A Fresh Start

Departing the full-time YouTube world, and other changes...

Hey, everybody. I want to say thanks for checking out this first issue of Field Notes.

Some of you may have subscribed to the newsletter I used to send out (under the same title). This is very much a continuation of that, but with a more laid-back (and consistent) approach—sharing a BTS of my creative process throughout the week, as well as lessons that I’ve learned, new things I’m experimenting with, other photographer’s work that has inspired me, and whatever else I feel might be exciting or useful to you all.

Thanks to Dan Rubin for the profile picture!

Change

This newsletter is something that I’ve wanted to bring back for a while, and it’s happening because of some changes I’m making.

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance that you’re familiar with my YouTube channel. I started it in 2017 as I dove back into the world of film photography, as a way to share the things that I was learning. During that time, I was travelling in a truck and trailer across North America on a year-long hiatus from my video production career.

Fast forward a few years later to 2020 and YouTube became my full-time gig. That was never really the plan, it just evolved and got to a point where it was feasible, and it seemed like an interesting next step. It also came at a time when I had moved to England and was, in a way, starting over.

It’s been a big learning curve, and full of challenges, but I’m incredibly grateful that enough people have shown interest in my work, allowing me to pursue it as a job. I don’t take that for granted.

That being said, it feels like it’s time to scale things back and focus some energy on other outlets in the photography world.

I’m not going to stop entirely, but making videos consistently, and having everything hinge on their performance has started to impact how much I enjoy it. It’s also made me overthink things like crazy.

When it’s your main source of income, it’s easy to obsess over performance. Views and subscribers do matter. And that often leads to me struggling with titles, thumbnails, and video ideas.

How do you get people in the door to watch a video, without falling into the attention-grab clickbait trap?

That is something that always challenged me. Your work can and will easily get lost in the sea of content online.

Also, as much as I enjoy messing around with gear, there are a lot of things I love talking about that don’t seem to be hugely popular on that platform. For example, a video about a photobook will get way fewer views than a camera review.

And I’m completely ok with that if I’m not reliant on it to earn income.

Finally, YouTube has kept me so busy that I have zero time for the other things on my to-do list.

Social Media Is Getting Noisy

As much as this decision is about freeing up time and focus, it’s also due to some general social media overwhelm and feeling like things are getting a bit crazy.

I’ve found that as I spend more time on specific social platforms, it’s started to impact me in several ways—including how I feel about my work, letting labels and stereotypes frustrate me, and just being a bit exhausted by all of the noise and banter.

It feels like recently there’s been people dishing out hot takes non-stop, complaining about what others are making images of, arguing about gear, saying rude ass shit to one another, bashing other people’s work, and so on.

I know that things like that have and will always be around, and as a result, it’s important to be thoughtful about where you place your focus.

There’s a lot of great stuff to be found online—connections with artists, other work that inspires me, newsletters, podcasts, videos, and smaller communities—and my goal is to free up more time for those things.

Moving Forward

I’ll still create work for YouTube when I feel like I have something helpful or interesting to share. There could be one video a month, maybe three another month, and then none for two months.

I’ll make videos when the ideas and energy are strong, and won’t when they’re not. If ten people connect with a video, great. If ten thousand do, that’s great as well.

The funny thing is, as I write this, the idea of scaling back YouTube makes me more excited about YouTube.

I’m leaving it open right now, and we’ll see where things go.

But beyond that, I believe there’s an opportunity to work in a smaller space that brings together people who are after the same things, without some of the distracting noise.

For me, that’s bringing back the podcast, doing this newsletter, working on my next photobook/s, and finally starting to offer workshops (offline and online) and creative retreats. I also love the idea of a photo community.

This is all about finding a better balance, rather than being consumed by one thing.

Thank You

So yeah, I want to close this out by saying thank you. Again, if it weren’t for all of you being interested in my work, watching my videos, and supporting me by purchasing a book, print, or sending me emails and messages, I wouldn’t have been able to transition into doing this full-time. I don’t take it for granted.

My focus is still to make and share things that will help you with your photography and creative process, and I’m excited to pursue different avenues with that and see what comes of it.

Talk soon!

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This issue of Field Notes was released on Tuesday (as a way to get the ball rolling), but you can expect them every Monday from here on out.

Next week, we’ll look at a recent favourite photobook of mine and how it inspired me to start using a new tool. I was up in North Wales last week experimenting with it, and I’m pretty excited about the results. 

I’d love to hear from you below, and if you enjoyed reading this newsletter, it would be great if you subscribed!