The first title for this blog was “Has social media changed my photography?” But I quickly realized that of course it has. Soon after I returned to serious photography during the pandemic, a friend suggested that my photos were good enough to share using Instagram. I enjoyed sharing, but it didn’t take long before I started chasing likes.

This blog will start by looking at some photographs I made in late 2020 and early 2021 before moving to my present work—both my social media-influenced work and my effort to break free of that.

I made the first of these photos on my way to work using my smart phone and a little bit of editing. I made the second one wandering around a city park.

When I made these, I wasn’t thinking about creating a portfolio or who would see them. I was just out with a camera looking for light and texture. Around that same time, I did make a photo that I do consider one of my best. When my family and I watched for the twilight Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in December 2020, I noticed the way blue hour gradually enveloped the sky. I went back the next evening to photograph it. Even though some have questioned the amount of negative space, this photograph shows a gradual transition from the fading sunset to a deep blue when printed large and well. It is one of my favorites.

Fast forwarding from December 2020 and January 2021 to February 2023, I’ve made a lot more photos like this one:

Don’t get me wrong. I like this photo. But, being honest with you and myself, I made this photo and color graded it with “likes” in mind. It represents Kentucky’s Natural Bridge in only one exaggerated condition. That sunset with a clear sky and moon is not what most people will get to see when they visit this part of the Commonwealth. Rather, the following view in early spring is more typical. It’s from a location that requires a three-mile hike ending on an unofficial trail.

This photo won’t win many awards, but it is much more typical of the Red River Gorge than the bolder one above.

Where do I go from here? I don’t think I will stop making dramatic photos. But I won’t spend as much time seeking them out. Instead, I’m going to go back to what I did when I picked up this hobby as a break from 2020’s stressful, global pandemic-forced isolation: I’ll take my camera out and photograph what catches my eye. Sometimes, it will be a scene like the following from New Year’s Day, 2023:

This moody shot was not well received. But each time I see this photograph, I remember the feeling of being awake before the sun on New Year’s Day and imagining the future through a shroud of fog. Being in those moments is what photography means to me.

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