This resonates so well with my own Instagram experience. Like you said, I must tip my hat and say the commitment to posting frequently helped me increase my skills.
My biggest criticism is how shallow of an experience it is. All of my work gets viewed for a few hours or maybe half a day and then vanishes into the ether. I get a few "nice," "wow," or fire emoji comments, but rarely ever any meaningful engagement. I once went through a low point and didn't post a single thing for 3 months. All that time before 1 person reached out to ask if I was good.
All this is to say I'm having a MUCH better experience with Substack and have been shifting towards posting more photos to Notes.
Erik, I agree - I would not rely on the IG audience for constructive critique or meaningful engagement! The one exception is that I have made extra effort to engage with local photographers (mostly Victorian) and I would say the community is reasonably strong (as online communities go). I've even met some in person!
It will be really interesting to see how Substack evolves. I am really missing those flame emojis ;) (now I'm resorting to old school emojis LOL)
About 10 years ago I did a photo-a-day project for a year. I managed to not miss a day and I shared each image on Tumblr at the time. Looking back I credit that project as my most meaningful source of progression. The commitment to staying consistent is really powerful.
An enjoyable read James. I agree that Instagram can be a bit of a double edged sword. I go through phases of posting and feel under pressure to post if I haven't done so for a while. This is not a good thing as I tend to post for the sake of it and then don't feel I am sharing my best work. However I find Instagram is good for publicity so I will keep going with it and try to ignore the voice in my head telling me to post all the time! 🙂
Gill, you're in a very different position to me. I see two approaches for photography professionals - go the online route with digital products and post daily or more on IG and others. Or much ess frequent posting of high quality work to maintain a presence with the occassional person touch / behind the scenes, often around a specific event (workshop, exhibition, book). For me - I'm just trying to get better.
This resonates so well with my own Instagram experience. Like you said, I must tip my hat and say the commitment to posting frequently helped me increase my skills.
My biggest criticism is how shallow of an experience it is. All of my work gets viewed for a few hours or maybe half a day and then vanishes into the ether. I get a few "nice," "wow," or fire emoji comments, but rarely ever any meaningful engagement. I once went through a low point and didn't post a single thing for 3 months. All that time before 1 person reached out to ask if I was good.
All this is to say I'm having a MUCH better experience with Substack and have been shifting towards posting more photos to Notes.
Erik, I agree - I would not rely on the IG audience for constructive critique or meaningful engagement! The one exception is that I have made extra effort to engage with local photographers (mostly Victorian) and I would say the community is reasonably strong (as online communities go). I've even met some in person!
It will be really interesting to see how Substack evolves. I am really missing those flame emojis ;) (now I'm resorting to old school emojis LOL)
Hahaha! You have to use the app on the phone to access the emojis!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Oh, thank goodness. I was so over having to use, you know, words. And punctuation. In other words, 🤯🙏😂😢😃
About 10 years ago I did a photo-a-day project for a year. I managed to not miss a day and I shared each image on Tumblr at the time. Looking back I credit that project as my most meaningful source of progression. The commitment to staying consistent is really powerful.
Thanks Chris - that's a great story. And well done on 365 photos in a year!
Your Mount Buffalo shot is stunning! Thank you for the reminder that having an audience is a privilege.
Thank you so much Rachel. I had an amazing trip to Mt Buffalo - sure to be a future post with more images.
An enjoyable read James. I agree that Instagram can be a bit of a double edged sword. I go through phases of posting and feel under pressure to post if I haven't done so for a while. This is not a good thing as I tend to post for the sake of it and then don't feel I am sharing my best work. However I find Instagram is good for publicity so I will keep going with it and try to ignore the voice in my head telling me to post all the time! 🙂
Gill, you're in a very different position to me. I see two approaches for photography professionals - go the online route with digital products and post daily or more on IG and others. Or much ess frequent posting of high quality work to maintain a presence with the occassional person touch / behind the scenes, often around a specific event (workshop, exhibition, book). For me - I'm just trying to get better.