Volunteerism abuse can BURN the excitement to ASHES

When I joined the Navy waaay back in 1972, I had already volunteered in many areas: a telephone hotline service in the Haight-Ashbury when hotlines were a rare commodity, in cleanup during a San Francisco Bay oil spill that dumped oil in the bay waters that eventually washed up on northern San Francisco beaches, and eventually joined the Red Cross with my first days as a Red Cross volunteer at the Balboa Naval Hospital, San Diego. 

Throughout my two decades as a Navy sailor, I volunteered at many places and waay too many times. I helped with inputting database information for an Operation Smile organization in Norfolk, Virginia. I did hand-drawn graphics for Navy Family Services at Navy Base (when it was still NOB) Norfolk for at least a decade, with my charts giving easy to read graphics for workshops and pre- and post- deployment seminars. I did a lot of volunteering at any and everywhere, though those above are the ones I do remember the most. In those times when volunteer hours were not being counted nor recorded as it is now, it's hard to remember all that I did and how many times in a week, let alone during  a month! 

After I retired and returned to Spain to live, I immediately went to the base Red Cross office to enlist my time and services as a volunteer. I opted for a position inputting data into a computer database for about two times a week for a few hours. Soon afterwards, I discovered my primary manpower chore was changing. I would come in to do my database work, but was actually being told (asked) to do something else non-related to my original and primary tasking. By time I got finished with that other work, I'd begin the database work when I realized my allotted time doing what I was supposed to do (database) was overridden by the other work, and now had no time to do what I was supposed to do!

I eventually quit that job. The people at the Red Cross didn't even ask why I was quitting, or even seemed to be concerned. In those early years of retirement from the military, I had quit volunteering completely, and enjoyed the free time for a few decades. Sure there would be a organization I liked now and then, and I would ask if they needed volunteers to help them in their cause. They would say yes, but I then told them to contact me......   I never again heard from them.

It's so strange to be part of a world of special people who enjoy volunteering their time and person to provide assistance to whatever the cause was, but when that organization has to contact YOU, all leads dry up and you'll probably not hear from again!

In the past few years, I've been volunteering in my own way, providing photographic coverage of events. I just get free entrance to some public or private event, and provide photograph thumbnails of the event, and they can use however as long as I got credited for the images received. I was burnt by an salon in San Francisco years ago when they asked me for such coverage, and after delivery of the images, later stated nothing of the sort was agreed upon where I would be a paid contractor providing images. Even after that "agreement" was negated, they continued to use my images on their website!

I have provided images two years in a row for various organizations and even upon delivery of the images, they do not even bother to respond that they have even received the images till days later.

So I have decided I will no longer volunteer my time as a photographer. Two days after the event is not when I need to know they just finally saw the pictures I had sent them. It's a lot of work and I am getting the idea that my imagery isn't even worth the work as a volunteer, and if I were paid, I would probably not even hear from them at all! 

What does my job as an event photographer involve? First, I find out everything about the event: how, time, guessimated attendees and where. Regardless of outdoor or indoor location, I actually go to see what the locale looks like. I try to find a manager so I can ask about where to shoot from if interior, and check the weather, cloudiness if outdoor. During an event, I try to be practically everywhere I can! Finishing up the event, I get home to download all image files, then weed out the best to tell my story of how the event progressed. Say I have 300 image files of an event. I can go through all that to choose the best, in less than an hour. Then I take all the best images and make smaller resized images with my copyright info on them, to send out to the event organizer. It takes me less than 2-3 hours to do all that! I don't believe in wasting time nor time in getting the images out.

While the amount of images can vary depending on the weather, event, and how many attended, etc, there may be more or less, but I have always prided myself in getting all images of any event out within four hours or less. Yes, it's a lot of work, but nobody can say I waste time or take too long in getting images distributed!

I have enjoyed the decades I have worked as a volunteer at so many places and doing such a large variety of work. I still believe MY time and work as a volunteer were exceptional and worthwhile. It's just too bad it seems the groups or organizers I worked for, do not seem to agree through their attitude, and displaying such delay and slowness. 

It's a shame, but I am quitting with my volunteering as a photographer, plus I am just so burnt-out for doing such work and to me, it seems that my time and work are not being appreciated at all.

