The weeks leading up to summer are always very exciting. Sort of like the football offseason. During the offseason anything is possible for your team. The draft is coming up, there’s free agency and of course it’s a level playing field because every team has the same record … 0-0. Yes, everything is possible, even the Super Bowl! Last season for the fans here in Bucks County and of course across the Philadelphia area that’s what happened! The run-up to summer always has that same feel for me. It’s very exciting. Lots of plans, and lots of to dos.
I always think I’m going to get a lot of photographic things done during summer and I always want to. Maybe it’s because most of people I deal with on the work side of things decide to go on vacation. Because I work for myself I have some flexibility and now more time on my hands. More time; less cash. It’s a trade-off. You take the good with the bad.
Sometimes it’s easier to let things slide then to get work done. This summer the problem was compounded by the recent addition of our puppy Sparky. Note to self: don’t get an eight-week-old puppy during the winter months. Sparky is a Cockapoo, and while small in size, both his personality and energy level is large!
The above having been said I do feel like I accomplished many of my objectives and there still is Labor Day weekend to go. I saw some great shows, heard a wonderful curator talk, and equally wonderful talks given by Michael Smith and Paula Chamlee. Even got a chance to meet Paula for coffee! Entered some of my favorite photographs in a very prestigious international photography competition and most importantly made a good amount of photographs at some interesting locations and events nearby that were on my list. Philadelphia’s Chinatown and Italian Market, Seaside Heights on the New Jersey Shore, the 70thAnnual Middletown Grange Fair here in Bucks County, and a number of other local targets of opportunity such the annual Doylestown At Dusk vintage auto show.
Of course this has led to a pile of Plus-X and Tri-X film canisters on my enlarging table; their contents waiting patiently to be developed and proofed! Ok, I’m human. Actually, I don’t like developing one roll at a time, or even a few. Rather, I wait to I have maybe ten rolls or more. Then I knock them out en mass with my larger Jobo tanks. Same thing with proof sheets. Remember these are purely mechanical tasks. The creative work begins when I examine the proof sheets. Just like the offseason, everything is possible … they all looked good in my mind’s eye, so here’s hoping there are some keepers!
All in all not a bad summer, despite some distractions … yes that’s includes you Sparky!
I hope you have had a great photographic summer and wish you the best for keeping its momentum going for the rest of the year!