jeff_golden's photostream

October 5, 2010 --

Thanks for taking a look at my profile page here on flickr. I have been on flickr since 2005 but only really got into photography with the purchase of my first DSLR in late 2008. In 2009 I did a photo a day project, with a great group of people, here on flickr. In 2010 I had intended to do a couple more photography projects but I sort of let them slide without the discipline of a photo a day project to keep me going.

For me I really enjoy the aesthetics and beauty that can be captured in photography and the challenge of achieving the image you see in your head in the final frame, straight out of the camera or with the help of post processing tools like photoshop. I am no purist and almost all of my photographs have at least some level post production and I am ok with that.

I have taken several long breaks in the year 2010 from flickr. Trying to find something in my photography to say. But, it turns out, that it is hard to say something or even come up with something to say if you leave the camera in the bag.

So I have decided to give the photo a day project another go. This time it isn't a photo a day for a year, it is just a photo a day until it isn't.

I am taking a cue from a very cool songwriter over on youtube, Jonathan Mann. He is writing a song a day because, and I am paraphrasing watch the video at the link for the actual words, he has seen a certain percentage of his songs are great and a certain percentage suck. He has come to the conclusion that doing the work and practicing his craft every day, regardless of the outcome, produces more work that is great over time than trying to produce only great stuff. You know I think I can relate to that and I hope to do so with my photography.

All that said I am not now, nor do I have any intentions or aspirations to be, a professional photographer. I enjoy the hobby and want to do it more and learn to do it better. I am not allergic to money and I don't mind an occasional gig if someone finds my work worth hiring or if I sell a few shots through Getty and the like but that isn't my motivation. That said I the license set on my photos one of two ways: Many of my photos are © All Rights Revered. These are typically photos that have been licensed by Getty or are of people and I would like to more tightly control the distribution.

I have licensed a lot of other photos under the creative commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States license. Essentially this means if you want to use them go ahead (make sure the photo you want to use indicates a creative commons license). You do need to give me credit when you use it in a way that is not difficult for a viewer of your publication to find. Additionally please comment on the photo here at flickr to let me know.
(Note: Much of this content was uploaded under a All Rights Reserved license and later changed. There are watermarks on this content now. If you want or need a non-watermarked version of the image please let me know and I will see what I can do. The license indicator on Flickr, not the watermark, is the true license status.)

One last thing. In 2009 and early 2010 I was addicted to flickr. And, yes, I realize that it is probably not possible to be actually addicted to flickr -- but I certainly had my priorities out of whack where flickr was concerned. It is so easy to become 'addicted' to flickr and be so involved in the community that you spend way more time on here than you spend making photographs or doing work, aside from photography, that you need to do. This time around I am really going to try to balance this.

The community here at flickr is amazing and I don't want to remove myself from that part of the experience but I simply can not spend the time on flickr that I was spending. If you are among my contacts who actively comment on my photographs, please know I so very much appreciate you and your comments. Also know I wish there were an extra two to four hours a day that I could devote completely to flickr, but there isn't. That said I intend to only comment on photographs that move me, intrigue me or just to check in from time to time with people. I am not going to commit to commenting every photo from every one of my contacts every day going forward. I certainly don't expect my contacts to comment on all of my photographs either. I hope that those of you who know me, from before and new friends I meet along the way, will understand where I am coming from.

Catch me on Facebook:
facebook.com/jeff.c.golden
Or on Twitter:
twitter.com/jeffgolden
Or Visit my photography website:
www.jeffgoldenphoto.com
Or Visit my blog:
blog.jeffgoldenphoto.com