Astonishingly, ThruMyLens turns one year old today. In that last 12 months, I’ve published about 130 articles to the site, which I find even more amazing given the time I have to spend developing content for and running WATCH TALK FORUMS, not to mention LuxuryTyme.com and The Seamaster Reference Page. It’s been an absolute blast this past year – in many respects, ThruMyLens is the most fun for me out of all my website properties. While I love watches, I’ve been writing extensively about watches in print and online for over ten years. ThruMyLens gives me the opportunity to explore other topics which are of interest to me – photography, the iPhone, travel, automobiles, firearms – you’ll find articles relating to these and many other topics here on ThruMyLens.
Of course, ThruMyLens has always been, first and foremost, a website devoted to photography related topics. Without a doubt, creating ThruMyLens has made me a much better photographer. And not just a much better watch and product photographer – though I think I’ve made strides in this area. ThruMyLens has made me stretch my legs in nearly ever aspect of photography – portrait, landscape, sports…you name it. Why? The process of writing about something forces you to research it. The process reinforces your understand of the material. And having an “empty blog” forces you to create articles, and often that means researching an area of photography, product, or process which is entirely new to you. In short, ThruMyLens has helped me get much more focused (pardon the pun) about my photography. As a result, I’m in a really good place as a photographer and photojournalist. I haven’t “arrived” (I’ll always be learning) but I’m producing some work which I feel is truly “pro-level.” For example, check out the photos in this recent photo review I did for Glashütte Original, or this one I did for Orbita. The outdoor landscape work I did in these golf course photos from Palm Springs earlier this year were some great photos, but also showcase my developing skills as a videographer – an entirely new learning curve for me that I’ve just started climbing in the last year. If you haven’t checked out the WATCH TALK FORUMS Channel on YouTube, you really should – there are over sixty videos on a wide range of interesting topics on the channel.
So what’s next for me here on ThruMyLens? In addition to more great content like I’ve produced in the last year, I do want to get up a portfolio here on ThruMyLens. I mean, what self-respecting photographer doesn’t have a portfolio of some of their best work on their website? I also get a lot of requests to purchase some of my photos, so I’ll be putting up a virtual gallery where my images can be purchased to make prints. I’ve also been wanting to do a follow up to my very well received self-published eBook MACRO WATCH PHOTOGRAPHY FOR BEGINNERS – a video companion. And since it’s been almost 4 years since I wrote the book, I really need to start working on the next edition.
It’s been a fantastic first year here on ThruMyLens! So happy 1st birthday to ThruMyLens, and I for one am hoping for many more!!! 🙂
John B. Holbrook, II is a freelance writer, photographer, and author of ThruMyLens.org, as well as LuxuryTyme.com and TheSeamasterReferencePage.com.
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Congratulations! I can’t believe a year has passed already. You’ve done some really great work here, John. Continued success!
Will do Tommy! Thanks for the encouragement!