Field Notes: January
I can’t say I’m sad to see January go, but it has been a surprisingly productive month. The cold feels even colder after skipping winter last year thanks to some well-timed travel to the southern hemisphere, and I had no travel this month, something that likely won't happen again for a while. But the combination of the two is giving me a chance to play catch-up on the backend stuff of photography so it's not all bad.
On my desk
The books are starting to win the fight for surface area on my desk. Picasso's Les Meninas currently has top billing as the book I grab while waiting for Lightroom to import photos or build previews.
This Ecoflow powerbank is my new best friend- I leave it plugged in on my desk, which gives me multiple spots to charge USB-C devices, and when I leave the house, it is small enough to fit into my bag but it powerful enough to charge my laptop.
On my bookshelf
January clocked in at 16 books, which feels like a lot in retrospect but in reality I spent a lot of reading hours working on rebuilding my lightroom catalog after a particularly bad crash, so it's probably lower than it should have been.
Notable highlights:
Wreck by Catherine Newman because she is fighting to disprove the maxim that a picture is worth a thousand words. I only wish I could capture with a camera what she does in prose- the small moments, the honest observations and the beautiful, messy moments that make up everyday life.
All Creatures Great and Small/Bright and Beautiful because when the entire world feels heavy you can escape to Darrowby. (They rereleased the audiobooks narrated by Nicholas Ralph who plays James on the BBC show).
Light, Space, and Time by David Duchemin which I technically haven't finished yet - I have one chapter left. But I should have finished, I'm just not especially in a hurry for this one to end. Each chapter reads like its own short essay, and reading it in the morning feels like sharing a conversation on photography or creativity over breakfast.
In My Camera Bag
Technically it is the bag, not in the bag but I'm obsessed with this Ona Rockaway Sling bag. I possibly have too many Ona bags and the Rockaway is similar enough to my beloved Bowery (except in sling form) that I might have skipped it had my husband not given it to me for Christmas. It is actually a bit bigger than the Bowery, which I knew to be true from the dimensions but was pleasantly surprised that the extra inch or two amounted to a noticeable amount more internal space. My only "complaint" is that it still looks new, leather bags are so much better once they are broken in.
Working on
Updating my website which is long over-due. Reorganizing my Lightroom Catalog to use keywords more efficiently (I was relying on collections to do way too much heavy lifting). Once I get this system settled, I'll share because reading about how others handle those practical details can help give us ideas to make our own workflow more efficient.
Listening to
The Goo Goo Dolls Boxes is currently on the record player while I type this, but from a photography perspective This Episode and This one of The Perceptive Photographer are especially good.
Photographing
The Polar vortex that has blanketed much of the month, combined with not traveling since before the holidays made this a light photography month. I have started a personal project of photographing both my desk and my kids art/work table each day. They share a space in the center of the house and are sort of the epicenter of all things creative and if I'm being totally honest it's as much about trying to not be bothered by the constant mess, but instead to appreciate the creativity . It’s not a project that I expect to be anything but personal, but I sort of wished I had started sooner just because the projects, supplies, books, and just “stuff” on both surfaces has changed over the years and I think the record might prove a surprisingly good document of our days.
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