I am going to try something new here. I’ve been ignoring my website for quite a while now. It is in desperate need of an update. I want to start doing regular updates about what’s going on. I am also doing this because, like many others, I am growing tired of social media. I want to step away from it and be more present.
For a few months, I had a goal of posting more regularly and consistently on Instagram, with a mix of image posts and reels. At first, it felt nice and easy, especially since you can schedule posts. It didn’t take long for me to stop feeling good about it. I felt stressed about hitting my posting deadlines, and I worried that if I didn’t make a new video, everything would fall apart. I also found myself focusing more on video than on photos, which is not what I wanted. I quickly became too engrossed in the numbers. I would feel great when something performed well, but awful when something I really enjoyed performed poorly. Since I was posting frequently, it became a constant up and down. I wasn’t doing it for the right reasons, and it was hindering my enjoyment of photography, so I want to make a change.
On my most recent shoot, I was at Pump House park in Richmond, and I felt more worried about the video and all the shots I could get, and all the explaining I needed to do that photography felt like it was pushed to the side. The whole reason I was there, to take photos at this cool location, took the backseat. I just wasn’t as focused on the images as I wanted to be.
I am not going to use Instagram for a while. I will still have the account, just not the app on my phone. I want to use my website more, so I am going to try to write and post more frequent updates here, just for me. I like to write, especially about photography. I always have a journal with me when I go out to shoot so I can write about the experience. I want to extend that practice to my website. My goal right now is to publish a new blog post every week, but we will see how that goes. At the very least, I would like to post something once a month. To make weekly posting more approachable, I am going to limit myself to one page of text. I am also allowing myself to include photos as a supplement.
I am excited to try this out. I think I will continue to make videos, but not for every shoot. I really did enjoy filming and editing them. It was a lot of fun at first. I want this space to be where I reflect on shoots, share what I’m learning, and document how my relationship with photography evolves.
