2025 07 31
Neighborhood cat. Chicago, Illinois. June, 2025. Ā© Clayton Hauck
ā¦or maybe Iām still a cat person, after all.
-Clayton
2025 07 30
Am I a dog person? Buddy the dog. Chicago, Illinois. June, 2025. Ā© Clayton Hauck
It was while listening to a Photo Banter podcast with guest Mark Mahaney (spurred by watching a youtube video from Bryan Birks) that it hit me: Am I not taking my photos seriously enough? Am I making too much work and focusing on the wrong things? Should I be shooting as much as I am or perhaps slow down and get more focused on what I am shooting? Should I then put far more time into sculpting the best images and thinking much deeper about how and where I am showing them? These are all great in practice, but my approach to making work has always been sort of the antithesis of this. This doesnāt mean I am doing things the wrong way, but this Winogrand-like approach has been weighing on me lately as I fill up hard drive after hard drive with images that, after being made, will usually never again see the light of day.
My goal here is not to turn this blog post into a decisive moment of reshaping my entire approach to photography, however, I'd like to encourage you first to check out the work of Mark Mahaney if youāre not already familiar, and then go into a bit more depth on a few of the notes I frantically made while listening to the podcast in the middle of editing a batch of thousands of photos.
NOTES FROM A PODCAST: these are some things Mark mentioned as being important to him, followed by some thoughts from me.
1) Give smaller edits to clients. There is not strength in merely showing you make more images.
This one hits me hard because I struggle with it and know itās something I need to work harder on. Part of why I started this here blog was to improve my photo editing skills. Iām all-too-often guilty of falling in love with my babies and find it challenging to move things to the scrap pile. Itās the editorial mindset. The photojournalistās approach. Maybe these other images, while weaker on their own, can be used to help sculpt the overall narrative, I tell myself, while spending tons of additional time adjusting and toning images that will never be seen again. āYouāre only as strong as your weakest image,ā they say. While I largely disagree with this sentiment, I am fully aware that giving a client a set of 20 selects rather than 120 selects will both help them in the process and make me look like I have stronger convictions in what it is I am aiming to achieve through my images.
2) Make myself happy, not them.
Hereās another one I am in strong agreement with. Weāre not out here telling you to disregard your clientsā needs and desires. But only once you are fully engaged with what you ā the artist being hired for your photography skills ā are drawn towards will your images achieve a level of quality and uniqueness that you are capable of achieving. Clients and assistants often have great ideas on set (and terrible ones!). This is not to say you shouldnāt listen to anyone, but I know myself and I know that one of my weaknesses as a photographer is that I am a people pleaser who still has a production-assistant mentality much of the time. Only once I learn to fully engage with my photographic instincts will the images I am making be the strongest they can be. Oftentimes, Iām drawn to the work I made early in my career I think in large part because I was out there working for myself and only myself.
3) Only show the work you want to make it out into the world.
Does the world need to see the dog photo I used atop the page? No (Buddy may disagree). I give it a pass here because this blog is not strictly my platform for showing my strongest work, but a place to get out my thoughts and feelings about photography. That said, I know I could be a lot better about sharing far less weaker images online. Itās a similar point to number one, but me spraying my photos into the wild might do more disservice than good when it comes to wanting people to take me seriously as an artist.
4) Create my own voice in this cluttered industry ā set myself apart.
This one aināt easy. Itās what sets people apart from the pack. While I think Iāve done a relatively good job of this throughout my career, I do also think that as the quantity of great photographers increases dramatically (as is the case!), Iām sinking back down into the pack. Making consistent, strong work is the best way to achieve this, but it can help to be known for something. Like rappers shouting taglines through all of their songs, photographs will embrace one lil thing and claim it for themselves. Markās use of inverse vignettes is what originally made me take notice of his work, and itās a style that I find myself using more (this is where things get tricky. Itās not like Mark owns this approach to editing images, but you can look like a copycat if youāre not careful). I aim to further explore some low-key signatures of my own which I am carefully guarding behind lock and key. Seriously, though, I think my bigger takeaway is that I need to invest far more time into the editing of my images if I want to stand out.
5) His two biggest pieces of advice to younger photographers: Learn Quickbooks and assist other photographers.
