Instagram, as a photo application, is dead.
It’s mostly video now (it has been for a while). Photos don’t look high-def. There is a need for a new platform that showcases high-quality pictures. What will it be?
Patreon? Subscribe to my Patreon!
I’ve been uploading A TON of photos for free.
Spooky Season is here, and I’ve taken thousands of photos of Halloween in Tijuana.
Perhaps not Patreon. Something else. But Instagram, as a photo platform, is long gone. It’s all reels. Videos. TikTok again. Video will have exponentially more reach than a photo.
And that’s fine. I’m good at that, and my reach is the highest it has ever been. But I stopped taking pictures…
Until now.
And I’m good at it. If not great. I’m not the best. I blamed the lack of equipment. But I’m pretty damn fucking good for what I have.
That’s the new job. Taking pictures. And video…
Video is annoying. It’s so much more work, and it doesn’t pay that much. Photo… Photo is great. Taking pictures is fun. Editing is fun. I feel accomplished staring at the high-quality image. All the details…
But for what? For a low-quality upload on social media, well knowing that a shitty video will have way more reach?!
That’s the state of Instagram.
At least my pictures will be used for more. One might be the cover for a magazine. I’m not getting paid extra for that… but HEY! A print?!!? In a MAGAZINE?!
What is this?!
2015?!?!
My last cover was in 2024… Wrote and photographed.
The world changes. And so do I.
I didn’t have a tour last week. I crossed the border to take thousands of pictures of food. The new menu. The dessert menu. Other setup pictures. I love some pictures. Others are just okay. But a lot of pictures and no tour.
I don’t get paid until the end of the month.
My finances are low. That depresses me a bit. No tours. No payment.
But soon. I keep saying: soon it will all be good.
I’m sure of it.
I have to program photo posts for the two restaurants for the week. I’ll do the videos later. Those require so much more time and creativity… But the more I do it, the easier it will get.
I’m sure of it.
Photos of the week are scheduled for the restaurants. I still need to do the videos. And stories and more announcements because they have a special event this weekend. And I’ll probably go this weekend.
That’s all I did last week… work the new gig. It feels more like part-time. Running multiple social media accounts is exhausting. I care too much. I like my work.
I crossed early on Thursday morning to go to the restaurant that is further away for the new menu. I don’t love all the pictures, but I’m not to blame. The new menu can use some improvement, and plating can be better. I would also get rid of a couple of dishes. Photos are okay.
Then we went to the second restaurant. The desserts might be in a magazine, and I concentrated on that. I like the pics a lot. The daughter of the owner and a friend of hers joined us for the second part of the shoot. It didn’t start great, but it escalated to amazing pictures.
I have enough food pictures to run the social media from home for a while.
I still need to go back to get paid. And to get more pictures. Perhaps this weekend. I need to talk about my payment…
On Friday… I had some sort of work meeting. I’m not even an employee, but I had some sort of meeting. More work. With a guy who used to be sorta my boss years ago.
How the circle circles.
And I’m still here.
My girlfriend picked my NFL Parlay this week. She did better than I would have done.
She got 12 out of 22 right. I got 9 out of 22.
NFL is wild.
And I only do 8 8-game parlay. She got 6 out of 8. She was closer than I would have been.
Though I was certain that the Dolphins were not going to beat the Browns and that the Jets were going to be shit again. You never know. So I let it ride.
We were close.
If we win and she picks, she gets a chunk of the prize. But no luck. I’m still going to do my parlay.
My fantasy team is on its way to a victory. There are two games tonight, and I have more than an 80% chance of winning… but you never know with this shit.
I enjoy it. That’s what matters.
I couldn’t watch the NFL that Sunday. It was my sister-in-law’s birthday. We spent the day at Parque Esperanto on the outskirts of Tijuana. I’m going to do a video of that.
It’s a great park.
I’m surprised at how great it is. It’s huge. And it is full of activities. It was FUCKING PACKED and there was still plenty of room.
And that was pretty much Week 42.
I’m back to food photography. I worked on it for many hours that week. No tours. Just food photography. And for the hours I spent, it’s like I’m working for less than minimum wage…
Which means I should spend fewer hours on it. I have plenty of pictures for the next few weeks, though. And I guess that’s how the job is meant to be.
This post needs a picture.
I took a selfie at work. And posted it on TikTok and IG story, surrounded by some of the food photography I liked. A screencap of that will be the picture. I need a low-quality picture, because you know… my WordPress is HELLA FULL with all the paparazzi pictures from years ago. And I’m not going to pay to update it.
If you want high-quality pictures…
There are a bunch of free goodies in there. And paid goodies.
And also… Substack. Substack is supposed to be the future. So sign up for free or give me money.
I don’t have Venmo anymore. Do not send me money on Venmo. I need to fix that…
Oh.
And I reached 12k on Instagram. And growing.
TikTok didn’t make it to the 22k, but it’s trending in that direction. I need to keep working on it. I ordered the new shirts. A few people told me they will buy them. One has already paid for it. I only made 24 (and I’m keeping one).
I need to sell 10 to make my money back. The rest is all profit.
Black shirts and that design is the most popular one. I still have a bunch of shirts and merch to sell. I sold two tote bags and a shirt over the weekend. That carried my weekend.
I need more money. I need more followers. And I will get there. Thanks for reading. Thanks for supporting me.
Follow me on Instagram and book me for a photoshoot!
Follow me on TikTok just because it’s the thing we do in the future.
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Matingas 
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