One of the benefits of starting to disengage myself from social media is rediscovering RSS feeds for news sites I follow (instead of relying on a billionaire funded algorithm) as well as finding blogs that have really good writing. Case in point, this article from a couple of days ago describing the evolution and future role of social media in photography. Photographers After Social Media Unlike the author, I’ve never cared for Instagram. The limitations of the format that it allows always seemed heavy handed, arbitrary and hostile to photographers. And anytime I posted a photo of our dogs I got inundated with spam offers of monetizing my content.  But as he points out, now it’s just a metastasizing thing that defies description. I used to love Flickr. It always seemed to have great respect for photographers, and at the time had a vibrant community and the ability to find groups with common interests. I’ve had an account since 2007. I might start using it again but I was way over t...

It’s easy to tell yourself “it’s too cold outside to do anything”. Easy to make excuses not to go outside. But sometimes you just have to say “fuck it”, get bundled up and head outside looking for some beauty in the frigid cold.   It’s not like I’m going to find polar bears, or penguins or any other types of arctic wildlife, or even the Aurora borealis (although we did get the Aurora a few months ago). This is the ‘burbs.  If you slow down, and take the time to notice what’s around you, sometimes you can find beauty.  These prints are available for purchase from my SmugMug Gallery.

  Do I really need another social media presence? Maybe, maybe not. But about 4 months ago I signed up for a limited beta of a new photo sharing app. Foto is still under development, and so far only available on mobile devices. Their beta program is currently capped out in terms of users.  After signing up for it I didn’t really do anything with it for months, sort of wasting that slot in their beta program. But recently my thoughts on social media, and photo sharing have crystallized around detangling myself from algorithm-driven social media platforms.  When I first started getting serious about photography, I was really active on Flickr. The photo on this post was one of my favorites from those days. I learned a ton about photography, and met some really good friends through Flickr. Then I put my cameras aside for about 10 years for various reasons. When I go back to Flickr now, it just doesn’t resonate with me the same way.  As I’m getting back into photography n...

Thank you so much for the first sales on my Etsy shop. Woohoo!  I know it’s a small step, and I’m still learning the ins and outs of selling with a print on demand service through Etsy, but it’s a first step. Now that I’m past my first sales, and I’ve had a first hand look at the quality of the final product being produced, I’m going to be a lot more active uploading merch to my Etsy store, and SmugMug gallery. Onward and upward.  Happy Monday!

I stopped by Eagle Creek Reservoir yesterday afternoon on my way up to the north side of town for other business. Eagle Creek Park is one of the largest urban parks in the United States. It's a favorite spot for local photographers doing some nature photography. Yesterday the conditions were almost a white-out. No wind, mild temperatures, and heavy show and overcast giving flat lighting conditions perfect for this high key image. #embracewinter 

  We’re entering the part of the year when winter is truly settling in. Even though the days are getting longer, the end of year holidays are over and we’re entering the home stretch of the dark season before spring arrives. In the spirit of fully embracing my art, regardless of the season or weather, here are some images I took today on my way back home after trying to do some photography at a wildlife refuge south of where we live.  Unfortunately the roads in the refuge were still trashed after heavy snow earlier this week, so I thought I was heading home empty handed. On the way home the sun filtering through the overcast clouds gave the farmland a dreamy appearance that I had to capture. I’m happy I pulled over to the side of the road to take these photos, five minutes later the sun came out and the image was gone.

I’m making a concerted effort to get out and shoot on a regular basis, regardless of other distractions that might get in the way. Even if it means just going out in our backyard.  We got our first significant snow of the 2024-25 winter over the last 24 hours. Almost 8 inches just south of Indianapolis. After taking care of our driveway this morning, and those of two elderly neighbors, and a short well deserved nap, I decided to head out to the back of our property to take some photos of the remnants of native plants in the snow. I had planned on going out to a local park to shoot, but most of our county was under a travel warning, limiting all non-essential travel for most of the day. I’m happy with these results, post-processed to give high-key images that I think do a good job of reflecting the mood of freshly fallen snow.

 I absolutely love this advice.  I’ve listened to this podcast four times in the last 2 days. That’s a huge deal for me, because I don’t listen to podcasts, or listen to audio books.  Foto Podcast 015 - Daniel Milnor - by Michael Howard - Foto But this podcast really resonated with me. I’ve struggled a bit with just how to proceed with developing my art, especially with generative AI flooding the market with crap.  I’ve often said that I’m happiest when I can slow down, and take my time composing an image, whether it’s with my tripod or lying on my belly skooching (is that a word, iOS doesn’t seem to think it is?) back and forth till I find the right angle. But I’ve never thought of it in the context of developing my craft. Now I do.  This advice helps me put things into perspective as I dive deeper into the world of being an artist (albeit one that’s not starving). 

It’s a new year. When I worked full time the end of the year between Christmas and New Years served as a time to look back and reflect on the previous 12 months. A lot of that was enforced by the structure of my career, with annual performance reviews at the end of each year, and project planning for the next. Now that I’m retired without a full time job I’m finding that this end of year ritual is becoming less and less a part of my life. To the extent that I still use the end of the year to reflect on the year, it tends to be a peripheral thing absorbed from the people around me who still do that.  I also don’t do New Year’s resolutions, since they almost never stick. Making sustainable changes in your life is difficult. When I retired just over 4 years ago, I didn’t set out to improve my health. It just happened as a result of lower stress, improved diet and a less sedentary lifestyle. But in the spirit of making changes in the new year, I’ve decided to make a concerted effort in...