January 14, 2009, at 5:47 pm
I got my first Jill Bliss journal when I started my first photography class. I needed a notebook to write down my exposures and notes on my photos, and what better than this pretty little book with flowers on every page? Even with it’s small size it didn’t fit well into my smallest camera bag; I had to put it on top of the camera, making it a little bit harder to get my camera out on the fly. But then I discovered that Jill Bliss had even smaller journals, and in a pack of four no less!
Each journal is 5 inches by 3.5 inches, is more than small enough to fit in the front pocket of my Crumpler 5 million dollar home, but is large enough to still be able to write in comfortably. Each journal has a different pattern inside – the green journal is lined, the blue journal has gridded pages, the purple journal has dots and the orange journal has plain pages with flowers along the edges. The inside of all four journals is white with a light purple print. While the interiors are not quite as nice as the Jill Bliss Native Flowers journal, where each page is beautifully printed in color, these little notebooks are still very pleasant to write in. And for portability, they’re top notch.
NOTE: The journal set that I have is available from Barnes and Noble, but is no longer available directly from Jill Bliss. However, Jill Bliss has a new version that is slightly larger at 5.75 inches by 4 inches.
For me there is something magical about books and journals. Some I have are too good looking for me to tarnish with my own sloppy writing penmanship.
I do keep a note pad with me when I go for a shooting period. But lately I have changed to a digital recorder as I find it far easier to speak for a few seconds as opposed to taking out my note book and jotting down my information.
The notepad I use more to quick sketch parts of the scene and add arrows for possible effects.
Now if I could just have the digital recorder write neatly in my journals what a wonderful world this would be.
Niels Henriksen