The beginning of the end?

Hello,

I'm sure this won't be read by many. It won't be promoted anywhere. The process has already begun. I've come to realize that promoting myself constantly through social media is not something I am comfortable doing, and a lack of doing so can cause a negative effect on my business.

That being said, I have decided to close my Facebook and Instagram photography pages due to lack of interest (both on my part and "followers"). As well, I am no longer promoting myself as a business, but rather use photography for more enjoyable purposes. That doesn't mean I will turn down an offer to take someone's portraits or capture an event, but I will not be putting any focus into promoting myself for these opportunities.

We are over halfway through 2018, and I can personally say my life has changed so much from this point last year. Generally speaking all of the change is for the better. Something I realized about myself was that social media was constantly causing a negative toll on my mental health. There is always that lingering feeling that you have to post about your life on various pages, and it just gets to be too much, especially when half of the content is fabricated to make it seem as if you are living the fairytale life.

So my journey began with deleting Snapchat around March 2018 which has in itself significantly improved my well-being. Currently I am trying to avoid Facebook as much as possible though it is difficult. To help with this, I realized it would be best to delete my "bd imaging" Facebook page as it was inactive and constantly losing followers. The next step was to use Instagram as little as possible which is by far the most challenging social media to rid of. I don't think I could ever delete my primary account, but I knew I only posted on my photography account maybe once a month, if that. There were only 20 pictures on the page anyways and only about 100 followers which really is not a lot in terms of promoting a brand.

A struggle I've dealt with in photography is constantly comparing myself to others and seeing how many friends in similar educational backgrounds are doing so successfully in their businesses and receiving unimaginable opportunities. I learned to accept that these people had to frequently promote themselves and build connections in order to create their opportunities. From there I learned to accept that if I wasn't going to put in 100% of the work, then nothing was going to happen with my business. I would rather be happy taking photographs that I love instead of constantly attempting to promote myself with photographs I may not be proud of.

With all that is said, bd imaging is not dead but it is not my primary focus in life. I am working a full-time job that I am very happy with, and I am focusing on paying off all debts and moving into an apartment in the near(ish) future. I am also focused on staying healthy and happy and being hypocritical by posting this on social media (but hey, the message had to get out somehow!).

Thank you to all who have contacted me since I began bd imaging around 2013 (originally bd photography) for the enjoyable opportunities. We'll just have to see what happens in the future!