February 2010 Wallpaper

In Wallpapers by David10 Comments

Here’s the February 2010 wallpaper in both 2560×1600 and 1280×853, shot on the Maasai Mara this past January. I ran this through NiK Software’s fantastic Silver Efex and added a texture, which is a little out of the usual for me, but 2010 is the year for me to play and try new things. Sometimes they’ll work, other times not …

An Update

In News & Stuff, Travel by David18 Comments

Mti 1, Burning Bush. Kenya 2010 There’s a great Peter Gabriel song about the tension between the desire to be home and to keep travelling. He begins with “Lost my time, lost my place, in sky blue,” and goes on in the chorus to say, “so tired of all this travelling / so many miles away from home / i …

Back From Kenya

In Travel by David17 Comments

Dusk at Karen Blixen Camp just outside the Maasai Mara National Park. I’m writing this at the Amsterdam airport. Been here since 5am and my flight leaves at 5pm, another couple hours. Another 12 hours from now and I’ll be home. Had a fun layover in Amsterdam but my wifi just ran out. So I’ll post this from home. Can’t …

Sustaining, Part II

In Creativity and Inspiration, Vision Is Better by David26 Comments

Self portrait, Jan 03, 2010 Last week I started a discussion about sustaining the practice of art, based on the Kurt Vonnegut quote about the purpose of art being the growth of the soul.  Y’all chimed in with what you do to sustain your creativity, and if you haven’t read through the comments in that post, you’ll want to. This …

January 2010 Wallpaper

In Wallpapers by David19 Comments

Here’s the January 2010 wallpaper in both 2560×1600 and 1280×853, shot outside yet another monastery in northern Thailand this August. Click the image above to get the small wallpaper, and HERE to get the large one. Enjoy!

Sustaining The Practice of Art

In Freelance and Business, Pep Talks, Rants and Sermons, Vision Is Better, VisionMongers by David50 Comments

“The practice of art isn’t to make a living. It’s to make your soul grow.” ~Kurt Vonnegut Chase Jarvis recently posted about his Create-Share-Sustain paradigm. I’ve referenced it, linked to it, quoted it several times this past year. In that paradigm, the notion of sustaining the create-share cycle is generally seen as a financial one. It’s the grease on the …

Gifts

In Books, Just For Fun, News & Stuff by David34 Comments

Hi all. Hope you had a lovely holiday, filled with family, friends, and love. Ours was subdued, a close friend was diagnosed to have a brain tumour and that brought the tone of things down. But it re-calibrates you in a hurry, this kind of event; reminds you quickly of the things you truly want for Christmas – health, family, …

Christmas 2009

In News & Stuff, Rants and Sermons by David69 Comments

I had a simple “Merry Christmas” post planned for today. I scrapped it. I’m wavering between my desire to let this holiday pass with a simple Christmas greeting and something more personal. I had the same struggle last year and in the end I said everything then that I wanted to this year too. It’s an unusually low-key year for …

Doomed(?) Revisited.

In Pep Talks, VisionMongers by David5 Comments

2008. Sleeping on the train to Tunis, Tunisia. Or Sfax. I can’t recall now. Photo credit: The Legendary H. On Friday I posted a letter from a photographer asking a very pointed question about his future in the craft. I put the note out there and invited replies from you, and boy did you ever step up to the plate! …

Doomed To Mediocrity?

In Pep Talks, VisionMongers by David82 Comments

I got this question in my inbox this week: In the past two decades I’ve learned at least one thing about myself:  I don’t do expert well. I do bouncing around, try everything once well.  Chalk it up to my being Gemini, too much coffee or ADD. I can get good, and focus for short periods of time but when …