Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres - Episode 4 – The beginning of the end, or the beginning of the beginning?

Yes, I know, there's a lot of beginnings in the title of this blog, but I'm trying to be optimistic...

As the Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres video podcasts continue, the hope was it would start gathering a following, and numbers of views, length of time people stuck with it, and the amount of comments and engagement, would all increase.

And yet, when I start analysing the statistics and "insights" on Facebook, it seems to be moving in the opposite direction.

4 episodes is way too few to really get a proper sense of how its going to go, but of course I can't help obsessively looking for trends, even this early on.

Is it working? Will I become an international superstar before the end of Lockdown? Or is it all going to pitifully and humiliatingly grind to a halt, and end with nothing more than a barely perceptible whimper lost in the breeze?

But while a downhill trend, however slight, might seem to be a soul-deflating warning flag, there is another interpretation.

Simply put, the first ones were probably be more likely to be more engaged and well attended because of the novelty value, and a number of friends wishing to show their support, even if they are not particularly interested in photography.

So a drop in numbers is not necessarily an indication of an imminent end, but rather a thinning out of the well wishers, and a settling in of the hardcore fans and enthusiasts.

The numbers might be lower, but the commitment could be higher.

And that, is really where all creatives want to be.

Sure, large numbers of fans look good from the outside, but if the followers don't actually care then it's all a bit pointless. It's like the Instagram pages you find with 80,000 followers, but hardly any of the posts have any likes or comments. The followers were probably paid for by one of those schemes.

It becomes important, therefore, to establish a baseline – to have that solid, core group to build out from, if we want to last the distance and grow into the future.

Of course, if I keep screwing up the introductions, I might eventually piss off even the most committed fans...

So here is Episode 4 of Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres. In this episode I talk about the shoot I did with Rosset Bespoke Butlers, and the compositional technique of asymmetrical symmetry, as well as the Critique section where I offer feedback and advice for people to improve particular images.

This is the YouTube version, where I've cut out a couple of the longer pauses when I was caught up in the technicals.

If you've not done so already, please subscribe to my YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/kimayres – to help me build the numbers.

And, or course, if you would like to submit a photo for feedback, or just ask a photography related question, then do join my Understanding Photography with Kim Ayres Facebook group and I will put it into the following podcast:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/240842990388815/



0:00 - Messing up my introduction... again
0:32 - Story behind the photo shoot for Rosset Bespoke Bulters
8:24 - Introduction to the idea of asymmetrical symmetry
19:15 - Critiques of submitted photos