Now I know that there are other places online where one can post pictures. But what can I say? I'm a rebel. A rebel that doesn't like advertisements, among other things.

I recognize the benefit of a platform like ~instant-gramm~, but I'm hesitant to use it to any great extent due to its policies and because I feel like it's getting scraped by AI bots, and, I dunno maybe I'm old fashioned, but I don't want to make it easy for people to steal my things and use them without permission.

Thus the watermarks. Thus my exodus from the vast majority of social media. (You should try it, it's been great!)

And hell, maybe I'm going about it wrong anyway. I'm going to fuck things up along the way, that's just life. But I'm going to try to balance the mistakes with progress, and focus on pushing myself forward more than my mistakes hold me back.

So, I'll use Bluesky and IG to post a trail of breadcrumbs that lead here where the stuff of real substance is hosted.

There is a part of me that thinks, what's the point? I mean, why do I bother to take pictures at all, especially if I'm not sharing them? I'm not doing this professionally. Not doing it for money. Not for clout or fame, or to make people like me. Most of the time, I don't think I have much interesting to share. A lot of it seems a little blasé to me because this is my life. I know the things I've done. It's not very exciting to me.

But then I think about how I feel when I look at other people's pictures. How I wonder at them, examine every detail, try to read into the story of it all. Indulge for a moment in someone else's view of the world. And I know that I can make people feel the same way when I share my slice of life. To have someone be moved by something that I've shared. That moves me, excites me; That makes me feel alive.

Beyond that, selfishly, I just really enjoy the process. I find value in the places it takes me, and the things I can look back on. I like roaming around and getting into all kinds of odd positions looking for just the right composition. I like looking through my collection after a session or an outing and seeing what pictures really capture the moment or tell the best story.

Photography is one of my life-long loves. And I want to start sharing that with people.