Yesterday, Leanna and I decided that we wanted to get outside and enjoy the fantastic weather.  It seemed like a good day to go for a hike, so we turned to the Internet to search for nearby hiking trails.  There are few trails within 30 minutes or so of Lawrenceburg, but we decided to check out the Clyde E. Buckley Wildlife Sanctuary, located between Versailles and Frankfort.  The Sanctuary is the only area maintained by the National Audubon Society in Kentucky.  Admission is $4 for adults, and $3 for children.

They had several trails available, and they were all very well maintained.  The hiking was easy going, and there’s around four or five miles of trails that were available for hiking.  The Sanctuary does not allow camping or pets, and food is only allowed in designated areas, i.e. the pavilion.  There also is a bird blind for bird watching, and the staff keeps the bird feeders full all year round.  They also have a nature center, but it is only open on the weekends, from April through December, so we didn’t get to check it out.

The Buckley Wildlife Sanctuary made for a nice day trip, and the trails are easy enough for kids and the less athletically inclined.  As the weather continues to warm up, and the trees start to bloom, more birds will migrate back to central Kentucky, and the Sanctuary will make for an even nicer excursion.  I’d recommend a trip to the Buckley Wildlife Sanctuary for anyone in and around the Frankfort area looking for a nice peaceful day trip.  Especially if you live in town, or otherwise  do not have access to any trails or woods of your own.  Below are some more photographs from our trip, enjoy.

Ryan

I was thinking this morning about how far we have come as a race in the last 100 years or so.  I was thinking about the incredibly small segment of human history that’s experienced electricity, much less the Internet.  Leanna and I were talking last night about our most prized possessions.  What one thing do I value over all others.  I didn’t even have to think about it.  The most important inanimate object in my life is my computer. 

I use my computer everyday.  It’s my notebook, my calendar, my dictionary, my encyclopedia.  It’s my sketchbook, my television, my cookbook, my radio.  I use my computer to coordinate get togethers, and talk to friends.  I use my computer to keep up with current events, and to play games.  My computer is my voice.  I get to carve out my little slice of the Internet, and maintain this blog.  The personal computer is so ubiquitous, that it would be hard to imagine life without one. 

Written history began between five and six thousand years ago.  It is impossible for me to comprehend such a stretch of time.  That’s about fifty five, one hundred year cycles.  I have to look four generations back to find an ancestor that lived before 1900.  I can barely imagine what life was like 100 years ago.  I can begin to mentally subtract out the daily conveniences in my life, in an attempt to visualize how things might have been but my vision of any time before the American Revolution is mostly based on high school history classes, and movies.

As many things change, some have stayed the same.  There’s something about being out in the woods.  Something to be said for not being surrounded by civilization.  It’s a strange connection to those who came before me, but a walk through untamed wilds has remained relatively unchanged over the last 5,000 years.  There are parts of the human condition that, for the foreseeable future, will remain as they have always been.  Some are emotions; anger, greed, envy, lust, and  love.  But some are physical; pain, hunger, pleasure, birth, and death.

Estimates suggest that the world population first reached one billion people around the year 1800.  In the 210 years since then, the world population has increased to over 6.5 billion.  And while most estimates predict our highest annual growth rates have passed, the population is still growing.  Trending shows that we’ll reach 8 billion by 2025, and 9 billion by 2040.  So what does that mean for me?  Likely next to nothing.  Being one of 6.5 billion, or 9 billion, seems statistically insignificant.  It will undoubtedly raise some difficult questions for future generations though.

It’s impossible to determine how many people have ever lived on planet Earth, but estimates put it around 115 billion.  To think that I am one of 115 billion.  Some days, I don’t give it a second thought.  I guess most days just pass by, and the nature of my existence is largely irrelevant to me.  But, there are times when it washes over me like a ten foot tidal wave; both terrifying and wondrous all at once.  There are those nights when I stare up at the stars, and really try to grasp their nature; when I actually try and understand what the word ”light-year” really means.

Ryan

With 50 posts under my belt, I feel like I’ve finally hit a brick wall.  My photographic inspiration has began to wane, though I hope it will be reinvigorated soon by the buds and blossoms of spring.  I’ve been able to keep up with my posting schedule, and I definitely feel like I’ve improved as both a photographer, and as a person.  But, what’s next?  Just posting MWF isn’t going to get me anywhere further than I’ve already come.  I’ve got to find someway to expand both my audience, and my appeal.

Now that I finally have a means to generate some income via the blog, I need to reconsider what my primary goals are.  I need to decide whether I want to try and generate serious revenue through the blog, or if this is only a stepping stone for my next big leap.  I need to decide whether or not I want to go back to school, if I want to start looking for a “real” job. 