Iāll strongly agree with both here. Personal finances were something that I largely neglected through my younger successful years (luckily Iām not a big spender, but did a pretty bad job of tracking money generally). The second piece, assisting, is one regret that I have in my own career. I did a lot of it but mostly in the motion world, which has some carryover but is surprisingly different in many aspects. The thing I mentioned earlier about having a production assistant mentality was a learned skill from assisting on motion sets. I find myself being unable to tune out the production chatter, as my brain wants to immediately try to help solve problems Iām not even involved in, rather than lock in and focus on the art. Much of art is theft, and learning tricks from other photographers by watching what they do on set is something I didnāt get much access to. Maybe this is a good thing, actually?? Probably not.
While not quite on topic but an adjacent thought: I need to get much better about gaining and maintaining relationships with other photographers and photo editors, in an effort to help improve my own work. Iāve always been a bit of a loner and this mentality will usually only get you so far. Additionally, Mark talked a lot about his preparedness on set, which was rather impressive. It seems clear Mark has a personality type that helps him execute complicated shoots. While I donāt think Iām bad in this regard, I do think my personality is much different from his and I could benefit from additional focus on both pre-production and post-production. Clearly, the takeaway for me is that I really enjoy the act of shooting more than the other aspects of the job, which are also needed to round out and produce successful images.
Anyway. Those are some quick thoughts about my own career as it relates to a fellow Chicagoland native making amazing photos. I strongly encourage you to both check out that episode, linked below, and listen to Alex Gangeās other episodes as itās one of the best out there for photo nerds like myself.
-Clayton
The imbed isnāt working for whatever reason so here is a direct Spotify link and here is a link to the Apple podcasts
2025 07 29
Haley, the cat lurer. Mineral Point, Wisconsin. April, 2025. Ā© Clayton Hauck
My whole life Iāve been a cat person. Recently, however, Iāve found myself wondering if Iām actually more of a dog person (who also really loves cats). The reality is that I havenāt had a ton of exposure to dogs and when I was a kid, a few of my friends had dogs that scarred the shit out of me, which put a bad taste in my mouth towards them.
In a similar fashion, my entire career as a photographer, Iāve been a bulk shooter. Coming up in the digital era and doing work at events and photojournalism assignments, it was always beneficial to shoot more than you think you need. Then, as my career developed and I began doing mostly commercial assignments, the same approach applied ā maximize the output! Lately, however, Iāve been wondering if thereās actually a better way to go about things; to slow it down and focus on just the best images.
More on this tomorrowā¦
-Clayton
2025 07 28
An image by Jack Garland. November, 2022. Easy Does It, Chicago, Illinois. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Can a photo change your life? For me, a working photographer some two decades into my journey, the answer is a clear yes. Images have been shaping my path more than Iāve known for quite a while. I found my wife while making photos (she was, too!). Iāve bought a house and a few cars through making photos. But do the individual images actually have such an impact on things?
This image, displayed during a photo show at Easy Does It, got me out of my house one night and into the world, where I met my now friend Jack Garland. Since the meeting, weāre now running a photobook popup called Realm, with the aim of giving this operation a physical space of its own. Iām now sensing the possibility of this new path, formed at the head by a single image, becoming even wider and guiding me through the middle years of my life.
This message has been paid for by the Photography Corporation of America
-Clayton
2025 07 27
Another (really) Busted Car. Belleville, Wisconsin. May, 2025. Ā© Clayton Hauck
-Clayton
2025 07 26
Lost shoe? Chicago, Illinois. November, 2022. Ā© Clayton Hauck
It is quite remarkable how, in the blink of an eye, one missed day balloons into three.
-Clayton
2025 07 25
Lil house on the South Side, Chicago, Illinois. November, 2022. Ā© Clayton Hauck
From the recent archivesā¦ working on the zineā¦ which will realistically become more of a booklet. I have minimal expectations for how many of these I will actually sell, but much like this here blog, thatās not why Iām doing it. The process, so far, has been very enjoyable and motivating. Itās giving me purpose, which is nice. Printing and pairing images is exciting and Iām hoping to partner with some friends on the design portion, which is where I am weaker. Itās giving me grand ideas of doing all of this more and making it part of what I do. Becoming a publisher, an imprint, whatever it may be. Of course, dreaming is easy and things often change corse once the going gets tough.
-Clayton
2025 07 24
Jason Little during a Keep it 100 session at See You Soon, Chicago, Illinois. February, 2025.
