Re: Thinking out loud: thoughts on cropping, zooms & primes
Lethimcook wrote:
bmike-vt
Everyone approaches a hobby in their own way and everyone learns differently (learning through action, learning through discourse, etc). I certainly kept myself in the kitchen for a very long time, probably too long. At the same time there is a saying that goes if I was given 100 hours to cut down a tree, I would spend the first 98 hours sharpening my axe.
But your words hold a lot of impact and truth. Will keep this in mind moving forward!
Tools need to be sharpened, but sharp tools are not a sign of a master craftsman. The work speaks for itself.
You are hitting all my personal pressure points:
I spent a long part of my life riding bikes. I’ve ridden carbon fiber racing bikes, a custom titanium bike I had built for dirt roads and 200,300 and 400km events (that I brought with me when we moved to Europe), I have ridden my single speed mountain bike with camping gear, and I have done centuries on dirt roads in Vermont on my fixed gear cyclocross framed frankenbike. I still have the giant cargo bike I put two kids on with their school bags, groceries, etc. I even for a time had some cool Dutch bikes I imported thinking about opening a business.
I also taught woodworking and fabrication, as well as design at the university level. I have hand built timber frames and furniture, restored barns, and now do mainly design of custom projects. I used to sharpen my own chisels and planes. I even restored a broad axe from a flea market just so I could experience hand hewing beams…
I make images now to feed a part of me that I don’t ‘make things’ anymore. Having done art - architecture and then craft school and then working with my hands for so long (drawing, making) - making images is what works for me now, at a specific point in my life.
We all love to analyze - it’s part of working with tools. Just don’t get stuck in analysis paralysis - if you make compelling images no one will care that the coin on the ground in the far lower left corner of your image is less sharp than what’s happening in the middle of the frame.
Use your tools to make things. When they need sharpening spend the time to care for them. And when you need a new tool to do a specific job or to make a specific image - research, evaluate and then move on - otherwise you will never get that tree cut down, because if you use it - the axe is never ever perfectly sharp.
Re: Thinking out loud: thoughts on cropping, zooms & primes
Lethimcook wrote:
bmike-vt
Everyone approaches a hobby in their own way and everyone learns differently (learning through action, learning through discourse, etc). I certainly kept myself in the kitchen for a very long time, probably too long. At the same time there is a saying that goes if I was given 100 hours to cut down a tree, I would spend the first 98 hours sharpening my axe.
But your words hold a lot of impact and truth. Will keep this in mind moving forward!
Tools need to be sharpened, but sharp tools are not a sign of a master craftsman. The work speaks for itself.
You are hitting all my personal pressure points:
I spent a long part of my life riding bikes. I’ve ridden car in fiber racing bikes, a custom titanium bike I had built for dirt roads and 200,300 and 400km events, I have ridden my single speed mountain bike with camping gear, and I have done centuries on dirt roads in Vermont on my fixed gear cyclocross framed frankenbike.
I also taught woodworking and fabrication, as well as design at the university level. I have hand built timber frames, restored barns, and now do mainly design of custom projects. I used to sharpen my own chisels and planes. I restored a broad axe from a flea market just so I could experience hand hewing beams…
I make images to feed a part of me now that I don’t ‘make things’ anymore. Having done art - architecture and then craft school and then working with my hands for so long (drawing, making) - making images is what works for me now, at a specific point in my life.
We all love to analyze - it’s part of working with tools. Just don’t get stuck in analysis paralysis - if you make compelling images no one will care that the coin on the ground in the far lower left corner of your image is less sharp than what’s happening in the middle of the frame.
Use your tools to make things. When they need sharpening spend the time to care for them. And when you need a new tool to do a specific job or to make a specific image - research, evaluate and then move on - otherwise you will never get that tree cut down, because if you use it - the axe is never ever perfectly sharp.
Re: Thinking out loud: thoughts on cropping, zooms & primes
Lethimcook wrote:
bmike-vt
Everyone approaches a hobby in their own way and everyone learns differently (learning through action, learning through discourse, etc). I certainly kept myself in the kitchen for a very long time, probably too long. At the same time there is a saying that goes if I was given 100 hours to cut down a tree, I would spend the first 98 hours sharpening my axe.
But your words hold a lot of impact and truth. Will keep this in mind moving forward!
Tools need to be sharpened, but sharpened tools are not a sign of a master craftsman.
You are hitting all my personal pressure points:
I spent a long part of my life riding bikes. I’ve ridden car in fiber racing bikes, a custom titanium bike I had built for dirt roads and 200,300 and 400km events, I have ridden my single speed mountain bike with camping gear, and I have done centuries on dirt roads in Vermont on my fixed gear cyclocross framed frankenbike.
I also taught woodworking and fabrication, as well as design at the university level. I have hand built timber frames, restored barns, and now do mainly design of custom projects. I used to sharpen my own chisels and planes. I restored a broad axe from a flea market just so I could experience hand hewing beams…
I make images to feed a part of me now that I don’t ‘make things’ anymore. Having done art - architecture and then craft school and then working with my hands for so long (drawing, making) - making images is what works for me now, at a specific point in my life.
We all love to analyze - it’s part of working with tools. Just don’t get stuck in analysis paralysis - if you make compelling images no one will care that the coin on the ground in the far lower left corner of your image is less sharp than what’s happening in the middle of the frame.
Use your tools to make things. When they need sharpening spend the time to care for them. And when you need a new tool to do a specific job or to make a specific image - research, evaluate and then move on - otherwise you will never get that tree cut down, because if you use it - the axe is never ever perfectly sharp.
Aug 20, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Previous versions of bmike-vt's message #16873827 « Thinking out loud: thoughts on cropping, zooms & primes »
