Tom's Page: My Story

Don't you hate these web sites where people drone on and on to people they've never met. What's the point of that?

Actually, what I'm doing is the photo archive project from hell. I have thousands of images (most of them sprawled across my desk) because I have this disease called shutter megalitis. It means once the camera is out it takes various medications to put it away. The result is storage issues. And what's the point of having these if you never look at them.

I made the mistake of opening up a box and recalled a bunch of scenes long since forgotten (some worth forgetting). Wouldn't it be a good idea to organize them? (The answer is no, shoeboxes are fine). Wouldn't it be a good idea to scan them in before the chromes shift? (The answer to this is also no, color correction technology is progressing). Wouldn't it be a good idea to get them on line to harrass your friends (This one is yes).

Unfortunately I came to the conclusion that this was a worthwhile hobby despite my good advice. I'm now in the middle of a major timesink. You get your hands on a scanner only to realize you really don't know how to use one. There's scanning and then there's scanning and this means a lot of re-scans. Only if you are a digital freak who keeps up on rec.photo.digital do you have any idea what I'm talking about. Then there's photoshop, which requires another lifetime of investment to figure out and only when enlightenment has been achieved can you save time by using off the shelf plugins. Many photos displayed here represent the journey. Then there's the database aspect and only if you are or have been a programmer do you venture out on your own here.

The problem with any photo database, off the shelf or home grown, is that they always contain a description field so that you can recall what it is in the first place. This, as you might imagine, requires you have a good memory. So, you jot down notes here and there to be formatted and stuffed into sql (I did say I was a programmer) and with a little formatting and color the next thing you know you have one of these annoying web sites no one really reads (the 60k or so hits probably can all be explained by having tom.net).

This site is really the digital darkroom run amuck. Writing gives me something to do while waiting for that last slide in the batch to complete. This provides me an outlet to jot down my rambling observations of the world around me which I will never really understand. Just cruising with the flow.

One of these days, after my desk is all clean again, around the year 2030, I'll be able to teach a course on digital photography.


My Story top		Don't you hate these web sites where people drone on and on to people they've never met. What's the point of that? Actually, what I'm doing is the photo archive project from hell. I have thousands of images (most of them sprawled across my desk) because I have this disease called shutter megalitis. It means once the camera is out it takes various medications to put it away. The result is storage issues. And what's the point of having these if you never look at them. I made the mistake of opening up a box and recalled a bunch of scenes long since forgotten (some worth forgetting). Wouldn't it be a good idea to organize them? (The answer is no, shoeboxes are fine). Wouldn't it be a good idea to scan them in before the chromes shift? (The answer to this is also no, color correction technology is progressing). Wouldn't it be a good idea to get them on line to harrass your friends (This one is yes). Unfortunately I came to the conclusion that this was a worthwhile hobby despite my good advice. I'm now in the middle of a major timesink. You get your hands on a scanner only to realize you really don't know how to use one. There's scanning and then there's scanning and this means a lot of re-scans. Only if you are a digital freak who keeps up on rec.photo.digital do you have any idea what I'm talking about. Then there's photoshop, which requires another lifetime of investment to figure out and only when enlightenment has been achieved can you save time by using off the shelf plugins. Many photos displayed here represent the journey. Then there's the database aspect and only if you are or have been a programmer do you venture out on your own here. The problem with any photo database, off the shelf or home grown, is that they always contain a description field so that you can recall what it is in the first place. This, as you might imagine, requires you have a good memory. So, you jot down notes here and there to be formatted and stuffed into sql (I did say I was a programmer) and with a little formatting and color the next thing you know you have one of these annoying web sites no one really reads (the 60k or so hits probably can all be explained by having tom.net). This site is really the digital darkroom run amuck. Writing gives me something to do while waiting for that last slide in the batch to complete. This provides me an outlet to jot down my rambling observations of the world around me which I will never really understand. Just cruising with the flow. One of these days, after my desk is all clean again, around the year 2030, I'll be able to teach a course on digital photography.