What Makes a Photo Good?

Is this photo any good?

I’ve been taking and sharing photos online for about 15 years. I’ve written about photography on this blog for well over 10 years. I have created over 1000 tutorial videos on Youtube, talking about how to craft an image to make it look good.

But what actually makes an image good?

It’s a question I get fairly often. Someone will send me an email (or leave a comment on some social media site) asking me to take a look at their photo, give them feedback, and tell them if the photo is good. I don’t mind the requests, and frankly I am honored that someone would ask for my input, but I never feel like my response is what they expect. 

I assume they are hoping for some confirmation that their shot is in fact good, or for constructive feedback about some technical or artistic “thing” that would improve it. But that is not what I respond with.

Let me explain why.

Photography is an enjoyable pursuit for all of us (or at least I hope it is). It’s something we do to get creative, or to freeze moments in time, document life, or possibly even to make a living. I’m sure we all have our reasons for pursuing this craft. It’s an artistic pursuit overall, but of course there are some “rules” about how to take and edit a photo, to ensure that it is a good one.

Here are a few “rules” that I can think of off the top of my head (and yes there are plenty more):

• Composition is king - consider the Rule of Thirds, etc

• Lighting is (quite obviously) key as well

• Make sure the subject is obvious: avoid excessive clutter and distractions

• Get your camera settings right

• Does the photo tell a story in some way?

• Don’t over-process the image: too much color or detail looks cartoonish

So does a good photo have to adhere to every rule? Can’t you break the rules? Hey this is art, why are there rules to begin with? Isn’t this all about self-expression?

Here’s what I think: if you like the photo, then it’s a good photo. It doesn’t matter if it follows the rules. It’s really that simple to me.

I have taken plenty of photos that do not adhere to these rules, and yet there is something about them that I really like. Maybe it reconnects my mind to a great moment somewhere. Maybe it reminds me of someone I hold dear. Maybe it’s as simple as reminding me how much I love a particular place. Or quite possibly, I just like the photo “because”. It doesn’t really matter why though - I just like it, and that is enough for me.

My tastes may vary wildly from yours, which is ok. I’ve had plenty of people leave comments about my photos, indicating what they would do different with the image, which would make it better (in their opinion). But it’s not their photo - it’s my photo.

If I like it the way it is, then it’s a good photo to me. I don’t care if a stranger likes it or not. Do you really care? Deep down, does it really matter?

If you like it, doesn’t that make it a good photo? No one else can possibly understand the meaning that you may have attached to the image, or know the depth of feeling that being in that place at that moment meant to you. It’s too personal for anyone else to grasp from just looking at a photo.

And yes, I get that we all have egos and want to hear that we are good at this craft. It makes us all feel better when we get positive reinforcement. But whether someone likes it or not does not change how I feel about it. If I like it, I like it.

So that is what I always tell people when they ask me if their photo is any good. I ask if they like it, and if they respond yes, then I tell them it is a good photo. What difference does it make whether it appeals to my tastes or not? Who am I to judge? I have no idea what that photo means to you. I wasn’t there when you took it, and I can’t possibly fathom what sort of feelings or emotions or memories that image may bring up in you. And I certainly don’t know your “because”. It’s not mine, so I am not emotionally invested in it.

Asking if a photo is good is so subjective that I don’t think it matters. If you like it, it’s a good photo. Don’t you think? Shouldn’t we please ourselves first? This is art, and more specifically, this is YOUR art, so do what you like. And if you like it, it’s good. 

What about that photo above? It’s garbage, right?

That photo above is behind some store in south Austin, if I remember correctly. There is nothing technically good about it - nothing. There is not a beautiful composition at play here. It’s way over-processed. It’s a cluttered and distracting scene. I shot it with an old iPhone 6 back in 2014, so there were no camera setting adjustments made - I aimed and touched the screen as I walked by. There’s no story here other than it’s a dirty, grungy, back alley.

And you know what? I still love this photo, despite all that. It has no real meaning to me, but I like it “because”. It was a snap, as opposed to a planned, well-thought out and professionally executed photograph. But it resonated with a lot of people. When I posted it on Flickr years ago, it hit Explore and has been viewed almost 25,000 times now. And why? I have no idea, truthfully. But something about it caught my attention, and apparently caught the attention of others. In other words, it was “liked” by quite a few. Is it good? Who knows. I don’t really care. But I like it, so I guess that makes it a good photograph.

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NOTE:

To be clear, there is nothing wrong with asking someone for feedback and input about your images. We have all done it. You may get some insights about techniques you could wield on an image that would help you produce a higher percentage of keepers in the future. You may learn something about editing that changes your approach a bit, or even impacts your style. You may learn a key compositional tip that pays dividends forever. That’s all useful. But that is very different than asking for a subjective judgement on your image. I feel each image we take is personal to us in some way, and thus appeals to our unique tastes in some way as well. No one else will get it the way we get it.

Also, this does not apply to client work. Obviously we need the client to like what we are hired to create for them. 😀

I Simplified My Gear and It's Fantastic

Too much stuff in the old camera closet?

I’m just going to go ahead and say it: I like gear. It’s true. I like camera gear, I like buying camera gear, and I like having camera gear. But admittedly, over the last few years, I accumulated too much of it.

Like many photographers, I decided to experiment a bit during the height of the pandemic. For me, that meant trying different focal lengths in the field. Since I wasn’t really traveling anywhere, I was pretty much just shooting around the city where I live (Austin). And I like shooting in cities, but had gotten a bit tired of shooting the same old things in the same old ways.

Thus, I decided some new lenses were just what the doctor ordered. Nothing like a completely different focal length to switch things up, right?

Well, perhaps I went a little overboard because I ended up getting a lot of lenses over the last few years (this actually started before the pandemic though - the pandemic just made it a bit worse). And in full disclosure mode, these were not top-of-the-line expensive lenses. These were 3rd party lenses that were very affordable, so adding quite a few over time didn’t really sting the old pocketbook.

But when it came time to go shoot, I ended up being confused about what to bring. My old favorite, which I know I will love shooting with? Something new that I bought recently and need to try out? Something that I rarely used but I have had for a little while? And how do you really get good with a lens unless you shoot with it a lot?

You see, I like the idea of having choices, but honestly having too many choices is a bad thing. It leads to confusion, and inexperience with some of the lenses, and that’s not good. And I had something like 12 lenses sitting on my shelf. It was getting ridiculous! So, I decided to simplify.

I am an avid Sony shooter, and since I have no plans to change that, I decided to sell a bunch of that other stuff and stick with Sony (I also sold a couple of barely-used Sony lenses). Their cameras are fantastic, and their lenses are amazing.

This all coincided with the recent release of their new 16-35mm f/2.8 GM II wide angle lens. I had the v1 and loved it, and used it all the time (especially for landscapes and broad cityscapes). But the new version is smaller and lighter, and since it is probably the lens I use the most, I wanted to upgrade.

But I also was interested in their new-ish 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II midrange zoom as well. I had the original f4 version of that lens years ago, and used it a lot back then, but sold it years ago and have been using a variety of lenses in its place. I went back and forth between their 20-70mm f/4 lens and also their 24-105mm f/4 lens (I had acquired both, so yeah, I guess all my lens purchases weren’t inexpensive 3rd party options). And both are great lenses, it’s just that I wasn’t using them quite enough, and they didn’t quite cover me in every situation.

Neither one of those ever felt like it was exactly what I wanted, mostly because they are both f/4. And I don’t mean that from a snobby point of view, but rather a practical one - I just like to wander and shoot handheld a lot of times (especially in cities), and often in lower light. I just need the f/2.8 for that more often than not. And the 24-70mm zoom range is nearly perfect for me, most of the time.

So I unloaded about 8 lenses, acquired the two new Sony lenses mentioned above, and haven’t looked back.

Now I am down to 6 Sony lenses and feel great about it. Here’s my current lineup:

• 16-35mm f/2.8 GM II

• 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II

• 14mm f/1.8 GM

• 20mm f/1.8 G

• 24mm f/1.4 GM

• 35mm f/1.4 GM

That’s it. Well, that may still be a lot, but I do love prime lenses and it’s a lot less than I had a few weeks ago LOL.

