Chasing Light - Continued

Last week felt like a failure.

The goal was simple: focus on light and make it the hero of my images.
Instead, its nemesis—shadow—took over.

I kept getting pulled toward shadow because it was easier.
Light felt harder to compose with. Harder to control. Harder to build around.

But looking back, light wasn’t elusive.

I saw it everywhere.
I studied it.
I watched how it shaped subjects… how it created depth… how it gave scenes life.

I just couldn’t make it the star.

In the moment, the week felt like a loss.

We had a busy family week, and I didn’t have much time to shoot. When I did, I found myself rushing—just trying to get something to keep the “photo a day” streak alive.

Some of the images I posted honestly felt borderline embarrassing.

But that’s part of it.

I knew going into this that not every day would be good.
I just didn’t expect a full week like that.

Still… I kept showing up. And I’m proud of that.

What I realized—after the fact—is that there was progress.

Even if I wasn’t capturing great images, I was learning.
I was seeing differently.

And over the last couple days, something started to shift.

I’m not shooting more… but I’m shooting better.

The images I am capturing have more intention. More structure.
More story.

With the 35mm especially, I’m starting to see how I want to use it:

A clear subject.
Supporting elements.
Foreground, middle, background.
A beginning, middle, and end.

That feels like progress.

I also went back to studying photo books—looking at how other photographers make light the hero in everyday scenes.

That helped.

But at the end of the day, I think the answer is simple:

I need more reps.

That’s where Project 365 is working.

Even on bad days, I’m picking up the camera.
I’m paying attention.
I’m seeing.

And over time, that compounds.

So what did I actually learn?

You can’t force images.
You have to slow down.
You have to be willing to get uncomfortable to find the right perspective.
And you have to keep studying light—every single day.

This week reminded me a lot of running.

When I first hit 8 miles, I thought that was my limit.
Then I pushed through and got to 15.
Then I hit another wall at 16.

At first, I’d stop.

Eventually, I realized those weren’t limits—they were just lows.

Some lasted a mile. Some lasted the whole run.
But if I pushed through, I could keep going.

My longest run was 40 miles. And it was full of those lows.

This felt the same.

Last week was a low.

And I’m already starting to come out of it.

I love creating. So I just need to create.

It won’t always be good.
It won’t always be clean.

But the path is forward.

So I’m continuing the experiment.

Another week of chasing light.

Maybe that means putting myself in more uncomfortable situations.
Maybe it means leaning into street photography a bit more.

We’ll see.

The goal stays the same:

Keep showing up.

Progress might be slower than expected, but it will compound.

One thing I added this week—writing by hand before I come to the keyboard.

It slows me down.
It forces clarity.

And honestly, I’m enjoying the process even more.

And yeah… I do want this to turn into something.

I want to succeed.
I want people to connect with the work.
I want to inspire someone else who’s struggling like I am.

Maybe even build something that supports me one day.

But right now?

This is for me.

To rebuild something I love.
To grow.
To figure it out.

As long as I’m having fun and moving forward…
that’s enough.