[R135] 🥾 The One Thing Missing From Photos

Travel teaches patience; photography teaches attention. (my favourite quote this week)

Hello Hello 👋 Quick Catch-Up From Last Week ⁍ From the JustDraft about Rule of 40 for SaaS Companies . ⁍ Read our LensLetter Archive about Stop Using Wide Angles for Everything LensLetter is back after 3 weeks of break. Happy New Year ! Did you make any resolutions? Already broken a few? But here's something I've been thinking about lately that might actually stick with us through 2026 and beyond. We all know that feeling when we first picked up a camera. That pure excitement of capturing light, freezing a moment, creating something that didn't exist before. No thoughts about likes, followers, or whether it would "perform well." Just pure creative joy. So what happened to that? When Creating Becomes a Transaction Here's the uncomfortable truth: somewhere along the way, many of us stopped creating for the love of it and started creating to get something from it. Social media recognition. More followers. Book deals. Exhibition invites. Paid gigs. And look, there's nothing wrong with wanting those things. I want them too. But when your creative work becomes ONLY a means to an end? That's when things get messy. Because here's what happens when you create solely to chase metrics: You start copying trends. You see what works for others and think, "Maybe if I shoot like that, the algorithm will love me too." Soon, your work looks like everyone else's. And ironically, that makes it even harder to stand out. Your photos just get buried under a flood of similar images. People can tell. Your audience isn't stupid. They're surprisingly good at sensing when your heart isn't really in it. Nobody wants to follow a photographer whose work feels like a thinly veiled self-promotion campaign. So ask yourself: Are your goals about doing work you truly love? Or are they more about the rewards you hope to get from it? The best photographs aren't taken when you're searching for approval – they're made when you're too absorbed in the moment to care. The Magnetic Power of Genuine Passion Now, this doesn't mean wanting an audience is wrong. Art completes its cycle when it's appreciated by someone else. We all love sharing our work and getting feedback (especially the positive kind, right?). But chasing attention by compromising yourself? That's not the way to build something meaningful. That's the express lane to burnout and creative emptiness. Think about the creators you genuinely enjoy following. Maybe they restore old cameras, develop film in their kitchen, or shoot nothing but street scenes in their neighbourhood. What makes you keep watching? It's not their follower count. It's their genuine love for what they do. I follow several YouTube channels about flying plane, unique architecture or homelab I know absolutely nothing about. But the artists behind them create with such obvious passion that I'm captivated by their love for the craft. It's magnetic. Sometimes we have to watch someone love something before we can love it ourselves. 5 Ways to Reconnect with Your Photography Love Create Without Sharing - Try this: shoot for a week without posting anything. No Instagram. No sharing. Just you and your camera. See how it changes what you photograph and how you feel about it. You might be surprised at how freeing it is. Revisit Your Earliest Work - Scroll back to your first photos. Before you knew the "rules." Before you worried about engagement. What were you drawn to then? That curiosity is still in you. Shoot Something Completely Impractical - Make photos that have zero commercial or social value. Photograph your morning coffee ritual for a month. Document every door in your neighbourhood. Create a series about shadows at 3 PM. Do it just because it intrigues you. Learn From Love, Not Success - Instead of studying viral photographers, find creators who obviously adore their craft. Watch how they talk about their work. That enthusiasm is what you want to cultivate, not their technique. (Believe or not it’s 135th Edition of LensLetter). Share Your Process, Not Just Results - When you do share, talk about why you made something. What drew you to that moment? What were you experimenting with? People connect with the journey, not just the destination. Shoot the story your heart sees, not your feed. What If Photography Doesn't Light You Up Anymore? And hey, here's something we don't talk about enough: if photography doesn't excite you the way it used to, that's okay too. Maybe it's time to explore something else that does. Or maybe you just need a break. Your creative energy doesn't owe you or anyone else consistency. The point isn't to force passion. It's to honor it when you genuinely feel it. The Simple Truth Whether you're introverted or extroverted, professional or hobbyist, this applies to all of us: Do it because you love it. Then learn to communicate that love in your own way. Maybe this year, instead of focusing on follower counts or engagement rates, we refocus on pure joy. On curiosity. On experimenting. On rediscovering what made us fall in love with photography in the first place. Not only will you enjoy photography so much more, but that's also what people will notice, remember, and come back for. Your genuine enthusiasm is your real competitive advantage. Bonus Tip: Create a "joy journal" for your photography. After each shoot, write one sentence about what genuinely excited you - not about the results, but about the experience. In a month, read it back. You'll have a map of what truly matters to you. Then one more step and print it. There is no better felling then seeing your digital photos as physical product. So here's to 2026 being the year we create from love, not obligation. The year we stop chasing and start cherishing. A camera doesn’t capture meaning - your curiosity does. 🟢 Until the next one, Keep chasing horizons, one frame at a time and let's be mindful of our environment. Cheers!! 🍾 Photo of the week [caption id="attachment_3873" align="alignnone" width="2048"] Image From Bernina Pass, Switzerland | All Rights Reserved | Photo by RGWords[/caption] For Print of any photos please reply here with photo link/url. Planning Trip, Check [product_category category="itinerary,checklist"] A quick personal update first - The Clarity Playbook is now live! 📘 It’s our debut book, a 91-page guide for busy professionals to think better, decide faster, and lead with clarity. Packed with 7 high-leverage frameworks used in global boardrooms, it’s built to help you act with focus today. Read more here or check online marketplace Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon India | Amazon Japan | Google Play Books | Apple Books | Barnes & Noble | Rakuten Kobo | Everand (Scribd) | Smashwords | Thalia (Germany) | Vivlio (France) | Fable | Buy Directly Other fun stuff New prints are available in the shop, check it out . Rahul's Newsletter - Learning & Sharing Concepts Beyond Text Books. The JustDraft is a free newsletter to receive ideas shared with 2400+ people each week directly to your inbox. Join now to start practising change. Buy Ready To Use Itineraries - Hand curated travel plans, maps, guides, photo editing presets and many more. UK Weekender - Wondering where to go next weekend. Join Weekender and receive travel insights from the UK, epic photography spots every week in your inbox. Product update/offer In this section, I share any cool new product, feature released in past few weeks or newsletter subscriber only offers 🎁 Luminar Neo Cross-device Perpetual license (Luminar Neo + Luminar Mobile) 🎁 [Offer for you] Epidemic Sound introduced Sync to video - Cool feature if you want to quickly make video with great sound collection. Popular posts in the blog Adobe Lightroom vs Photoshop which one is better Master Light in Landscape Photography: Golden Hour, Blue Hour Best Place to See Cherry Blossom and Enjoy Spring in Japan Top free things to do in Tokyo Recommended cameras in 2025 for landscape photography

[R135] 🥾 The One Thing Missing From Photos

RG

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