It’s funny, I’ve been getting a lot of attention lately, due to writing these blogs, posting or notifying on Instagram and Facebook about being in a magazine and getting my work displayed at a local restaurant, and because I’ve been talking about other projects I’ve been working on as well. The attention is great, since that means I’m connecting with people (my overall goal to begin with). But I still don’t know how I feel about all of it, I’m still trying to figure out where to go with my photography business, I’m still trying to keep my website organized and put together, and on top of all that I try to get out and do what it is that puts all these things together (Photography).
So when people reach out to me to ask things like, “How’d you get into a magazine? How’d you get your work displayed? What settings did you use to shoot that photo, and how’d you edit that?”, so on and so on, I almost feel bad for not being able to give them the full attention and response I should. I try my best to answer everyone without being abrasive or frustrated because I have so much going on. I also try to remember that I put myself out there on social media in the first place for the world to connect with me, for my work to be seen, and to try and build a customer base (eventually). So I try my best to respond, reply, answer questions and be tentative the best that I can, but I definitely feel like “The Grind” is, or has got to me.
Now, please don’t take these words as a complaint in any way, as I couldn’t be more excited and happy to see things “forming” or “coming together”. I’ve busted my ass, and put my nose to the grindstone, over the past year to try and start my own business, and I’m not going to let it break down or crumble now. It’s not so much a matter of lessening one thing to focus more on another, it’s about smoothing out the flow of everything, learning to shape the organization needed to build a better business, and grind out even more through planning and consistency to reach an even wider audience. Everything I’ve learned so far in regards to photography, business, website construction, and multi-media platforms has come from failing a lot, but having the grit to get back up and try again and again. So I may not be the best at anything, but I’m at least still trying to be better than I was yesterday.
“Textbook Texture”
Taken on November 24th, 2021 with my iPhone 12 Pro Max, at Norm’s Market in Lake Stevens Washington. One of the only iPhone photos I’ve taken that I’ve fallen head over heels in love with. I had just recently bought my phone, and I’d just recently purchased my first “real” camera (Sony A7iii) not too long before this photo was taken as well.
It was captured during a time where I wasn’t very knowledgable with composition or exposure, and also a time when I was exploring more editing of other peoples photos in Lightroom, instead of capturing my own. When I snapped this photo I was trying to see what things looked like from different angles, and there’s actually another shot from on top of my car. I was crouched down as far as I could go, phone upside down and placed on the ground. It took me close to 5 minutes to set up what I wanted to shoot before pressing the button. But what I walked away with almost instantly blew me away. Seeing all the different textures, fine gravel like pavement in the foreground, large stones for a wall in the middle of the image, and smooth glass/neon and metal throughout the top two thirds of the photo, it all just seemed to work so well together and without much effort.
Textbook Texture is always a great reminder to myself that there are things that are going to be rough, smooth, or different grades of coarseness. But if I can figure out how to organize them and keep them together, the big picture will come out looking amazing, at least to me.
As always, I hope you enjoy these posts and the photos attached. If you’d like to continue on the conversation, or any other conversation, I’d love to talk and take inspiration for future writings. Feel free to email me at grimlockmedia@gmail.com
Catch y’all later.
Andrew Hoyle - Grimlock Media
