I used to take a lot of pictures, especially of landscapes and particularly of trees. Ever since I came to USC as a professor I haven’t done much (or hardly any) photography. One of my favorite places on campus is the historic Horseshoe, which is right across the street from my office. I keep saying that I’ll go take some photos of the tree-filled Horseshoe one day. That I’ll bring in my SLR and tripod and filters and make some nice images. And I never have. So, today while walking across the Horseshoe I just couldn’t resist snapping a few shots. I just had my iPhone with me so I didn't have much control -- no shutter speed or aperture control, no zoom, no filters. Nada. Just my legs to move me a bit closer or further away. Oh, and no high resolution results from my Nikon D70; just the single megapixel or so that the iPhone will yield.
But I decided to snap away anyway. The result was certainly not set of fantastic images that I can frame and hang in my office (which is one thing I want to do once I take what I hope to be some fantastic images). They're not postcard quality. They're just quick snapshots.
But, they're something and I loaded them up on my photo page so I can remind myself that I need to get back out there and do it again with the right tools. But, it's a start. It felt great to take some pictures again, even if it was with an extremely limited toolset and with just a few minutes of time as I traversed campus.
I tell my dissertation students all the time: If you don't feel like writing, write. Well, today I wrote. Just a bit. But, it's something.
