Photography

If you're looking for tea, you came to the wrong place today. Sorry.

My father was a photographer. He was the kind or person who would get an idea to pursue something, and then he would go do it. Get books. Teach himself. Practice. Try to make a living out of it. See also: Magician, Painter, Carpenter. Even in his declining years, when he could no longer work, he took up gardening, roses and tomatoes. The occasional herb.

After he died I inherited his cameras, and for a while it was a hobby of mine. I bought books, equipment. Maybe I was okay at it; my wife says I was. But I never felt so for very long, and eventually I moved on. To tea among other things, so I was delighted when starting a blog allowed for the two interests to merge. You, reader, may or may not like my pictures, but I think if you look at my early posts and compare recent ones, you would likely agree that at least I have improved.

I do get compliments on the pictures from time to time, which pleases me because I try, and they are important to me, not because I think of myself as a great photographer. I'm not. My "improvement" can be attributed two two things: 1) I discovered my camera has a nifty button for close-up shots--who knew? 2) I discovered that good, copious, natural light, fickle as it may be, is the amateur photographer's friend, lover, and soul mate.

Which leads me to how any of this is relevant in any way to this blog. It is winter. Most days by the time I get home from work, my light is gone. The simple solution is to stock up on pictures when I get a day off; I'll photograph a few different tea sessions and write a review later in the week. This is only a problem when I haven't had a day off in a while, which I haven't had in two weeks. This is why there haven't been any new posts this week, and why there won't be any, besides this one, for a while longer. I have depleted my stores.

That I plan the blog around lighting, reveals how important the pictures are to me. There you have it; a bit of a behind-the-scenes look at Another Tea Blog. And of me, I suppose.