Every day we make a multitude of decisions.  Most are inconsequential, what to eat for breakfast, what color shirt to wear.  Right now I’m living mostly day to day, or maybe week to week.  I have a general plan for what’s immediately next, but I’ve yet to nail down my 5 year plan.  I’ve never been more in control of my life.  It’s liberating, but at the same time overwhelming.  Each morning I get up and decide what I will do for the day.  Sure, some things naturally fall into place, either through routine or circumstance, but for the most part, I’m limited only by time, location, money, and my own imagination. 

Time is my most valuable resource, and the most immutable one.  There are only 24 hours in a day, nothing I can do to change that.  Each second I spend doing something, is a second I can’t spend doing something else.  The existentialist in me wants to say, who cares?  We spend our time as we spend it, and if the end result is the same, death, then why is how we spend our time relevant?  But there is another part of me that wants to optimize my experience here on Earth.  Something inside me yearns for more. 

Location is one thing I can change, and one I plan to.  Leanna and I are moving to Lexington this fall, and though 30 minutes may not seem like much of a move, I’m excited about the potential possibilities.  I’ve spent 22 of my nearly 26 years in Lawrenceburg, and I think I have finally outgrown it.  There are still things I enjoy about living in a small, sleepy part of rural Kentucky, but I’m ready for new experiences.  I realize Lexington’s not a huge change, and I don’t know how long we will be there, but it’s still a step in what I believe to be the right direction.

Money.  What can be said about money, that hasn’t already been said?  As a culture we hunger for money, always striving for more.  Keeping up with the Joneses, and all that.  I think an important part of my last 5 months has been the realization that we only need enough, and we, as individuals, can choose how much enough is.  Could Leanna and I use more money? Sure, more would be great.  But there comes a time when you have to weigh how much more is really worth.  I’ve always found the phrase, “Money can’t buy happiness.” a bit odd, a bit out of place in our culture.  And I still disagree with that statement, at least at face value.  If a million dollars showed up on my doorstep tomorrow, I’m sure I could put it to good use.  However, if I had to sacrifice 60 hours a week for the next twenty years to get it, I would have no trouble walking away.

And that leaves imagination.  Within the above bounds, I’m only limited by what I can come up with.  Now I have to decide.  That’s always been the hardest part for me, as long as I can remember.  I’m actively pursuing options, experimenting, researching.  I still haven’t found that one thing, that Aha! moment.  How will it come about?  Will it even come at all?  All I know to do is to keep trying, keep searching.  I’ll let you guys know as soon as I found out.

Ryan

I’ve been working on assembling a portfolio for awhile now, and Friday afternoon I decided it was time to finally put it all together.  I had it narrowed down to around 30 images, but I really wanted to trim it down to about 15. I’ve never put together a portfolio before, so aside from reading a few generic articles, I was mostly going by my intuition.  If anyone has any pointers, or sees an image they think doesn’t belong, please speak up. 

Originally, I had two galleries, one for portraits, and one for nature/landscape photography, but as I started taking less portraits, and started having more images in general, the galleries became cluttered, diluted, and ultimately ignored.  Now when new visitors come to my site, they can quickly have access to what I consider my strongest images.  Along with that, all of the photographs in my portfolio are now for sale!  If one strikes your fancy, you can quickly and easily purchase it through Fotomoto. If you click on an image in my portfolio, there are links on the bottom left of the image that immediately let you buy a print or card.  I scoured the web for other photoblogs, investigating how other blogs were handling selling their work, and Fotomoto seemed above and beyond other methods in simplicity and accessibility.  Many photoblogs sell their prints to their buyers via e-mail, and while this may save them on middleman costs, (Fotomoto charges a straight 15%) it seems clunky and not as user friendly.  I feel that Fotomoto can help me sell enough extra prints in the long run to offset their 15%.  For the record, I stumbled across Fotomoto on the excellent and well regarded photoblog, Chromasia.

Along with uploading my portfolio, I also undertook a small site redesign.  I had been using the Lightword theme for WordPress, and while it was straight forward and minimalist, I wanted something with more options, more flexibility.  Both Jon and Leanna are using Suffusion on their respective blogs, and after checking it out I decided to give it a go.  I couldn’t decide on whether or not I wanted to use a light or dark background, but I’m testing dark out for now.  As usual feedback is appreciated here.  I also got rid of the sidebar, because it was serving no purpose, and removing it allows for wider images.  If anyone is having problems with viewing the new format, just let me know, and I’ll do what I can do to fix it. 

I do plan on uploading more images to sell, and I may end up setting up another tab for those images.  I’ve started to go through and tag all my images on the website, and on my Flickr account, so that they will be searchable.  If anyone has any more ideas, or links to other photoblogs they think are doing things right, point me in the right direction.  I hope everyone enjoys the new layout, and you can expect more images on Wednesday.

Ryan