I’ve had a keen interest in photography for almost ten years now, and am still enjoying making nice pictures. One of my favourite subjects is creating portraits. I love trying to catch people on film (disk), showing the beauty I see in them.
You might even argue that photography is making portraits in general. You are portraying landscapes, cities, animals… presenting them in special ways, connecting with the people who look at the pictures.
I’m a bit shy about making portraits, though. I always hesitate to just point the camera at people and invade their privacy in a way. If I feel at ease with people (or if they outright ask me to take their picture) it’s better. Making those portraits is also a way for me to circulate around groups as an introvert, being there, but also having a bit of a distance. It works for me, somehow.
Now, I love to share the pictures I make. Last year I did a challenge called 100 Happy Days, and posted a picture every day of something that made me happy. This was also kind of my introduction to Instagram. I shared the pictures there and on Facebook, and it was fun to do.
Lately I’ve been taking more pictures again, and sharing them on Facebook sometimes feels a bit much. I don’t want to overshare, but only share with people who are really interested. So I’m now posting the pictures to Instagram only (with a rare exception).
I’ve also discovered that adding tags to your pictures makes it easier for people to find them in the tsunami of pictures that is posted every day. They don’t really look nice, but are very useful. I’ve also found people with similar interest by looking at photos tagged with something I like.
As I’m a bit reluctant to post portraits of people, I’ve instead opted to post portraits of my cats, Freya and Fiona. I also post pictures of the things I make, and I post pictures I take on my daily lunch walks. All three of these subjects have their own crowd, with a surprisingly big overlap between cat lovers and crafters. It’s fun to connect to other people who have similar interests to your own, and see what they are up to. I’ve even found Freya’s twin, who is called the_unimpressed_cat on Instagram.
If you are not on Instagram, you can still see my pictures. I have added a plugin to my website so that I can display the latest pictures here too. At the top of the page you will now find a “My photos” link, which will bring you to a page where you can see my most recent photographs.