I tried it thy way

I was already thinking a bit about photography styles and so on last week before the assignment was declared and before the potential cost of experimentation became apparent. Although digital allows more shots than film much more cheaply it evidently uses up the lifetime of components much more quickly. I read enough reviews to have seen the alleged 50Kexposure rating of the D80's shutter before I bought which was one of the reasons I erred towards new rather than secondhand given the amount of pictures I took last year. I've managed to cut down a lot recently but I'm now mildly apprehensive that the shutter's going to break long before I run out of space on my external drive.

Anyway, the assignment topic (plus The Genius of Photography and the guide in today's paper) set off some emponderment about developing one's own style vs. trying new stuff. A photography club was set up at work earlier this year which is doing little except providing access to lots of photography magazines for very little money. Most of those I've seen so far have been quickly flicked through and passed swiftly on as they don't seem to be saying anything new and rotate through the same few basic articles (usually accompanied by a Photoshop how-to or two) and occasionally really annoy me when someone gets a bit too wanky about something. What is quite nice is that occasionally someone will declare something that I do all the time and have done for years to be an Amazing New Thing which they only though of THAT MORNING which will revolutionize one's photography. It's good to know I'm doing something right without knowing.

What would be really nice is if a magazine published a quick half-page guide to not habitually holding your camera three degrees clockwise from horizontal. Perhaps a self-hypnosis DVD supplement to kick that particular habit.

Anyway, this different viewpoints thing: given that I only have a finite amount of experimentation-time left before my shutter explodes, possibly after the warranty period expires and possibly costing a small lensworth of pounds to replace and possibly plunging me into another crappyphonecam period I'm now torn between just taking pictures I would usually take because they're the sort of pictures I usually take or that plus experimenting with other things and styles and techniques and so on. For some reason heading out this morning to try and catch the pre-dawn sky felt like trying to take someone else's pictures. Maybe just because of the viewpoint-thinking, maybe because of the pink fluffy clouds, maybe just because I haven't been out in the early morning at the weekend for a while and suddenly changed my mind and went for the hill instead of the river.

HMMMM. I went for the leaf above instead as I've had my eye on it for the past few days as it skipped from step to step on the way up to the flat. Today it was in a nicely-lit spot during daylight hours when I had my tripod on me so I blipped it to celebrate the occasion.

In other news...

IKEA 1 wingpig 3.
The new yet knackered wardrobe frame (lifted up from floor when complete - joints insufficiently strong - hilarious consequences) was restored to health with angle brackets and just needs the rest of the drawers and two more doors adding tomorrow.

Also: go and see Once. Ace tunes, cracking singer/guitarist-blokey and pianowoman and nice story.