The only thing that may be missing is something like a 70-200mm lens. I honestly don’t have a need for much beyond 70mm most of the time (I tend to prefer a wider view, most of the time), so next time I feel like I need that I may just rent it. I rented their 100-400mm for Iceland back in August (had to capture puffins!!) and it was perfect for that. Renting would certainly be cheaper! Plus, then I don’t start accumulating more lenses that end up just collecting dust around here.

I want to actually use what I have, instead of just look at it.

And that is a key point here. I want to be really comfortable with my lenses, and know how to use them in various situations, without having to think about it. When you have 12 lenses, you just can’t really master them all. I prefer to have a few solid choices that are amazing, and use them frequently vs just have a nice collection of stuff sitting on a shelf. Sure it looks pretty, but what’s the use of them just sitting there?

So I’m going to try and stick with this lens lineup for a while. They are all amazing lenses, fantastic quality and all that. And they more than cover what I shoot 99% of the time. Feel free to ask me in about 6 months and see if I am sticking to it!

p.s. I have all my gear listed on my gear page (and it’s now updated) if you want to take a look: https://jimnix.com/gear

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Change, Fear, and a Brand New Year

Some thoughts about what I hope to do in 2022…

I love when a new year comes around. It’s always a nice time to sit back and consider what you have done and what you want to do differently going forward. Sure, you don’t need a change in the calendar to do that, but it’s a nice symbolic time to do so. It just feels right to me. So, I have been spending the last few weeks thinking long and hard about my photography, and YouTube, and all that. This blog is my attempt to “get it all on paper” and share what I am thinking regarding my future direction.

I love creating photographs, and videos about making photographs. I’ve been actively taking and editing photos for about 12 years now, and actively making and sharing videos on Youtube for about 4 years. Both are just so satisfying to me. I enjoy the heck out of doing both of these things. They give me a chance to express my creativity and compel me to get out and just do something. These days, that’s something. The fact that anyone even shows up and watches my videos, or reads my blog, is just icing on the cake. I often find it hard to believe anyone would listen to me.

The Need for a Change

But I will admit that over the last year or so, I haven’t been out enough. Sure, I get out and shoot some here in Austin, but I haven’t really been out shooting enough, and of course the amount of travel I have done has been severely restricted, just like for everyone else. I have come to realize how much I enjoy travel. Sure, I already knew that I loved to travel, but when you can’t count on several trips a year like you could in the past, that has an impact on things.

I have mostly spent the last year or so (well, I guess more like 2 years now, but the last year it seems like I have been here even more) sitting here in my office, making tutorials and working. Nothing wrong with either, but admittedly I am tired of it. I need to stretch myself a bit more, creatively and physically. I need to move around, with or without direction. I need to go new places and get stimulated. I just need to wander.

I made a video recently where I talked about my plans for 2022. It’s below. It’s a good summary of how I am feeling, and what I am thinking.

In that video, I basically say the same things I just wrote about above. The net-net of that is this: I plan to get out more in 2022. Sure, we still have some restrictions and travel isn’t even close to what it used to be (and likely never will be). But, I can get out, and I can take you with me via video/vlogs. I don’t even need some big overseas trip. Heck, I can just go to a city within a few hours drive (or a short flight) and have a good time taking photographs. I can just go downtown here in Austin. For me, it’s the change of scenery that matters most.

In fact, we took a trip for New Years up to Colorado, and I recorded the below video there. It was my first attempt at this sort of vlog in a long while. I have done some of these in the past, but it has been quite a while and I will admit to getting a bit of “stage fright” about recording them. 

I am very comfortable sitting in my office and making tutorials, but going out somewhere public, recording a video and sharing some tips and thoughts while wandering somewhere else has been hard for me. I am always embarrassed to do so in front of other people, but I am going to force myself to get over it. I simply need a change. It was easy enough on that Colorado trip, because I was walking in the woods and only saw other people every once in a while. But I don’t live among desolate landscapes - I live in a city. And thus, I am going to have to get out and record myself taking street shots and cityscapes, and make something of it.

Imposter Syndrome

The other challenge I face is that I often have a bit of imposter syndrome when talking about photography, outside of editing tips. I am very comfortable with editing and “how to get things done” in the digital darkroom (especially with some of those key products that I make tutorials about). I use them enough that I feel like my opinions there are valid and hopefully useful, and I feel knowledgeable about them. I’ve just been doing that sort of thing for so long that I feel like I can “hold my own” in terms of discussing that on a video, or live with another photographer.

But with general photography knowledge, I feel like maybe I don’t know enough about it, or maybe I am not good enough to really share that sort of thing. It’s difficult to overcome that sort of feeling. I don’t have a lengthy background in photography, nor do I have any formal training. I literally picked up a camera about 12 years ago and started shooting. I have learned a lot along the way, mostly through trial and error and dogged persistence. But I am essentially self-taught, which means that I don’t know what I don’t know. And of course I don’t know “everything”. How can you, really?

But I do have some knowledge that I think is useful to a lot of folks, and that is what I plan to share. I don’t feel like I have to be an expert in everything about photography (who is?). I can hopefully help folks advance their art and have fun in the process.

Plenty of tutorials on tap for 2022!

And no, I am not giving up on tutorials. I still really enjoy making them. And yes I am going to continue making tutorials for the products that I love to use, namely Luminar Neo, On1 Photo RAW, Topaz and more. So no change in that regard. I simply plan to mix it up a little so I can satisfy my need to create in other ways. It keeps me from feeling stale, which is how I have felt for the better part of the last year.  

For me, I feel like it is about adding value for those who follow along. Sure, I can sit here and make editing tutorials all the time, but I need some variety and some different forms of stimulation, otherwise I am going to burn out on that. I have had a lot of folks ask me to share additional tips and tricks about shooting in the field vs just editing tips for the photos themselves. In other words, some tips about how to capture the image while out there. In order to do that, it requires that I get out and bring you with me. So that is on the docket for this year, and I am really looking forward to it. The recent video from Colorado has been pretty well received, and I’m grateful for that.

Expanding my creative skills

I am also looking at expanding in some other areas with my photography. I want to do a little more work with portraits, for example. No, I don’t plan to chase weddings gigs or official portrait sessions. But I enjoy going to events here locally (assuming there are some in 2022!) and taking portraits. It’s a nice change of pace from my usual subject matter, and stretches me in terms of better understanding lighting and posing, and more. And I always learn something. So hopefully I can get some of that done this year.

I also just picked up a small light panel and a light stand, and I ordered some Replica Surfaces photo backgrounds. I plan to delve into some product photography this year, too. This, like the portrait work, is just for fun and for my own education. But it’s another, different avenue to go down and experiment with. I am sure I will learn a lot about this stuff while trying it out. How else can I learn it, anyway?

So that’s a quick summary of my plans for 2022. I am actively considering some other avenues too, that I may delve into in a future post here, or in a video. But the main goal for me this year is to inject a little more fun into what I do. The last two years have been tough on everyone, including me. I miss getting out and going places. I’m going to do my best to make that different in 2022. Thanks for following along.

My Flickr Year 2020

I love Flickr, and post there nearly daily. Do you?

When I first started my little journey into photography back in 2009, the very few folks that I met all mentioned Flickr to me as a great place to share their work. They made it sound like a great site, a community if you will, where you can meet other photographers, get inspired, learn, share your work, maybe get noticed a little bit, possibly license some photos, and simply just enjoy the craft of photography. That all sounded great, so I joined up and started sharing what few photos I had to share (which were nothing to brag about, believe me).

Fast forward all these years later, and I am still at it, sharing my work on Flickr nearly every day, and at this point have amassed a collection of nearly 8000 edited photos that are displayed there. The site has gone through a lot of changes over the years (including a change in ownership, which was a blessing for sure) but it still remains the best place to share your photos on the web. Period. You can’t convince me otherwise, so don’t try. :-)

I have flirted with other sites over the years, with 500px rising quickly and grabbing all the attention for a while, but it died off (and I left it after deciding it wasn’t for me). I closed my account and have never once regretted that decision.

