A Blurry 2Summers Mystery Is Revealed

2Summers | 18 May 2011

As most of you know, there is a recurring character in my blog named Joe. Joe (not his real name) is my boyfriend and blogging partner, and for the last 10 months he has chosen to remain anonymous.

Joe is a photographer and has taught me most of what I know about taking pictures. (The rest I learned from my dad, who is also a photographer.) Joe’s pictures appear frequently in my blog and he also does all of my PhotoShopping. The PhotoShopping is no small task, as I publish a lot of pictures and my raw images frequently need lots of help.

Joe also provides me with blog post ideas, shuttles me around town (and around Africa) to pursue them, and proofreads my posts before they’re published. 2Summers wouldn’t exist without Joe.

Until now, 2Summers readers have known Joe only as a blurred-out face. He was even nicknamed “The Blur” by a blog-reading friend of mine.

I’m not sure why, but this morning Joe announced that he is ready to go public. Maybe because he’s tired of PhotoShopping his face out of my pictures.

So, here’s Joe.

Are you ready?

Even though Joe is not Joe’s real name, we’ve decided to continue calling him that for the sake of consistency. But if you’d like to learn about the real Joe and his photography, please check out his website. (I know this is a shameless plug but Joe deserves it.)

Two housekeeping notes:

I finally joined the modern world and created a 2Summers Facebook page. Please take a look and become a 2Summers fan. You can do this by going to the Facebook page and clicking the “Like” button at the top. This will enable you to receive 2Summers updates in your Facebook newsfeed. You will probably become really sick of me. But please do it anyway and ignore my updates if you must. I like to be liked.
I’ve also created a new domain for my blog – www.2summers.net. (2summers.com is not available, even though there is nothing on that page except a GoDaddy.com advertisement. Boo.) I had no specific reason for doing this, other than the fact that it only cost $17 and I’m tired of writing out “2summers.net” every time someone asks me for my blog. I think it’s pretty cool though!

Comments

Mia - 18 May 2011 at 16:48

Hooray! Thanks for joining us Joe, and thanks Heather for sharing his website link. Truly remarkable photos.

Glad to see 2Summers is going from strength to strength. Mia likes this.

2summers - 18 May 2011 at 17:21

Thanks Mia. I’m so glad Joe agreed to let me share his site. I’ve been wanting to show it off for him for a while now.

lisa@notesfromafrica - 18 May 2011 at 19:43

Nice to finally “meet” you Joe! Although I do understand your initially wanting to remain anonymous - once you’re out there, there’s no going back. Willie was just as hesitant about being mentioned on my blog, and I myself have yet to reveal the “full” me online. I love your photographs, and am really jealous that Heather gets to have you as her photo editor!

Heather, I love all the changes and advances you’re making with your blog and online presence. I think you’re a wonderful writer and wish you lots of success with your new projects.

2summers - 18 May 2011 at 19:57

Thanks so much, Lisa. Joe and I both appreciate your lovely compliments. Do you think you and Willie will ever “reveal” yourselves? I see that Willie revealed his last name in the copyright of his most recent pics (which are beautiful, by the way).

I originally intended to keep myself anonymous on the blog but gave up after about two weeks :)

lisa@notesfromafrica - 19 May 2011 at 08:25

I don’t know if I will fully reveal myself. I still like a certain degree of anonymity. But then most of the people we know (including some of Willie’s work colleagues) know about and have visited my blogs. So I’m careful what I write about - nothing too personal.

The copyright thing was an error - which not even Willie picked up when he proofread the post. Well spotted!

2summers - 19 May 2011 at 08:50

Oops. Sorry to have outed you further :)

lisa@notesfromafrica - 19 May 2011 at 12:37

Don’t worry about it. That’s the problem with trying to use pseudonyms, at some stage you’ll slip up. I’d obviously not make a very good spy! :-)

amblerangel - 19 May 2011 at 00:17

Good to see you making the moves which mark you as a serious writer and photographer! Congratulations! Onward ho Heather! I finally “came out” a few weeks ago but will keep the Offspring under wraps.

