The Phoblogosphere

Today is the First Day of the Rest of My Life…

Chris Gampat
No Comments
11/16/2012
3 Mins read
Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Ilford Delta 400 scans image samples review (6 of 13)

Last Updated on 11/16/2012 by Chris Gampat

Dearest Readers,

Today is the first day in a very long time that I have been afraid. It’s a paranoid type of fear that resonates in the back of my mind just loud enough to almost be an annoyance. This is a very particular fear that will always be there; and it will be a blessing and a curse. This fear is one that I will have to learn to live with because today is the first day of the rest of my life.

Yesterday (November 15th 2012) was my last day at B&H Photo Video Pro Audio; a place that I’ve been happy to call home for a while. My tenure there ended when I started to look at trends with The Phoblographer: the site that was birthed out of frustration with my world at the time in many aspects. One night I sat in my bed and created it in hopes that it would help keep me (and others) afloat one day and that it would grow into something massive. I never expected it to get the traction that it currently has with just under 1 million unique visitors a month coming in to us.

And now is the time. I sit here at my computer surrounded by paperwork, coffee, and review units as I type this. There are many things racing through my mind: securing adequate funding for the site each week, securing adequate funding for myself each week, expansion of the site, what task I should tackle next, the posts that I need to edit that the staff here has diligently worked on, and thoughts of last night’s going away party with the greatest co-workers I was ever blessed to meet.

From this day on, The Phoblographer will be a primary initiative of mine with the day job out of the picture and changes to the site are yet to come. We started with bringing Profoto on board as an extremely valued sponsor; and we will continue to carefully tailor quality content for all of you.

Today is the first day that I need to start thinking about serious monotization schemes while balancing the editorial aspect, freelance work, a personal life, and personal projects to help me explore my creativity more. Sounds like a daunting task, yes? Well, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared, but once again this is a good fear.

At my time at B&H Photo Video Pro Audio, I was under two managers and surrounded by positive energy from people who helped me propel myself forward. There I honed my multiasking abilities, got work done well before deadlines, and discovered a lot about myself and just how much I am capable of.

This fear is necessary paranoia to always get things finished and always look for the next big goal to tackle. That fear will help to propel this site forward in many ways. I won’t be alone though: the entire staff is right here with me and we promise you the best.

With all of this said, I would be an idiot to not say that this is when we need you the most. Our server bill is quite expensive; and we would appreciate donations by clicking on the donate tab on the right hand side of the site. But more than that, when you click our banners or product links and then directly make a purchase (no matter what it is) we get a small commission on the sale. That commission is at no extra cost to you and it helps us to keep the site going and alive.

And without you, we perish.

The world of photography is booming, changing and evolving right now and it an extremely exciting time to be a part of it. We thank you for your continued support and we look forward to creating content for all of you and helping you grow with us.

 

Sincerely,

Chris Gampat

Editor in Chief

Master and Commander of the Fleet of the Seven Seas

The Phoblographer

Shares
Written by

Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.