After a day of seeing and photographing interesting things I go through my photos, sometimes hundreds, and edit the best ones. When I’m done I have a group of photos I want to share with the world right away.
At that point I am overwhelmed. I don’t know where I ought to share them.
I will share them on my blog, but I’ve queued those posts weeks in advance. Do I share multiple posts some days? If I do that, what if I run out of posts later? That is not likely, but I still wonder. Do I tack the new photos to the end of the queue, sharing them long after this first rush of excitement is gone? (At least I’m certain I will not insert these new posts at the beginning of the queue; I don’t yet know of an automated way to reschedule the remaining posts in the WordPress queue.)
I could choose various social media outlets to share them to, but only the ones my blog doesn’t mirror to: Facebook groups, Google Plus communities, Diaspora, Tumblr rebloggers, Instagram, VSCO, and EyeEm. But does individually uploading my photos to different places dilute my brand? The possibility of brand dilution scares me, because I want to be taken seriously in the fine art world. (This assumes anyone is looking. Is anyone looking? Will anyone ever look? These are questions I cannot afford to think about right now, or my temporary paralysis could become permanent!) On the one hand I agree with those who have told me to share without fear. That gives me joy, and joy is one of my main reasons for sharing. On the other hand I agree with those who warn against diluting my brand by sharing my work too widely. Lack of access could raise my value. Or it could ensure no one will ever know I exist while I’m alive. (I don’t want to be Vivian Maier. I want my flowers while I’m living.)
In the end I will choose a place and post a photo. That will open the floodgates, and I will keep posting from this latest photo outing until I am bored. Then the process will start all over again the next time I go shooting.
