No sooner did I shut down the router thinking that I was giving you a rest, it seems that I popped back up somewhere else on the Internet as if I was a virtual ghost.
I’m referring mostly to Michael C. Johnston’s (The Online Photographer) article Bye, Thom. So first off, let me apologize to all of you that thought you’d wake up that Monday free of hearing about me or anything I’d written for a month. That’s my fault for posting a “think piece” for you to ponder while I was out.
While I’m at it, let me throw a little shade at Michael’s description of me ("the leading independent Nikon expert, certainly on the English-speaking Internet and probably in the whole world outside of Japan.”).
On the one hand, I do always try to do my best at whatever I do. And I try to get better at it. But I very much balk at and refute this notion that we have to always have these contests—both real and virtual—where people/things/places/concepts have to be proclaimed “the best.” I certainly don’t think I’m the best at anything, though I do believe I’m quite good at the things I do. I’m not trying to win any awards, and I don’t need others to anoint me in any way. I actually have a publicly stated policy—and have for over 30 years—of not entering contests or accepting awards.
So, Michael, I understand you were trying to establish my creds first before commenting, but I don’t think it helps yours to use wording such as “the leading…”
I actually hate having to write that last line, as I happen to think Michael’s knowledge and commentary are things that are extremely important in our photographic community, and I don’t want anyone to think I’m picking on him. Still, that left the virtual Thom in a state I don’t agree with, so I have to call it out. Funny thing is, sometimes these things are as simple the difference in a word “Thom is a leading expert…” versus “Thom is the…”.
But the bigger problem with having someone pick up that article and promote it is that it left a lot of commentary out there that I couldn’t respond to, as I was off the net. The article that prompted Michael’s comments will be republished shortly by Petapixel, so now the real Thom can respond to comments about it.
