Hello dear friends!
It's May 7, and my account's second birthday on dA, although dA still insists that it's still one year due to the time difference. There's no time for big celebrations as I have to be on the road for an (interesting) business trip.
It wasn't a year of rising fave numbers, DDs or winning prizes, unlike my first, but I learned a number of valuable things, inside and outside photography. Before I came to dA I had been taking pictures for decades, but I feel I've learned more in a year on dA than in ten years out there in real life. In spite of decreasing fave numbers, something tells me that I've also become a slightly better photographer, and more critical of myself. If you allow me to pass one lesson on to you - apart from having the drive and the magical "eye", self-criticism that's well-funded in knowledge and experience is a photographer's most important asset. Not that my self-criticism's always well-funded, but I trust I'm getting better at it.
I've decided to count my blessings, but I want to give a thought to friends who can't be on dA as much as they would like too: stamatis, wiebestavast and probably some others that preferred to slip out quietly, their leaving unnoticed in dA's frantic activity. Don't be so masochistic to tell yourself that you'll soon be forgotten, guys and girls, because you won't. We're all kind of artists here, and as - like the ancient Greeks knew - Memory is the mother of the Muses, we'll remember your beauty. Come back when you can. Thankfully, some of you thankfully came back quickly: Stephanie, Daniel and Mike. Welcome back!
And of course, I'm glad for the new friends I made this year - a number of you I had been admiring from afar and suddenly you were there with a some comments, a number of faves and a watch - thank you! 
I hope to be visit here:
It's May 7, and my account's second birthday on dA, although dA still insists that it's still one year due to the time difference. There's no time for big celebrations as I have to be on the road for an (interesting) business trip.
It wasn't a year of rising fave numbers, DDs or winning prizes, unlike my first, but I learned a number of valuable things, inside and outside photography. Before I came to dA I had been taking pictures for decades, but I feel I've learned more in a year on dA than in ten years out there in real life. In spite of decreasing fave numbers, something tells me that I've also become a slightly better photographer, and more critical of myself. If you allow me to pass one lesson on to you - apart from having the drive and the magical "eye", self-criticism that's well-funded in knowledge and experience is a photographer's most important asset. Not that my self-criticism's always well-funded, but I trust I'm getting better at it.
I've decided to count my blessings, but I want to give a thought to friends who can't be on dA as much as they would like too: stamatis, wiebestavast and probably some others that preferred to slip out quietly, their leaving unnoticed in dA's frantic activity. Don't be so masochistic to tell yourself that you'll soon be forgotten, guys and girls, because you won't. We're all kind of artists here, and as - like the ancient Greeks knew - Memory is the mother of the Muses, we'll remember your beauty. Come back when you can. Thankfully, some of you thankfully came back quickly: Stephanie, Daniel and Mike. Welcome back!
And of course, I'm glad for the new friends I made this year - a number of you I had been admiring from afar and suddenly you were there with a some comments, a number of faves and a watch - thank you! I hope to be visit here:
PROJECTS
On of the things that I've set out to do was to share more of dA's beauty in my real life. What I'd like most would be to have a book with the work of my closest friends that could reside on the coffee table for show to visiting friends and relatives. However, that would bring about issues about copyright, division of money etc. so I'm leaving that for now (pick up the idea and do your best if you like to). The next best thing is buying prints of work that I particularly love by admired friends and artists, and hanging them on the wall. As a kind of dA-birthday gift to myself (they arrived yesterday), I got these two:
On of the things that I've set out to do was to share more of dA's beauty in my real life. What I'd like most would be to have a book with the work of my closest friends that could reside on the coffee table for show to visiting friends and relatives. However, that would bring about issues about copyright, division of money etc. so I'm leaving that for now (pick up the idea and do your best if you like to). The next best thing is buying prints of work that I particularly love by admired friends and artists, and hanging them on the wall. As a kind of dA-birthday gift to myself (they arrived yesterday), I got these two:
The British Museum is a wonderful place and as daliscar and I are both fans of Edward Hopper, I don't hesitate to say: you nailed it here, Chris! 