2summers - 19 May 2011 at 08:51

I noticed a photo of you recently!

clouded marble - 19 May 2011 at 02:54

Howdy, Joe! Nice to finally see you in focus ;) Love your amazing photographs, by the way. They sure give me something to aspire to.

This is a nice surprise (or four), Heather! I like the new logo - it actually depicts two suns for 2summers. Very clever! I still love your blog with all the interesting stories you tell and your perspective of things in South Africa/Africa. Glad you found a “home” to rest your blog-feet, so to speak - good thing you could grab the .net if not the .com :)

{whisper} Psst . . . Heather - now you just need to convince Joe to comment on your blog ;)

2summers - 19 May 2011 at 08:52

Thanks Clouded Marbles! And yes, I’m working on it :)

Kathryn McCullough - 19 May 2011 at 04:22

Horray for “Joe”–whose real name I’m proud to say I know! How great to finally see your sunny face! Go Joe! Go 2Summers.net! Kathy

joshimukard - 19 May 2011 at 06:44

Congrats for moving to your own domain. I also have a Wordpress blog and planning to get my own domain. When we move to own domain, will we still get to use wordpress for posting new posts and editing and such?

2summers - 19 May 2011 at 08:39

Hi Joshi,

Yes, nothing changed when I got the new domain. People who go to my old domain are automatically redirected.It only took 10 minutes to set up! Good luck with your blog – I’m going to check it out.

2summers - 19 May 2011 at 08:41

Your blog looks fascinating and I’m totally embarrassed that I haven’t read it before now :)

joshimukard - 19 May 2011 at 08:55

Thanks for reading. For me, the first thing in the morning is to check out your blog for new posts. I like your style of writing which is simple and has a charm of its own. I’m also trying to adopt your style - Perhaps I’m already doing it, I guess. The next time you visit my blog leave a comment on any of the posts you like - I will be happy.

Will ‘Like’ your Facebook page, soon. Thanks.

on a side note, is it possible to bring in Google Adsense if I move to my own domain?

2summers - 19 May 2011 at 09:07

Hi Joshi, I’m not sure about Google Adsense. I’ve wondered the same thing myself, actually, Perhaps someone will read this and explain to both of us.

Thanks so much for your kind words. From what I’ve seen in a few short minutes, you seem to have a wonderful writing style of your own!

Tilly Bud - 19 May 2011 at 09:31

Go Joe! It’s nice to put a face to the blur.

@injoburg - 19 May 2011 at 09:33

That should save Joe lots of photoshop time making himself invisible!

2summers - 19 May 2011 at 09:35

Indeed. Although I think he actually enjoyed it.

Fidel - 20 May 2011 at 08:23

I like the logo! Started shopping for a theme yet?

I enjoy John’s website. Added it to my blogroll. Great imagery always, John. I like learning from skilled photographers.

2summers - 20 May 2011 at 08:35

Wow, thanks so much for adding him to your blogroll. He’ll be really excited about that. I need to convince him to come on here and comment himself :)

Jon Hrusa - 20 May 2011 at 10:13

Hi Fidel, many thanks by paying me the compliment of adding me to your blogroll. BTW, your pics from all over the world are truly inspirational.

Cheers

Jon

tirralirramango - 21 May 2011 at 02:25

It’s great to have that “blur” mystery cleared up…also to see you on facebook! Yay!

2summers - 21 May 2011 at 07:17

Thanks Emily! :)

Greg - 23 May 2011 at 18:44

Getting caught up - You’ve been busy! I just visited your facebook page and hit the “like” button - it’ll help me keep up from now on. I was visiting Joe’s page as well - very impressive.

2summers - 23 May 2011 at 19:50

Thanks a lot Greg – for catching up, joining me on FB, and checking out Joe’s site. All much appreciated, especially as I’m sure you’ve got a lot of Freshly Pressed reading and corresponding to do today :)

jackie hulme - 23 May 2011 at 18:51

hi guys - jackie here from joburg photowalkers. just checked out joe’s website - I loooove his work … awesome jacks

2summers - 23 May 2011 at 19:52

Thanks so much, Jackie. I’m very lucky to be learning from the best!

I'll be offline from 15-19 May. Post on that will follow. I'll approve your comment when I'm back.