The Future.

Hi friend. How are you?

I hope you’re all doing well and gently moving into the slow embrace that is the approach of summer. I liken life to the changing of the seasons, so often filled with moments of growth after darker more challenging times. This past year or so has been no different. I spent much of the second half of last year slumped and not moving forward with practically any of my goals. A health scare in early January helped take the little momentum I’d found in the weeks up to it and transformed it into a strong drive for change and growth. I haven’t looked back.

As I have worked through to today and sharing this update I recognise that I’ve grown a lot. I’ve changed a lot. I owe a debt of gratitude to my girlfriend, friends, and family. I’ll continue to push & grow & know they’ll support me as I do.

As I’ve taken time to reflect on this growth I have also refocused my energies on my creative goals. The core goal being a focus on telling stories, capturing authentic moments, and helping others do the same for their brand & in their lives. To do so by creating beautiful, authentic & impactful photographs, films & more.

The Change:

You will see changes rolling out over the coming weeks and I’m excited to build this change in public. It will centre around 5 core pillars:

1. A more refined website.

2. A newly curated print store.

3. New products

4. New projects.

5. A greater presence & focus.

These aren’t necessarily straight forward changes, and so I’ll delve into how each will materialise below.

1. A refined website: with the changes in my life I touched on above, I am refocusing on how I move forward with this site & — more importantly — my creative work.
   
   The site as it stands is home to a welcoming page which feels a little too slapped together. There’s no great flow to it all, and I’m spending too much time talking about ideas of my work rather than simply sharing the work. I also spend too much time sweating design details instead of focusing on what matters most — sharing the work. The updates to the site will see it formed more around specific projects, themes and my favourite past works. It’ll be a content first, text second approach. This will launch over the coming weeks.
   
   The eagle eyed among you may have noticed the logo at the top of this page is no longer my colourful rounded logo. I’ve operated under different brand names over the years — from Wild Ocean Studio, to Jerry Lane Photography, to Jerry Lane Creative Media. While I’ll be leaving my social channels & indeed the url of this site as the latter, I felt the need to retire the logo from the header of the site. To simplify again here, and replace it with just my name. The url & the work itself serve to outline what it is I do & I think that matters the most. I am a photographer, I am a video maker, a blogger, a photographer, a web designer and I’ll be so much more too. This is my personal portfolio and print shop, so reflecting that is important to me — even if it is in such a small part as to be on the header of the site.

2. A newly curated print store: as part of the update I am making some changes to the print store. Over the past few years I have spoken to many of you about the ordering process, and — to put it simply — I can do better. The new setup is designed to be as friction free as possible. I’ll be offering two core print types: fine art prints mounted, and fine art prints framed — the latter of which will be available in 2-3 frame finishes. To order anything else (such as canvas prints) you’ll need to make a request to me directly and I will consider the request from there. Ultimately, my goal is to sell my work and to do so while presenting it in the best possible way I can. Refining the offering not only ensures I can focus my energies more effectively, it also means the prints you buy going forward will always be archival quality and beautifully made. Built to last. This is the future pathway for the sale of prints on this website. I am conscious that this means an increased cost for you at a time we could all do without it. It will also cost me more to sell my prints as I move forward on this path. For some of my work on more of a budget I will continue to offer cards via the site. I will also be at the Ballybunion Community Market where I will be selling standard mounted photo prints, cards, postcards and more, if you’re looking for a more affordable option for picking up some of my work.
   
   As part of all of this change I will be removing certain photos/prints from the site. As an artist there is constant growth and learning, and while I hold pride in many of the images I have created over the years, some no longer feel true to the style of work I create nor do I feel connected to them. Consequently, some images will be retired from the site during the coming changes.

3. New products: at the markets I’ll have postcards, cards, and mounted prints. In time with some new work I’ll be offering new limited edition prints via the site, each of which will come with a certificate of authenticity and other unique extras. These will be small series editions and will be confined to images that are part of projects that are dear to me.

4. New projects: my focus is on capturing authentic moments, helping others tell their story, and crafting beautiful images along the way. As I move forward I’ll be creating & sharing new work for small brands, as well as working on new photo projects on themes & issues that spark my curiosity and engage my mind.

5. A more consistent presence: as I go on this journey I’ll be sharing more behind the scenes stuff, more work, and more chances for others to get involved. There’ll be more blogs, social posts, giveaways, newsletters and more. This will all begin to come together as part of a slower more mindful approach to work & life.

If you have a project you’re working on or an upcoming event you’d like to discuss coverage for, please let me know by contacting me here.

I am excited for the journey ahead and I hope you’ll join me as I go. Thank you for the support along the way.

I’m just getting started.

— Jer