Getting back to business
The first steps in getting back to business with photography are technical for me, since I have an existing stock of photographs. Questions plague my mind, though… How much time do I want to spend on the technical aspects vs the artistic aspects? What hardware and software will I use in my toolkit? What type of presence do I want to have for social media? Do I want to pay for a domain/website or go the free route? What gear do I want/need to purchase to expand my horizons (literally)?
Technical vs Artistic
This was a larger question for me to tackle than it might seem, as my previous career was technically oriented. How much time do I want to spend working on a website, customizing its look and feel? Wouldn’t I rather spend more time enhancing and cleaning up some older photos instead, refining my “eye” and my photographic/artistic styles? Hadn’t I already made that decision when I left the IT world? The answer to the last question was yes, and the most obvious to me. I want to focus on the artistic - but my reach would be seriously limited without the technical. There can be a balance, a harmony of the two in my photography - it’s just going to require some work!
My Toolkit
This has been my initial focus, and a greater challenge that I had anticipated. My existing stock of photographs is extensive and, quite frankly, disorganized. In the past, In the past, before automatic GPS tagging and facial recognition, I spent a great deal of time labeling photos with GPS coordinates and keywords. Now I find that helpful, but my general organization and workflow process needs reconsideration. The hardware, the software… I find myself struggling at times to find the right mix of function and affordability, but also recognizing that I am in need of serious upgrades to all of it - and I’ll go into greater depth on that topic in future posts.
Social Media and Website
Ah, yet another challenge that I’ve not yet come up with a good answer. A Facebook page and Instragram have been the initial outreaches to a limited audience. Before I go “too public” with my work, I know I still have some polishing to do. I also want to explore aspects through which I may be able to monetize my site, like some merchandizing and direct sales of prints. YouTube and X (formerly known as Twitter) are platforms I know I need to utilitze but TikTok is one I’d rather avoid. The website was the first choice I had to make and I went with a paid option, to allow myself flexibility in decision-making regarding monetization.
Gear
Well, this goes back to my toolkit. My gear is, ultimately, what I need to produce content for consumption. Like I stated earlier, there’s greater depth to this topic than a few sentences here - so I’ll break this down in future blog posts (which may become vlogs on YouTube).
So it’s been a busy month, between the holidays and working my way through some of these topics. I’m just beginning to reorganize the existing stock of tens of thousands of photographs so that I can utilize new, improved tools for a better workflow.
Wish me luck and I’ll see you again, around the bend!