In my last post I wrote about why I think every photographer should have their own website. I wrote the post from my experience of developing a photography website over the last few years.
My website would not be considered to be very successful, although I do have a small number of new and returning visitors and I will write for one reader with the same enthusiasm as I would write if I had thousands of visitors every day.
For me, the success of my website is measured by what it has given back to me in terms of motivation, inspiration and a continuing passion for photography.
HOW HAS HAVING A WEBSITE HELPED MY PHOTOGRAPHY?
Having my own website means I have a platform in which to display my photographs in whatever form I choose, a place where I can share my thoughts and insights about my photography journey and a space in which to grow as a photographer.
Without this space where I can interact with others and with my own images, where I can clarify my goals and decide where to go next, where I can hold a mirror up to my own work, I doubt if I would still feel the motivation to go out regularly with my camera.
Knowing that I will post my images and write about my process in a blog post gives me an outlet for my photographs. I know that they will not just sit in a folder on a hard drive but will be curated and chosen to be shared for a particular purpose, which gives me a reason for taking them in the first place.
Maybe most important of all is that I get to post the images that I like.
It's not always easy to find a space to post ICM images. On my own website I can do that.
I used to post to Instagram, try to include the most appropriate hashtags, and feel disappointed that I didn’t get more likes. Then I realised that to get more likes I would need to post more regularly and put more effort into doing what is needed to do to get noticed.
I have started to post less often on Instagram and put more effort into posting on my website, where I am not looking for likes or to have my work noticed. I can be experimental knowing that I am often posting a work in progress which reflects my continuing development as a photographer.
On my website I am posting to share my journey, to give inspiration to anyone else who might be starting this wonderful hobby and to increase my own creativity and enjoyment of photography.
If you are frustrated with social media but want to show your images and would like somewhere to call your own, a website might be the answer.
It was for me.
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