I have an Instagram account but I can barely motivate myself to open it, much less post something there. It has been overrun with ads and I generally just get annoyed when I look at it. So that’s not for me.

And I am sure there are countless other places, some niche sites and some big ones, where photo-sharing takes center stage - but for me, I could care less about all of those. Flickr is my home, and Flickr is where I plan to stay.

You can find me here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimnix/

I wrote all of this simply because Flickr sent out an email this week which was a summary of my Flickr year, and I thought it was a nice touch. And it’s kind of interesting to see these sort of statistics. I’m not one to obsess over follower counts, likes, faves and that sort of thing, but getting a high-level summary is interesting, so I am sharing it here if you would like to take a look.

Thanks for reading, I hope you have fun editing your photos, and hope to see you on Flickr in 2021!

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Always hopeful yet discontent

R.I.P. Neil Peart

The recent news of Neil Peart's passing hit me pretty hard. He was the lyricist and drummer for the progressive rock band Rush, and a true inspiration to me. I feel like I lost one of my heroes. No, I have never played drums (or even wanted to), but his writing literally felt like it was written for me. I pored over his lyrics for years. I still do. I have always loved poetry, and his song lyrics were exactly that - poems set to music. I found it nearly unbelievable that someone could write with such beauty and depth, and then turn around and play drums like he had 8 arms. 

You see, I came of age in the 80’s and Rush was “my” band at the time. I listened to it with my friends. We all talked about it. We dissected the lyrics and used our 16 year old brains to try and discern meaning. My first concert was Rush Signals as a freshman in high school. The cake for my 16th birthday party was a replica of the cover of 2112. 

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Sunset in Austin, TX

I remember first hearing Tom Sawyer and thinking how great the song was. Back then, I had to save up to buy a record so I dutifully did so and got myself Moving Pictures. It was amazing. Red Barchetta is still one of my favorite songs. Limelight is a masterpiece. The lyrics of Vital Signs are just mind-blowing. I knew right away this was not your typical rock-n-roll band. This was not party music. These guys had something to say! They were different - and I was hooked.

As I dove into their previous releases such as Permanent Waves and 2112, my respect and admiration for Neil’s writing and drumming (as well as the fantastic musicianship of Alex and Geddy) continued to blossom. While I do not consider myself any sort of poet, I have written quite a lot over the years and I really feel like my exposure to Rush lyrics is where it all began. I have a love of the written word, and I thank Neil for that.

There is one line in Tom Sawyer that I have always held dear. A little over halfway through the song, it appears:

“Always hopeful yet discontent”

At first blush, it’s just a continuing description of the character (at least the character in the song), and a line that helps carry that stanza forward, because it rhymes with the rest of the stanza.

“No his mind is not for rent

To any God or government.

Always hopeful, yet discontent

He knows changes aren’t permanent -

But change is.”

I suspect many people have passed it over, time and time again as they listen to and sing along with this classic, famous rock song. But for me it stuck, somewhere deep down inside.

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Last light in Cannon Beach, OR

In some ways it has become a bit of a mantra to me. A quick phrase to urge me on, to push myself to be better, to grow and change and expand. It was descriptive to me - and of me. I’m eternally optimistic (hopeful), but not always happy with my current state (discontent). This was a perfect grouping of 4 little words that contain such big meaning for me. This one was etched into my memory from then on.

And this brings me back around to photography, which is really what my blog is “supposed” to be about. I often find myself feeling a bit discontent with my photography skills, but hopeful about what is coming, or perhaps what *could* come from my efforts. I push myself to do better, to be better, to learn, to grow, to expand my thinking and my reach. I just want to continue improving.

Sure I make videos every week about how to do this or how to do that with your photographs. Doing so makes it appear like I know “everything” about photography. But I don’t - not even close. Half the time I feel like a complete beginner. I get questions that I have absolutely no idea how to answer. I may not even understand the question at times. I have so much to learn, and so much growing to do. I’m just a guy that loves this stuff, and likes to shares tips and tricks to help others on their own creative path.

But I am hopeful and discontent. And I keep trying to figure it all out.

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Sunset in Seattle, WA

Now just to clarify - being discontent does not mean that I am unhappy with my grasp of and accomplishments with photography in any way. Quite the contrary. I am rather excited and proud of everything I have done with my photography thus far. It’s just that I keep pushing myself to grow. I am discontent with being stale, or not moving forward with my art. There is so much more I can do, so much more I can learn. And so much more I can teach and share with the community. This phrase motivates me to keep pushing onwards, and looking upwards.

So I continue to invest in my photography, and keep trying to make myself better at it. After all, we are never done learning, unless we just choose to stop trying. And that is a choice I am not going to make. It’s just too interesting to stop. And I have a long way to go.

Thank you Neil Peart for the lifelong inspiration. The bell tolls for thee. 

There's something in the night

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Diners line up at a food truck in East Austin…

Historically, I was a chaser of good light. In terms of when I went out to take photos, it was the traditional approach: sunrise, sunset, and blue hour. Outside of that, I sort of didn’t care. I just wanted great light. I often got it - or “good enough” light - but that was the end of my shooting. When blue hour was over and darkness fell, I was done.

But no more.

Over the last year or so, I have really started to get into taking photos after dark in the city. There is just something about it. I love to wander the streets, looking for pockets of light and color, and just generally lurk about looking for a shot.

And I have discovered that there is just so much to enjoy after dark, photographically speaking. While I used to think that the good light was over once darkness fell, I now think of the interesting scenes you can photograph in the dark. Especially when in a downtown area, there are always little things happening here and there that catch my eye.

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You see, I think that I used to only chase that “epic” shot or amazing light, and when those options were exhausted, I just hung it up. I always felt like it was too dark at night and the light was “boring”. I assumed that if the light wasn’t interesting then the photos would not be interesting either. Boy was I wrong. 

I also used to carry a bag of lenses and a tripod around when I would photograph a city, which frankly gets a bit tiring after a while. You can call me lazy if you want to, and you may be right. But it gets tiring, lazy or not. Then you have all these options in your bag, and you feel like you should be using them all. So you switch lenses to try something new. Then you switch back. It sometimes felt like I was just carrying all this stuff because I owned it, and I would bring it along “just in case”.

These days, I most often just take a single prime lens and no tripod. I shoot handheld in cities at night, and it is amazingly freeing to do so. While I love my tripod and it certainly has its place, you just can’t do the same things when you are connected to it. Your movement is somewhat limited and you are basically less free. And it causes me to miss some moments that I do not miss when I am shooting handheld.

My favorite lens for this type of work is the Sony 24mm f/1.4 prime lens. It’s just a fantastic piece of glass and one that I am really thankful I was able to get. I have always loved sort of a wide view of things, and thus 24mm is spot on for me. But of course the main draw of the lens is that wide open aperture. Once it is dark, I drop into f/1.4, bump up my ISO and I am off and shooting. I feel like I come alive.

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Like everyone who is pursuing creative endeavors, my style and interests have evolved over the years. I always felt disappointed if I returned from a trip or an outing and did not witness any amazing light. I almost felt like it was a waste. 

But I am different now, and my shots are different. I feel I am on a journey towards becoming a bit of a street photographer. While I used to just want to shoot “epic” cityscapes (and these were nearly always done in HDR), now I am more interested in capturing the everyday scenes of a place. Boring light? No problem! I am more than content to wander the streets of a city and just capture life happening there. 

Sure, I still like the big, beautiful grand things in a city as much as I ever did. But they are no longer the focus (no pun intended) of my photography. They may be some of the anchoring shots on a trip, but I am finding just as much joy (and maybe more) with the little in-between, filler shots that I capture. In some ways, I find these more interesting. I think they are more tangible and accessible for viewers. They are real. And, they often tell a story.

