Ch-Ch-Changes

By (in alphabetical order) Ctein and Mike

Starting next Wednesday, you will notice a change here at The Online Photographer (TOP). Ctein's weekly Wednesday column is coming to an end.

About 325(!) of them have been published so far! (...We think. A slight miscount is possible. But it's something very close to that.)

To forestall possible rumors right from the get-go: this is not due to any kind of falling out between the two of us, personally or professionally. That's why we've written this post jointly. Ctein still enjoys writing columns for TOP. Mike is still happy to publish them. We're still good friends and amicable colleagues, same as ever.

So why the ch-ch-changes?

From Mike's side, 2014 is planned to be a year of several changes at TOP, possibly including a change of venue and the publication of our first book.

From Ctein's perspective, his life been going through major changes (of the good sort) for the past couple of years, and he's reordering his priorities. Shutting down his darkroom, rebuilding the lower floor of his house, and switching over to an entirely digital photographic lifestyle are part of it. Making such profound alterations is an ongoing consumer of time and energy. On top of that, for the past year and a half he's been working on a novel with TOP regular John Camp (better known as bestselling author John Sandford). As you might imagine, that eats up a lot of time and "writing energy," the latter being something that is always in limited supply for mortals. Well, unless you're Thomas Wolfe, D. H. Lawrence, or Stephen Somebody-Stop-That-Man King.

Being continually just a bit overextended is the main driver here. Ctein has kept up his weekly columnist duties without fail, but not without effect. The reason you've been seeing few product tests and in-depth reviews from him lately is because they take weeks and sometimes months of advance homework. They're not hard to write once all the background research is done, but he's been running hard enough just keeping up that he hasn't been able to devote enough time to testing.

So—the changes:

Ctein is not disappearing from TOP. First, he will continue writing occasional columns—we're shooting for between two and ten annually. The thing is, they'll only happen when Ctein feels like it, not when the weekly calendar demands. This will mean more reviews; he's got stacks of books, software, and hardware waiting to be covered.

Second, Ctein is taking on a new official role: henceforth he is TOP's Technical Editor.

Third, you can expect him to continue to chime in with his two cents' worth (more like five cents) in the Comments.

Fourth, Ctein also will be administering the next TOP print sale, which is coming along soon. The sale will be of Mike's work, with the goal of raising some money to fund more office space for TOP, lack of same being Mike's biggest headache.

And, not so by the way, Ctein reports that he made it back safely from Yellowknife, with no frozen bits left behind. He made this photograph with his Olympus E-M5 with an exposure of one second at ƒ/2.8 at ISO 3200. The sole source of illumination is the setting half-moon. No, Vivian did not stay uncovered that way for very long: it was –35° Celsius!

We'll be interested to hear what you think, now and as we settle into Ctein's new role. Life is change!

Mike and Ctein

©2014 by Michael C. Johnston and Ctein, all rights reserved

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Manuel: "I can't figure out right now whether this is good or bad news. While I hold Ctein's knowledge in very high regard and will miss his weekly columns, it's good to know he'll have a prominent role at TOP and will still be sharing his wisdom with us. As for the remaining changes at TOP, I believe I write on behalf of most readers when I say we'll be looking forward to them."

Jim Roelofs: "I've always looked upon Ctein's contributions here as super-reliable, factually accurate information, so I would like to note my indebtedness to him and wish him all the best for the future. Sincerest regards."

Comments

[Robert Roaldi]

Things change, it's inevitable. Good luck to you both, looking forward to the new projects.

I'm jealous about that Yellowknife trip. We've been meaning to go for a few years, but somehow it never works out.

[Brandon Scott]

I look forward to Ctein's column every week. It will be an adjustment!! BTW thanks for introducing me to Puer tea and Piao i teapot. Have enjoyed both. Brandon Scott

[Bill Pierce]

I bet the replies to this article are the longest line of good wishes in photo-blogdom. So, great good wishes.

[Aashish Sharma]

I've always looked forward to read Ctein's weekly columns more eagerly than anything else I can remember! I will miss them very much.
That said, there is some solace in the information that he will continue to be around and not disappear entirely from TOP.

Best regards from Bangalore,
Aashish

[Nigel]

Sandford/Ctein... intriguing.

Is there a guess the genre prize ?

[Benjamin Marks]

I know the established American idiom is to express good hopes all around and wish everyone the best of luck in their future endeavors, but I will selfishly give voice to my inner three year-old and just comment, "waaaahhhhhhh. [insert tantrum here]. How can less Ctein ever be a good thing [ul]for me[/ul]?"

