When I decided to start a blog only two certainties entered my mind: it would be more long form writing than quirky short posts and I wanted the photography to stand out and pop at the viewer (it is why I chose the Radcliffe theme). The former I have enough confidence to let ‘er rip but the latter….I suck at photography (if you are viewing this site on your laptop you will also notice I suck at photo technology as I haven’t figured out why my photos are cropping horribly).

The problems are many and the solutions I’m hoping will come with practice and perseverance.  It doesn’t help I’m solely using an iphone for my photos. The iphone may be great for the selfie or backyard bbq but when it comes to less than ideal conditions, it’s less than ideal. Then there’s tightroping a narrow log bridge over a river while trying to get a good shot of a waterfall knowing if I drop my phone, my life as I know it, ends.

Having said that, most of my problems are user error. I’m not good with lighting. Too many times I take the obvious shot. I’m not blessed with a photographer’s good sense and worse, photography common sense. I should know better yet in my brilliance of using my iphone as a camera I kept the passcode function on, causing me to furiously and incorrectly enter the code while a herd of elk galloped ten feet in front of me. By the time I entered the code and engaged the camera, the elk were two counties over. When I took the featured photo of this post I envisioned a close and clear shot of cows with the fading sun providing an awesome backdrop. What I got was a blurry indistinguishable cow outline. Luckily, Montana provides so many awesome photo opportunities, even a hack like me can get a few right.

So I’ll keep plugging (or clicking) along becoming a better writer and photographer as this blog progresses. A picture may equal a thousand words but I’ll always believe a picture AND a thousand words is better. As the photo above shows, I have a ways to go.

The Friday Twist is my take on…..everything.