Fun and work in geology

Initially when I started writing this blog I had very limited stockpile of images to show and stories to tell. I did not have much to choose and sometimes faced the problem perhaps familiar to many bloggers — I wanted to write something but did not have a good idea or even more importantly lacked appropriate pictures. This blog is very much based on images. Text seems to be of secondary importance to me and serves to describe the pictures. It varies, of course. Some posts are more text-based but I can not imagine myself blogging without pictures.

Hence, I grab my camera whenever I go to some geologically interesting place and now I have thousands of pictures waiting to be edited, described, blogged, uploaded to photo banks, etc. So I am having another type of problem that is actually the reverse of what I was struggling with at the beginning. It is an issue for me because I would really like to make these pictures pay for my travel expenses, at least partly. So far it seems hopeless but I don’t want to give up yet. Otherwise, blogging, photographing, and geotraveling is not financially sustainable way of living. Right now I can do it because my regular job at university allows much flexibility.

But it seems that I am more interested in just one part of the equation. I just want to go out there and see the rocks. I bet many geologists feel the same. They are not particularly interested in writing reports and journal papers but love to see real geology. Unfortunately, we all know it is not sustainable. Somebody has to do the hard work as well.

I just returned from California and Hawaii where I took lots of photos that are waiting for my attention but I already discover myself preparing for another trip. There are so many places I would love to go. It’s like an itch that needs to be scratched. I already started to prepare a list of places I would like to see in Utah and Arizona. This is insane. I have no way to go there any time soon. I don’t have time for that and it would be a financial ruin. Plus it would clearly demonstrate that I fail big time in my pursuit to make my photos earn something. They won’t earn a dime while they are sitting on my computer’s hard drive. Another place I would like to go to is Cyprus. I was there only a year ago but since that time my photographic skills and equipment have improved considerably. I took photos with an iPhone which are almost useless now. There are lots of beautiful places in Cyprus to visit again with a good camera that takes pictures with acceptable quality. Yesterday I saw that right now I could grab some last minute plane tickets cheaply…

But no, it is not time for that now. Perhaps later and maybe even within this year. I guess I just need to find a healthy balance between fun and work. I must lock myself somewhere with only my computer (and preferrably without Internet) and work from morning till night. Then I can catch up with unfinished tasks and can go out sooner. Ok, I don’t believe I am going to be that radical but I need to move towards being more effective. That’s for sure.

Out there, playing with rocks.