With 50 posts under my belt, I feel like I’ve finally hit a brick wall. My photographic inspiration has began to wane, though I hope it will be reinvigorated soon by the buds and blossoms of spring. I’ve been able to keep up with my posting schedule, and I definitely feel like I’ve improved as both a photographer, and as a person. But, what’s next? Just posting MWF isn’t going to get me anywhere further than I’ve already come. I’ve got to find someway to expand both my audience, and my appeal.
Now that I finally have a means to generate some income via the blog, I need to reconsider what my primary goals are. I need to decide whether I want to try and generate serious revenue through the blog, or if this is only a stepping stone for my next big leap. I need to decide whether or not I want to go back to school, if I want to start looking for a “real” job.
Every day we make a multitude of decisions. Most are inconsequential, what to eat for breakfast, what color shirt to wear. Right now I’m living mostly day to day, or maybe week to week. I have a general plan for what’s immediately next, but I’ve yet to nail down my 5 year plan. I’ve never been more in control of my life. It’s liberating, but at the same time overwhelming. Each morning I get up and decide what I will do for the day. Sure, some things naturally fall into place, either through routine or circumstance, but for the most part, I’m limited only by time, location, money, and my own imagination.
Time is my most valuable resource, and the most immutable one. There are only 24 hours in a day, nothing I can do to change that. Each second I spend doing something, is a second I can’t spend doing something else. The existentialist in me wants to say, who cares? We spend our time as we spend it, and if the end result is the same, death, then why is how we spend our time relevant? But there is another part of me that wants to optimize my experience here on Earth. Something inside me yearns for more.
Location is one thing I can change, and one I plan to. Leanna and I are moving to Lexington this fall, and though 30 minutes may not seem like much of a move, I’m excited about the potential possibilities. I’ve spent 22 of my nearly 26 years in Lawrenceburg, and I think I have finally outgrown it. There are still things I enjoy about living in a small, sleepy part of rural Kentucky, but I’m ready for new experiences. I realize Lexington’s not a huge change, and I don’t know how long we will be there, but it’s still a step in what I believe to be the right direction.
Money. What can be said about money, that hasn’t already been said? As a culture we hunger for money, always striving for more. Keeping up with the Joneses, and all that. I think an important part of my last 5 months has been the realization that we only need enough, and we, as individuals, can choose how much enough is. Could Leanna and I use more money? Sure, more would be great. But there comes a time when you have to weigh how much more is really worth. I’ve always found the phrase, “Money can’t buy happiness.” a bit odd, a bit out of place in our culture. And I still disagree with that statement, at least at face value. If a million dollars showed up on my doorstep tomorrow, I’m sure I could put it to good use. However, if I had to sacrifice 60 hours a week for the next twenty years to get it, I would have no trouble walking away.
And that leaves imagination. Within the above bounds, I’m only limited by what I can come up with. Now I have to decide. That’s always been the hardest part for me, as long as I can remember. I’m actively pursuing options, experimenting, researching. I still haven’t found that one thing, that Aha! moment. How will it come about? Will it even come at all? All I know to do is to keep trying, keep searching. I’ll let you guys know as soon as I found out.
Ryan
I think you need to visit some places you haven’t been before to see what begs to be photographed. Get away from Lexington and Woods Out Back. It’s not that they’re bad; it’s that the world is a large and incredibly detailed place. I’ll be happy to go scouting Louisville, Cincy, Nashville, Bowling Green, or the parks with you, so just ask.
On the money-making side, there are a couple of possibilities. One is to assemble your best work into a portfolio and gallery shop. Getting somewhere to show your work would be a good step. I’m not sure if there’s a right or wrong way to go about that, but stumbling into it and making some mistakes is probably not going to hurt anything. If you go on Lexington’s next Gallery Hop, bring some work with you and ask how to go about showing it any place that is showing photography.
The Woodland Art Fair is this summer, and as best I know, you have to submit a portfolio and APPLY to be able to set up a booth there. I think you should do it, even if you don’t make it. What if you do?
Also, the World Equestrian Games are coming up, and you may be able to cash in by taking a series of absolutely terrible, maudlin, commercial pictures of horses, barns, and fields of bluegrass at dawn and mixing it in with some of your more interesting work. The former will sell to tourists, the latter will sell to people with more discerning tastes.
I see that you’ve got a “Buy Prints” link up, which is good, as I know somebody I showed you blog to that wants some of them, and I will have several in my new apartment when I move. At this point, increasing traffic to your blog will help, which means a species of that evil demon, MARKETING. From what I’ve gathered, professional bloggers trying to get more attention usually get it by giving more attention to other bloggers. Include your blog’s URL in your signature tagline and become a regular on as many other photo blogs as you can find. I feel like the right way to go about it is to only comment/link-up if you have something useful and substantive to ask or say. Added bonus, if you show up enough and are helpful and interested, you can make some blog friends with problems similar to your own and see what they’re doing about them. You may already be doing this, and if so, props.
Last, in whatever you’re doing, don’t be afraid to ask for the advice of big name people that you admire. At worst, you get a politely worded form letter. At best, you get concise advice from people who have already made it doing exactly what you want to do.
Shots 4 and 6 are my favorite from this set; 4 because of the clean lines and busy structural layering, and 6 because the clean horizon line would make it fun to draw. Also, if you’re going to photograph UK’s campus a lot, you might quietly ask their advertising department if they’d like to work with you. Cash and some layout and graphic design experience might be byproducts. Also, if they actually hired you fulltime, your MFA becomes a lot cheaper.
Yeah, put that sidebar back up and link to some of the photoblogs you frequent. Then maybe they will link to yours in turn, driving more traffic to your blog. Also, your blog lacks a title.
If you’re looking for a fun place to look around and get involved in, DPchallenge.com has always been fun for me (well… to find good desktop backgrounds for, anyways
). It’s a digital photography contest website that has weekly challenges. Just an idea. 
good luck.