This past week and a half has been a blur. I am finally settled into my new apartment in Baltimore and just beginning to be able to relax. Between shipping our dogs and all of our belongings, traveling up the east coast from Miami and opening up our new apartment, I have had just about zero time to think.

But now it’s done. We are in, our stuff is here, our power is on and most importantly, the Internet works! Two days ago I picked up an iPhone, which I now think may be the coolest thing I own. It’s a great companion for someone new to a city. Yesterday I found myself stuck out on the front porch, waiting for the Baltimore Gas & Electric guy to arrive somewhere between the hours of 8 and 4. Around noon, I used the phone to locate the closest pizza place with Google maps and 45 minutes later a pizza arrived. Very cool.

While I was sitting on the porch I had some time to play around with the camera, which I think is actually quite good for what it is. I know this is all old news as the iPhone has been out for nearly a year now, but it’s all new to me!

The little camera in that phone is going to make a great notebook/sketch tool.

So this post is really about photography. While I was sitting out on the porch I started thinking about what I wanted to start working on. There is so much going on in this city, and I am living right in the middle of it. Do I just start shooting whatever I see? Or, should I pick a theme and try and stick with it? I’m going to be living here for at least the next two years, so I should probably make a go of documenting the area in which I live. The location of my apartment is just north of the Mt. Vernon area in Baltimore. It’s close enough that I can walk down to get coffee and food and there are good street photography opportunities all over the place. It’s a pretty vibrant neighborhood. So that is one option. I could just shoot the city.

There are also all sorts of social issues going on here that I could focus on, but those require more research. I’m sure it will all come with time, but I am so eager to get out there and take some pictures. So eager in fact that I am planning to walk around this afternoon with my iPhone and get started on my sketchbook.

I will probably make a new project in Aperture called “iPhone Sketchbook” or something like that, and maybe I will sync those pictures with a flickr photoset, or .Mac web gallery. It could be a nice way to keep tabs on things.

Having the iPhone in my pocket means I always have a camera ready to go. I have tried in the past to be one of those photographers who carries their camera with them everywhere they go, but it just never worked out. A SLR is just too big and bulky to cary around all the time. What’s more is that the iPhone seems to be pretty discrete. People can’t really tell when you are using the camera. It just looks like you are using the phone for something else. So it is pretty stealthy.

Yes, it seems to blow out highlights and the files is really small, but if you use it with some caution it can certainly take a decent picture. Again, a great sketchbook tool.

Eventually I am going to want to start using something with better quality. Maybe my Canon, or maybe something else. I’m really not sure what at the moment, and I am trying not to think about it. But for now, it will be all iPhone pics all day long. Maybe I can get one of those small photo printers and hang the iPhone pics out in my hallway.

Ah, it’s great being back in the U.S. I have access to all this stuff again. I’m re-energized creatively speaking. I’ve got the next two years to photograph a city I’ve never lived in. This is going to be fun!

The photo above is my new view from our new studio/apartment in Baltimore's arts district. Not quite the same view I had before, but at least I still have a view!