There will be no pics for this entry, just words. I've been away from my sites Widopen and ImageandArtifact, and out of any serious photography for a while, and now I'm back.

2010 was a bad year for myself and those close to me.  Someone close to me suffered a cerebral hemmorage, and I personally was involved in a very bad car crash.  This stroke incurred a fortune in hospital and treatment costs.

 The upside is that as bad as the symptoms of the stroke appeared to be at first(extensive paralysis), immediate and aggressive treatment returned all of her functions, and she’s now in physical therapy and a full recovery is expected w/her regaining full mobility, a miracle.  My car accident completely destroyed my car, I was badly shaken but not seriously hurt.

 In anticipation of something like this happening, I’ve paid a HEAVY health insurance premium for years in preparation for what has now happened to those in my inner circle, which completely paid off all medical costs, I’m thankful for that.

 What’s happened has caused me to take stock of my life, to pause, and re-assess what I have and how lucky I still am.  Besides selling a few lenses, I haven’t been involved in any deeply obsessed and prolonged photographic projects, and I’ve been on a de facto hiatus from Widopen, and Image and Artifact.. 

 Lucky to not be deep in debt, I took stock of my possessions which don’t seem as important as they once did, and sold a couple of my most valuable lenses, deciding it was more important to do something for the kids w/the money while giving someone else a chance of stewardship w/this glass. 

 I appreciated some of the emails from folks from quite a afar asking me why I was selling these lenses, and why not keep shooting w/them.  In answer, I had my shots, now someone else has their turn, and I have the money from these lenses which is goes towards my kids future.  It did warm my heart that so many folks seemed glad that I was lucky to have a chance to work w/these lenses.

 Things have settled down, life has gotten better, and I’m getting active in my projects again.

I'm in the process of photographing the results of a recently finished project to produce a support strut made out of aluminum extrusions which connect between the extension bed of my Toyo 810MII and the middle section of my Ries head in order to support the weight of the 610mm AeroTessar.  This strut was machined in such a way so that I can pan the camera right and left, point it up and down, w/o having to remove the AeroTessar.  Staytuned, the photos of this project coming soon.

I'll also upload the first viable image I've taken w/the front element of the rare Taylor-Hobson F1.5 projection lens which I'm using w/my Pacemaker camera. 

I'm jumping into my photography again, but I've been reminded in a big way that life is precious.

Take care