A moral and an update this evening.

A year ago I said I was going to re-do my online portfolios. Promised myself an overhaul. I was going to give some thought to an updated logo and a website overhaul. And then Craft & Vision exploded all over me and it’s taken this long to clean it up. But you know what they say, planning is really only guessing, and you can never anticipate the road ahead or the things that will come your way as a result. So it’s now over a year later, and the cobbler’s children still have no shoes. But they have something much better. A year ago I could never have anticipated the route this would all take and if I had stuck to the plan I might now have a very snazzy website but not being doing some of the projects I am most enjoying right now.Craft & Vision is one of those. So are some of the recent personal trips. In December I’m going to Jamaica and bringing a housing and learning to do some underwater stuff. All things I never planned.

The moral of the story is to hold things lightly, plans included. Be open and receptive. Same thing happened two years ago. I was looking to fill gaps in my schedule, and started a small brand called RedCollar, a studio devoted to photographing pets and their owners. I was pretty excited about it. And then I got a book deal. What to do, what to do. Sticking to the plan would have me knee deep in drool and hair balls; being receptive to things not going to plan has given me something much, much better.

The update is that I’m now on track with a new portfolio site – replacing Evrium’s Fluid Galleries with LiveBooks and a companion site for the iPhone/iPad, as well as splitting things out from PixelatedImage which will soon only be this blog and related community. My own work will wind up at DavidduChemin.com and will have my more recent work, all in much larger images. I’m pumped by how beautiful it’s going to look. In addition to that I’m unveiling my new logo. With the changes over the last few years, and a move towards including fine art and landscape photography, and in the near future a little more adventure photography, I needed something new and more representative of where I am going. I wanted something retro, something a little timeless and classy and clean. I kind of wanted the graphic lovechild of deco and swiss inspired design. And I wanted a DC-03 airplane. So there may be tweaks, but the artwork at the top of this post is the new look for the new brand that will represent my personal work. It’s small, I know, but you’ll have to wait for the whole thing to be unveiled.

Sorry this one’s a little detail-y and completely free from rants. Getting home is always a mixed bag – nice to be home but digging through the pile is tiring. And then there’s the jet lag. It’s not even 6pm and I doubt I’m going to make it past 6:15pm. Today was exhausting, but exhilarating. Got so much done, including placing orders for new gear (remember the post I promised about adding Nikon to my toolbox? It’s coming) and dealing with paperwork for an Antarctica trip I’m taking next December (2011) with Andy Biggs, John Paul Caponigro, and Seth Resnick – but I’m wiped. More to come, but not tonight. Goodnight, friends.

Bonus: My partner-in-crime, Jeffrey Chapman has posted a photograph of me skinny dipping with my Gitzo and Canon 1DsMkIII in Kho Samet. Anything to get the shot. Don’t worry, it’s suitable for work (depending on where you work!) See Jeffrey’s blog HERE.