Did I say “Agony”? Well, that is a bit of an exaggeration, but moving has to be one of my least favorite things to do, ever. Moving into a similar sized space, or a little larger, has its benefits. With more room can get more organized, for example. But I am moving into a smaller space, and that is a very different matter. It requires that I not move everything, which is the same as having to choose which chunks of my life am I prepared to amputate so that the rest will fit. That is what I am doing this week, so that when the trucks arrive in a couple of days I will have everything I need separated from everything I will not have room for. And this is the part I have the hardest time with. It is when I discover the sentimental value of things I have been dragging around for decades. You can’t really feel that until you have to leave it behind.

But I should be looking on the bright side, shouldn’t I? This move will be a chance to renew and revitalise the channel, to take advantage new surroundings and new people to provide a rich source of content, and to become more efficient with my insect photography because bug season is getting ready to shrink dramatically (fewer outings, but a renewed sense of urgency to get results). Change is always hard, and a big change like this will be harder than most, but it is the right move at the right time, so it will all work out. Please hang in there with me while I get the hardest part, the physical move, completed. I am not certain how long it will take me to rebuild my photography studio, the video set, and my back office, but I will be working like a madman to get everything set up and operational so that I can get myself back into a production routine as quickly as possible. I appreciate your understanding!

Some announcements…

The theme for the July competition is “It Came from the Grocery Store” - and the rules are as follows:

1) Anything you found, or could have found, at a grocery store (in the US sense of the word - but supermarket would work as well) which is where you go to buy stuff like food and the everyday consumables of life. An eggplant, a magazine, or a roll of sticky tape are all good examples of the things you could find there. A Boeing 767, a collapsible yurt, and a chunk of moon rock are not.

2) Your picture needs to be a MACRO photograph, which I am defining as 1:2 or greater (half life size. This is more magnification that I have used previously so be aware of the change).

3) You may submit one or two entries, unless you have won the AWP competition in the past. Former winners (first place and ties) may only submit one image to this competition in July.

4) The Official Guest Judge for July is Mr. Harold Hall, a seasoned and experienced photography judge and judge educator. Your images will be in good hands!

5) That’s all - have fun and get creative!

I have to get back to packing, but I am planning to take some time this evening to publish the results of the July competition - Please be patient just a little longer!

As soon as I land in my new place and find out where the wall sockets are, I will let you know and start getting everything back on track. There will be no livestream on Thursday of this week and Tuesday of next, but I may be able to get one out on Thursday - a week from Tomorrow. I am going to have to cancel this week’s planned Pzoom and I will otherwise keep the schedule as it has been for the last couple of years - so the next Pzoom will be on July 20th which will also be the next Tangent, with Larry Strunk. The next After-Stack will be next weekend, on Saturday the 13th of July, with Bud Perrott.

I hope that covers everything for now, but I do have one last thing I will put out there… If you have thought about supporting the channel in the past but have never got around to it, or if you are feeling the urge to do so now, this would be a fantastic time to make a small donation to the “Gas for two 26’ moving trucks” fundraiser that I just invented. This move has been a lot more expensive than I had expected and your help, if you can manage it, would be hugely appreciated. If you feel so inclined, just click here to be redirected to the place where that can be done! THANK YOU!