an experiment in podcasting

So for the past few years, I've been toying with the idea of starting an occasional podcast here on the Chookooloonks -- something that's maybe a little different, for those who might want a little auditory added to the visual that we have here on the site.  Over time I've had people ask me why I frame shots the way I do, or why I was inspired to take a particular image, and being a more intuitive photographer (rather than a technical one), I had been thinking that maybe a podcast might be the way to go.

Of course, I know diddly about podcasting.

Still, the time has come for me to give it a try.  So here are some of the ideas that I had in mind for the podcast:

1.  Because I love music as much as I do, and it often inspires some of the shots I take here on Chookooloonks, I wanted the podcast to be a way to feature some emerging artists and musicians that I find occasionally on the web.  I figure that anything that I do that get the word out about another artist practicing their craft would be a good thing.  And for those of you who really aren't into the photography bit, at least you'll get some cool new music to listen to.

2.  I wanted the podcast to feel like you were actually standing next to me while I shot the photographs.  So while the podcast wouldn't necessarily be too technical (we'll save Occasionally Technical Tuesdays for that subject matter), I wanted it to feel more experiential -- that you would be able to hear the ambient noise and the camera clicks while I was shooting (this took a little technical experimentation and playing with some new equipment on my part).  In theory, I'll be shooting in different settings over time, so you'll be able to get an idea of what I think about in different settings.

3.  I wanted to be able to embed the player in a post where I would also be able to share the photos I took on the shoot that I was talking about in the audio, so that while the audio was playing and you were hearing my voice, you would also be able to actually see the shots that resulted as I'm talking.

4. And finally, if all goes well, I hope you'll be inspired by the song to take your camera out over the weekend, shoot what you see, and come back and share it here with me in the comments below.

So here it is -- an attempt at my very first podcast.  Note that it's a bit rough:  I was more concerned with getting the technical stuff down (or at the very least, attempted), rather than coming up with something that was totally perfect right off the bat.  If you think this works, I promise the next one will feel more polished.  This one is just under 12 minutes long, and features music from the Portland, Oregon band Derby, who just released their brand new EP, Madeline.  The song is called Don't Believe in You.

Simply click on the triangle below on the right to start playing.

And if you do go out and shoot this weekend with this song in mind, please share a link to your image in the comments below.  Also, if you have any other questions, suggestions for shooting locations, subject matter to shoot, local bands you'd like me to feature, or, heck, even a name for this podcast, I'm all ears.

On that note, have a great weekend, everyone.  (And by the way, thanks much to both Danielle and Mir for both offering technical advice, as well as serving as perfect sounding boards while I bounced ideas around over the last few weeks.)

UPDATE:  You can now subscribe to this podcast on iTunes!  Click here to make the magic happen.

And see an index of all episodes of this podcast here.