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Now, I still love my big colors, so although I am edging towards street photography more and more, I am not traditional in the sense that I am still editing in color, vs monochrome. For many years, I never even considered monochromes, but just as I have changed in terms of subject matter, I have also loosened up in terms of color. I find myself experimenting more and more with various flavors of monochrome images in my editing, and I love it. I will continue to experiment and grow in that direction. But of course there is no giving up on color for me. :-)

These photos were all captured the other night here in Austin. I wandered on East 6th Street for a little while, enjoying the comings and goings of the people and training my prime lens on whatever I found interesting.

Are they epic shots? Not even close. But do I find them interesting? Absolutely. And that is my approach these days - find something interesting and capture it.

Thanks for listening.

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Goodbye NomadicPursuits.com - hello JimNix.com!

What’s In A Name? 

I started this blog about 10 years ago, give or take. I had just recently started photography, and “everyone was doing it”, so I started a blog as well. I had no idea what I was doing, only that I was starting to love photography and wanted to have a blog. It was what I was “supposed” to do. And truthfully, I have really enjoyed having a blog. It’s been awesome. And as I said in my previous post here, I am going to keep it, even though it is no longer something that I will post to every day/week. Additionally I am changing the look, feel and content around here to some degree. It’s a work in process, that is for sure.

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Venice, Italy at sunset - wandering somewhere in a back canal

When I was formulating my idea for this blog all those years ago, I wanted to name it something that implied travel, but wasn’t specific to photography. You see, at the time I thought the blog would be about travel, photography and several other topics that I am/was interested in (books, maps, personal finance, inspirational quotes, working out, writing, poetry and more). I thought it would become sort of a digital representation of my interests, and I was excited to work on it and try and grow it. 

In some ways, I envisioned it being what is now called a “lifestyle blog”, although I don’t believe such a thing was a thing back then. Maybe it was, I have no idea. But at the time, I could not predict the extent to which I was going to love photography, and dive into it head first. It was a new subject to me then, and I had very little experience with cameras, photography, editing and the like. It was like learning a new language. (And I am still learning.)

Of course naming a blog is hard, and although I settled on Nomadic Pursuits, I never really loved the name and obviously it does not just roll off the tongue. I always felt like I had to spell it out for people, and clarify what it meant, and all that sort of stuff. And although I was Jim Nix on all the social media sites, I didn’t think to just name my blog after me, because other than some friends and family, no one knew who I was. 

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Evening in London, England

And back then, I don’t remember people using their name for their blog or website name. I am sure some did, but I don’t recall that other than photographers using their first name and last name with “photography” or “photo” at the end. And as I said above, I never even considered that because I thought the site would be about more than photography.

In retrospect I realize I was trying to create a brand, even though I didn't realize that at the time. I guess “brand” is the right word. I’m not really sure, but it was some “entity” that I was crafting, to the extent I was capable of such a thing. It wasn’t about me, per se, but about my interests, and sharing them with anyone who showed up (though admittedly, not many people did).

When I started this blog I was fresh off meeting Trey Ratcliff here in Austin and learning about his blog (I met him through work). I saw his photos, and read his blog, and literally decided on the spot that this was what I wanted to do with my life. That’s how I got started.

The thing was, I basically just followed his lead and started trying to post a photo here every day. It was tough, and frankly a lot of the photos were crap. I had no background in photography, and of course no background in photo editing, so I was mostly just using iPhoto to drag the saturation to the right. Real smart, Jim. :-) Oh, and I knew nothing about trying to build an online presence via social media, SEO, blogging, etc. (And frankly, I still don’t know a lot about that stuff, I’m just sort of hacking my way as I go.) And even worse, I really had no idea what I WANTED to do. I had no plan, other than to just put out photos. So this sort of became a photography blog, because I found myself spending more and more time just on photography, and not the other interests that I initially envisioned including here on the site.

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Just before sunrise in Prague - a stunningly beautiful city.

But as time passed I learned more about post-processing and got more comfortable with a few editing programs, and my photos improved. I kept trying to post nearly every day. But over time I realized I didn’t HAVE to post every day. I was just doing it that way because that is what Trey did, and many others as well, so it seemed like the thing to do. I was just following everyone else’s lead. It never occurred to me that having a blog means you can basically do whatever it is you want to do. There are no rules. And by the way, I wasn’t exactly getting a lot of traffic, so it’s not like people were waiting around for me to post a new photo. But regardless, I made it my mission and I did a fairly consistent job of adding things here.

And of course photography became more and more important to me as I learned more about it, and got deeper into the subject. I just sort of “fell in love” with the whole creative process around it.

One thing I started doing somewhat early was adding a lot of content to the blog that I thought people might be searching for. A lot of this was based on questions I would get. One question I got from time to time was about the best places in Austin for taking photos. So I made a list and populated it with my photos. This was just something that was done primarily so I didn’t have to write it each time I got an email about it, but over time it has become the most viewed page on my blog. I even wrote an ebook about it.

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The Loop 360 Bridge here in Austin - an iconic symbol of the city and a great place for a sunset shoot!

I also got questions about tips, tricks and things you can do with various software products, because as I posted photos I sometimes would mention what I did to the photo. This led me to writing up reviews of these software products, which also became some of the more popular pages here on the blog (at least at the time). They are no longer popular though because they were all older products that have long since been upgraded/changed. And (perhaps obviously) I do all my product review/instruction on YouTube nowadays. That’s just a much better way to do it. So I quit writing software tutorials and reviews here, mostly because I know that I will never go back and rewrite it when a new version comes out, or the current version gets updates, or whatever. And in fact, I have deleted nearly all of them from this site.

And of course I had some positions in the corporate world that sent me to various places around the globe for work (I work in the technology business still to this day, and still enjoy it, and we travel a lot as a family on our holidays). This allowed me to take photos in whatever free time I had while traveling, which led me to creating more lists of the best places to take photos in X (insert city name here). If I went somewhere and learned enough about it, had enough photos, and saw enough to make a list - then I made a list. I now have 20+ of these lists on the blog. Some get a lot of views each month, some not so much. But they are there to help people just in case. And of course I captured a LOT of photos, making mistakes along the way and learning and growing my craft.

But all this time the name of this site just didn’t feel right. Sure, I got some views and still get decent traffic. But a few years ago I decided to purchase jimnix.com because I wanted to own my own name as a domain, just in case. I didn’t really have any plans for it, other than to make sure another Jim Nix out there in the world didn’t have it.

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An evening shot from London, dragging the shutter to capture a passing bus.

So at first I had that domain point to my Facebook business page for the blog, but a couple of years ago I deleted that page. It was a waste of time and effort to maintain it. Then I had that domain point to my personal Facebook page, and then I had it point to my portfolio site on SmugMug. Eventually, a year or so ago, I decided to make it a secondary domain here, meaning that it would bring anyone who typed it in to this blog. I didn’t really advertise the name, but since it was my name I figured it may as well point to my blog.

And now here I sit, having decided to make jimnix.com the main domain for my blog, and to reduce NomadicPursuits.com to the secondary position. I think it just makes sense. Nomadic Pursuits is harder to spell and harder to remember, and there is absolutely nothing about it that really tells you who or what it is about. Of course, if you have never heard my name then using jimnix.com doesn’t tell you what this is about either, but it does tell you WHO it is about. And this blog is about me - any personal blog should be. And while I am nowhere near being a well-known name, there is some awareness of me in the broader photographic community and it just makes sense to convert the name of the blog to my name. It’s cleaner, simpler, and much easier to remember, methinks. Plus a lot of search traffic that ends up on my blog comes from those searching out my name.

So the other day I did the swap from NomadicPursuits.com to JimNix.com as the primary domain. Going forward, I am only going to use the JimNix.com domain and although I will keep the other one alive, I do not plan to mention it anywhere. So now I am trying to go through all my social media sites and update my blog listing to jimnix.com and thus far I think I got them all. :-)

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Strasbourg, France

I want to be clear about one thing - this is not about ego to me. I am using my name for my blog because this is my site, and this is about my photography. I am just making it simple. I’m not really actively trying to drive a lot of traffic to this blog. What I am doing is simplifying the discovery process for those who want to follow my work, my photography, or my mad ramblings here on the blog.

