Picking up the camera...

Okay - I'm back. I think I'm here to stay.

I recently went through a long period of time where I was just grinding through days. Most of my hobbies went to the background. Photography, gaming, cooking, etc. I mainly went to work, went home, spent time with my family and that was about it.

I think I was feeling just a bit overwhelmed.

I still feel overwhelmed, but I realize now that I'm just that kind of person. I constantly overprogram my life. I try to put 10 pounds of crap in a 5 pound bag. I just have to deal with it, and part of dealing with it is achieving some kind of balance between work, family life and hobbies/entertainment.

I've started packing a camera everywhere I go, and I'm going through and organizing my photo library (a daunting task, I have tens of thousands of uncatalogued photos). I signed up for a DC photowalk in August that I'm excited about.

My wife and our oldest kids also enjoy photography, so we've arranged some challenges. It's not really a contest, but an assignment. My wife's idea was what I like to call the "Block Project". We have one week to take pictures of anything/everything on our block. There's no creative limits, the only requirement is that it has to be taken on our street. We have until next Wednesday to select our 10 favorite pictures for this assignment.

The project that I've proposed is to spend a week on each subject in John Hedgecoe's excellent "Complete Guide To Photography" (link) or at least to the sections that make sense - those dealing with technique, composition and style.

I can't wait to get shooting. That's all for now.