At the beginning of 2009 I had an empty feeling in me. After 5 years of non stop traveling to capture the stories of the projects and their designs I kept coming back from the shoots feeling like no one was telling my story. Not the “there once was a boy name Blake who grew up in Dallas and ended up falling in love with a camera, as well as girl named Blake who he would later marry and live with their 3 incredible rescue dogs (all true stories (and yes my wife’s name is Blake, very confusing I know)). It was more the stories of the love affairs that are photo shoots and the images they produce. From the 3am wakeup calls, the delayed flights, a mid air heart attack by a fellow passenger, hobbling around with a tear in both achilles, or the pending hurricanes in tropical destinations, or just the moments of sheer ecstasy when everything and everyone comes together perfectly for an amazing shoot. These were the stories and pictures that I wanted to tell and share alongside of the beautiful shots of architecture and destinations. So with that in mind, the blog was born.
Less than 11 months later I find myself writing my 100th blog post which is incredible to think about. In school I was never much of a writer, the lack of pictures in writing always bothered me (spoken like a true photographer). So over the course of 100 posts it’s been quite a journey watching the writing evolve.
The blog (as well as the portfolio site blakemarvin.com) has been an amazing outlet for my work as well as my words. It’s made spending 2/3 of the year on the road a little more fulfilling and has also introduced my work to some truly amazing people whom I would have never met or been able to share it with. Thank you to all the wonderful people who have left comments and written in to me. Your enthusiasm for my work always brightens my day and makes the incredible hours and time away from my family a bit more doable.
Speaking of people, we had a lot of you visit the site from all over the world. I find it incredible that without advertising or seeking out traffic, or really even telling anyone beyond a few friends and family members, that over 6,000 of you would find my site. The google analytics are astonishing. There are days when the average time spent on the site approaches 30 minutes per visitor. Your diversity is just as incredible. In less than 11 months we had people visit from over 94 countries. My passport itches at the thought of these destinations.
We’ll I guess I should wrap this up as it’s getting a bit long winded and I’ve got packing to do for my shoot tomorrow (check back on the blog later for more details!). So thanks again to you all for making 2009 an amazing year and here’s to a great 2010 with lots more to come on the blog. Be sure to pass the blog and portfolio site along to your friends and family as I always love sharing my work with new people. I’ll leave you all with a parting shot from the road last year down in the Bahamas. As always, enjoy!
Blake
