Love is Greater Than …Life through a lens of love and hope

With the closing of one door, another opens… right?

After four years of blogging on this site, I have came to the not-so difficult decision to shut it down. It’s been a great run, and I still love writing with a passion… just not as much as my other passions.

So why shut it down now? Well, because in a few days I’ll be launching the brand new loveisgreaterphoto.com, which will include it’s own separate blog. I’ve decided that it’s time I consolidate, and just be ONE person online, instead of the three to four different sites that reflected different parts of my life before. This doesn’t necessarily mean the new blog will have all the personal stuff I used to write, but it will definitely have parts of it. I want to be a more transparent and authentic photographer, so I want the blog to have more personal things on it, and I also want the internet as a whole to know me as a photographer… so, keeping things simple to that one site makes the most sense to me.

That said, there will be times when I’ll want to post just a random picture or tidbit of information or something super personal/controversial that would make no sense at all to keep on the photography blog. I know this, because I’ve already been doing it with a tumblr account that I am now making public.

http://joshuarwhite.tumblr.com/

Check that out, subscribe to it, whatever. It lacks any method of interaction, so you never have to worry about commenting on something =).

So, in the next few days I’ll be writing the last couple of posts on this blog. One of which will be giving you the address of the new blog, and introducing you to the new site.

It’s truly been an honor, and I thank you all so much for being a part of this tiny speck of the internet.

Ah Vegas… if it weren’t for WPPI, I don’t think I’d ever visit you again. You’re just to gaudy, and soulless for me =)

WPPI was amazing. It started out with a bang on Sunday when Carli, Mary (my roommates, photographers and friends from Toledo) and I went to an ultra-hip party for photographers called Airhorns & Lasers. It was at the Tryst club in the Wynn Hotel & Casino, and was pretty much what I expected. Which is to say, I was by far the nerdiest person in the room. A few things were made clear on that first night though;

1.) The photography business has a ridiculous amount of beautiful people in it, which flies in the face of the preconceived notion I had about why photographers are behind the lens in the first place.
2.) Vegas is stupid-expensive.

Two Heineken’s at this party (which had a $50 cover charge to get in, by the way), cost me $24. That set the tone for how I’d spend money the rest of the trip… I was having a heart-attack by Monday afternoon wondering if I was going to blow my travel budget out of the water.

Despite the gaudiness, and incredible expense of Vegas, the trip was still epic. It was great being there with Mary and Carli, as I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have been near as much fun without some friends. The trade show was a great chance to do some window shopping on albums, print shops, and even gear (I’m hoping I’ll be the proud owner of a brand new Nikon 24mm f/1.4N by the end of this year.) There were plenty of speakers actually at the booths in the trade show as well, so even when you weren’t at a class, you could still hear some speakers.

The classes/seminars themselves… I actually only went to two. Monday morning I went to a session called “Beloved” by Jesh De Rox (probably my favorite photographer right now) that was way more mind-blowing than I want to share here on my blog. Seriously, I haven’t slept much since that class because I’m so pumped for a new thing I’ll be launching at LGP which came directly out of this session. That session really set the tone for the rest of my time in Vegas. Tuesday morning I went to a session on workflow by John Michael Cooper. There was some great practical things that came out of that session for me, as well as a mariachi band which opened it… FTW.

I ran into a few people I’ve only ever seen on blogs or seen their work on their websites. It was cool to put real physical faces to names… notable mentions would be Nate Kaiser of The Image is Found, Bryan Wurzell and Promise Tangeman, Jesh De Rox, and probably a few others I’m not even thinking of right now.

To sum up… I went to WPPI with a pre-conceived notion of what I’d walk out with. I imagined I’d leave with lots of tips and tricks to save time, be more efficient, and make more money. In reality, I left inspired to do something way bigger than those things, and really had a self-evaluation of what I’m doing, why I’m doing it, and what I hope to accomplish. I am so excited for what’s next, and I’m quite sure I’ll make WPPI a regular event in my year.

Here are a few pictures, and a video of the mariachi band…

Lately I’ve come to realize I am caring less and less about social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. My total updates per day have gone down drastically, and the only time I spend on either is when I literally have nothing better to do than waste time. It’s not because I’m any busier than normal, or that I’ve “replaced” them with something or someone else… I just don’t seem to care about updating with every mundane detail of my day anymore.

So, I’m going to try something…

Lent starts tomorrow. I haven’t given up anything for Lent in my life, ever. This year, I figure it’s as good a time as any to try something out. I want to experiment with the next few weeks of my life, and see what would happen if I commit to walking away and not using Twitter, Facebook, or any other social network, including this here blog. Would my life be better, worse, or stay the same? I’m willing to use this Lent season as an excuse to find out.

So, here are my self-imposed rules, starting tomorrow and carrying through Easter Sunday…

• I will not be updating Twitter (and subsequently Facebook) with any personal items unless it’s super important (we ARE pregnant, after all).
• I will still utilize both for LGP needs if necessary.
• No updating the blog.
• I will check Twitter/Facebook once per day (at night) to make sure there are no messages, DM’s or @reply’s waiting for me and my attention.
• I will still be logged into Facebook Chat via Adium (an all-in-one Mac IM program), so don’t yell at me if you see me in your chat window, it doesn’t mean I’m actually looking at Facebook.

Finally, there are still a billion ways you can get a hold of me. Here are just a few:

• Email me: joshua -at- loveisgreaterthan -dot- com
• IM me: aim: joshw1022, gtalk: joshuarwhite, yahoo: shua1405
• For heavens sake, pick up the phone and call or text! It might be nice to hear from some of you during this time!

If I find myself with a plethora of extra time I didn’t know I had, I am sure amongst many other things, I will be using it to further my photography, catch up on reading, relax, and most importantly spend time with my wife (while she is stalking Facebook still, I’m sure =)).

See you all on the other side.

Jamie Oliver is quickly becoming one of my heroes. Between his new show airing on ABC called Food Revolution, his wish for winning the TEDPrize, and the TEDtalk I’m embedding below, it’s hard not to be impressed and inspired by what he is trying to do. Take 21 minutes out of your day and watch this video, I promise it’s worth it.

starting 2010 weight: 369.7
this week’s weigh-in: 364.6
total weight loss this week: 2.3 pounds

I’m still recovering from the last few weeks I’ve taken off… but all in all I can’t complain about 2.3 pounds. Especially since I JUST decided to start eating right again on Wednesday. I just really hope I can keep it going. One hour at a time, is my new motto =)

That, and nothing worth having ever comes easy.