January

     So it's a new year. Since I stopped drinking, I find  the New Year's celebration is kind of pointless. Even when I was drinking, it was kind of pointless except that it provided me a reason to drink and party. (As if I needed one!) Nothing much changes just because it's a new year. I mean January 1st I woke up lying in the same bed that I slept in in 2016. Same pile of laundry behind the door, same old ramshackle house. Besides a different set of numbers on a new calendar, not much has changed.
      
     But, whether I like it or not, change is always happening. Furthermore, if I want change on a personal level I have to make an effort to make that change a reality. The quote "Be the change you wish to see in the world." attributed to Mahatma Ghandi is valid. However it implies a personal responsibility to enact change within myself rather than passively observing the constant change in the world around me.

     

     Photography is an odd activity in that it requires observation of the world around me combined with the action of using my skills and tools to make a visual record of it. Passive observation combined with a degree of activity in creating a visually interesting image.

Winter Shadow; Taken New Year's Day 2017

January Thaw

         So making New Year's resolutions is not really something I do. I prefer to make plans for the upcoming year. My plans include developing a website for my photography, participating in more art  shows and community events at a local level, acquiring a logo and creating a bit more of a brand presence for my work on social media, expanding into portraiture and more "people oriented" imaging, and just generally enjoying the time I spend making and presenting a vision of the world I inhabit. Some of these plans are in the works already although nothing is carved in stone just yet.                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
 

Another New Year's Day photo. Small Town Reflections

     The only concrete resolution that I'm making is to  make photographs and share them with people who (hopefully) like them. Oh wait... I'm already doing that!


                     ...more later