First Post

Well that's the blog layout sorted, for now at least, and it is out there for all to see. I may change my mind as time goes by and pick a different colour scheme or different picture. Mostly though I want to use this blog not fiddle with it. "If it works don't fix it" is a good starting point. But if we'd all stuck religiously to that maxim I suppose we'd still be sitting in caves and using stone tools to gather and prepare our food. What I really mean is there's no need to fiddle with it for fiddling's sake.

Man has a tendency to fiddle with things - men have a tendency to fiddle with things; women seem to exhibit this trait far less. I came across a podcast this week that brought home that point. It encouraged me to think beyond fiddling with the bells and whistles of gadgets and consider what the gadgets are for. The podcast - an interview with photographer Jay Maisel - was episode #87 of The Candid Frame.

Jay has some pretty impressive photographic equipment but in using it he is puts the picture first, not the camera. Perhaps that comes from his background as an artist. Why is it that if we see a good photograph we conclude the photographer must have a good camera and yet we don't think a good painting means the artist must have had the finest brushes. The podcast made me stop and think about the balance between the pursuit of perfection and a picture that captures what the photographer saw.