Farewell, my trusty Wacom tablet

I discovered the world of amazing drawing tablets made by Wacom back many decades ago. I could never afford a decently-sized tablet, and always purchased their smallest tablet, overall about 5x7 inches but the true working area was even less. I've had three of them through these decades, starting with the ArtPad that had a cabled serial port, but worked great. I cannot remember my second Wacom tablet model, but it was powered by a USB cord (much better), and enjoyed it. One day it went bad....  it just got caught on a pixel and didn't move too well. I then purchased some tablet that was huge (at that time), but it never worked correctly. I think that's still in Rota, sitting unused and collecting dust. My present one I've had at least a decade: the Wacom Bamboo and is a wonderful extension of my mind and hand. 

While in the Navy, I had drawn a few sketches while off-duty, aboard my first aircraft carrier. In fact, till its last year of active duty, the Forrestal still had an annual art show! The very first art show was organized and coordinated by me, a lowly airman who then worked in the Photo Lab! I went around the ship searching for people who were artists in their own right, and got them committed to creating artwork to display in the show. They could use any medium they wanted. We were deployed at the time, and I picked our last portcall in Palma de Mallorca as the location of the very first Art Show, giving these artists of the USS Forrestal about three months to decide what, how and time to get it done! We had a good amount of sailors participating in the art display, and later I contacted and coordinated with the Palma USO to find me a place to show the show during our brief inport period. I practically did everything and the strange part about all that? 

I don't and cannot remember a thing about the actual show or anything!!

However, it was a big success, and the following year I departed the Forrestal, heading from the East Coast of the USA, to the West Coast where I joined the ship's company of the USS Constellation. In the next century, I was surprised to discover by chance while reading an article of the Forrestal's last year in active service, of their final art show to be held! I had NO idea the ship was still continuing the art show after all these years!

From then on the Constellation and other ships, I had no time at all, and stopped sketching. I never had any formal training in art, same as I have NO training or instruction in photography, but I liked seeing things and scenes then, and sketched them when I could. Heck, I remember drawing jets, tanks, and aircraft carriers while in grammar school in cold foggy San Francisco as a very young teen! 

Well, today I got a new and early birthday gift to myself: A Huion drawing tablet with a wireless battery-less pen, and with a working area measuring 10x6.25"!! 

With so many decades using Wacom and now this tablet, it was an easy conversion, but as I knew: Though the features of Wacom cannot be beat, this newest tablet is making me very happy and I haven't even had it a whole 24 hours! Granted it's not as flexible as my older three usable tablets, but I love the broad landscape this tablet has, and that is what I really needed and deserved! Granted, now I do not edit images as I once did decades ago, but I love using a pen and NOT a mouse!

I've already done two sketches, one just a quick sketch of a plane to include in my Amazon review of the tablet. I just finished another of a portrait of someone who is very near and dear to my heart, and I plan to try another sketch tomorrow once I have any ideas of WHAT to draw. 

Who knows? Perhaps this will be my incentive to QUiT cameras! I had done a pen and ink drawing before I joined the Navy, and that scene was that of the backside of Ghirardelli Square and the Golden Gate Bridge, as seen from the long and steep Hyde Street! I found that original sketch partially folded and rolled in San Francisco in a very dusty spot, and now have it (meThinks) in the Falls!

So farewell, my trusty Wacom tablets. I salute you, and am very grateful for your service. I am hoping this new Huion H1060P tablet will keep me happy and occupied in sketching as I expect it to serve me just as well in photography, during my remaining years on this Earth!

Sketched Dec of 1972 while the Forrestal was inport in Athens, Greece 

UPDATE: Sunday 9 December: After 24 hours of switching from my laptop's touchpad and the new Huion tablet, I've given up!! Granted, it is a huge working area for a pen as compared to my old Wacom which is soooo tiny, but in not even being able to do some quite basic and simple functions that is easy with my Wacom pen since day one, but nearly impossible with this newest tablet, I've decided to send it back! As I type this, my older Wacom (CTL-460) of over a decade is connected as usual!!

I DO have my eye on a Wacom Intuos though.....

UPDATE: I have already ordered and received the Wacom Intuos Medium Size Pen Tablet (PTH660). I tried it for two days before I contacted the company it was shipped from, regarding its return. My older wacom tablet works better and simply, and has more functions built-in, unlike both newer bigger tablets received and returned. It also works better as a "mouse" all day, doing many things taken for granted with a mouse, without the need to be "programmed"  :(