Guess who started their sabbatical on December 21, 2012?

I hardly ever spend my creative time in a studio. I guess that maybe it means that the world is my studio, but that sounds kind of clichéd, so I'll just say I need to get a lot of my source material out there in the real world where life is unfolding. On the other hand, there is a lot of production time spent on the images after they're photographed. So the reality is, lots of time is spent at a computer editing images. Man, nothing glamorous about that, but it goes back to the idea of working in a darkroom, where a lot of the looks that you witnessed in the camera's viewfinder need to be coaxed back to the surface. It's like the photo gods decree that "No, you don't get his photo unless you roll up your sleeves and put some sweat into it." No complaints here, that sounds fair to me. You're on, dudes.

Boise State University, my fine colleagues and external reviewer all have my sincere gratitude for recommending me for this sabbatical. They have the wisdom to know that sabbaticals are indeed a time of renewal for their faculty, where we leave teaching to do the critical research that informs our discipline and where we also share what we've learned along the way with the rest of the world.

In the meantime, keep an eye out for this plane full of camera and lighting gear. If you look closely, you'll likely see a camera case that holds a big 4x5 camera, or even a photographer who's traveling light with only one little bag, because he needs to move quickly and silently on a bicycle instead of a plane. If you follow the wafting aroma of fine coffee, you may also find something interesting.

Story and Photos Copyright Larry McNeil, 2012 All Rights Reserved