I discovered the mythical French "L'enfer du Nord" because I was asked to write a guidebook about it (sorry, only in Dutch 
), long before Dany Boon's movie Bienvenu Chez Les Ch'tis vindicated it in the eyes of the rest of France. This picture by EintoeRn perfectly captures the beauty and "familiar strangeness" (for me as a Dutchman) of it.
To commit shameless selfpromotion at home, I also bought these, but at RedBubble, because dA and Paypal joinlty made a shambles of my initial order (can I have my money back guys? it's five weeks now!):
), long before Dany Boon's movie Bienvenu Chez Les Ch'tis vindicated it in the eyes of the rest of France. This picture by EintoeRn perfectly captures the beauty and "familiar strangeness" (for me as a Dutchman) of it.To commit shameless selfpromotion at home, I also bought these, but at RedBubble, because dA and Paypal joinlty made a shambles of my initial order (can I have my money back guys? it's five weeks now!):
For a long time I've shrugged about dA prints. Indeed, they'll never make you rich but it's a great way to share the work of your dA friends and dA went some way to improve the sale conditions for subscribed dA members. If you'd feel inclined to buy a print from me and still don't like dA's conditions, you can also visit my account on Redbubble: www.redbubble.com/people/EricF… . On my friendslist there you'll discover also a number familiar dA people.
In the meantime I'm also busy with pruning and improving my dA gallery, as well as making more pictures available as print over here. Some pictures will go, others will loose their frame or be improved. If you have a particular favorite that's not available (yet), just let me know and I'll process it first.
Of course, there's also the business of thanking for faves and watches. I'm still busy with it, the oldest go back as far as December, but it's not going to improve over the coming week - too much else to do.
Be assured of my gratitude though. 
FEATURED FACES
I keep a gallery of dA ID pictures, selfportraits and portraits of admired artist, and in the spirit of the day, I want to share some of these with you. Please don't feel left out if you're missing here - I can feature only so many here and my choice is a bit random. There are also some of you whom I'd love to have included but who don't seem to have a picture out there. Plus, some of these pictures I had to put in three times due to errors, because of working into two apps at the same time, and worst of all, my browser crashed at some point.
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etc.etc.
I have to stop here. I've 350+ kind watchers, but before I leave I have some more to do. Besides, my wrist is hurting. So, once again, if you're missing here, don't take it personal.
In the meantime I'm also busy with pruning and improving my dA gallery, as well as making more pictures available as print over here. Some pictures will go, others will loose their frame or be improved. If you have a particular favorite that's not available (yet), just let me know and I'll process it first.
Of course, there's also the business of thanking for faves and watches. I'm still busy with it, the oldest go back as far as December, but it's not going to improve over the coming week - too much else to do.
Be assured of my gratitude though. FEATURED FACES
I keep a gallery of dA ID pictures, selfportraits and portraits of admired artist, and in the spirit of the day, I want to share some of these with you. Please don't feel left out if you're missing here - I can feature only so many here and my choice is a bit random. There are also some of you whom I'd love to have included but who don't seem to have a picture out there. Plus, some of these pictures I had to put in three times due to errors, because of working into two apps at the same time, and worst of all, my browser crashed at some point.
:thumb153799492:
:thumb160633888::thumb145681674:
:thumb160506804::thumb135511971:
:thumb157506583:
:thumb140646877::thumb150401832:
:thumb159526762:
:thumb113968789::thumb137876688::thumb95092447:
:thumb112159269:
:thumb136602608::thumb96613514::thumb152177689:
:thumb151556635::thumb148692686:
:thumb85817446::thumb159097545:
:thumb161134045:
Mature Content
:thumb109136137:
:thumb163199917:
:thumb158126770::thumb139112375:
:thumb142293217:
:thumb87967474:
:thumb136617094::thumb152264665::thumb140464117:
:thumb157947166::thumb147231413:etc.etc.
I have to stop here. I've 350+ kind watchers, but before I leave I have some more to do. Besides, my wrist is hurting. So, once again, if you're missing here, don't take it personal.