During this process, I have also removed a lot of old content from the blog. I completely deleted all of my old software tutorials and reviews that were here. As I mentioned previously, these were all done a long time ago and the products have all long since been upgraded and changed. Going back in to rewrite a full tutorial is a MAJOR time commitment, and frankly I am just too lazy. Plus, they do not get nearly as many views as they would on YouTube. Plus YouTube is just much easier for me. I can make a tutorial or review and get it published all in the same day whereas writing out a long-form article about a product and including a bunch of screenshots can take several days. It’s a LOT of work, trust me. 

And personally, I am a visual learner when it comes to this stuff, so making a video seems better to me anyways, and I suspect a lot of people would just much rather see it than read about it.

So that is it my friends. This was a long article, and I am sorry about that, but I do enjoy writing more than I remember, and it is sort of fun to put my thoughts on paper (or on the web, in this case).

I have more work to do around here in terms of simplification but I have been deleting old content at a rapid pace and will continue to refine this blog over time. I feel that a blog is a living creation, and as such it will continue to evolve over time. What will this blog eventually look like? I do not know, but I am keeping the main idea of simplification top of mind. There is a lot of content here already (I have been doing this for 10 years now) but my hope is to continue to refine and simplify the site so that those visiting will clearly and easily find what they are looking for. We will have to see how that shakes out.

Thanks for following along, I appreciate it.

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Cannon Beach, Oregon - my favorite place in the US.

The future of my blog

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One of my favorite places - Cannon Beach, OR

I haven’t posted here since late November. Wow, that was a long break. :-)

When I started this blog, I intended to keep posting here multiple times per week, basically forever. I really thought that I would do so, and keep doing so. Sure, I knew things would come up, and now and then I would miss a few days here or there, but I never thought I would be sitting here writing this sort of thing.

I have to admit that I have sort of fallen off the tracks as it relates to my blog. Like everyone else with a life and things to do - I have a life and I have things to do. Oh, and I have this thing called YouTube. I spend a lot of my free time creating the videos that I post on YouTube each week. And I love doing that. It inspires me, and the community there inspires me as well. In fact, I enjoy it more than I do trying to think of things to write here. And I think that having a good blog is more about the writing and the “content” than it is just me posting a photo, making a quick comment or two about it, and running off.

Over the last couple of years, my writing here on the blog has become less and less, and I have ended up just posting some quick comments about a photo, or just posting about a recent video that I shared on YouTube. And while it makes it look like I am “active” in my blogging, it was honestly about as passive as you can get while still putting something out here. I have been sort of phoning it in for the blog.

So now I sit here and wonder what I should do about this blog, going forward. Of course I am going to keep it, and continue to post here at times, but I don’t plan to keep aiming (and failing) at posting here several times per week. Instead I am thinking of this as being a place to share my thoughts in longer, written form (such as this note) as well as news about my photography, travels, or whatever.

I have a lot of articles and photos on this blog that I am proud of and worked really hard on, and I intend to keep them here. I like to have this archive of my work. But a blog is not really a good place to host a collection of images, in my opinion. And that is another thing that I have been thinking about…my collection of images.

I joined Flickr at around the same time I started blogging, which was late 2009 or so. I have over 7000 photos on Flickr, and I still find it to be a wonderful place to host photos as well as a supportive and inspiring community. So I will keep posting photos there as my collection of photographs that I share grows. I hope to have 100,000 or more at some point in my life. And I would like them all to be on Flickr.

But that is the thing - if you want to see my images. you can find them more easily on Flickr. They are organized and categorized and it’s easy to scroll through a lot of them and find whatever it is you are looking for. Or to just browse and enjoy it. And I am ok with that. For so long I wanted “blog traffic” and I felt like I did everything I could to get people to come to my blog. I get decent traffic, but I am no longer trying to get a lot of people to come to the blog. If they show up, that is great. But in this day and age, people prefer to stay on their social media site of choice, and those same sites don’t want them to leave anyway.

So I think my transition from a “blogger” (I always used that term loosely with myself) to a “YouTuber” (I really don’t like that term, but I do create a lot of YouTube content) has been a long time coming. I definitely think about YouTube more often than I think about the blog. I think of things I can create for YouTube, not the blog. So it’s definitely become my priority in terms of sharing whatever it is that I can share, that feels like it is a contribution to the world of photography.

So my plans are to continue to invest in the growth and development of my YouTube channel, and to write about things that interest me here on the blog, when I feel inspired to do so. And of course this means I may experiment with a new look here on the blog, since the “daily blog” sort of thing will no longer be my focus here.

So if you have been a frequent visitor or reader over the years, I really appreciate it. And of course you can always catch me on YouTube, Flickr, or even Twitter if you want to connect. Thanks for listening!

What is a Pro Photographer?

Here’s a video wherein I share my thoughts on what a Pro Photographer is, and how I am finding it hard to really define it. Follow along and join the conversation on YouTube!

Today I try and define what it means to be a pro photographer, and discuss whether I qualify for that distinction or not. It seems you can define it any number of ways - and I have been asked about this - so I thought I would open it up for discussion and share my thoughts.

What is Fine Art Photography?

Do you ever notice that some photographers bill themselves as “fine art photographers”, while many others do not? What is the difference? Why is that description used? What does it mean?

I went in search of answers to these questions, and started having to ask myself questions about my own work. Is it fine art? I’m not sure, but I definitely learned a lot about what people consider fine art, and why. Follow along as I delve into this interesting subject.

In today's video, I delve into a discussion about fine art photography and try to pin a definition on this nearly undefinable genre. Do I succeed? I don't really know. Am I a fine art photographer? I have started to wonder if perhaps I am.

My changing relationship with Social Media

Social Media Spring Cleaning, 2018 Edition

It seems about once a year, I get a little fed up with social media (or some component of it) and write a little “rant” about it here on the blog. (The word rant is in quotes because I use it lightly here. I think of a rant as something I am genuinely pissed off about, and that is not the case. So it’s not really a rant, but I don’t know what else to call it.)

This time, I'm changing my approach to social media in general, although I will delve into specifics in a bit.

I’ve come to believe that social media isn't really very social at all (with some notable exceptions) and that sadly it’s mostly all about getting attention, and that is wearing on me. Yes, I completely get the irony that I share my work via social media and essentially look for attention for that too, so I include myself in what I am writing here. And of course I am sharing this article on my blog and then will share it on social media, too. I know - life is full of contradictions.

I'm just changing my approach to these things - and my opinion of them - and I no longer feel like I used to feel about social media. I'm not seeing the same benefits, and I really don't understand the need to be "everywhere, all the time".

I am also examining my photography work and taking on new perspectives, opinions and ideas about what I want to be, photographically speaking, and how I just might be able to “get there”. Since my thoughts and plans are nowhere near complete or final, I’m not digging into that today but it has caused a lot of self-reflection, which can be difficult but productive.

One thing I have learned about myself is that spending a lot of time and effort on social media is just not rewarding to me. Sure, I love all the comments, feedback, attention, likes, etc as much as the next person. My ego likes it, and it gives me a little “high”. I think that’s a human reaction to positive feedback. But, it doesn’t really improve my quality of life or help anyone improve theirs. It’s sort of like consuming sugar - you get a quick high and then it drops off. Then you want another hit to feel high again. It’s essentially a vicious cycle, and one that likely doesn’t end well. 

We recently took a week-long family trip to Chicago, and I rarely got on social media that week. It was wonderful. I spent time with my wife and daughter, took some photos, consumed some great food and just enjoyed life. I didn't post a single photo on any social media site that week, and frankly I didn’t miss it at all. Not one bit. (Ok, truthfully I missed creating and sharing a video, but that’s the one exception.)

Now don’t misunderstand me here - I am not quitting social media, though I have quit some sites and may quit more. I like to think of it as spring cleaning, social media style. I was way overdue. It’s time to tidy up the house. Things were messy. Stuff was scattered everywhere.

