Crawling Into The Spotlight

So, in a couple of days, I’m launching a website to sell some of my photos. I’ve been encouraged, prodded, and talked-up into doing this. And from the first suggestion, I was never against the idea, but it’s taken me nine months from when the idea was first suggested AND I took it seriously, until now, to actually almost launch. I’m going to this time, really…I’ve picked the platform site and all I have to do is start the process online.

So, what’s taken me so long? Maybe someone can tell me. (This is going to be a self-exploratory blog post).

My photography is something I never took seriously, in terms of calling it a hobby or trying to do anything with it. I’ve always been interested in cameras and taking photos since I was a kid, but film photography always seemed complicated. It wasn’t until I got my first digital camera, as a wedding present in 2001, when my interest sky-rocketed. The number one immediate advantage to digital cameras to me was the ability to instantly see how the shot turned out, as opposed to waiting until the roll of film was developed to see that in fact, the scene didn’t quite turn out as expected.  It took the pressure off of having one shot (pun intended) to get it right; I was now free to take multiple shots and later pick the best one. To this day, I probably take 3-8 shots of the same scene, and end up keeping one.

The second advantage, and one that I avoided for a while in what I call my “photography snobbery phase”, is that ability to edit and change photos via editing software. For the first year or so, I refused to even think about editing photos, as I felt that it ruined the integrity of taking photos, or something to that effect. (So, if you’re paying attention, I started taking multiple photos of the same shot to avoid the pressure of getting the perfect shot, only put pressure on myself to get the perfect shot so I could avoid editing.)

With my interest piqued, I made a little investment in myself. In 2003, I bought a better camera, and a few how-to digital photography books. At the time, my now ex-wife was studying for her master’s degree, so that left me with a lot of weekend time to go out to explore, and that routine still exists today. But that “investment in myself” is a phrase I’m using now because I don’t know what else to use…because again, this wasn’t that serious at that time. I enjoy being outside, on the road, on the trial, seeing new places and seeing new angles on old places, and using a camera to capture all of that is a natural fit for me.  So…over time, I’ve gone out many weekends and “practiced” and “learned by doing” without even realizing that was happening.

There is going to be a post someday about how I feel that the digitalization of society is the cause of its degradation; it’s one of the posts that I wrote and deleted a few months ago when I almost revived this blog before now. But, if the digitalization of photography is what propelled me to where I am today skill-wise, social media is the final push to actually make all of this public.  Selling photos is not something I ever dreamed of or thought about, until others started to suggest it based on me posting photos to Facebook…just in the simple act of sharing something I accomplished.

I never considered myself a creative or artistic person, even though I’ve played music and attempted to write music, even though I’ve written creatively as well as this blog, and even though I do photography. I still kind of brush off comments when I’m told that I am creative, because it’s not something I quickly identify myself with.

SO…photography is something I never took seriously, though I worked at it all in the name of fun and enjoyment, and I don’t readily equate myself with the word creative (though I know I am)…that’s why I think that’s what’s  taken me so long to actually launch a site to sell my photos.

Oh, and this: this summer, a good friend came up to visit, and we went to a local microbrewery. We overheard an older couple next to us ask the bartender why the walls were so empty, and the bartender explained that they were in-between artistic displays. He went on to explain that they let local artists show and sell their works on their walls. My friend turned to me and said, out loud, that I should do that with my photos. At this point, I had been dragging my feet on launching an impersonal website for several months, but to actually have something tangible? It made me feel…well…I didn’t have time to think…the conversation was happening so quickly that next thing you know, I was given a business card. Well, I’ve dragged my feet on that, too, but I haven’t given up on it and I’ve been in constant contact with the bar owners. 

 

This is still something I don’t identify myself with. I’m getting there…I suppose there is a lesson here about always being open to new idea because you never know when something may come along and bam! you’re propelled into some crazy stratosphere that you never thought possible. Except that this isn’t really the case here, as this has been slowly building over months and years.

All I know is...even though I’m still not used to the idea of me being a sold photographer…I’m moving forward…snail’s pace, maybe, but…moving…forward.