I've added some of my favorite Milky Way images to SmugMug. As I dive more into the rabbit hole of landscape astrophotography I'm planning on adding a lot more images like this. Until then, you can purchase prints of what I've made so far.  Here's to clear skies and to infinity and beyond. Enjoy

I'm still waiting on a couple of test products that I've ordered to ensure the quality is what I want, but at the urging of one *ahem* quite eager customer who is willing to serve as a Guinea pig, I've made the shop live for orders. I did receive a test print the one poster I currently have listed, and am quite happy with the quality (especially at the price).  I've also got 3 different calendars listed, as well as a couple of jigsaw puzzles. Now that it's live, and I'm happy with the quality of the products being offered, I'll be adding more stuff on a regular basis. Happy Boxing Day

Time for an end-of-year comparison of what I like and dislike about both Threads and BlueSky, from the perspective of someone wanting to use them both mainly for photography.  I’ve been on Threads for just over a year. I got an invite code for BlueSky about 18 months ago, but didn’t really do anything with it until about 6 months ago (it’s hard to tell at the moment just how long I’ve been posting on BlueSky, since they’re currently glitching and only displaying the last month or so of my posts). I’m not super active on either platform, although that may change. I want both of them to succeed, and there are definitely things I like and dislike about both. So without further ado, I’ll start with what I like about both. Threads positives: I love the carousel display of photos, allowing them to be displayed at larger size when you want to have more than one photo in a single post (although I think the “pinch to display a panorama is a silly gimmick that only works on phones, not lapto...

 In addition to my photography, I'm also starting to dabble in creating some original art, albeit still using digital tools. I'm currently playing with Procreate on my iPad, and just starting to learn Rebelle 7 Pro on my Mac. I really like both programs, they both have their strengths and weaknesses.  I love the tactile sensation of being able to smudge and work with digital paints using my fingertip with Procreate on the iPad, but prefer the depth of the interface and the realism of the paints with Rebelle 7 Pro. In an ideal world I would have the best of both worlds.  We'll see if I develop these skills enough for me to want to sell any original digital artwork. Till then, keep creating art. #supportlocalart #supportsmallbusiness

OK, so I think I've sorted out the organization of my online empire. davemccaskill.art (the blog you're reading now) will serve as a one-stop-shop for updates on my two online stores. My SmugMug site will offer prints (both high quality photo and fine art archival quality gicleé prints) of what I consider my best photography. The Etsy store will go live in about a week or so, I’m currently waiting on a couple of test orders to assess the quality of the products they’re offering. On Etsy you’ll find calendars, notebooks, jigsaw puzzles, tumblers and other assorted keepsakes including both unframed and framed poster prints. The products available on Etsy are “signed” with my store logo on the lower left of each print. If you want artwork for your walls without the signed store logo, please check out my SmugMug store. Both stores are in their early stages in terms of what I’m offering, but feel free to explore both. Both will always be works in progress. If you want something tha...

I'm envisioning this blog to be a portal to both of my online stores. I'm using Smugmug for providing prints of my art, both framed and unframed. This is where I'm planning on really showcasing what I consider to be the best of my work. For everything else, work that I'm still proud of but which I don't think is up to my standards of "do I want to look at this hanging on my living room wall for the next five years", I've set up an Etsy store . On here you can find calendars, notebooks, jigsaw puzzles, tumblers and other assorted keepsakes. Feel free to explore both. If you don't see the links to the online stores on the left of the page, check out the menu bar at the top left. If you have any questions, let me know. I'd love to hear from you.

Why in the world am I starting a blog? Aren't blogs a thing of the past? After thinking about it, I've come to realize that although I use different social media platforms, I miss having a space on the web I can truly call my own. I used to have a blog about 15 years ago.  thegistofit.org was a small corner of the web where I occasionally posted my thoughts, photos and occasional tutorials on various photography related topics. My highest traffic post was a tutorial on using LAB color space for editing digital infrared photos. Geeky stuff. Then my blog got hacked, and although I got it back, I found the constant upkeep of maintaining a WordPress blog with needing to manually install security updates just wasn't worth it to me. After hanging onto it for years and not doing anything with it, I'm finally giving up that domain name. Back then I was also very active on Flickr, and still have some good friends I met through monthly Flickr walks.  I'll be using this blog m...