There are just too damn many sites to post on, and doing a consistently decent job on any one of them is nearly a full time job. Doing a consistently decent job on multiple sites is damn near impossible. You could kill yourself trying. The saddest part about this is the constant feeling that you aren’t doing enough, aren’t good enough, and all that horrible baggage that comes through comparing yourself or your life to others. So, I am shedding weight, cutting ties, cleaning house, dumping the losers…whatever you want to call it. In other words, I am getting focused on only those sites that really matter to me, because there is only so much time in a day, and life is far too short. And frankly, I don’t want to waste my time on things that aren’t helping me move forward with my creativity.

The life that conquers is the life that moves with a steady resolution and persistence toward a predetermined goal. Those who succeed are those who have thoroughly learned the immense importance of plan in life, and the tragic brevity of time. - WJ Davison

The point is that I have been a mile wide and an inch deep with all this stuff for too long. I don't like it. I find myself getting more realistic with what I can and am willing to do, and I don’t want to pretend to keep up with all this crap. It’s a total drain on my creativity, and doesn’t add to my quality of life. I would rather be creating something useful than mindlessly scrolling through a social media feed. Not to mention that I love to do many other things outside of photography, and I have neglected them for far too long. I am reclaiming some of my personal time, and it feels good.

Life is no brief candle to me. It is sort of a splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations. - George Bernard Shaw

And by the way, I have also unsubscribed from a lot of email “things” that have long come my way. This may look like I am withdrawing in some ways, or that I am running away from things. In truth, I am running toward a better life for myself. How can I be creative, educated and curious if I spend all my free time on social media? In this day and age, I think it takes an active effort to make time for the things we love, or else they will get lost in the shuffle of life, work, relationships, social media and more. There are just so many distractions.

To those of you who post on many, many sites each day/week and like it, benefit from it and thrive on it - more power to you. I’m not sitting in judgment on anyone else’s choices. To each his own, and all that. You do whatever suits you. I’ve just arrived at a point where I want to be better in a lot of ways, and reducing my life’s digital clutter is one step in the right direction.

So, below are some of my thoughts on these various social media platforms that many photographers use, and my current thoughts on these sites, how I am using them (or not) and whether I will continue to use them (or not). Surely I have missed listing quite a few, because I was never on them all and never planned to be. But now I will be on even less of them.

500px

This site was great in the early days, but became a ridiculous game of “vote for my photo” just so that a photographer could try and get a high score on a photo and sit atop their “leader board” for a day - presumably just to pick up lots of views. What a waste of time. So I quit posting there a few years ago and now that they have been sold, I decided to delete all my photos from there and delete my account. I wasn’t using it anyways, and it did nothing for me. It’s gone, good riddance. One down.

Vero

A few weeks back, a lot of photographers got all excited about this app, calling it the next Instagram or some such. Out of pure curiosity I bit, opened an account, followed a couple of people, and posted one photo. I haven’t opened the app since, and haven’t thought about it since until I started writing this article. The funny thing is that I don’t see anyone talking about it anymore either. I haven’t closed my account there yet, but likely will. Am I really going to see anything there that I don’t already see elsewhere, or get “discovered”, or come across some great opportunity? No, no and no. This is likely destined for the trash bin. It’s not a bad site, but it feels like a waste of my time.

Update: curiosity killed the cat, so I went in and looked at this site again. I had some pending “connection requests” or whatever they are called, but otherwise it’s all the same stuff all over again. Still not sure I will keep it. I don’t see the point.

Ello

Remember this one a few years ago? It was all the rage for a little while, but it faded quickly. I also forgot about this one, and didn’t even remember how to log in. But I figured it out and deleted my account. Same reasons as above. Again, not a bad site, but a total waste of my time. Good bye.

Google Plus

This was the first real challenger to Facebook a number of years ago, and I loved it for a long time. But it faded, and to my knowledge is mostly dead as a social network. I haven’t posted a photo there in ages, but I will admit that my YouTube videos get cross-posted here (which I choose to do). I don’t actually go onto G+ to post my videos, but since Google owns YouTube I have the option to cross-post here automatically. I figure it takes just one more click, and it may help in search, which I do care a lot about for my videos. So technically I still use this site, but only as an automatic option. I don't actually go post here at all, but obviously I am keeping it.

Trover

I used this site quite a bit for a while (a few years ago), and have to admit I sort of liked it. But I quit posting there a long time ago, and haven’t logged in in ages. I don't anticipate getting back into it, simply because it’s not a core sight for me. I will keep it alive for now but won't spend time on it. Possibly getting deleted, jury is out on that one.

Snapchat, Steller Stories, 1x.com, EyeEm, etc etc etc

Never signed up, don’t care.

Viewbug, Pixoto, and any other contest site

Never signed up, don’t care.

Twitter

I never got into this site. It’s way too hyper for me, and being rather OCD already it’s just too overwhelming for me, visually. Too much stuff, and most of it is just noise. I have my photo posts from Flickr and Instagram automatically cross-post here (along with my YouTube videos), but otherwise I don’t actually log in and use it…and I don’t care. I have considered deleting it, but still not sure if I will or not. Any reason I should keep it?

Pinterest

I rarely pin anything, but have to admit that some of my old pins continue to drive traffic to my blog even several years later. There’s a particularly long life for some pins, if you get lucky and start getting some repins. It just snowballs. There’s no formula here that works every time but once in a while it really works well. I will pin some more at some point, but it’s not a focus for me. But owing to the fact that it drives traffic for me, I will keep it. It’s also not a bad site for discovery, if you take the time to dig in and sort through all the junk.

Flickr

So many have predicted the demise of Flickr for so many years - and some say it’s dead already - but I still love the site. No it’s not a big traffic driver for me, but I do get photo licensing requests from here more than any other site (besides my blog). But mostly I continue to post because I just think it’s a great way to catalog my work, organize it, and share it - and I enjoy the community. I will keep this going for a long time, methinks.

Facebook personal page

I sort of have a love/hate relationship with FB. On the one hand I get some great engagement on my personal page and obviously all my photo friends are on it, but on the other hand there is just so much noise that it’s annoying. However, there is a secret benefit to FB and that is using Groups. In fact, I often log into FB and just go straight to a couple of groups that I enjoy. There are great people there, great photos, and worthwhile conversations happening. I absolutely love all of that. I get inspired constantly. That keeps me coming back more than anything else.

But, I get added to new groups a lot and that is annoying, so I have been cleaning that out and removing myself from them. While it doesn’t actually change my feed very much, it does make the experience on the site more enjoyable when there is less clutter. Obviously I will keep this one. I don't have a huge following here but as the largest site it’s too important to skip.

Facebook business page

I also have a FB Page for my blog, and I almost never use it. I spent countless hours trying to build it up over the years, only for FB to decide that I would have to pay to show my posts to those who already liked my page. That felt like a kick in the shins, and wasn’t worth the money, so I only post there a few times per year, and guess what? No one sees my posts - surprise! I actually think about deleting this page all the time. I may have to pull the trigger on that. It’s just sitting there, and the only way to get it active is to post all the time and pay for engagement - and I am not interested in doing either one of those. So, this is likely headed for the trash bin. If you can think of a reason for me to keep it please let me know.

Instagram

I like IG, I really do, but I wanted to love it. But I have to remind myself to post there…it doesn’t seem to come naturally to me. Sadly, there are a lot of people who seem to do the whole follow/unfollow thing which is super annoying, selfish and egotistical. Like many sites, it’s become a game about how big of a following you can have. There also seems to be a lot of pages that buy followers, which just makes absolutely no sense to me at all. I have been unfollowing a lot of pages there recently, which cleans up my feed and provides me with a better viewing experience (but no, I have never done the follow/unfollow thing). My feed is cleaner and I can be more engaged with those pages I do follow. I just want to see my friends’ photos and those of some photographers that I don’t know but whose work I admire. Obviously I am keeping this but my engagement and activity there will remain about the same, which is what I would call "medium".

