Six New Galleries from 2008
Well, here it is, day two of 2009. The past week has been one of focused attention on this new site, the new galleries, putting it all together….lots of hours parked in front of a keyboard. Where does the time go? Part of all this reorganization was revisiting and reviewing thousands of images from 2008… many which had been sent to bits and bytes heaven and a few were real ‘finds’. Going back to images months after you took them gives you a fresh set of eyes… new possibilities for images you passed over before might inspire you to process them.
The review process made me realize what a good (and busy) year 2008 was photographically. (In all ways, really, given that my friends, loved ones, and I are in good health). The highlights of 2008?…..
It started with four weeks touring the American Southwest with my good friend, Jason Murphy, last April. Then a week in June shooting Puffins and other bits in Maine. Several days in July were spent with Pro shooter friend, Peter Ryan, immersed in aviation history at the Historic Air Group in Geneseo NY. In August it was off to Ecuador (third trip!) working for Safari Party Adventures and spending more time with Jason. Then there was an unexpected opportunity to revisit Newfoundland by way of Adventure Canada on their Circumnavigation of Newfoundland cruise. Susie and I loved our first trip to ‘Newfie’ land… how could we resist? And there was a short but fun workshop for area teachers I conducted at Letchworth State Park. In between the big trips I slipped off to beautiful Canadice Lake with camera and canoe on numerous summer and fall evenings. I had great fun watching two Canada geese a friend owns grow from fuzz balls to powerful fliers! Whew, what a year!
Given that the last gallery I published was of the Southwest trek, I was clearly way behind by the end of the year. Along the way I adopted a Mac Pro and Adobe LightRoom. Both have had a big impact on my productivity and state of mind. Strangely, I really don’t miss cursing at locked up or crashed Windows programs.
For some reason there is a need for photographers to show their work. We can dispense with the psycho analysis, but I enjoy showing the images that ‘work’ and my website was a primary way of reaching an audience. One of the reasons I was slow in posting was that it was an incredibly time and patience consuming process, and that tended to result in putting off getting things posted. To top it off, I wasn’t particularly pleased with the look of it.
The result of all these forces working together is this new venue. It is far easier to maintain and add to than the old one, so the next galleries won’t take six months from the time they are taken to getting into a gallery. That’s the plan.
I apologize for posting six new galleries at once. Take your time. If you ‘subscribe’ at the top of the page you will be alerted when anything new gets posted. Love to hear from you. As always, thanks for visiting.
jonathan orpin
thanks for the update, and this amazing work, paul. absolutely love the ecuadorian stuff, and want you to come to nicaragua sometime with me to document our solar oven project there. i can definitely turn you on to some kileer patron saint celebrations, coffe plantations, and howler mokey hideouts!
if you get to portland, call me!
jonathan
Jan 03, 2009 @ 7:06 PM