Winter is coming....

At least in the Northern Hemisphere it will soon be here. Just a random photo to remind you what summer was like....

Darn it, they (the ubiquitous they) are still messing with the time again. I wish they would stop it. The twice yearly time change really frosts me, if you know what I mean. No scientific reason has been found that we really need it. We can get rid of it, especially this time of year. I like getting out of work while it's still light.

We became the proud owners of a new Golden Retriever puppy this past week. Eight and a half weeks old, and she's already wearing me out. I promise the gratuitous puppy picture soon. While I'm not a big fan of pet photos on the web, since I plan on taking this dog out on photo excursions, I'm sure she will pop up now and then.

After my rant about George Lepp, let me introduce you to a couple of photographers I regularly follow.

David duChemin - Pixelated Images - With a blog slogan that reads "Gear is good, vision is better", how could I not like him. Best selling author of 3 photography books, one about vision, one about running a photography business, and the latest about using Lightroom to make sure your photographs match your vision, he is one of my favorite authors. He doesn't post on his blog very often, but what he does post is usually a good read. He also releases wallpaper once a month for you computer. I have one of his images as the background on my iPad.

John Paul Caponigro - Son of famous large format photographer Paul Caponigro, he has established himself as an artist and a teacher in his own right. He has a monthy newsletter, free and paid content on his web site and regular blog posts. He is also a good speaker, I had the pleasure of sitting through a one day seminar of his a year ago.

Brooks Jenson - The publisher and editor of Lenswork magazine. I'm a big fan of his magazine and his no nonsense approach to art and vision. He has several blogs, my favorite at the moment is his Dakota Creek Project blog. He is writing about a photo project and his thoughts behind it. Very low posting rate, my only complaint is I would like more content. However it shows me that projects can be very long term, and commitment and dedication count.

Paul Lester - A photographer who I became aware of during the first SoFoBoMo project. I regularly read his blog. While I don't believe he is published, I like his work. I also think, or would like to think, that our photography styles are somewhat similar. He also writes a lot about his vision and how he creates photographs. A good writer as well, and one of the first blog posts I read when they become available.

There are a lot of others I follow, some total gearheads, but mostly the artsy type. While I believe gear matters, I think the eye and the brain behind the gear matters more.