YouTube

I absolutely adore YouTube these days and it’s by far my favorite site. Since I have been creating videos there over the last couple of years, I have really grown to love the whole idea and process of creating, editing and sharing my videos. It has literally given me a new lease on my photographic life, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for me. I also really enjoy following along on the adventures of other photographers and travelers, and learning about them, their lives and their creative process. It’s actually inspiring to me, and makes me want to do much more there than I have done thus far. So, I will be talking about this again another time, but suffice it to say that this will be the site where you will find me the most. YouTube allows me to share my passion for photography with the world more easily than on any other site and I just want to pour more time and effort into this platform. I’m all in for this one, head first.

Some parting thoughts...

"Get busy living, or get busy dying." - Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption

Have you ever seen the movie The Shawshank Redemption? If not, I highly recommend it. At one point in the movie, Morgan Freeman's character Red says "Get busy living, or get busy dying."  I love that quote, and it's so appropriate. We only have so much time, and I want to spend it doing something of value. There's no point in wasting time. You can never reclaim it.

Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. -- George Bernard Shaw

Well my friends, if you read this far - congratulations! Haha, seriously though thanks for reading my ramblings. By all means feel free to leave a comment, provide some feedback, share your own experiences and thoughts, challenge some of my decisions and assumptions, etc. This is just me talking and I don't pretend to know it all. I’m wandering in the dark half the time, and I bump into a lot of furniture. :-)

I just feel like I am coming to a place where I want fewer distractions so I can spend my time on creating things of value. Social media is pretty much the biggest distraction there is, and it’s a natural place for me to start cleaning house. That is one thing that I have come to realize - I want to create things that inspire people, help them improve their own creative efforts, and just enjoy the entire process. So that’s what I plan to do with my newfound free time: create, inspire, be curious, learn, think, and grow. Sounds like a win to me.

What are you doing with social media? Feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts! Thanks for stopping by today!

How I Fell In Love With My Lensbaby Trio 28

How I Fell In Love With My Lensbaby Trio 28

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Late last year I had a birthday, and asked my wife for the Lensbaby Trio 28 as a gift. She’s not a photographer, so asking her to “figure out something cool” (and photography related, of course) for a birthday gift is like asking me to read something in Welsh. Who can figure that out on their own? I had to be specific, and specific I was. 

So she got me exactly what I asked for - the Lensbaby Trio 28 - and I thought “cool, this will be a fun little thing to play with”. I had seen example photos on the Lensbaby website but other than that, knew very little of the lens itself other than it seemed to be “different”. I wanted to try it out, and the lens is fairly priced (read: not expensive) so I figured it wasn't too big a deal to get. I knew that if I didn't like it, at least it wasn't a pricey mistake. I didn't really have any expectations about it, other than it was something new to experiment with. 

But I was way off! I had no idea I would come to absolutely adore this lens in such short order.

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You see, I have spent most of my photography life seeking those “perfect” pictures. Now to be fair, I don’t claim to have ever actually achieved anything near perfection (plus, perfection doesn't exist anyways), but that was the goal (as misguided a notion as that is). What I mean by that is that I wanted to always have nailed the focus, see limited to no noise in the finished image, have the light be well-balanced and have everything be sharp, crisp and essentially lovely all the way around. You know, perfect. :-)

So over the years I have found myself shooting lots of HDR and doing copious edits in post production to achieve my vision for a shot. And I’m still doing all that with my non-Lensbaby shots, by the way - and plan to continue. I haven’t abandoned my ship, so to speak.

But this lens has definitely opened my eyes a bit wider and given me a different (and I would argue) better perspective on things. It has taught me to think differently about my photographs.

From the initial frame taken with my Lensbaby, I knew I was in for something completely opposite of what I had always aspired to. This is not about perfection - it’s about creativity and fun. It’s about something almost whimsical, yet still beautiful. It's not about the pursuit of perfection but rather the pursuit of the simple joy of taking photographs, flaws and all. I'm hooked. I love it.

Sure, we all want to take amazing photos, and sadly that leaves many of us (myself included) disappointed when things "don't go our way" when out shooting. Maybe the light was crap, or the weather was crap, or whatever. I have had many outings where I return with plenty of images, but none of them end up being "great" shots. They don't feel creative or interesting, but rather just a picture that I took of something I saw. You know, to put it bluntly, they lack feeling.

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With this Lensbaby, it just feels different when you are taking pictures with it. I absolutely adore the look of these shots, and the bokeh is just gorgeous to my eyes. Especially at night in a city when all the lights are twinkling, this lens just helps create very compelling images.

It's caused me to think about ALL the photographs I am taking, either with the Lensbaby or without it. The pursuit of perfection is a terrible thing, frankly, and I'm done with it. Now that doesn't mean I am giving up on capturing awesome photos. In fact, quite the opposite. I think you have to have the mindset that you are out to capture an awesome photo. But my definition of an awesome photo is very different now (and this is a change that has been coming for a long time, it's just that the Lensbaby tipped me over the edge, so to speak). Awesome doesn't have to mean technically perfect, it just has to have a depth of feeling and communicate a message that is greater than just "I saw this and took a picture of it".

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I just returned from a trip to London (and all of these images are from that trip), and brought along this lens “just in case”. I had a lengthy list of spots in that gorgeous city that I planned to photograph with all my usual tactics - tripod, cable release, brackets a-firing, tightly controlled composition and framing - the works.

And while I did all of those things - in fact, I attacked them with vigor - I also started putting on the Lensbaby afterwards for something a little less “controlled”. And you know what? I had so much fun with this little lens! Generally speaking, I was using it in late afternoon and on into the evening (in other words, in low light since sunset is close to 4pm in London in the winter). 

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I wasn’t expecting much, to be honest, since I was shooting at a fixed Aperture of f/3.5 (which is how the lens operates, and an aperture I would rarely use) and was moving the ISO up fairly high (at least high compared to my normal ISO 100 setting). Plus it’s a manual focus lens and that often requires some quick work and anticipation. Again, contrary to my usual “plan it out, set up on the tripod” sort of thing.

But with this lens on my Sony I feel creative and inspired right away. You can take a mildly interesting spot and turn it into something beautiful in a single click. The lights look great, the center focus is really sharp and the gradually increasing blur just works for me.

My favorite subject matter is cityscapes and street scenes (hence the visit to London) and using this lens on the streets of London was absolutely perfect. The 28mm focal length is ideal for this type of shooting (and I have been using the Sony 28mm f/2 for several years, and love it for this subject matter too). The lens has 3 different optics which give off 3 different effects: Twist, Velvet, and Sweet Spot (and you can read about them in the specs description here). I have found that I mostly stay on the setting for Sweet Spot - it gives a crisp center area of focus with lovely bokeh emanating outwards from there. It’s gorgeous, frankly. I love the look.

So I am now convinced this is exactly the creative burst I needed in my photography. While I will continue my normal shooting techniques, I foresee bringing my Lensbaby with me all the time for some fun, whimsical yet still beautiful shots. It’s great to find a new creative outlet in photography!

You can find all Lensbaby products on Amazon right here and on the Lensbaby site here.

Note: the above Amazon links are affiliate links. This means if you buy something there after clicking my link - not just this lens, but anything at all - I get a small commission. It's one of the ways that I support this site. Thanks!

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2017 Recap: Photos, Thoughts, Insights, and What Worked for Me

2017 Recap: Photos, Thoughts, Insights, and What Worked for Me

I always enjoy coming to the end of a year and looking back on what all I did during the previous 12 months. It’s kind of fun, and a great reminder about how fortunate I am to be able to go places, take photos, and share them with the world. But it’s also easy to forget all the things that I did, since 12 months is a long time and frankly, I am a bit forgetful at times. :-)

Nonetheless, I dug through my blog and Flickr archives to get a reminder of the places I went and the photos I took, and have stuck some of my favorites here for your enjoyment. I took thousands of photos in 2017 and have not had enough time to edit that many of them, so while these are some of my favorites, I have plenty more still to process and share, and many that I don't even remember taking at this moment that are (hopefully) good ones.

Here are some of my favorite photos taken in 2017. You can click any of them to enlarge.

