February 2025
About the first light of 2025, and how it went away!
Hi there,
Welcome to the inaugural edition of my infrequent informational update newsletter!
First, welcome! I'm still finding my ground here, and I am overwhelmed by the number of friends signing up to read this. You are awesome!
A recap
Near the end of 2024 I was.. done? I was not happy about my photography skills, my results, or anything. So I performed some analytics on my own shoots, and got a clear message: do less!
So, this is me, doing less!
Why a newsletter?
The traditional forms of social media are blocking me. The careful curation required to have content be visible, the limitation of having everything be in 15 second bitesized messages or less. The forever pressure of having everything I create being judged by an algorithm that haphazardly decides to either boost it or trash it for being wrong. It does not feel like my spot, my place. My photos do not feel like my own.
Maybe, probably, this shows my age. Maybe not.
So when forward does not work. Move backward. Websites and newsletters! My website is my own. My spot where I curate my photos. Where I show what I have created, and where I tell stories to the world. It's old-tek. Server managed by me. Site owned by me. If something gets reported, I get the report.
Downside? Reach. I know a few of you have my site in your bookmarks bar and regularly check.. and wow, thank you! I also know a lot of you want to visit but (like me) forget. So, that's where the newsletter comes in!
What can you expect from this newsletter?
First: updates on what I have created! Sometimes with many words, sometimes with less. I expect some rambles on photography life, new techniques or things that just sparked interest. I will write as I am, so chaotic and honest. No polishing via chatgpt, no trying to produce content when there isn't. Just me.
Don't expect perfection. Expect honesty, expect broken experiments. Expect to read about places where I wanted to go but couldn't. All this belongs here.
I am aiming to send out something once a month. Sometimes more. Sometimes less.
If you joined up to see what is going on? Cool! I appreciate you, and hope to share some small things with you over time! Feel free to forward this to anyone that you care about that you think might love this too, or link them to my newsletter signup page!
And very lastly, the one thing this will lack is feedback. So, do let me know what you think. Missing something you'd like to know about? Have ideas of what I should do next? Want to work together one day? I always love a fun chat!
With kind obligationless regards,
Ork
![ORKF8473]()
My first shoot of the year! In early January I had the opportunity to visit the studio of Laurier Design! Amazing place. Very dusty though. Everything got dusty. My camera was sad. Sad camera! I raced back home afterwards, mostly to really ensure none of this dust got inside.
That's actually odd, because - and you know if you seen how I treat my gear - I never actively care. If it works, I will use it. It's a tool. I do however expect reliability. And this felt needed.
Model: c3lestial_cosplay![ORKF8521]()
Laurier Design also had this amazing mirror room! Very tricky to shoot in. Not just because it was totally dark and I was underprepared with my minimal arsenal of portable light. But mostly because, as I am not a vampire, I will be seen in mirrors.
Model: selkie_flame![ORKF8748]()
Indoor work next! Life has been busy for both of us, luckily Julia and I both found the time for some pure no reasons needed no story given conceptual work. Just us, lights, and toying with possibilities! In this case, this random piece of amazing chainmail that I really wanted to capture!
Model: Julia Filament![ORKF8877]()
For the second concept I went traditional Ork. Read: I wanted to do something with smoke that not everyone is doing. In this case: a cube, covered in plastic, and see what happens when you break through! Not the first time I did this, but certainly something I wanted to revisit for a while, as my light style and techniques have changed a lot since then.
And that.. worked! I rediscovered I genuinely missed doing this kind of shoot. Ultimately, Julia and I ended up with 4 different shoots altogether that day.
Model: Julia Filament![ORKF0394]()
In February it finally happened! Sunlight! Pack stuff, travel, and go! Outdoor shoot number 1 is a fact! This shoot was originally planned for a different spot, but obviously that burned down that week. So cyberpunk in nature it is!
Model: Flora, cyberpunky latex by Lizzy![ORKF0647]()
The next day we rode out before dawn to catch some sunlight! It must be beautiful, because it was yesterday! Turns out: no. The rest of the week was a dull grey nothingness. Still, we caught some lamp light. That got to account for something right?
Model: Flora
