Bob Crum

To all who sent me an email encouraging me to continue writing Focus on Photography, thank you. They all touched my heart in ways heretofore unimaginable. For example, this email: "I've had the pleasure of meeting & chatting with you twice; once while you were shooting trains at the Railroad Festival last year, and again earlier this year while you were working at Nova Storage. On both occasions you were thankful for my interest in your writings.

Your column is one of the reasons I seek out the Gazette every Friday. Sometimes the articles are a little too technical for me, but you always find a way to blend your local charm into your rants (phonetographers)and colorful descriptions of local, and not so local (poppy fields) places to shoot photos.

Although I'm sorry to learn of your health problems, I pray that you can find the strength to keep contributing to the Gazette. Please continue to teach and educate us on how to shoot photos that enhance our collective memories of beautiful and/or unusual So. Cal. scenes.......and keep trying to explain to us novices the mysteries of shutter speed, f-stops and all the other details of photography that only your experience and words can explain to those of us who don't wanna depend on "auto focus"!!!

You provide Fillmore with an invaluable wealth of information and experience.......and I would hate to lose that! Yours truly. Greg B."

Another: "I was so distressed by your medical issues I felt I needed to add my voice to your request for a vote to continue with more articles. The photography not being my main interest in your writings, but your "eye" for beauty in all that you see & the pains you take to capture it all in a photograph on paper is truly inspiring to this artist's eye. So for that reason, I want your articles to continue....,.as one artist to another...! I have truly enjoyed each and every one tho I have no idea what all the photo lingo is about. I just enjoy viewing your results. Judy D."

I had no idea that I helped so many to varying degrees but good to hear that I brought some photography newbies up to speed and creating better photos. Others (phonetographers) mostly enjoyed my escapades and shenanigans as I traveled the countryside photographing everything from naked mermaids to majestic arches in Utah. Collectively, I am also pleased to see that all those readers garnered something out of my tech talks and musings. And to see that I also appealed to non-photographers (artists), well, it doesn't get any better than that!

I had hoped that at least half of my 2,692,585 readers would have responded with the two words "keep writing" in the subject box. I'm sad to say that it fell 37 emails short. So, after 811,000 - give or take a couple hundred - words, it's time to put Focus on Photography in the closet and turn off the lights.

My only disappointment was that no one nominated my magnificent, stupendous incomparable Focus on Photography column for a Pulitzer Prize. Hmmm.

Farewell! I love you all, including, ahem, phonetographers!