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Anguilla

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Emerald Lake, BC, Canada

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Hackberry, AZ

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Cannon Beach, OR

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Prague

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Rothenburg, Germany

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Tucumcari, NM

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Fussen, Germany

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Moraine Lake, Canada

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PRague

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Prague

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La Jolla, CA

After posting them and coming back to look at them, I have made a couple of observations about these photo choices that I find interesting:

• 8 of these are HDR photos (Anguilla, Tucumcari, Fussen, Hackberry, Cannon Beach, Prague 1 & 2, Rothenburg)
• 2 of these are long exposures done with my 10-stop filter (Moraine Lake and La Jolla)
• 2 of these are quick single exposures (Emerald Lake and Prague 3)

These observations lead me to some (fairly obvious) conclusions:

• I still love to process HDR photos and often find the results are quite pleasing to my eye
• I love to take really long exposures with my 10 stop filter
• I continue to be a "big color" guy at heart (though I have grown to love monochromes a lot over the years)

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But for me year-end is a time to also take stock of what has worked and what hasn’t worked, and to “adjust the sails” so to speak. In this respect I am speaking about what has worked for me in terms of growing my photography business and my blog, etc. This is a business and of course I want to grow it, so learning from the past is a big deal to me. So here goes!

So here are some things that worked for me in 2017:

On the Blog: Top Photo Spots in London, NYC, and Austin (and several others); my Macphun Presets page, Luminar Tips page, HDR Tutorial, and then some reviews.

I have learned over the last couple of years that my blog is a great resource for a couple things: lists of where to shoot, and information about Macphun/Skylum products (training, presets, etc). 

I get decent traffic on some of my reviews too, but otherwise it’s all about “where to shoot” and “how to edit”. My daily photo posts get limited traffic, frankly. My blog just isn’t about “look at this great shot I shared today” and it’s more about where to go and how to edit your photos. This has me thinking quite a bit about what I want to do going forward, and I will share those thoughts once they have crystallized a bit.

I get thousands of views each month to my Top Photo Spots lists, and frankly they don’t require any work since they are already built. Sure I can add to them if I revisit a place and get more ideas to share (and I do that sometimes) but otherwise they are somewhat static. But other than just bringing in traffic, do they do anything for me? I’m not sure, truthfully. Traffic numbers are not a goal in and of itself. Sure, people join my mailing list, but that isn’t huge and I am not very consistent with it anyway. So this is a place for improvement in how I manage my blog.

My Presets page and my other Macphun pages (Luminar Tips and HDR Tutorial) get decent traffic too, which is great because these pages actually get updates from time to time, and obviously if someone purchases my presets then I make a few bucks. I have more presets in development and will share those when they are ready. So these pages will continue to grow and evolve.

Generally speaking, this site is not about gear reviews, although I do have a few and some of them pick up some decent traffic. I may add to these over time, but I am not a gear reviewer kind of guy and this is not a big focus for me. I simply share these things when I have something I really like. So maybe I will add 1-2 this year, but likely no more than that.

YouTube:

This was a year of YouTube for me, probably more than anything else. I started the year at less than 1,000 subscribers and am sitting just over 5,500 subscribers now. This has been amazing and a LOT of fun for me. This is clearly working. :-)

I created over 75 videos last year, which was really fun but also somewhat taxing. I am not sure what my pace will be this year, but I have a lot planned so stay tuned. Even though thus far my videos are all about Luminar and Aurora HDR, I still have a lengthy list of things I want to share regarding these products, which could keep me busy for quite a while. I love the products and just enjoy doing this stuff. People have asked if I will include other products, too, so that is something I am considering, though I'm not sure which direction I would go with it since I really concentrate my editing in Luminar and Aurora HDR almost exclusively. I have to give that some thought.

I will definitely invest more into YouTube in 2018. I get more engagement here than anywhere else, and this drives interest in my presets etc. It’s a great platform for me, and I really enjoy it. More to come in 2018! Subscribe to my channel here.

Instagram:

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As with previous years, I find that I really enjoy Instagram, but I rarely put much effort into it. It is a great platform and I will continue to share my photos there, but I am not sure what my pace will be. As you can see in my "Best Nine", I barely got to 100 photos shared on IG in 2017, which just isn’t that many. I don’t do a great job of engaging there, and I don’t market myself either. I feel like I need to be more consistent there (I have gone a couple of weeks at a time between posts, which doesn’t help grow a channel), but it never comes to the top of the list when I sit down to do something. It’s just not in my DNA yet. I need to work on it.

Facebook:

I have always sort of been arms-length with Facebook, but I have to say that the Macphun/Skylum Photography group has been a real bright spot for me in 2017. I share my videos there, and everyone is very supportive of my work which is hugely appreciated. I frequently get on FB and go straight to that group to check out pics. There are some amazing photos shared there and some great people as well. It makes it worth it to log into Facebook.

Photo Processing:

Obviously I processed a fair number of photos in 2017, but truthfully it’s a lot less than you would think. Between being gone for the month of April (Germany, Prague, etc), and then on the road for 8 weeks or so this summer, and then upon returning jumping straight into making Aurora HDR videos for the Macphun website - followed by a project to create videos for them for Luminar, too - I didn’t edit nearly the number of photos that I would normally edit (not to mention all the time I spent creating my own videos). I was just extremely busy with other things. That is not a complaint - I’m really grateful for the work, and love to do it - but it’s just a fact. 

I have thousands of unedited images from this year as well as from my overseas trips in 2016 that I still want to edit and share. I put these onto Flickr as well as into my Portfolio at SmugMug, and I want to get more of my work out there. No one can find it if it sits on my hard drive, unedited. I just need to make this a priority. Plus it's just fun!

Stock Licensing:

I made a little money this year with stock photo licensing, which is great. In some respects it’s money that comes in on auto-pilot, because once they are approved and uploaded by the agency, I don’t have to do anything. But truthfully it’s a lot of work to get photos ready, uploaded and then (hopefully) approved, and I haven’t added any in a long time.

The only real way to make any money with stock licensing is to have a huge volume of work available, which is not my situation at all. I have somewhere less than 100 photos out there, so I want to add to that in 2018. This area could use a lot of expansion and improvement in 2018. Again, I need to make this a priority, though I already have several priorities and you can only do so much. :-)

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Summary and Parting Thoughts

So that’s about it for this bit of rambling and recap of this past year. I think 2017 was an exceptional year, and I was able to go to some amazing places and take photos that I really love. That’s always a win in my book. My business grew, I created a lot of things that I am proud of, and I had fun doing it. I consider that a successful year. I will look back on 2017 fondly.

I will be back soon with some thoughts on what I plan to do in 2018.

Thanks so much for your support in 2017, I appreciate it!

10 Reasons to Upgrade to Luminar 2018

I'm a HUGE fan of Luminar 2018 and put together this video to tell you why I think the 2018 version is a worthy upgrade. Check it out!

There are plenty of new filters, a new UI, plus tons of other great stuff in this amazing product. I use it on every photo now and am very happy with it. Check out the video and let me know your thoughts!

And yes, there is an awesome Black Friday deal you can get, too!

Read about the Black Friday deal right here. Thanks!

Ok, here's the video, and enjoy!

Get your copy of Luminar here: http://bit.ly/2hWBNZ5 Use coupon code JIMNIX to save $10! Subscribe to my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/jimnix Subscribe to my newsletter for tips, tricks and insights: http://eepurl.com/kjdfX Like my free training videos? Buy me a taco! :-) You can simply click this link https://www.paypal.me/jimnix and make a donation of your choice.

Luminar or Aurora HDR - Which One is Right for me?

Should you get Luminar, or should you get Aurora HDR? What's the difference? Which one is best for your style of photography?

I get these questions just about every week, and I finally sat down and shared my thoughts on it in this YouTube video. Take a look and let me know your thoughts!

Get your copy of Luminar here: http://bit.ly/2hWBNZ5 Get your copy of Aurora HDR here: http://bit.ly/2xAyOk4 Subscribe to my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/jimnix Subscribe to my newsletter for tips, tricks and insights: http://eepurl.com/kjdfX Like my free training videos? Buy me a taco! :-) You can simply click this link https://www.paypal.me/jimnix and make a donation of your choice.