Original Article at Shutter Photo: An End Of An Era
This is a difficult passage to write: Shutter Photo will no longer be in production. In short, it’s become too much for this editor to handle, at least not with any amount of dedication and respect that the site deserves.
Reflection
“Among Spirits” by D. Travis North
Six years ago, I started this site as a means to discuss my transition into digital photography. I had fourteen years of photography under my belt, but I had just gotten my first Digital SLR several months earlier. The transition from film was more difficult than I had imagined. Some things didn’t change: Lenses are still lenses, composition never changed. Other things were more difficult to get used to. It took me a while to get used to changing the ISO on the fly. And my first digital camera didn’t have the dynamic range that film had, or the quality. But I learned, and I brought you all with me.
Somehow, this site developed a following. We started our group on Flickr and started highlighting some of the works from those in our community. The site grew more. A few years ago, we even started doing product reviews at your request. We have always been honest, sometimes a little blunt. Our reviews were very well received, so much so that you all asked for more. I was happy to bring it to you. Who doesn’t like to play with stuff for free? I was happy to bring things to your attention. I was happy to show off the things that were awesome and warn you about the things that were not.
The site grew faster than I could.
Photography isn’t my primary career. For my day job, I am a Landscape Architect. It’s a career path I truly love and appreciate. It’s also a career that has been very good to me. I love my company, I love the projects I’ve been a part of and it has allowed me to change the world one site at a time. Shutter Photo, on the other hand, was truly a labor of love. I haven’t made much money from it; that was never really my goal. I can assure you that shutting down is not a money issue. On the other hand, life balance is. I’ve come to the realization that I can’t keep up with the site as I should. I’ve made efforts in the past to get help, but that still requires me to play the editor role, which is almost as time consuming as writing. I’d rather be writing.
Rather than letting the site fade into obscurity, I’d rather bow out gracefully.
Housekeeping
For the time being, all content will remain online. There are a lot of great articles here. Our Flickr group will remain as there are a lot of great photos and inspiring photographers there. But our Google+ community has gone away as well as our Google+ Page and our Twitter account. As for me, I’m not going anywhere. I expect to continue writing for my own blog or maybe guest contributions for another online magazine. I hope to bring more inspiring photographs and introduce you to more incredible photographers through such channels. But most importantly….I plan to get out and do more photography.
If you need to find me:
D. Travis North Photography – My personal site and blog.
Google+ – The best social network to find me.
500px - quickly becoming my favorite photography community.
about.me/dtnorth
This article originated at Shutter Photo Magazine. If you like what you have read, please visit our site for more great articles.
Original Article: An End Of An Era