Letter From The Editor [February]

So Punxsutawney Phil predicts an early spring this year, huh? First time in four years he’s done that. Considering his predictions are 39% accurate, and with a low of 17 degrees tomorrow night, I’m not holding my breath.

Why do I even care about the weather? I primarily shoot food, and that gets done indoors, inside a chef’s restaurant. And I love the cold weather (I know – I’m weird). And I love the cold weather because of my fancy p coat that makes everyone think I’m European or something, which I always get a kick out of. Is it because I hate scraping ice off of my car every morning? Is it because I hate it when the threat of snow on the roads makes everyone rush to the store to buy milk and bread (what on Earth can you make with just milk and bread? Think this strategy through, people!)? Is it because I hate the shortened days, with the sun setting before I start cooking dinner?

Actually, I care about the weather because I’m already excited about getting some spring photos done. Here in Washington, DC, we get the cherry blossom festival in the beginning of April, and I have NEVER been during the peak of it. I feel all the winter resources have become exhausted, overused, overdone. I love the mangled branches of the winter trees, but I also love the new beginnings the spring brings. While everyone is making their New Year’s resolutions in January, it’s when the weather turns for good in March and April when I feel renewed.

Even though it’s not spring yet, there’s going to be a resurgence of new here at FYP over the next few months. We have some new features we’re gearing up to unleash unto the world, and I’ve got a few new writers lined up that will bring a fresh, new perspective to the site and mix perfectly with the writers you’ve already known and love. I’m very excited to introduce all of this to you all and I think they’ll fall perfectly in line with what I had envisioned of Fuel when I took over a few months ago.

Furthermore, now that we seemed to have taken an unexpected, short winter break, the team is ready to get back into the swing of things and give you the informative articles you’ve come to expect from us. Now, I know a while back I had asked for requests on what people would like to see, and it sounded like portraits was a major category of interest. Fortunately for you all, I have not only an upcoming portrait shoot, but I am also getting my picture taken (I know – be very afraid, interwebs). So, I’m thinking all of this can become a series for the blog that I’ll touch on for all of you out there. If there’s anything else you’d like to see more of, please don’t hesitate to hit us up in the comments below or give us a shout on Facebook (www.facebook.com/FuelYourPhotography) or send us a tweet (@FuelPhotography) and we’ll do our best to answer your photography questions!

I hope you all have had a wonderful start to your year so far, and hopefully these next eleven months will be even better!

That is, if Punxsutawney Phil wasn’t lying to us and spring does come early after all.

Cheers,

- Patrick