Thanks & So Long

This is my last issue as editor of Shutterbug. It has been my pleasure to work on this and other photo magazines in the Shutterbug realm for the past 14 years, and it has been for me the most fun and amazing job one could imagine. I have witnessed, and hopefully reported on faithfully and accurately, the amazing changes we all have seen in photography, as well as worked with a great group of wonderful folks at the magazine itself. In our jobs, we are only as good as the friends, colleagues, and teams we work with, and it has been my great fortune to have been associated with hard-working and dedicated people who I have always considered as friends. They helped me greatly through the fun times, and the hard times, of this job and my life.

For me, a magazine, website, or blog is a reflection, in part, of the interests and curiosities of the editor, but there’s also another very important part to the formula—the readers and those who contribute to the magazine with articles and images. When I first took this job I made a commitment to always listen to you, the readers, and to hopefully keep you informed, interested, and even amused. Your feedback, suggestions, and at times criticisms kept me on my toes and I trust that for the most part I have done my work as you saw fit. To me, Shutterbug has always been a reflection of your world and of photography at large, and quite frankly I never had a lack of material to share due to the amazing array of images and ideas that frequently came across my desk.

Shutterbug has always been freelance driven, and our regular contributors kept things lively with their columns, test reports, and consistently professional attitudes about their work. I trust that they will continue to do so. I would always be excited every day as I opened my inbox to see what they might next have up their sleeves. The same goes for those who did not have columns or regular beats, those photographers who shared their hopes and dreams and visions with us all in their personal projects or exploration of exciting techniques. My door was always open to new ideas, new visions, and to the rising stars as well as the pioneers and professionals in the photo world. For me, the images of those who do not earn their daily bread from making images often had as much to say and show as any established pro, and I tried to always include their work in these pages.

I also want to thank the members of the photo industry and their companies who supported our efforts with their amazing strides in technology and support of photography’s advancement, and yes, with their advertising dollars that fueled our engine. A magazine is a business, but many of these companies supported our vision and our commitment with grace and the understanding that we always strove to serve our readers first.

So, thanks, and so long. I will miss you all in these pages. Have a blessed life and keep making great images. And keep in mind that photography is how our heart and soul and mind find expression, and that it most of all opens our eyes to the amazing world in which we live. As for me, I will continue to write and photograph, and look forward to what lies ahead.

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