I started this photography journey 5 years ago! Hard to believe how fast time passes by! When the covid pandemic began I decided to take a photo a day and post on Instagram. I was trying to figure out how to use Instagram without posting the same thing as my personal Facebook. What I discovered is a whole new exciting world of photography and photographers who post a photo a day! I thought to myself how perfect during the pandemic lockdowns!
I started by taking photos of birds in my backyard! I expanded to taking my camera with me during my day and doing landscape photography. I’ve since upgraded my equipment and after 5 years have found a few great things about it all.
First, I love the chase! When I see a weather event happening I’m after it! I’m not a serious contender in the weather chasing business but in my little world it’s pretty fun! I love to find what nature creates for us and find a photo angle that expresses the amazingness about it. For instance take a look back to my previous post about the Lake Wissota Island in the fall and the story is pretty classic me.
Secondly, the thing I’ve discovered over the years is that what I was doing for myself actually is appreciated by many others. Instagram changes their algorithms every so often and it's hard to keep up with what the secret is to gaining viewers (I’m social media techy challenged it seems!). But I keep plugging along and enjoy when people find joy, too.
What posting a day on Instagram has taught me has become apparent over the years. When the day is hard and I’m not finding anything, I can always find something! When the day is uninspiring and I need to push to find something I always do. And I’ve learned so much from other photographers who post a photo a day. Relating that to life shows us that we can do it, one step at a time! The trick to it is to just go out, take the first step and get started.
Then it all comes together! When the day is good, great and perfect, getting the photo is satisfying and freeing. What a superb day that is! And it usually sprouts out of my frustration at needing to find something. There it is!! Amazing things happen in nature all day when you stop to notice!
Taking the small steps everyday always leads to producing something even if it is small. It may not be much but it’s something. Taking the small steps everyday is doing the small things that matter. The small things add up to the big things. Pretty soon you realize you’ve got some accomplishments! For me it was the portfolio of photographs that all comprised my book.
What are you waiting for? What have you done today to make you feel proud?
