Monomad challenge entry #163: New zeal, new vigor| Portraits of Kodeblacc

My life and career took a pretty unexpected and seemingly positive turn this year. At least, it has been good for the most part so I can't complain. The only complaint I have about what has happened to me this year is that I've barely had time to do anything else.

This year, I sort of made a subtle yet effective transition from portrait photography to wedding photography. It was a necessary decision for me to make because of the target I had to meet for the year. Financial target to be precise. In Nigeria, we operate two major genres of photography. It's either you shoot portraits or you shoot weddings. At the beginning of the year, I made some adjustments to make my portrait photography more valuable however, it turned out that people were unwilling to adjust to my changes; so I had to tilt to wedding photography.

The shift to wedding photography wasn't difficult as I've had several experiences before. But I didn't know the extent to which indulging in it would eat up my time. I work mostly solo and that means I'm the photographer, the culler, the editor, the social media manager, the customer service guy, etc. Doing all these things hasn't been easy, but I'm glad for where my brand is at the moment. I mean, I literally went from a "just there" photography brand to a "you are the best for the job" and one of the most sought-after brands.

One of the limitations of doing wedding photography this year is the limited time I have to spend doing other things, such as writing blogs here. My presence on Hive has been epileptic this year. And while I've occasionally put out some photography posts, the daily #monomad challenge where I've been an active participant has suffered the most. While making this post, I checked and saw that my last involvement was in February, and it's funny how I had planned that this year was the one where I was going to take the daily contest by storm. Well, we don't always get to execute the things we plan for, do we?

In a way, I feel I've let myself and some people down by my absence, owing to the revocation of my membership in the community and also being unfollowed. I'm going to try to make amends by consistently showing up and contributing my fair share to the monomad challenge. I feel like I've been reborn with new zeal and new vigor and I can't wait to manifest. I'll do all I can to earn the community's trust and consequently my membership again.

I have photographed loads of weddings this year. I've created amazing photos of different brides and couples and I can't wait to share them in monochrome. However, for my return entry, I'll be sharing photos of myself. In case you've forgotten what I look like 😁

These photos of me were actually created while on a wedding job. We were scouting for locations around the hotel where we could photograph the couple and my assistant took test shots of me. I barely indulge in photo shoots for myself, but I really liked these ones. I looked and felt confident that day.

These photos are my entry for the #monomad challenge and I can't wait for the next day.