Because December

There is a certain amount of self punishment that one must endure to travel on a plane during holiday season. For me it has run the gauntlet of screaming kids to sick passengers already, but the photography world is in the veritable crunch time. It seems as though more shoots happen between December and January than the rest of the year combined. Somedays there is just not enough scotch to numb the chaos…

I have used the time aboard planes to teach myself new creature comforts, from buying new tech toys to finding things that I wanted to learn about, all while sitting next to the gentleman with a runny nose. I have also been trying to figure out how much vitamin C I can consume before turning into an orange. Perhaps most dangerous is that I recently downloaded the Amazon app and have been seeing if I could order packages with same day delivery and then beat them to my house when flying home. Fun game, but you will wind up with the most random things, from SD cards to garden gloves to new dog food containers.

Random observations I have had over the most recent travels:

– Try as hard as I can, I can’t drink without lifting my pinky

– Telling people that you sell books door to door is an even better way to be avoided than my good ole, “I’m an accountant” technique

– I believe that there are now 31 groups called before group 1 on American Airlines

– As much as I am trying to adapt to iOS, I still love Blackberry and find myself wishing that my Passport worked on Verizon.

– I no longer listen to Taylor Swift

– The counter on my computer says that I have no watch Independence Day 71 times

Still 40 minutes remain until I touch down in NY, so a little photo tips:

– Whenever in doubt, always underexpose

– Crank your kickers up early in a shoot and dial the key around them

– Never use the word “bokeh”… just don’t

– Always clean your lens caps, otherwise cleaning the lens is useless

– Starting buying magazines again… better photos and writers

– iPhone….. still not for photographers

– Learn the difference in process between creating a shoot and planning one

Here’s to a December that you can find times to relax next to a fire and have a drink, but also one where you can take advantage of the less directional light that we get this time of year.