SAINT LOUIS DAILY PHOTO TURNS 14

OMG, I almost forgot! Yesterday was Saint Louis Daily Photo's fourteenth anniversary. 5,025 posts to date, mostly from around here but sometimes from around the world during our travels. The days I've missed were generally when we were somewhere so far out in the boonies that there was no Internet or cellular service.  I could not have done it without the support, sharp observations and meticulous proofreading of Mrs. C. I'd be lost without her. Forty seven years together is worth a lot.

This may qualify as clinical obsessive-compulsive disorder. I'm not looking for any medication.      

STL DPB's Ninth Anniversary

Today is this blog's ninth anniversary. This is the 3,274th post, one just about every day I've had an Internet connection. Images from all over St. Louis; from New York, Chicago, L.A., Phoenix, Denver, Anchorage and Birmingham; from Paris, Buenos Aires, London, Beijing, Tokyo, Shanghai, Kathmandu, Tamarindo and Lhasa; from Mt. Rainier, Mt. McKinley, Mt. Fuji and Mt. Everest.

Sometimes I think of all the books I could have read, the movies I could have seen (pretty close to none in recent years), the letters I could have written and the recipes I could have learned. So, why? 

There have been some great benefits. I have been bit burned out with my work for a long time. Looking for a creative outlet that I could do reasonably well. This is it, I suppose. And all the people I've met on the streets of St. Louis, the ordinary, the weird and the special. All the things I've learned about my adopted city. And all of you, my CDP colleagues, with whom I've exchanged ideas and techniques, and the several of you I have met. How else could I have experienced barbecue in Birmingham, two or three hour lunches on an island in the Seine and a terrace in Provence, and dinner in Shanghai with someone who knew what to order? It has been worth it. It has broadened my horizons in so many ways.

The pictures today are little pebbles of the number on our streets: the intersection of 9th and Market Streets downtown, and Channel 9, the public television station.

Who knows how much longer.                 

STL DPB's Third Anniversary

.
It's St. Louis Daily Photo Blog's third anniversary! Yes, thirty six months commanding St. Louis daily photobloggery (at least since Merry moved back to Syracuse). To celebrate, I dragged out this old picture I made as an exercise when I started learning Photoshop (a process that has no end). It's been a chore to keep this up but there have been so many benefits. I've met some fascinating people, in person as well as online. My photography skills have improved and I've developed something like a style. It has made me get to know my city better. My savings are smaller because of all the lenses filters flashes books reflectors camera bodies light stands tripods ball heads diffusers bags and memory cards (begging in the the header notwithstanding). Money well spent.

Thanks to my friends, readers and commenters. Shall we go for four?

One Thousandth Post

.
One thousand of these. I heard about CDPB in early 2007 from my good friend Peter, a lawyer in Seattle in the same specialty as me and a damn good photographer. He thought I might find this interesting. I will blame him for this addiction for the rest of my life.

What a lot of work and fun. Doing a daily photoblog has caused great improvement in the quality of my photography. It has also gotten in the way of work, dramatically reduced the number of books I read and generally resulted in having no free time. It has taken me to dinner in Shanghai with Jing and lunch outside of Paris with Olivier. I've made friends who I have never met face to face but feel I've gotten to know very well, most of all my pal Virginia, but also Cieldequimper, Bibi, Brattcat, Sharon, Chuck, Jilly, Victor, PJ, Nathalie, Kim, Ming the Merciless and lots of others.

Thanks to all of you who have made comments and supported this effort. A tip of the hat to U "R" Us, who took the new header photo. Thanks particularly to my saintly wife, who has put up with this obsession for nearly three years with grace and encouragement.

How much longer can this go on? Well...

TOMORROW: the second millennium begins. With exactly what I don't know yet.

Our Second Anniversary

.
Two years and 736 posts ago, St. Louis Daily Photo Blog was hatched. It's gotten me out to explore my own city, meet interesting people, shoot the world from Shanghai to London and learn a lot about photography. So here I am again, out in the street (Bourbon Street in New Orleans this time), doing what I like best, taking street portraits. It's an awful lot of work but it's worth it.

Thanks to all the many visitors and commentators. Look back from time to time. Who knows what image lurks around the next corner?