“When did I become a futzing photographer?”

Sunday I started the day out of the rain at the Forest Hills MBTA station reading Amanda Palmer’s The Art of Asking (a book I can’t recommend highly enough, whether or not you’re a fan of her’s, whether or not you’re an artist or content creator or not, and especially if you’re pissed with her about her Kickstarter projects or any part of her Theater is Evil album and tour) and when it came time to head to Jamaica Pond I opted to head through Franklin Park via the Shea Rotary, even though it was a little out of the way.

I was pretty glad I did that because it gave me a chance to take some pictures along the path from where Franklin Park Street comes off the rotary, including the picture below. I caught a glimpse of some fallen trees off the path a little and I backed up to try to find the best angle to take the picture from. As I was walking back down the trail to look for the best angle I had to laugh at myself and ask, “When did I become a futzing photographer?”

I know some of you will rightly say, “Hello, you were going to make a photobook of Franklin Park last summer.” But that’s just it. Before last summer I wasn’t someone who would take pictures just to take them. Sure, if I saw something I wanted to take a picture of and I had a camera with me I’d take the shot but I was never a guy who would take pictures just for the sheer joy of taking them. Now if I see something I want to take all picture of I’ll pull out my phone and take the picture. Which is something I do a lot more than I ever dreamed I would. Case in point? This little feline lawn ornament that I saw on Sunday.

I think part of it is that I don’t have to finish the roll of film and take it to Fotomat or the drugstore and wait to have it developed anymore, I just have to have room in the camera’s memory to save the picture to. (I could really use a microSD card for my phone if someone has one they don’t need anymore. Just let me know via the contact page. Thanks!)

Since I know the question is coming, no, the pictures I’m taking of Franklin Park are not for the photobook. The camera on this phone isn’t nearly good enough to take pictures for publishing like that. You can consider these pictures more of a proof of concept. Eventually, I’m planning to take all the pictures I’m taking in the park and posting them here on Words From an Author. I’ll include pictures I post on Instagram and Twitter so they can be seen in one place. It will take some time to post them here because my phone is strictly WiFi only (I don’t have normal service on the phone because it’s a loaner from a friend) and I may not be able to post them here as quickly as I’d like to.

In case I don’t get to say it elsewhere, I hope everyone has a fantastic New Year’s Eve, and may 2015 be even better than 2014 (or any other year you’ve had). Keep an eye out here for an About Me post and an early glimpse at a new scene for He’s With the Band. It’ll be a very early draft of a new scene I’m writing, but I’m hoping to get those two items posted before I log off for the last time of 2014.