It is upon us, whether we are eager or sad to see it go. For me, this was a great year for my "hobby" - photography. When I was a tad younger, I used an old Argus Rangefinder. Great 35mm film camera. ALL manual with 5 shutter speeds. That was in High School. Later, while I was in the service overseas, I managed to get a Nikon FM with a 50mm f/1.4 lens. Awesome camera, but I think it was a little outside of my league then. Over the years, I started using point and shoots. Not bad cameras, but a tad simple. And I did NOT like having to hold the things away from my eye so I could look at the "rear window". I felt lazy using them. And unsatisfied.

So, Birthday comes this year and I buy myself a D90 with the kit lens (18-105mm)(yeah, I LOVE Nikons as much as others love their Canons)

Since then, I have gotten rather busy. The control an SLR gives (whether D- or film) cannot be beat. (Hasselblads are another matter, so I won't go there)

I try to use PS sparingly, but have become enamoured of Silver Efex Pro as a plug-in. The more I use those tools, I hope that I can learn to manipulate the images with the camera instead, making photographs and and not graphic art. There is a point at which the two mediums meet. How close do you come to it from either direction and remain honest?

A side comment not really related to the above meanderings:

An old college roommate of mine laments the availability of technology to aid the hoi polloi in producing what is known as "stock images". He considers this a death knell for the "real" pros who need patrons for their survival. My feeling is that if their art is good enough, then they don't need to worry about eating. He, it seems to me, is bummed unnecessarily.

Have a great 2010 and remember, Mondays are the days of discovery for what you missed over the weekends. If you dread Mondays at work, get a new job.

Cheers