The line Between Shooting and Promoting

I've seemed to fall victim to this thing we all like to call "Social Networking". Don't get me wrong, it's a GREAT way to network, connect with people, and market yourself, but there is a line that photographers, including myself, need to be aware of so that you don't find yourself addicted to online marketing and forgetting about what you actually do, take pictures.

I was at a book showing earlier this week, and the photographer was talking with me about how he was still trying to decide whether or not it would be beneficial for him to get involved with the whole social networking world of photography. He couldn't help but think that it could be a waste of time, since you stay stuck inside instead of actually bettering yourself by going out and shooting. He made some really great points, and thinking about it, I found that lately a lot of my time has been spent looking at a computer screen, rather than looking through my lens. I really admired everything he had to say, and it really motivated me to get out and go shoot even if it meant photographing things I wasn't necessarily used to photographing. So, I grabbed my bag, headed down to the beach, and started making photographs again, and it felt great!

So, Although social networking is a great thing to be a part of, I have to keep reminding myself that in order to improve, I need to continue to shoot every day!