The Art Of Not Asking Why

Don't ask me why, I'll tell you anyway

Photos

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    This morning, I finished my first written journal 📓 in around 20 years.

    I started writing in it in 2013 and at some point I switched full-time into digital journaling (it was TiddlyWiki at the time if you’re curious). I’ll probably start my next written journal at some point this weekend. Here’s a picture 📷 of it:

    a hand holding a closed Moleskine black notebook. It's spine has a lable on it: 2013-05-09 - with a break - 2024-02-01.
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    Good morning 📷

    A shelf against the window with a few plants, and glass jars. Cloudy city day in the background.
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    A walk in the neighborhood with my camera 📷. These photos came so different, it’s hard to believe the locations are minutes apart.

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    Had a “photo itch” when I went to get coffee this weekend. Took the camera with me.

    Two pictures 📷 from around Bleeker Street, near Washington Square Park.

    A bar sign advertising prices for drafts and cocktails in colorful neon chalk. In the background, another shop's neon sign and a fire escape Minetta lane, off of 6th Ave. A red fire hydrant in the foreground, a street with puddles in the background, with lights from different shops further back
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    The latte from Starbucks was awful enough to throw away, unfinished. Headed to WTC, where I know a better spot. Indeed, it saved me. 📷

    I can’t start the new year without a good cup of coffee.

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    Woke up this morning to the alcohol remains of last year’s final night. Standing in a Starbucks at a low table facing Dey Street, sipping a weak latte. It’s a new year, just like that. Poof. 📷

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    I found my first digital camera 📷 burried in my trunk of memories. I left the batteries inside so it’s probably not to be used again…

    A hand holding an HP camera. It’s a photosmart 753 model.
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    Another Manhattan sticker-covered manhole. Lafayette Street. 📷

    A manhole lid covered in various stickers, mostly look like graffiti and various writings.
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    My new printer is here, and it's fantastic.

    an Epson printer with the printing bay and scanner door open 📷

    Fred, which is how I decided to name it (we’ll see if it sticks), is already proving to be a crucial part of my photography process I didn’t know I needed. Fortunately for me, good folks like Jack exist on Micro.blog to share their knowledge.

    Jack helped me several times in the last couple of weeks. When I was stuck in my “funk” two weeks ago, he directed me toward the magnetic cables he uses. That, and getting around to organizing my photos, finally pulled me out of the mental mud I was in. The pictures below are from Maine, which you can see in the photos section on the blog:

    printed photos of places in Maine, and one of a hot air balloon in New Mexico

    Then I read his post about the Epson Printer, and I found the idea of printing my own photos exciting. It took me a couple of days to decide to buy it, and then Amazon teased me about the delivery for a day and a half. I was sitting on the stairs of the lobby of my building in the evening, waiting for the delivery guy to show up. I told myself I was worried because they’d just leave it in the lobby for thieves to grab (which unfortunately happens in my building more often than not), but looking back at it now, I understand there was more excitement in the printer than just that concern. Now that I see my photos on the wall, I think I get it.

    The printer lets me see my photos around me as physical objects, a part of who I am and what I do. It puts my photography to a new level. It’s one thing to occasionally open Lightroom or Photoshop (or Darktable when I started out) and browse through your photos, nod with a smile, and move on. It’s something different to see them on a wall in front of you, greeting you every day. Sure, you can order prints, and I did. But sending photos to professional printing doesn’t happen as often as printing on your own: It took me two months to send three photos to print; it took me one night to print the same number at home.

    Even more important is the trial and error, learning the process, and being a part of it. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jack feels the same way (probably to a higher degree) when he develops photos in a dark room. It’s probably an amazing feeling.

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    After organizing my photos, I finally got to edit and work out some of my photos 📷from Bar Harbor in September. More work to do, but progress…!

    A picture of lighthouse island in Bar Harbor, Maine, from a deck on a boat. A text in the sky reads Bar Harbor 2023
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    Also, sorting my photos, I’m considering a couple of features I’d like in a future camera 📷:

    • GPS tagging (so I can find photos by looking at a map in Lightroom)
    • WiFi syncing to Synology / DNS
    • Mirrorless Sony (so it fits my current lenses)
    • Longer video clip duration
    • Higher sensitivity (low light)
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    Two in one, or as a previous manager used to say: “two for five!” finishing the photoblog challenge, a bit behind.

    September photo 📷 challenge day 29 Constrast A black and white photo of a New York City office building at night, with some windows lit and most dark. A fluff of smoke is caught in the foreground.

    Above: Taken in manhattan, caught some smoke as well in the picture.

    Below: our “treasure:” chocolate covered orange peels, espresso beans, cherries, and almonds. Life Forst Gump, we never know what we’re going to get when we have one 🍫

    September photo 📷 challenge day 30 Treasure A glass jar filled with chocolates of different flavors, as expressed above. There’s a lamp in the background next to a Snake plant, providing yellow-orange light

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    September photo 📷 challenge day 28 Workout

    Since COVID, I’ve started to exercise in my room. I’ve been exercising way more often this way than I ever did at the gym.

    A dum-bell at the front, with another one close by. In the background, an orange yoga mattress. Even further away, against the wall, an over-the-door pull-up bar.

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    September photo 📷 challenge day 27 Embrace

    After several days without sun, I was ready to go for a run and embrace the sun yesterday.

    Crossing a metallic bridge, with the sun at the upper left. The railing are curved and stylish. A woman is walking ahead.

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    September photo 📷 challenge day 26 ** Beverage**

    What, no coffee? I actually have a couple of favorites. Pictured here, is pomegranate juice, slightly carbonated. Perfect with a spicy grilled chicken sandwich.

    In a jar, red liquid. It is pomegranate juice with a few bubbles from carbonation in it.
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    September photo 📷 challenge day 25 Flare

    New Mexico, before the hot balloon ride, 2021.

    ### A man aiming a hot air balloon tortch into the inflating balloon to the right; there’s a big flame coming out bigger than the man itself. Another man is kneeling on the ground next to the balloon, holding it. The scene takes place in the desert. ###

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    September photo 📷 challenge day 24 Belt

    I had this belt for about 15 years.

    A black leather black on a wooden table.
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    September photo 📷 challenge day 23 Day In the Life

    That’s just me in the corner… typical morning routine.

    A picture of a small manhattan apartment. Standing at the left, a bald guy with a cup in his hand looking outside. The apartment is full of objects, spices, a sofa, a table, a microwave, and two windows looking outside at the gloomy grey day.
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    September photo 📷 challenge day 22 Road

    Almost skipped this one… One of the side streets in Florance, Italy.

    A paved road with a row of scooters next to each other blocking about half of the street. Yellow-painted walls are closing in on the street, making it more of an alleyway.
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    September photo 📷 challenge day 21 Fall

    A brown-orange fallen leaf on the ground, with large drops of water like pearls on top of it
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