OK, Maybe Size Matters a Little Bit

That's a lot of size

Sure, I was convinced that size didn't matter. I mean, it's what you do with what you've got, right? I even blogged about it in one of my earliest posts, concluding that it matters more what you do with what you've got. At least that's what I thought then.

I've enjoyed a number of surprises along my blogging journey. One is that my photographs are the primary draw for many of you. I thought I was writing a blog and including some pictures, but many of my "readers" are more "viewers" for whom the pictures tell the story and there may or may not be time for the words.

How do I know this? There are several ways, but I'll give you a couple. First, after over a year and half blogging I have 77 followers and 56 subscriptions. Not bad (and I'd encourage you to look to the right of this column and become a follower and a subscriber if you haven't already). However, contrast that with the fact that after only about six months with a Facebook page which features only photographs from the blog I already have 84 "likes." Also, while I've had a couple of requests for use of my writing, I've had numerous different kinds of requests for use of my pictures.

So, what does all this mean for a person who considers himself a writer and not so much a photographer? In my case it means I feel an obligation to improve the photographs. I may be photographing downtown Knoxville more than anyone else on a consistent basis. I also think I'm photographing subjects that others may not be as interested in, meaning I'm making an historical record that may not be recorded otherwise.

Canon T3

Canon T3

If that's going to be the case, I need to make the photographs the best I can make them, so I've invested in a new camera: a Canon T3 along with a couple of lenses. Thanks goes out to John Black for helping me find the best camera for the best money for what I am doing.

Urban Woman via T3

Market Square via T3

The good news is after playing with it just a little this weekend, I feel like a carpenter who has been driving nails for years with a wrench and thinking I'm pretty good at it. Then someone handed me a hammer and suddenly I get it. The bad news is that I simultaneously feel like a mentally challenged twelve-year-old who has been handed the keys to the Jaguar: way beyond my capabilities.

Rala Street Display

Market Street, Knoxville

Vegetables at Just Ripe, Knoxville, February 2012

So, I hope you'll see an improvement in the pictures on this blog. I suspect the improvements will not be instantaneous. I'll keep working at it, though and hopefully the quality will get better now that the size has gotten just a bit bigger. In the end, maybe I can do more with what I've got, if I've got more in the first place. We'll see.