Blog, Newspaper, Family. Pick any Two.

UPDATE: Thanks, guys, for all of the congratulatory notes, words of encouragement and the contributions. I do not know whether I am more touched or psyched for the future.

Muchas gracias, y'all.

As most of you guys know, I am also a staff photographer for The Baltimore Sun, a metro daily newspaper in the eastern US.

Over the last year-and-change, Strobist has developed from a goofy little diversion into something that is all-but-impossible to maintain along with a full-time (plus) job. My concern over the last few months has been that, while the website has certainly grown into more than I ever thought it would, my family time has been severely pinched as a result.

With a 6-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl, (and a wife of undisclosed age) I am well aware that the window on their time as kids will be closing before I know it. So I have decided to make some changes in my life so I can spend more time being a dad. And a hubby.

As of the end of this week I will begin a one-year leave of absence from The Sun.

That was no easy decision. I absolutely love working there. But I love doing this, too. And I love my family much more than both jobs combined.

So this little experiment of a website is about to get a lot more interesting for me as I move from having one boss to having over 100,000.

Here's what that will mean:

• Most important, more family time - both in quantity and quality.
• I'll be able to travel (i.e. more seminars) without burning up my vacation time. I am working on a long list of cities right now.
• The website will be getting more thought, planning and focus.
• I'll have time to do more ambitious projects. Next month, for instance, I'll be filming a full lighting course on DVD. I hope to have it available in October.

There are a couple of other things, too. But they are still being worked on.

Assuming things work out, I will gain a tremendous amount of family time. I can't tell you how much that means to me. For that reason more than any other, I am very grateful to the community that has grown around this site and the businesses that support it.

I'll be meeting many more of you in person and getting to visit some very interesting places. And I have thoroughly enjoyed speaking with those of you that I got to meet in Ellicott City, Providence and London. I am looking forward to doing lots more of that.

So, thanks for your support and your readership. And I hope you'll stay tuned to see how this thing turns out. I know I'm curious to see what happens.

-David