Dan Hauk's blog and online portfolio

I have this widget on iGoogle that displays pretty amazing photos from around the world. Maybe I shouldn’t have installed it because it’s making me want to get back into photography more and more. One of the pictures today was this one from Machu Picchu, Peru. It looks surreal.

Looking at this picture made me look up more about Machu Picchu, of course. Check out the picture on the front page there. It’s pretty awesome. Then I started thinking about how amazing it would be to travel for photography and get paid. Almost makes me want to take a third shift job so I can do more photography during the day to get going with that.

Gary Vaynerchuck of Wine Library TV had a very inspirational keynote at the Web 2.0 Expo in New York. Certainly made me think about what I really love to do and how it shouldn’t matter whether I can get money from it. But there’s almost always a way to monetize what you love in this day and age. I would love traveling the world taking photos, journalistic or artistic. The real kicker would be to get paid and have the funds to travel.

Summary: I need more photography in my life, but I need more time first.

This past weekend my fiancé and I traveled to Lancaster for a huge art fest. It was all outdoor in Long’s Park. The scenery was beautiful and the art was fantastic. Probably between 75 and 100 artists I’d say. Each got a lot along the path to display and sell their art. There was also a wine/beer tasting stand for Iron Hill, a local brewery.

We signed up for a free raffle after paying for our tickets, but for the life of me I can’t remember what it was for. They did have a separate tent with pieces of art that some donated, but for those tickets you had to pay. All kinds of artists were represented from all over the country: painting, photography, digital art, sculpture, fabrics, glass, metal, etc. Anything you could think of it was probably there.

While looking at the first photographer we came across I started thinking about how much I miss photography. I would definitely like to get back into it, but it’s difficult with little time and no access to a darkroom. But, Dan, you say, why not digital? There’s no need for a dark room, just a computer.

Here’s the thing. Digital photography can be great and quick, but I’d much rather be in the darkroom working with my hands and developing the film myself. It gives more of a sense of satisfaction having to wait to see the pictures. And then working manually to get the exposure just right. I feel like more of an artist rather than sitting at a computer. I loved spending hours in the darkroom at Millersville.

However, it is expensive. And one thing I don’t have a lot of these days is money. Some day soon I will get back into it because it is a great passion. If I could make a living from it I could die content. To be able to make enough money from photography that I could travel abroad to get amazing photos of other places in the world would be absolutely amazing.

If I start back into photography, would anyone buy my art? Even if no one does I’ll do it anyway. The photos in this post are mine, by the way.

Finally got around to getting some of my work up on the site. That’s the most important thing right now, so people can view what I can do. Still have to write up the “about me” page though. I may be able to do that at work tomorrow if I have any free time. So check out my portfolio, you just might like it.