The 3sp list.

Well, I went and did it finally. I recreated the thirdspacephoto mailing list.

I set up the list in 2005, after a discussion with Erik, and wanting to be in some sort of photo community. My only problem with most photo communities are the people and topics. Well, I guess those are pretty major problems.

Usually, when photographers get together, there's two types of conversations. The gear whore conversations, where the finer points of who has nicer toys are discussed, and the photo conversations. The photo conversations actually talk about composition, thought, art, and what goes into a photo. It's more personal, and philosophical. It's more about connecting with people, rather than blathering on about the latest glass penis that someone purchased.

So I started the list, and set up a few meetups. But interest died, and I let it. But I want this list for me. I like the friends I have in photography, and I like doing odd photo projects. Even if the list is me and one friend, I'll keep it going. It's mentally healthy.

The Photo blog is up

In case you can't see 2 posts down, the link is http://3sp-photo.blogspot.com/

List Maintenance

When I started this project, I knew one of my biggest problems was maintenance of the list.

With 101 things, updating the list on any sort of regular basis was going to be a nightmare. I'd spend more time on the list than I would doing things on it! That seemed counter-intuitive to me.

So I dusted off what little programming skill I have, and wrote up a PHP script, with a database backend. I had to learn some AJAX/JavaScript stuff as well.

The script is pretty simple. Color coding if things are coming due, edit the list on the fly, as well as the totals.
If the script is called without a specific maintenance function, it just displays as you see on the right.

Here's a link to a sandbox/test script - here.

If there's any actual interest, I'll make the script available.

And to see the output of the script - here

Progression

I'm settling into the New Year well.

I'm on the eve of a big photo shoot (for me). It's a personal project, but I've never attempted anything of this scale before, at least in a serious manner. I'm not sure if the difference is the big photo lights and assistants, or that the shoot is massively more different.

I'm also setting up a photo blog, where I'll post at least one photo a month.
The blog will be here

Happy New Year.

It's now on.

I've never been a resolution person. I've always believed more in doing the right things year around. But I'm throwing some weight behind the ritual this year.

Rituals can be good for us humans. They provide structure, a general framework for us to follow. Not everything has to be rigid, but not everything has to be fly by night, seat of the pants. I'm seeking a balance between the two. To have enough structure to not get lost, but not so much that I can't do things on a whim.

So Happy New Year to everyone. The Chinese new year is coming up soon as well. Close to my 30th birthday. I'm still trying to decide what to do for that one. Should it be a blowout, or just something quiet and get out of town? That's for another day.

The list is up.

Oddly, one of the biggest stumbling blocks to getting this list going was not entirely the content.
It was the maintenance and updating the blog.
I'm inherently "efficient", which can translate to lazy, and I knew I wouldn't update a blog repeatedly.

So I wrote a php script that interfaces with a database on the backend, embedded in an iframe over there on the right.
Yep, all that's dynamic data & content, managed by a separate admin script.

I had to learn a bit of ajax stuff to get it accomplished, but it works.
And now I can go back to forgetting how to program.

If anyone is interested in the ugly and horribly written script, drop me a line.

T-minus 6 days till this thing gets goin!

The list is done.

I'm now formatting it and fixing it, and then it'll go live!
Happy xmas.