Show me a person who starts a blog or website and knows everything he or she wants to do. Found one? Well it is surely not me. I experimented with different types of posts, topics and formats. Some ideas did not work out and I actually removed a few posts. Some ideas I really like and others I am unsure about. So this post is probably just me rambling out a (hopefully) somewhat coherent plan for my photographic work and this blog.

Things that will continue

I really like the general idea of combining photographs with either small essays or some kind of (broadly speaking) social or philosophical commentary. This will definitely continue. I think about some more variation though. Usually I just use one image as an anchor but once I have more time to move around town I want to add planned out thematic galleries. Maybe photographs taken on a single day or certain subjects taken over time. I do enjoy showing some older works and documenting the changes I witnessed. Depending on the pandemic situation in Germany next autumn / winter I might have to rely on my archives more than I want to.

I really like my series “Single Shot“. I often choose a random image and see what my mind comes up with. It is a very spontaneous and fun project. The posts about social media addiction have concluded but from time to time I might want to add some new thoughts or ideas. The series “Corona Experience” will (unfortunately though) continue. It is not going to be a focus for my blog but whatever I see or experience photographically will be shared.

Ideas that did not work out

I started the project “Vintage Lens Jeopardy” with much enthusiasm but I honestly dread writing any more articles about old lenses. It is a chore. I have to take test shots, research the history of a lens or brand and write down the same stuff again and again. It feels devoid of creativity and boring. Therefore I will no longer publish these posts unless for a certain exception. More on that later.

Any kind of gear review bores me for the same reason. In my opinion most photography blogs or YouTube channels end up oriented toward gear and stuff. And I want to leave this materialism behind me. The series “my life in cameras” was purposefully made to describe the experience of using a camera, my life at that point in time instead of a mere technical review. It is also supposed to show the futility of buying the latest and greatest stuff. But I myself slipped into reviewing things (mostly old lenses) and most of my search engine views actually come from people wanting to read about things instead of thoughts and ideas. I will therefore also limit the amount of “gear” posts drastically. I might write about a lens, a camera or some accessories if and really only if there is a story to tell. Like the one where my sling bag saved me from serious injury during a very heavy and sudden hailstorm.

In the beginning I added the type of camera, lens and shooting info (aperture, shutter speed, ISO) to every image. This again goes too much into the “gear” category. The photograph is important for a story not the shutter speed. I condensed the image description to only contain the camera, lens and film simulation but even this is too much time spent on useless information which I could use for actually writing posts. Therefore the camera and lens used will go into the tags and I will omit the film simulation entirely. Maybe I’ll add a little paragraph at end called “photographic notes” which goes into some detail about how the picture was taken.

Speaking of film simulations. I really do like them but there are so many of them and my style feels garbled, jumbled and unrefined. I am in the process of developing maybe five styles for myself. A harsh and high contrast black and white style for street and urban scenes. A soft and balanced black and white one mostly for portraits, artworks, nature and such. A somewhat desaturated, low contrast, slightly pastel color look for street and urban scenes paired with a more high contrast cinematic one. The last style will be a mostly neutral profile for snapshots, family, vacation or any other kind general photography. It will probably just for personal use and not for publication. My latest project “A week in film recipes” will likely be continued as a way to develop my own styles and to showcase different looks. It is going to be the experimental part of my blog.

New thoughts

I have some new ideas I want to try out. The first one is my attempt at developing my own visual style(s) in terms of color, exposure, contrast and so on. It is a journey I want to take you along. Another one is to add a portfolio section to the blog. A page where I want to showcase some examples of my work without clutter, text, sidebars, comments and so on. I am also toying with the idea of making a fixed front page. An introduction to myself, a portfolio and the blog added in as part of the overall page.

Lately I am trying myself at street and people photography. This is something I want to add once I feel like my skills are presentable. Maybe I will also share a couple of failed attempts. I am also working on ideas for a photobook. Something about the paradoxical relationship between winter and color, the dreadfulness of long grey days interspersed with the artificial vividness that adorns our cities. These images will be shared maybe even as part another project.

What do you think?