Captured Memories

I've started a new endeavor. Not sure anything will come of it, but as my mom always said, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." So, I'm venturing. We'll see if there's anything gained.

I have tons of photos on my computer. Just tucked away in folders. Every now and then I'll open the folders and go through them. I thought about printing them and making albums, but I'm really the only one who would enjoy flipping through the pages. I thought about having a couple put on canvas to hang on my walls, and I still might do this. Then I thought: Why not put them on a photo platform and see if I can make some money from them?

For the last six or seven months, I've been thinking through if I should try this or just let it go (yeah, I tend to take a long time to come to some decisions). I talked about this with the kids, and they shrugged, giving me the standard young person response, "You do you."

So I'm doing me. A couple of days ago I finally decided to give it a try. Why not? The photos are just gathering cyber dust.

I spent some time doing research to find out which platforms are best. After reading through several articles, I made my decision and joined a photo platform then uploaded some images for consideration. Of the thirteen I submitted, two were accepted. The other eleven didn't make the cut for mostly one reason: I had played with them too much in the editing program. I quickly realized those who operate the platform want unedited images, or at the very least very minimal editing. Thankfully, I have all the originals, most of which are in RAW format. This evening, I'll put together a batch of unedited RAW images and submit those to see what happens.

When I saw the eleven that had been rejected then read the reasons for said rejections, my first thought was: This is just like writing a poem, a short story, a novel. There's an audience out there that I need to keep in mind. I had edited all the photos to suit my likes, what I enjoy seeing in a photo. Those edits aren't necessarily what an audience will like. I think, too, part of the reason those in charge want mostly unedited images is so the person who buys them can edit them to their liking, which makes sense.

Today, as I was out for a walk with the boys, we approached a tree they always stop to sniff. Right at their nose level was this beauty. I haven't seen a Luna moth in years, so it was such a wonderful moment to see this beautiful creature in a spot I could capture a photo of it and forever have the memory.