The VSL Blog was offline for maintenance. We're back---- but on a more limited schedule. Photography is quickly becoming less and less interesting to write about...

It was interesting to read that this will be the first year in which over a trillion images will be uploaded to the web (See M.J.'s column from yesterday). 94% of which are either being done with cellphone cameras or created out of the ether by artificial intelligence. When you consider the dilution of individual photographic work it's beyond daunting. It's demoralizing and seems to make individual efforts like those of current VSL ramblings mostly pointless. 

In the first two thirds of VSL's tenure many of the posts were written about day-to-day jobs that I had undertaken. I discussed what the goals of the jobs were, how we planned them and what gear we used. I also included descriptions of the processes. Most popular of the posts seemed to be the one's where I wrote about photographing theatrical dress rehearsals for marketing. And what made those articles interesting had a lot to do with the evolution of digital cameras from noise rich solutions to, progressively, low noise champions. The upgrade to a new camera or a new camera system was more important than it might be today because one could see the progress of new sensors as we were able to shoot at higher and higher ISOs with relative impunity. Theater documentation was a small niche but it was interesting to the people considering upping their camera's game for low noise performance. And people look more fun in costumes and under stage lighting.

So much changed in my practice of photography back in 2020 when Covid hit. And when we started ramping back up it became apparent to me, and a large number of my peers, that the game had changed profoundly. Companies were reticent to spend the same kind of money they had before. Quick videos took over a lot of the heavy lifting in online advertising that had been the broad-based bread and butter of our photo industry. By 2023 A.I. was starting to make inroads in a way that was not unexpected. Ad agencies and typical end users of photography could use a phone photo as a template for a full on post production production and create their own work to use for clients. They were no longer constrained by usage fees, copyrights etc. 

I've spent a good part of the last two years backing away from the business of photography entirely. I still enjoy taking photographs but I am not longer as connected to the paradigm we worked under in the "old" days ( Pre-2020 ). Back then we were still pursuing the Boy Scout theory of the craft in which we owned a whole tool kit of different kinds of lighting, cameras and lenses. We owned specific stuff for specific kinds of projects and never thought that one set of gear could do everything generalist photographers might need. And in most cases we had duplicates or back-ups for each piece of vital gear. So while we might not use longer zooms for much else I did depend on them for theatrical production photographs--- live on the stage in front of me. And since we were committing to that practice we owned (at least) two. Always being sure to have a redundant back-up on hand. We were...Prepared.

Same with lights. Flashes for some work. Continuous light for video. LEDs for a hodge hodge of situations in which we wanted to use cool running continuous sources. And then support materials (lights and modifiers) for every permutation. There was a certain amount of churn in the gear as battery powered flashes got smaller and lighting solutions got better. LEDs improved by leaps and bounds from the time I wrote the original book about LED lighting. And, as we touched on above, camera performance kept improving. 

Now all of this redundancy and inventory for specific types of photography seems a bit pointless. Most of the projects we undertake are simple portraits or running documentation of processes or events that can be handled by any number of inexpensive cameras and a small selection of lenses. As clients clamor for more and more "authenticity" we have come to understand that authenticity really means less polish, more available light, and a general disregard for noise in an image. Gone are the days when we did lots of day long, week long or month long projects like annual reports which required a big hunk of planning and logistics as well as travel and days spent working to shot lists of things that art directors might want to include in the final brochure. The kinds of jobs I now get are more along the lines of a law firm or medical practice asking me to photograph one subject and sometimes get fancy and drop in backgrounds that we might shoot separately. The most recent job done for an oral surgery practice was done completely with a basic, full frame camera and one 50mm lens. Most are jobs that could be done in several hours...

But doing easy-to-produce jobs like these is hardly the material for exciting writing and riveting reading. And I can only walk through Austin looking for good coffee and different images for so long before it becomes old hat for everyone. The push back on mannequins is already disheartening...

While some bloggers need to keep writing, and pretending that this is all fun and vital work, to make a living I've never depended on the blog for any income. Or future jobs. But I can't think of any of my art director/ad agency friends even read the blog --- although they all like to see work on Instagram --- for the moment.

What exciting thing did I do today? I went to swim practice and then came back home to deal with the death of our home's central air conditioning. It's fixed for the moment but I decided to go ahead and drop $15K on a new system (includes the heater...) since the old one is going on 20 years of service and that's a long and rewarding tenure for an air conditioner in Texas. The $15K didn't come from affiliate income or Patreon members, I wrote a check for it. (Yes my UK readers! People still take personal checks. For cars and air conditioners. Amazing!!!). No big excitement. No thrills or spills. After the current AC got a few bits of maintenance today I feel like it will keep running until Monday. If not, I have an office just 12 feet from the house that's well air conditioned as a .... back-up. Or maybe it will be time for a stay-cation at one of the glorious hotels...

With nothing fun or exciting to work on and write about, and nothing really happening on the streets of Austin in the dead of Summer, and my general laziness, it seems rather silly to continue trying to find reasons to keep blogging on an earnest and every day schedule. 

I have surgery for the cancer on my face scheduled for July 1st. I have several trips planned for post suture removal and general scar recovery. I have way too many cameras begging me for attention. And I'm unsure that there is even an audience for the kind of work I'll want to do on my travels. 

I think we'll just coast for a while and see what happens. Usually I like to be binary and when I decide I am finished with something I shut it down and walk away to start something else. But many of my readers let me know that they value the archive that exists here. Out of 6053 blog posts I do get things right every once in a while. So I'll leave the blog as it is for now and maintain the right to come back on my own schedule and add things as I see fit. Check in and see what's new when you have a chance but be forewarned that the days of a post or two a day are coming to an end. Jeez. I'm gonna to be 70 in the Fall. I've got some other priorities to get to. 

The blog is here if you want to re-read some old stuff. There might be new stuff from time to time. That's all I've got for you today. 

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And no! I won't be documenting the air conditioning install or writing about it. That's just boring. I'll have an assistant here to shepherd the project through but I'll be out having a fun lunch somewhere and hitting a gallery or two. I expect to come back home to a chilly house served by a more efficient and "green" unit. 

Bored just writing about air conditioners. And heaters. And installations. Now heading out to give one of the rangefinder cameras some love...