500 - The Half Of It, Dearie



So this is the half of it. We’ve come quite a long way together, have we? You most certainly don’t remember #1, do you? Nobody was around then and I wrote for half a month into oblivion, until I finally got the first comment by (who else?) my good friend Ted Byrne.

I got it for “17 - Not in Color”. Ted predicted that the ultra-wide would become my “normal” way to look at the world. And he certainly was right. It’s not the only thing that I use (you have seen lots of images with the 70 lately), but I certainly feel at home with it πŸ™‚

And now it’s #500.

Am I weary? Yes, certainly. Blogging like mad puts a great amount of stress on you. You feel obligated. You are forced to be creative, even when in reality you are not. You take images, you write, you give your best, and for stretches of weeks you get no reaction at all. You certainly ask yourself, is it worth it?

But will I stop? Gosh, no!! This is only the half of it, and then probably not even a tenth. When you look at my SmugMug galleries (click at the image and you’re there), then you see that I have used a five digit scheme for numbering, i.e. for this Image of the Day the caption in my SmugMug gallery is “00500 - The Half Of It, Dearie”. Quite some headroom, huh?

Originally I wanted something with a number 500 in today’s image, but as much as I looked, I couldn’t find anything, thus I chose this piece of chrome. In a recent comment Ted called me “the master of the complex metallic reflections”, so this is again for Ted Byrne. Cheers!

The Song of the Day is “The Half Of It Dearie Blues” by Ella Fitzgerald. It’s from her Gershwin Songbook, and I could recommend that, but you really should have “The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Song Books”.


There are 13 comments

nielsp   (2008-02-26)

Well, a good congratulations on making a milestone and hopefully the 500 is way short of the half mark.

Good photograph. Lots of shape, colour and leading lines.

Niels Henriksen

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andreas   (2008-02-26)

Thanks Niels. This is really a fine feeling. Actually I should have had it yesterday. I am a day late with posting and I still have to post today's entry, but I just felt like announcing this jubilee on PhotographyVoter.com πŸ™‚

Thanks for the vote and thanks for the compliments.

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Thomas   (2008-02-26)

Hi Andreas and Herzlichen GlΓΌckwunsch!! πŸ™‚

500 is really impressive - especially when considering the tight timeframe that you're working on. One picture per day and at the same time keeping the quality level that high still doesn't cease to amaze me... Every counted the invested hours?

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Ted Byrne   (2008-02-27)

So? What have you discovered about patterns? About color? About texture? About the essence of feeling? About the ambiguity which cannot, no matter how hard you try, be overcome?

About the 'if only' cursing that happens when you see the results on your computer screen and wonder 'if only' you'd panned a tad more left, pulled a tad more back, grabbed a tad more sky, earth, chest, or leg?

And if there's one thing that you now know better than you ever imagined you would when you posted #1... Can you share it so we will know it too?

I recall way back you were thinking of specializing in one something or other... What was that? But instead you chose to not be distracted by narrowcasting. I think that should have been one of your happiest decisions. Was it?

And lastly, if there is an essence to a Manessinger image... Something which suggest that the image is yours more than anyone else's - what do you think it is? I know what I think it is... But what interest is that?

Have you grown from this discipline? How?

There are essays in these questios that I doubt you have the time to write.. since #501 is due so soon. And yet... only you can write those essays... to allow us to grow, just as surely as we've grown from watching what you've watched along this trip so far.

Thanks for that Andreas.

Ted

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Eric Severson   (2008-02-27)

Excellent accomplishment, you've nailed both quantity and quality, congratulations!

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Marti   (2008-02-27)

Andreas,

500 congratulatory wishes on your 500th daily post. That's an amazing accomplishment!! Selfishly, I wish you 500 more, and then 500 more again. I so enjoy your work and constantly learn from it.

Thank you for this,
Marti

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andreas   (2008-02-27)

Wow! What a fantastic feeling, to wake up and find your congratulations. Thanks to you all!

So, Ted, you really want answers, do you? Hmm ... I'll try. It will be little by little, but I'll try. You'll get one every day now, is that a deal?

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Anonymous   (2008-02-27)

Andreas, a sincere congratulations on your 500th post! That's an amazing feat - persistence and perseverance - and lots of fantastic photography. I went back to your first post - what a wonderful image - ditto for the 1st one that someone comments on - Ted, of course. May you continue to grow as you inspire the rest of us. Love & best wishes, Flo (from RV)

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Mike Johnston   (2008-02-27)

Congratulations on reaching the #500 landmark, Andreas! That's quite an impressive record of dedication and enthusiasm. Cordially,

Mike Johnston/TOP

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Anonymous   (2008-02-27)

Andreas,

Great work, great Blog and a great achievement. Well done

Yunga

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April   (2008-02-27)

#500 is a wonderful choice for this fantastic milestone! Rounding the curve, and continuing on...

Since discovering your blog, I look forward to my daily fix of your unique perspective. Thank you for sharing both your inspiring work, and inspiring discipline.

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Andreas   (2008-02-28)

Hallo Andreas,

congratulations and thank you for this inspiring blog. I come here nearly every day. Your images give me distraction, inspiration and joy - and keep me somehow close to an old friend ;-)

All the best
Andreas

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John Waterman   (2008-03-03)

A work of love and dedication Andreas, and good on you for holding fast to your inspiration, no matter how bright or dim a candle it may seem at times.

Ahhh...the work of an artist is never finished πŸ™‚

All the very best in the here and now!

John Waterman

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