social media – My Blog

I feel pressured when I take photos; I’m often thinking in terms of my blog (which is why I got my camera), and so when I don’t take photos for my blog, when I don’t like the time and the pressure, I forget about documenting my and my family’s life.

I am not at ease with photography. I hate feeling watched and rushed. I don’t understand it or what I’m missing easily. It just doesn’t click for me very well. But I’ve made HUGE progress. I need to keep it up. I’m need to find balance. I don’t have to have tons of photos for my blog, but I do need to take photos of my life to preserve memories. And if I want good photos, then I need practice.

I’m a perfectionist. I think that quality is important. This clashes with the fact that I think that not wasting time is important and that I tend to want to see instant results; well, I cannot deliver results without practice. I tend to give up. I tend to waste time in other ways though; I need to learn balance. If I’m annoying impatient people (ahem), I need to learn to speed up my process and to take a break (I didn’t need to get San Diego Zoo photos). I need to think in terms of practice as well as time management. I need to think in terms of life as well as blog (by the way, some people have talked of using their blog to preserve memories, to possibly print later; I think that is a lovely idea).

I got on Instagram to grow my blog. After looking at the labor of putting DSLR photos on Instagram, I opted to use my iPhone which I usually use only for my pets, library re-borrowing stacks, and photos for ideas or for notes. I felt pressured on Instagram and was unhappy with my photos even after spending too much effort on them. I found a tutorial that explained editing. . . what a crazy lot of time for “snaps” to go on Instagram. And then I spent so much time scrolling through my feed and not receiving much in return. A low inspiration to time ratio. I got off Instagram. I think that if I ever do use it for my blog, I will try to use photos that I’ve already taken even if it is tedious. That seems a better use of my time.

I don’t want to spend time on iPhone photos that aren’t worth much. I want to focus on quality photos, BUT I do think I need to be willing to sacrifice quality for memories when need be instead of the other way around. These however, wouldn’t be for my blog, when I take iPhone photos for my blog, I’m being lazy, when I use them for family and friends, I’m being practical; there will be some moments I miss or people I annoy if don’t allow for this.

I need to work on my composition. I love Ginny Sheller’s style of photography; I want to catch moments and style crafts like that. I focus so much on pristine photos, but I like this blog; the lady’s photos aren’t professional but the colors, lighting, subjects, and composition are interesting and in photojournalism style.

I just spilled all my internal processing out; I’m not a succinct or lucid person, so I don’t know if any of this made sense. I’m just trying to work out what works for me.

I deleted my Instagram, again, this time really trying it (not all out like a professional but more than just having an account). I feel like that I need to enjoy whatever online or digital tool I use for its own sake. Social media that I don’t find personally helpful and interesting are not worth merely using as a tool for blog promotion, at least right now. Any marketing that eventually came out of it isn’t worth the effort (I really dislike of selling and advertising).

The only big social media that I use are Pinterest and Blogger.

I love blogging. I love finding and reading blogs. I am inspired to knit more. I discover new (to me) books and movies to try. I find more natural beauty options I love the sewing and fashion inspiration. I just really feel that my little curated collection of blogs is so often truly, practically inspirational. Oh, sure I’ve wasted time on blogs that I don’t benefit from, but overall, I think the blog world is worth my time. I think blogging myself is enjoyable, especially since I can schedule, and so I am planning to make more of an effort to grow it into possibly a bit of job.

Pinterest is another love of mine. I did get my account in the extremely early stages during which you had to be invited, but I didn’t understand or use it much until it really sprang into life. Then I went crazy. I think that Pinterest is a great search engine and curating site even with the changes I dislike. The blog promotion is a nice side benefit.

Ravelry and Goodreads both have social media capabilities which I may at some point use (or use again), but right now I enjoy them for their main capabilities.