Rose Petals and Faerie Dust: Instagram and Photography

I am not at ease with photography. I hate feeling watched and rushed. I don't understand it or what I'm missing easily. It just doesn't click for me very well. But I've made HUGE progress. I need to keep it up. I'm need to find balance. I don't have to have tons of photos for my blog, but I do need to take photos of my life to preserve memories. And if I want good photos, then I need practice.

I'm a perfectionist. I think that quality is important. This clashes with the fact that I think that not wasting time is important and that I tend to want to see instant results; well, I cannot deliver results without practice. I tend to give up. I tend to waste time in other ways though; I need to learn balance. If I'm annoying impatient people (ahem), I need to learn to speed up my process and to take a break (I didn't need to get San Diego Zoo photos). I need to think in terms of practice as well as time management. I need to think in terms of life as well as blog (by the way, some people have talked of using their blog to preserve memories, to possibly print later; I think that is a lovely idea).

I got on Instagram to grow my blog. After looking at the labor of putting DSLR photos on Instagram, I opted to use my iPhone which I usually use only for my pets, library re-borrowing stacks, and photos for ideas or for notes. I felt pressured on Instagram and was unhappy with my photos even after spending too much effort on them. I found a tutorial that explained editing. . . what a crazy lot of time for "snaps" to go on Instagram. And then I spent so much time scrolling through my feed and not receiving much in return. A low inspiration to time ratio. I got off Instagram. I think that if I ever do use it for my blog, I will try to use photos that I've already taken even if it is tedious. That seems a better use of my time.

I don't want to spend time on iPhone photos that aren't worth much. I want to focus on quality photos, BUT I do think I need to be willing to sacrifice quality for memories when need be instead of the other way around. These however, wouldn't be for my blog, when I take iPhone photos for my blog, I'm being lazy, when I use them for family and friends, I'm being practical; there will be some moments I miss or people I annoy if don't allow for this.

I need to work on my composition. I love Ginny Sheller's style of photography; I want to catch moments and style crafts like that. I focus so much on pristine photos, but I like this blog; the lady's photos aren't professional but the colors, lighting, subjects, and composition are interesting and in photojournalism style.

I just spilled all my internal processing out; I'm not a succinct or lucid person, so I don't know if any of this made sense. I'm just trying to work out what works for me.