redux

well, dA...it's been a while, hasn't it?

i've not really been active on this account for over two years now. i keep checking in every now and again, and am usually overwhelmed by the number of outstanding pieces of art that gathered up in my devwatch. it still gives me a thrill to see new works from some of the "old guard", friends from back in the days when dA was my daily hangout.

ah, the old days...when the community was relatively small, and everything seemed so fresh and exciting. when i could name most admins off the top of my head, and really felt like this was "my" place. but things seem to have changed - or maybe it's me who has changed?

these days, i mostly spend my time uploading to my flickr account. the sheer simplicity of the submission process (particularly with the flickr uploadr tool for large batches) is so much more convenient than the burning hoops that dA makes you jump through. the ability to add notes adds a whole new dimension that is sorely lacking here...

sure, dA has introduced lots of new features, gimmicks, effects, etc over the last two years...but somehow they seem to be attempts to gloss over the simple fact that this site is fundamentally clunky. christ, ages ago i commented that it would be nice to have proper RSS feeds to keep up with journals and even individual submissions...but no joy. i'd love to have a simple API that allows me to post photographs to dA, but also show them on my own site (and no, the lousy javascript-driven excuse for a proper syndication mechanism isn't the answer). or hey, how about being able to pull feeds INTO my profile, so that at least my info remains up-to-date? i'm not talking full widgetisation like facebook...but even a simple RSS reader that i can point to my primary blog/news would do.

as much as i hate the terminology, dA feels very "web 1.0", compared to the "web 2.0" of other, more capable, more open, more flexible alternatives like flickr.

now, i have a lot invested in dA...over 1,000 deviations, masses of comments, favourites, friends. i don't want to close this account, leave it all behind...but i admit that this is now feeling more like a burden than anything else. every time i visit i get a pang of guilt for not uploading anything, not keeping up with the community itself...and most of all, i feel guilty for not actually enjoying this site as much as i used to.

my subscription runs out in august this year...and i'm now seriously pondering the possibility of not renewing it. need to look into the repercussions of this...have dA introduced a deviation cap for non-subscribers? will my older stuff vanish? i know my print account will go, but frankly in the four years or so that i've had it, i've made a grand total of ten sales, mostly to mates. this definitely doesn't justify the amount of time i spent battling with the extremely cumbersome prints management system, the tme spent finishing images for print with titles/captions and borders, etc.

anyway...we'll see how i feel over the next few months about the whole issue.

oh, and in other news, after years of vehemently refusing to abandon film, i've finally caved in and bought a dSLR - the rather expensive Canon EOS 5D. the convenience, ease of use, and most of all the quality are simply too good. yes, i feel like a traitor...but hopefully the results will more than make up for this guilty sensation.

+++ camera list

1930 Agfa Standard
1932 Agfa Box
1934 Kodak Retina 1 (T013)
1952 Braun Paxette
1955 Zeiss Ikon Box-Tengor
1957-1977 Fujica 35 Auto-M
1959 Canon Canonflex
1961 VEB Pentacon Penti II
1962 Canon Flex RM
1962-1966 Zeiss Ikon Contessa LKE
1963-1966 Kodak Instamatic 100
1963 Canon Demi
1963 Bell & Howell / Canon Dial 35
1964 Canon Canonet Junior
1964 Canon FX
1965 Canon Pellix
1965 Canon Canonet QL-19
1966 Canon PellixQL
1966 Canon FT QL
1968 Olympus Trip 35
1969 Canon EX-EE
1970 Mamiya RB67 (*)
1971 Canon F-1
1971 Canon FTb
1973 Canon FTb-N
1973 Canon EF
1975 Canon TX
1976 Canon TLb
1976 Canon AE-1 (*)
1976 Canon AT-1
1976-1996 Lomo Lubitel 166B
1976 Polaroid EE44
1978-1980 Kodak EK100
1978 Canon A-1
1979 Canon AV-1
1980 Canon F-1N Lake Placid Commemorative Model
1981 Canon AE-1P
1982 Canon AL-1
1983 Canon T50
1983-1984 Kodak Disc 3500
1985 Polaroid Supercolor 635CL
1989 Canon EOS850
1990 Canon Epoca
2002 Canon Ixus Concept Arancia
2004 Canon Digital Ixus 40

2x Lomo LC-A
Prinz Pocket 410
1900 Emil Wuensche / Goerz Syntor, Berlin

latest addition:
2005 Canon EOS 5D



anyway, off to exorcise more photo retards...

re·dux (adj.): brought back; returned. used postpositively. [latin : re-, re- + dux, leader; see duke.]
splintered | photographia