll of film a week and at the end of the year have 50 photos or so that would be the result of the project. 

We don't know what the coming year will bring. I hope you all have a happy Christmas and a wonderful new year!

Of the Day

Driftwood (NZ)

Driftwood (NB)

Film

Linda

Newfoundland

New Brunswick This is one of the photos I tried to tweak with new Lightroom skillz. I wanted to get the power lines and pole out of there, leaving just the lighthouse and tree. Not.

Why ever didn't I publish this, and maybe I did. This is what photography can be like on some tours.

90 days, or so ago. This is the start of the 13 Km long beach.

Flower

Landscape

Dino related

Recent books and thoughts

This might get a little tangled and involve some scrolling up or down, and following some links that inform my thinking here.

The Notebook, A History of Thinking on Paper, by Roland Allen. I found this book from another blogger here. As an aside, a digression if you will, if you're a writer, a photographer, or thinking about making a book, you could do much worse than to navigate to the top of Dan's Shifter site and scroll to your heart's content. As he says, just one guy with one opinion, and you will be in no doubt of what those opinions are.

This was a fabulous read that came along at just the right time for me. The library had a hold list and it took a while for me to rise to the top of it, so the anticipation built up. One of the things that nearly all creative people have in common is they carry around a notebook and use it often. Really often. They might use it differently, but they use it. We think of paper and pencil or pen as being old fashioned now, but it was really quite revolutionary, and is still transformative. At the least it lets you think about what you thought, which is nearly impossible for most people without making notes. Going back through the notes, and connecting them up with other things can produce unexpected results.

One example is Both Sides Now by Ari Jaaksi. You can find a previous post about it  here, along other books and images and notes. The notes he took during his working career in the software industry are matched up with photographs from a variety of times and places. I'm quite sure such a project was the furthest thing from his mind when taking the notes. (You can read a review here, and buy it here. Or come visit and I'll let you browse my copy.) 

We think we'll remember, but we don't. I've often made notes tapping away like mad on a laptop, and the blogging could be considered a form of note taking or diary, but it's not the same as writing. There's lots of research that says taking notes by hand is much better for memory and comprehension than taking notes by typing. Part of it is that moving a pen slows us down, and makes us think. There's something about doing the actual handwriting that ties the memory to the words on the page.

I have periodically found old notebooks tucked away in a drawer. Mostly they are work related, capturing bits of SQL, or meeting notes, or deliverables. Some are random burble about what I was thinking at the time.

I had started taking photography related notes, especially for the film work, but let's just say I'm a bit erratic. Now I'm inspired to get more regular. See more below.

Who We Are, Four questions for a life and a nation by Murray Sinclair cc Mazina Giizhik. I've only read about half of it, and it's fascinating. A great read for Canadians, helping us understand how the story of Canada as taught to most of us in school is incomplete and misleading at best, and in many places has been racist and genocidal.

The Official Picture, by Carol Payne.

I've only browsed through this, not actually read it yet, but even what little I've seen totally intrigues me. There's burble about the National Film Board still photography division, but I'm interested in the actual photos. Ordinary people doing ordinary things that become extraordinary in telling a story of Canada. And yes, referencing Sinclair, there are blemishes on that story. I may blog more about this after reading.

The most recent page of my film notebook, for what it's worth. This illustrates one of the problems in keeping a notebook. I can barely read my own writing at it's neatest, and what you see below is extremely neat by my standards. I once worked with a young woman who had amazingly neat copperplate handwriting, and it was fast. She could take notes almost quicker than me typing, and I can type pretty quickly. I usually print if legibility is important. Still, I've been going back through it and a similar notebook to glean what learnings I can as I think about next year.

I'm thinking over something Sean applies to his work, that there are projects and practice. Now, in my mind practice is a complicated word and I think a discussion to explore that is best had over beer. But many photographers talk about intentional photographs, and I'm thinking seriously about what a project for next year might look like. An intentional project, where I assign myself something. Dan Milnor (see above) in some of his posts talks about being assigned to go get photos of some newsworthy event, and the consequences of failure. There are no consequences for me, other than spending some time and money to buy film, developer, and perhaps photo paper. I figure at worst I will not get the results I hope for, or nothing worth sharing. Mostly likely I'll have fun and learn something along the way. I doubt that it will bring me fame and fortune.

Of the Day

Driftwood (NZ)

Driftwood (NB)

Film

Linda

Newfoundland

New Brunswick

Why ever didn't I publish this, and maybe I did

90 days, or so ago

Flower

Landscape

Dino related

Couldn't think of a title

So 3 months ago we arrived in New Brunswick, and had a fun month. Time flies. I'm still thinking about how to do a book about the trip. Maybe that's why I've been in a bit of a photographic funk since then. Maybe I'm feeling intimidated by the thought of reviewing more than 2000 photos to see if I overlooked any gems, or that could be improved with new mad Lightroom skillz, like I did with one of the photos below. Maybe I'm procrastinating. Or maybe I'm warming up the dither machine for Image of the Year.

Somehow, this photo expresses how I feel.

No, I'm not ready for Christmas, but thanks for asking. Not. I'm never ready.

Yesterday was a fun day in one sense. It was just beginning to snow as I finished coffee and went to have a shower. It was a full blown blizzard when I came out. Fairly quickly the expected news headlines happened. There was an 80 to 100 car pileup on highway 2 just north of town. Glad I wasn't involved. I feel for the people that were. I can just see all the insurance adjusters putting in for overtime. I enjoyed being inside, drinking a mug of mint tea, being a fuzzy blanket substrate, and not having to go anywhere. Score a big one for being retired.

Of the Day

Driftwood (NZ)

Driftwood (NB)

Film A fun double exposure, super zoomed in.

Linda

Newfoundland

New Brunswick

Why ever didn't I publish this, and maybe I did

90 days, or so ago

Parlee beach in Shediac.

Flower

Landscape

Dino related