Just a thought
Recently I noticed that something I am very good at is answering technical questions. If I don't know the answer, I will find it or find someone who does. This is only one of the requirements of my day job--though, more often lately, it has become the main component. It seems I have reached the point in my career where I have been relegated to the status of advisor. Others now get to crawl around the labs and get their hands dirty, and, well you know, have all the fun, while I look on (jealously) and tell them what to do. And I wonder, just as my advisors before me, "how did this happen?" When did the mentored become the mentor?
My consolation--in ten to twenty years, this new generation of lab rats will be asking themselves the same questions, and like me, be looking for excuses to get back into the lab and get a little dirt under their finger nails.
So, what is all this leading up to? Well, another thing that I noticed, is that for someone who enjoys photography as much as I do, and whose friends are constantly asking for advice on how to approach a certain type of shot, I rarely mention this hobby on this blog. Oh, I occassionally put up a photo--and yes, I know you're still waiting for the Scotland photos--but,I have never thought to answer one of those questions here. Maybe it's because I'm an instinctive photographer. I see a good shot and I shoot. I don't think about my camera settings or the lighting or the weather or anything else. I simply move into the position I think will work best, rotate the camera dials to the settings I want, then shoot. I'm not always right. I'm more often wrong. But I learn from my mistakes, well, most of the time.
The thing is, I have never thought to write down what it is I do, or what it is that I know should work in certain situations. Part of learning is being able to teach, and part of teaching is learning even more about what you thought you knew. So, in an effort to educate myself, I have decided to answer some of those questions my friends ask me, from time to time, here.
Be prepared for some "more boring that usual" posts.
My consolation--in ten to twenty years, this new generation of lab rats will be asking themselves the same questions, and like me, be looking for excuses to get back into the lab and get a little dirt under their finger nails.
So, what is all this leading up to? Well, another thing that I noticed, is that for someone who enjoys photography as much as I do, and whose friends are constantly asking for advice on how to approach a certain type of shot, I rarely mention this hobby on this blog. Oh, I occassionally put up a photo--and yes, I know you're still waiting for the Scotland photos--but,I have never thought to answer one of those questions here. Maybe it's because I'm an instinctive photographer. I see a good shot and I shoot. I don't think about my camera settings or the lighting or the weather or anything else. I simply move into the position I think will work best, rotate the camera dials to the settings I want, then shoot. I'm not always right. I'm more often wrong. But I learn from my mistakes, well, most of the time.
The thing is, I have never thought to write down what it is I do, or what it is that I know should work in certain situations. Part of learning is being able to teach, and part of teaching is learning even more about what you thought you knew. So, in an effort to educate myself, I have decided to answer some of those questions my friends ask me, from time to time, here.
Be prepared for some "more boring that usual" posts.
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