As photographers, some of us can suffer from dry spells periodically throughout our photographic journeys. That has been my challenge lately. My apologies for not producing a new article here for a couple of weeks.
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Sometimes we simply push ourselves too hard, and for longer durations of time than normal.
This combination can result in some physical and mental exhaustion. And, its where where I’ve found myself periodically this month.
As regular readers know I’ve been focusing on the completion of a number of eBooks this year… some of which have been in development for a few years.
In January we finally finished Handheld Bird Photography. Being brutally honest with myself this eBook took far too long to complete.
I rewrote large sections of the eBook three times before I was happy with the text.
Those text changes also brought on some changes with the curation of photographs for the eBook.
There were moments when it felt like I had dropped the prize multiple times and had to repeatedly catch it in mid-air to keep things moving towards completion.
Everything finally came together and we were able to publish the eBook on January 8th. I was happy to have all of the rewrites and changes to curation behind me. In retrospect they were worth the effort.
I took a short break for about a week… then dove head first back into another eBook that I’d been working on for over a year.
Blossoms, Bugs & Butterflies consumed almost all of my creative energy for three solid months of long hours and little sleep.
Fortunately there were no major rewrites, or having to dramatically change the curation of images, for that eBook. It really came down to staying focused and disciplined. Blossoms, Bugs & Butterflies was published here on April 4th.
Yikes! That still left me with four additional eBook projects that were in various states of concept definition and/or development. I took two of the eBooks completely off the table as they were barely past the rough concept stage. Whether they will ever come back into a state of development is unknown at this point.
I immediately began working on one of the two other eBooks that I had been nursing along for a while. After about 10 days I began to stall with that project too.
I decided to take some time off and took another week or so away from the project. I needed time to try to recharge my batteries. Some energy did return… but surprisingly it congealed around the other eBook that was still on the table.
I decided to go with the flow and work on Street Photography Without People, since that was where my creative energy pointed. This concept had been in my head for a while and had initially surfaced in a meaningful way with an article that I wrote in late 2025. A detailed eBook project plan had been developed prior to the article, and concrete work on it had started.
I threw myself at this project with some intensity and was able to publish this eBook on August 26.
Since I was still feeling energetic and creative I didn’t take any time off… and immediately went back to the other eBook project I had put on hold back in mid-April.
Things were flowing well for a couple of weeks in late August and early September. I was making some progress with this project. Then the wheels fell off and I ran out of energy again. It was time for me to take a dedicated break… which I did for the past couple of weeks. During this time I’ve hardly been out with my camera gear at all.
Recently I’ve been feeling some creative energy flowing back again. Realistically I probably won’t do much work on this current eBook project for the next few days since I have a presentation (Handheld Macro & Close-up Photography) for a camera club coming up later this week.
I apologize if any of you have been feeling that there has been a bit of a fog on our website the past couple of weeks or so. I don’t often have dry spells… but I think I pushed myself too hard… and for far too long… as I’ve been going flat out for well over a year.
The eBook that I’m currently working on has shifted and morphed quite a bit over the past couple of years. The first iteration was going to share my experiences with the Olympus/OM camera system. Much like the way my eBook… The Little Camera That Could… documented my experiences with Nikon 1.
Then my focus moved on to the importance of computational photography technologies… and how they help exponentially expand what is possible for us as photographers.
That direction was supplanted by a focus on skill set development and taking the time to experiment with one’s camera gear to get the most out of the equipment that we individually own.
Then another abrupt concept twist occurred. Thoughts about the importance of photographic philosophy, personal attitude, and self-definition began to take a predominant role in the focus of the eBook. The impact of internal and external locus of control… internet tribalism… along with the perils of social and behavioral acceptance also rattled around in my old brain.
I eventually finalized the concept of the eBook, which in turn led to considerations about the perspective and ‘voice’ that I needed to utilize to (hopefully) make the communication effective.
So… my apologies for not being all that present on this website for the past while. Things are once again moving forward as my creative energy continues to build. We hope to have another eBook announcement at some point in the foreseeable future.
Technical Note
Photographs featured in this article were captured handheld using camera gear noted in the EXIF data. Images were created from RAW files or out-of-camera jpegs using my standard process in post. This is the 1549 article published on this website since its original inception in 2015.
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The objective of Street Photography Without People is to encourage folks to see beyond the people that populate urban settings, and find interest and beauty in a plethora of other image opportunities.
A PDF download of Street Photography Without People can be purchased with an investment of $14.99 CDN. Your password to open the PDF file will be your email address.
You may be interested in macro and close-up photography with some emphasis on blossoms, bugs and butterflies. If that’s the case our 210 page eBook Blossoms, Bugs & Butterflies may be of interest. It is available for download for an investment of $14.99 CDN. The best view experience will be at 100% using Adobe Acrobat Reader.
You may enjoy bird photography, and if so our 188 page eBook Handheld Bird Photography may be of interest. It is available for download for an investment of $14.99 CDN. The best viewing experience of this eBook will be at 100% using Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Sometimes all we need as photographers is a bit of inspiration. We hope you can find some of that inside Finding Visual Expression II.
Finding Visual Expression II is available for download for an investment of $11.99 CDN. The best viewing experience of this eBook will be at 100% using Adobe Acrobat Reader.
You may be interested in all of the 30 concepts covered in both of these related eBooks. If so, you may want to also consider Finding Visual Expression.
Finding Visual Expression is available for download for an investment of $11.99 Cdn. The best viewing experience of this eBook will be at 100% using Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Our other eBooks include Images of Ireland, New Zealand Tip-to-Tip, Nikon 1: The Little Camera That Could, Desert & Mountain Memories, Images of Greece, Nova Scotia Photography Tour, and a business leadership parable… Balancing Eggs.
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