Times of change

Today's post is mostly a rumination on what has happened to me photographically this spring. Hope it does not come across as bragging in any way, because the news are of the kind that can lift one's spirit all the way into vanity mode. -Well... my spirit anyway.

First, there's been the relative success of my Antarcica photos. I've compiled them into three "products"; a one-hour photo talk with slide show presentations, a 58 page book combining blog texts and images as suggested here by Paul Stenquist, and some exhibiton prints. One of the photos, first posted here, has been particularly successful. One week ago (7-8. May) it finished 4. place in BioFoto's competition Nature Photo of the Year. At the same time it went on display at an exhibition in Chicago, and sold on the opening night. Special thanks to Mark Roberts for making the print; it was outstanding.

Secondly, a Norwegian group of Pentax enthusiasts is taking form, and it looks like a lot of fun. I would hate to abandon the international virtual villages of Pentax, but when pressed for time I will have to give my natives the priority. Unfortunately I already look set to become pressed for time because of taking on another responsibility.

One week ago (things kinda peaked that week-end) I was elected leader of BioFoto for two years. BioFoto is an organisation for nature photographers. It has around 1400 members from Norway, Sweden and Finland. Most of the activity goes on in local "branches"; resembling ordinary photo clubs. The central organisation issues the quarterly member journal "Naturfotografen", represents BioFoto at larger events, and promotes nature photography on a broader level in the Nordic countries. But before you get the wrong impression, there was no voting contest going on. I was the only persuaded candidate for the job. Doing this service feels like a great opportunity to pay back for some of the inspiration from seeing a lot of fantastic images and meeting so many nice BioFotographers.

So blogging has, unfortunately, been pushed way down on the priority list. Again. And if my crystal ball is worth what I paid for it, the time between the previous post and this one will become the normal update frequency.