Going through my photo library, I found the close-up photo you can see above. Not very special as a subject, but I like to take close-up photos. Also, do you know what a really good side effect of a photo blog is? I shot and uploaded so many photos, that I would in many cases always find a fitting photo for articles I plan to write on my blog. I actually mentioned this once in an article I called “Take Your Own Stock Images“. So, with the photo above it’s the same. If I ever write about anything related to craftsmanship, I might already have a fitting photo. Here is a fun fact about my blog, although some of my followers might already know it…

I started this blog and had no idea where this would go. The only thing I knew was that I wanted to have a valve, a place where I can talk about things I like or things I hate. Friends are good too, family members as well, but there are times where you feel the need to talk about certain things, and maybe you tumble up from the bed because there are thoughts in your head, and you want to get them out. That’s how I started. But the point is, that was the only reason to start this blog. Eventually I realized that blogposts look a lot better if you add one or a few related photos to what you wrote. That’s pretty much how my interest started in photography. I ran around with a cheapo point-and-shoot camera, later with my smartphone and eventually I needed a DSLR camera.

So, the fun fact is, there was a shift. Later the blog was a lot more about the photos than about the actual written content. That doesn’t mean that I stopped to write articles, I actually have quite a lot of knowledge posts about technology and gaming on my blog, and other things where it’s more about the information or story. But I like how there was a pretty big shift into the direction of photography. Blogging really gave me two new good hobbies in the past, writing and taking photos.

Not sure why I told you this now. But that’s also a funny fact about me and my blog. Almost all my posts start white, without any plan. I like free writing, which to me means nothing more than noticing the own thoughts and trying to follow where they go, and eventually typing all that down. I don’t plan how to talk with my friends, or with family members, it just happens. Blogging happens too. From time to time I was scrolling through different forums and communities for whatever reason, and if it was a blogging related community, I often saw newbies asking others “How do you start?”. If I had spare time, in some cases I commented and tried to give them my perspective. I asked them “Are there any things that bother you right now, positively or negatively?” and “If a friend would ask you for an opinion about it, what would you tell them?”. Exactly that is blogging. Obviously it’s a bit easier if your blog is broad and private, and not a business blog, because you can be yourself and you’re not limited to corporate speech or other forms of making an impression.