On Thursday, I'm presenting a webinar for the Library Marketing and Communication Conference about how to increase your photography skills. We held a practice session his past week which meant I needed my slide deck pretty much done.

For each best practice I recommend, I provide an image as an example. I didn't want to critique someone else's work without their knowledge, so I only used my own pictures in this section.

Selecting these images turned out to be a painful process. I spent hours over analyzing each choice. I was looking at every lighting choice, depth of focus, angle, and subject with a critical eye. This resulted in me hating my own work. I'm including pictures I adore, but having to act as an "expert" made me want to look for perfection. 

Perfect doesn't exist in photos. It can't. 

But there I was asking, "Does this do what I say it does?" to every pixel. A bout of severe imposter syndrome raised its ugly head. I know I'm not a professional photographer, but this session is designed for amateur photographers like me. It's not about fancy tech or creating material for professional publication. It's for librarians who take pictures and just want them to look better than a quick snapshot. 

I know I can teach that. But critiquing my own work - even when that is a best practice itself - was painful. Self-assessment is a great skill but not when you hold yourself unreachable standards.

How do you critique your own work?

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I’m at the halfway point in Dim Sum of All Fears. The kiddo gave us all some daycare crud and its been tough for me to stay awake for more than a few pages each night. I’m on the mend and *fingers crossed* should finish this week.

• I am on team more garlic. [EATER]

• Financial best sellers don't always give the best advice. [The Atlantic - may be paywalled]

• Everyone wants to claim Joan of Arc. [The Atlantic - may be paywalled]

• The college majors people are rethinking. [WaPo - gift link]

• A clever fraud meets a determined hacker. [Planet Money]

• Can I prevent myself from hurting my neck while sleeping? [Life Kit]

• If your sex ed experience was bad, this is a good alternative. [Life Kit]

• Zoning and urban design impact how we use neighborhoods. [99% Invisible]

• Nature is amazing. [Every Little Thing]

• We can discover a lot in caves. [Short Wave]

• Nature is mesmerizing. [@wonderofscience]

• We watched Zero Dark Thirty. We've seen it several times, but I wanted to watch something of this vibe. The torture scenes at the beginning are incredibly hard to watch. (Particularly when you know that torture doesn't work.) I always wonder if the actors have any lasting negative psychological impacts from filming these scenes. They know there safe, but there must still be effects. Also, Jessica Chastain deserves all her accolades but I think Jason Clarke is an oft overlooked gem. [Netflix]

• The Husband's movie pick for the week was The Cloverfield Paradox. You really have to suspend disbelieve of this one. I get that sci-fi is always a stretch.  But, this was a world that could build a massive space station while not knowing how to capture solar power on a massive scale. That bit of logic kept eating at me. Also, this film was borderline horror. [Netflix]

• There was a massive pork chop sitting in our freezer that I wanted to use up. I made skillet pork chops and beans to do so. We sous vide the pork chop to save time. Plus, that means the risk of me over cooking it is low. For the bean mix, I added some celery we had on hand. It was a good addition. Nicely rounded out the dish. [Real Simple]

• Our quest for new gnocchi dishes continues and we found a winner. Herbed gnocchi and mushrooms was quick to make and just delicious. By choice, I always over do it on the parmesan. Next time, I'm going to use a mix of mushrooms to add further depth of flavor. [The Kitchn]

When I was hunting down picture for my slide deck, I needed something that talked about getting closer to the subject. (Don’t zoom!) I had to use the chipmunk that was basically my mom’s pet.

I love newsletters that are deep dives. I love newsletters that give me new perspectives. Inflated World does both. In his newsletter, Sam provides global perspectives on the serious impacts of inflation. He also has issues devoted to individual voices to help you see how people are experiencing inflation in their lives.

Sun Today has a Magic Hour / Golden Hour calculator that can help you pinpoint the best time to shoot outdoors in your location. These times of days just make everything look extra pretty.

I have to talk at a lot of things this week. Hoping I can stay on my mental train of thought through all of these.