"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." -Leonardo da Vinci

"Sunlight is poetry, and studio lighting is geometry." - Irving Penn

I didn't want to get out of bed this morning. I heard the heater working in the distance and right where I was the covers were warm and enveloping. I injured my shoulder last week. In my lazy, rational mind I tried to figure out how to make that into an excuse to not go. To not get up. To skip the morning swim. Maybe drag myself out of bed at 9 and make coffee. Scrounge through the refrigerator to see if anyone put something sybaritic in there for breakfast. Search the work table for a forgotten croissant...

This hesitation happens from time to time. The lure of embracing entropy can feel like settling into a warm bath. 

But as on most days I threw back the blankets, pulled on a pair of pants, look around for the green sweatshirt of the day and stuck my feet into a waiting pair of sandals. From that point on I was attached to my schedule. Pad down the long hallway to the kitchen, grind fresh coffee, boil water, grab a handful of almonds to chew on. Check to see if there is any half and half in the refrigerator. Make coffee. Luxuriate in the bright glow of caffeine and growing consciousness. Toss almonds into my mouth three at a time. Sip hot coffee. Pry the lid of the laptop open and check the news, the overnight markets, the latest camera propaganda. Rinse my now empty cup and put it beside the kitchen sink. 

Head to the bathroom. Brush my teeth. Pop the first L-Arginine supplement of the day. Grab my swimsuit and a fresh towel from the rack in my bathroom. And the pivotal action of the day, drop by the office on my way to swim practice in order to select the "camera of the day." 

Today's selection is the new (to me) Leica SL2 with the Voigtlander 50mm APO lens. The rig is set up to shoot high contrast black and white but I know it's always okay to change my mind and switch to color, or DNG or whatever. The initial selection is just a starting point. 

Today I swam with Matt. He's switched on from the minute he hits the water. If there is short interval designated on swim sets he makes it even shorter. He doesn't believe in resting between sets. A "recovery" swim between hard, anaerobic sets for him is a fast 300 yards with hand paddles. I follow him through the whole workout going ten seconds behind him on the intervals and working hard to catch him. I swam with him on Tuesday and we repeated five x one hundred yard swims on one minute, twenty seconds. I haven't repeated hundreds on such a short interval in years but it seemed like the thing to do. In all we nailed down 3300 yards. Today we approached the sets with the same unwavering diligence. And it was fun --- but now I'm sore. We matched the yardage from Tuesday but with more diversity of strokes. More butterfly weaved into the mix. More breast stroke sets bookended by freestyle. Having someone to chase as we circle swim makes it easier to go faster. Harder. Easier, mentally, to keep from falling behind. 

I've got the studio set up for a series of portraits. Neutral gray background. Two big LED panels blasting through a 4x6 foot diffusion panel. And, for a change, my camera is handheld. After the portrait session I'll grab the camera, download the files, reload the battery and SD card and head out for my afternoon walk. It seems so repetitive to write all this down but the reality is that every day's hike has its own flavors, its own mysteries and its own rewards. The walks may be on the same routes but every day there's something new to see or there's something different in my own engagement. 

How do I know when it's time for a walk? When I feel sleepy and as though I need a nap I know it's time to get outside and move. 

Even though all Leica SL2 camera bodies should feel identical they never do. Even though they are inanimate objects each one I've handled has its own feel. There's little I can put into words but each one has its own energy and its own little nuances that make them all feel different. Today I'm getting used to the new arrival. The familiar lens is like a neutralizing element. And it's all fun to be aware of the tiny differences in the camera bodies even if it's nothing more than my imagination...

I had lunch with my favorite advertising agency, creative director yesterday. We've worked on projects together for about 30 years. We meet for lunch once a month or once quarter to trade family stories and the share our separate experiences as they relate to the industries of marketing, public relations and ad work. We're both becoming aware that everything is become more and more granular. The idea of one advertising agency that rules every facet of a client's marketing, from influencer management through television production is being sliced into smaller and smaller channels. A.I. is nipping around the edges of many creative projects. Automating simple ad copy, replacing the role of traditional stock photography; even seeping into video production. 

Clients feel more and more inclined to shop around for specific resources and many find having legions of influencers is profoundly cost effective and.....just plain effective. But each granulation of the overall marketing of a client comes for the agency as a loss of control, a loss of a segment, and a loss of billing. Budgets are being cut everywhere in the processes. Purse strings are tightening for the same reason as in other industries. We are in a period of process evolution. No one is sure what works and what doesn't and this is all coupled with the ambiguity, uncertainty and wholesale change of our political and social landscape. It should be an interesting year to pay attention to how interwoven both processing and fear really are. I've got a ringside seat but the closer to the game you sit the less comfortable everything is. 

That's why the walks are important. They allow for a distancing from the anxiety provoking flurry of change. And they are a chance to play, unencumbered, with the more joyful process of making or taking photographs. 

Swim. Walk. Pay attention to the important stuff. That's all I've got on my mind today. 

Today's choice. But with a different strap.

I just noticed this morning that the progressive haze of the backlit on the blue table makes it look like the sky. What a nice background for a simple cup of coffee...

It all starts here. Every morning. An hour of detachment from worry and news.

An hour of revving up your internal engine and blowing out the carbon. 

Proof each day that you are still alive and vital.