Seriously though, once my inner three year-old was finished, dusted himself off, and got up off the floor, he said: congratulations on a great run. You all have put a buuunch of great stuff out there in the world and made the world a more interesting place to live in. To quote Stan Lee: Excelsior! (whatever that means). Hopefully, something like, "don't be a stranger."

Ben Marks

[david]

Just a quick thank you to Ctein for all his interesting and stimulating articles - your regular missives will be missed, but the reasons are perfectly understandable. Enjoy the next phase.
For me I'm sure TOP will remain the first site I visit daily
Keep up the good work Mike (& Ctein)

[Bengt Carlsson]

-35 degrees Celsius - no problems at all - you're guaranteed that there are absolutely no mosquitos. That's something!!

[Ed]

You should do a recap post about the dye transfer sale woth matrices. I got mine, one of my 3 choices, and it is a nice print, suitable for hanging for sure. It was fun to read about how the prints are made, too. One fantasizes about getting some dyes, a registration system, some fixed-out fiberbase paper, and trying to make a print from the matrices...

[John Krumm]

It's good to sweep up, re-arrange, and start a little fresh every so often. So I'll look forward to the occasional fresh Ctein and whatever else new comes down the TOP pike.

[Marcelo Guarini]

I'll miss your weekly column Ctein, however, I look forward for the results of the new arrangement. Being optimistic, ch-ch-changes are for the better.

[Andrea B.]

I have truly enjoyed Ctein's thoughtful, interesting columns, and I will miss their weekly appearance. However, Infrequent Ctein is much better than No Ctein at all!!

[Oskar Ojala]

I will miss the weekly columns, but it's understandable that life goes on and nothing lasts forever. Hope that the changes will work out well.

[Rick Popham]

I'm going to miss Ctein every week, but, honestly, I don't know how he kept up the schedule. Well, it's one more in a string of changes over the last year. We've had Adobe going to the damned subscription, John Nack moving to Google, and now the end of the weekly Ctein.

Oddly, I feel enthusiastic about the TOP changes. I know that whatever you guys decide to do, this site will be well worth the visit. And a novel by John Camp AND Ctein? OMG! I can't wait!

[David Dyer-Bennet]

Best of luck with your big plans!

(This replaces four paragraphs of explanation of why I can't possibly have any meaningful opinion about what's going to happen yet, largely because of near-total ignorance.)

[Bron]

Thanks Ctein, and a John Sandford/Ctein novel; I'm intrigued.

[Thingo]

Fascinating.

I just love how things dovetail together on TOP.

Last night I finished reading the 1903 short story by Jack London, "To Build a Fire", included in last Sunday's "Open Mike: More Books from the Great List".

This morning (the wonders of time zones) I see Ctein's wonderful photo of Vivian and the aurora borealis by moonlight. Here down under, where we have more bushfires than snow, I now have an appreciation of what it means to have naked skin at -35° Celsius. (In Jack London's story, it's -75° Fahrenheit, -60° Celsius. Either way, pretty chilly.)

Farewell regular columnist, you'll be missed.

Welcome new technical editor.

[Michael]

I can't say I have ever been dissatisfied with an article here, so whatever you publish I will read. I am looking forward to the upcoming print and book sales, and welcome columns from Ctein whenever he has time.

[Bernie Kubiak]

I go back to reading Ctein's postings on photo newsgroups (if anybody remembers them). Good to know he will still be contributing, hopefully at a greater frequency than projected.

[darr]

Sounds Good!!

[saagar]

Onwards and .... Onwards!
Mike, you often sound apologetic when discussing this site of yours; I think you shouldn't.

[Barry Reid]

Well, Ctein thanks for your columns. I've certainly learned from them, always an interesting and knowledgable viewpoint.

Mike I do hope that you have lined up one or two fresh contributors to pitch in either regularly or semi-regularly, to help fill the space and ease the strain of daily posting in Ctein's absence.

[Luke]

Vivian! Oh my goodness! Look behind you!

[D. Hufford.]

Will be sorry to see Ctein's regular and often offbeat column go. Now where will we get interesting articles about tea?

[Niko]

"Ctein is not disappearing from TOP."

That's all we need to hear!

Going to miss the off topic articles, but grateful for all the ones we got.
All the best to Ctein and Mike!
Thank you so much!