When I sat down, and began the process of thinking through a website refresh, to be honest, I wasn't quite sure exactly what I wanted. As a general rule, I knew the following were important things to solve for:

1. The ability to show off images to give site visitors a good sense of what I can do, and the type of photographic work I excel at. This was easily accomplished with my images section.

2. Something that is definitively mine to write things when the mood strikes, to give the site some dynamism, and a reason for return visits. I've made this the homepage to this site. It seemed like the obvious, and ideal choice.

Beyond that, I just wanted to see where things went organically.

As I began creating content, I very quickly realized that a simple post on the homepage, that, depending on my posting frequency, might disappear into the archives rather quickly, was not the sufficient for all types of content that I'd like to share. My photography is at its best when I have a story to tell. Sometimes that's a longer trip that includes hundreds of shutter presses, hours in front Lightroom culling, and a definitive set of images that attempts to drag the viewer into my life for that period of time. Other times, a simple photo walk produces a few nice moments where the light is just right.

Stories & Vignettes

As of today, I'd like to officially announce the solve for these two problems, Stories and Vignettes.

Stories act a landing spot for longer form, more narrative-driven content. I unofficially launched this with Acadia National Park, recently, and have gotten some very good feedback. I look forward to adding stories for some of my previous travels, as well as journeys that I have yet to make.

Vignettes are as the word implies: short posts that use a combination of my words and my images to paint a picture and set a scene. My walk around the Tidal Basin was the first of such posts, and Chicago Commute is another. I look forward to experimenting with different types vignettes, and expect to have new ones often.

As my life evolves, so will this site. I look forward to the next swerve, and will look forward to meeting that challenge.

Last night was one of this year's opportunities to shoot the Harvest Moon in DC. Unfortunately, our view of moonrise was obscured by clouds. Despite missing out the intended shot, I was instead able to take advantage of some really nice light post-sunset.

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A long-ish exposure of the Lincoln Memorial, base of the Washington Monument, and U.S. Capitol Building.

For anyone of a certain age group — myself included — AIM was, quite simply, how we communicated. For many of us, its buddy lists, away messages, and screennames were firsts for us. Its time has long passed, but it had a great run.

Bye, AIM. You might not be missed, but neither will you be forgotten.

Punch the clock. Open the door. Take advantage of your time. See the sights. Lose yourself for a moment. Doze off. Breathe.

When I'm in a new city (whether on vacation or otherwise), I do my best to walk everwhere I go. Even just a brief escape during lunch hour can reveal the unique personality and rhythm of that place.

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A beehive filling up with commuters. A floating lift awaits its crew. A taxi passes on the river. An archway breaks up the verticle class panels. A worker leans over the rail, lifing his feed from the ground. A bridge raises, awaiting a passing vessel. Morning coffee on the street. A dark passage beneath the train.

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Nasim Mansurov, for Photography Life, writes:

I decided to write on a topic that nobody wants to talk about – how camera companies and everyone else involved in the camera industry are banking on people, AKA the consumers. I wrote this article primarily because of the sense of guilt I have had for years now and also because I do not want our readers to fall into the traps of consumerism.

Just remember, in 2017, technology — cameras, phones, or otherwise — is awesome, and has awesome potential to do the jobs we employ it for really well.

When shopping for the next piece of technology to add to your life, try to remember that. It might be a tool, it might be a toy, it might even be mission critical, but no matter what the jobs technology needs to do for you, there are probably multiple awesome solutions for you.

Companies will do their very best to overwhelm you with hype, in ways both transparent and opaque, but try not to fall for it. Instead of concentrating on the thing that is the "best" or "reviews" well, experience it yourself, make a choice based on what fits your life best, and don't worry about what the Internet says.

It's easier than ever to fall in love with the "new thing". Fall in love with the right thing.

Jim Wilson has been shooting photos for the New York Times since 1980:

When I started, everything was dependent on processed film, which meant having to bring film, a darkroom kit including enlarging and print making equipment, and a transmitter (very much like a souped up fax machine). We’d have to find or at least arrange for a telephone line and telephone access when we needed to send our images. I remember having a small portable typewriter that I’d use to write the captions that were pasted onto the photos before they were put on the drum transmitter and sent back to The Times. The phone lines were all analog, and each picture took around 10 minutes to send — if the line was interrupted for any reason, we’d have to start over. If we got out 10 images in a day, that was huge.

Today, many we carry connected cameras with us everywhere. Even large professional cameras tend to have direct networking capabilities.

Times sure have changed.

This past Sunday evening, Lauren and I spent some time walking around the Tidal Basin capturing photos for an upcoming project (shhhh). After living the DC area for so many years, it can be easy to take The Mall & surrounding monuments for granted. While it's not always fun fighting the tourists, getting down there once in awhile brings with it a certain apprecation for the city.

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As a photographer that often uses post-processing to complete an image or create consistency across a set of images, I found this video to be a great little intro bending curves and tweaking colors.

Sean Tucker creates some fantastic images, and has a signature look to his photography that I'd asipre to have one day in my own work. Spending time in the Curves & Channels modules in Lightroom (or Darkroom on my iPhone) has always been hit or miss for me, and I've often leaned heavily on presets to bring consistency to my work. This recently published video has become a bit of an inspiration for me to attempt creating a more original aesthetic for my images:

www.seantucker.photography • instagram.com/seantuck

That said, I've often been asked what "presets" or "filters" I use on my images. Truthfully, I use quite a few different looks to create my images. I do, however, try to find a specific look to fit a mood or tone I'd like a set of images to have. This look often varies from set to set. I've used Lightroom presets from Rebecca Lily, VSCO, and Nate Photographic (just to name a few), as starting points for different image sets over the last few years. I've also spent quite a bit of time in Priime and VSCO over the last few years on my iPhone.

With this extra little bit of inspriation, I hope to spend a little less time with these other tools (these are all great tools though, and I'd recommend all of them), and a little more time with tools of my own making in the coming months.

I've met some incredible (and hopefully life-long) friends that have given countless hours of their time and energy as members of the LLS team here in the DC area.

It's an incredible cause and great organization. I'll be joining the LLS Alumni team this year in Mina's place. Please consider making a donation to help support the research of blood cancer treatments. Your contributions can and will help save lives.