It is time, I think, for another in my series of Becoming a Portrait Studio Updates. See, previously:
1) Becoming a Portrait Studio: 2025 03 24
2) Update Number One: 2025 05 13
I really dislike getting all negative on here but, to be candid, the momentum has stalled quite dramatically. Iām sure itās a complicated mix of reasons as to why, and while itās easy to blame myself I do think a lot of these things are out of your control, to an extent. Consistency is the only real solution, but with the drop in bookings Iāve seen this time around, itās hard to want to keep pushing forward! All that said, Iām going to commit to carrying on, largely because some of the more exciting things I have planned for this setup havenāt been rolled out yet (namely, the everyoneisfamous.com website, which is admittedly stagnant currently, along with doing on-location versions of the setup).
Rambling aside, and before I get to the numbers for the previous run of dates, the big reason I hit a demoralizing snag is that for the first time my email blast had absolutely zero effect on bookings (I need the good leads ā the Annie Leibovitz leads!). I had more people unsubscribe than I had book a session. Relentless social media posts also had basically zero effect on bookings. The only thing that somewhat saved me on the current run of dates that are happening now (nobody booked today, so Iām venting a bit here!), is that I had two families sign up for the higher price point. One of those families then reached out asking where they can get prints made, so I clearly need to work on communication, as I ofter prints myself! Perhaps that is the big takeaway overall: that in treating this like a side hustle and not like a proper business in itself, many things get lost in translation or never communicated to the people who need to hear them.
I wonāt get into the numbers for this month but they are quite horrendous and not at all worth the time I set aside to offer this. When factoring in the cost of the space, I am losing money on the endeavor (and not at all covering my rent, which was the goal this month). But again, money is not the sole motivating force here! Iām still hoping to explore a related approach to the Keep it 100 setup in a small town later this summer ā the idea is creative and interesting but will also likely require me to fund it myself to make it all happen. These things are only sustainable for so long. Being an artist is hard. But we knew thatā¦
In May, I put some dates on the calendar and bookings were slow. I blamed the late notice I gave people and accidentally scheduling it between Motherās Day and Memorial Day while people are likely busy with life stuff. Because of all that, I wasnāt too hard on myself, but I was bummed at the tepid turnout. Over six dates, we had nine sessions resulting in $1,400 in revenue plus $300 in tips (which came from one person), or $1,700 total income. This equals $283/day which is about what the space costs to rent. The general lack of tips also inspired me to increase the base fee from $150 to $175 per individual session. This is still a steal in my view but quite in line with what a lot of other local portrait photographers are charging for their sessions. Again, the economics of photography are borderline impossible these days!
The current run, which is still happening through the end of the week (book a session, why donāt you?!) had more dates, far more advanced notice, and has so far resulted in less revenue than May did. Basically, Iām only doing this for myself at this point and itās not a viable business endeavor. That said, Iām not giving up just yet and want to try to crack the code. Nearly 40% of the few who did book this run are people who previously paid for a shoot, which is remarkable to me! It seems very clear people love these sessions and I generally love doing them (the time commitment for little money is a drag, obviously). This tells me the failure is largely in communication, which might be repairable. Iām also learning things and growing as a photographer, which is an intangible value but not one my landlord accepts as payment. The hard costs will eventually kill me at this rate, however. Eventually the camera will break down. Two strobe batteries just needed replacement and that alone set me back the cost of three sessions! And I havenāt even given a thought to taxes yanking away 40% of the gains. Grim economics.
All that said, Iām excited to get the companion website everyoneisfamous.com in a better place as itās still in a sort of beta hibernation state. I just havenāt had the time for it yet. Once that happens and I get a few summer popups going, perhaps weāll see more enthusiasm later this year. Also, while this setup is really fun for me, itās admittedly not for everyone. I havenāt made an attempt (see: lack of time) to offer more conventional portrait sessions, which I think Iād both be really good at and enjoy, plus could command a higher price point. Itās something I plan to further explore as my entire photography career shifts in ways I am still navigating.
Thanks for reading and good luck shooting if youāre doing so to pay your bills!
-Clayton
PS- itās fitting that, while writing this, we have WBEZ playing and itās a constant fundraising plea after they just got their federal funding yanked. As someone who has always been a commercially-focused photographer, I am learning firsthand the economics of the arts and itās wild.
2025 07 22
French fried potatoes. Chicago, Illinois. March, 2025. Ā© Clayton Hauck
While yes, itās true, Iām very busy with a lot of things (Iāll get you those photos soooooon, everyone!), the real reason I missed posting on time yesterday was because I discovered an amazing lil game (via youtube, where I learn about most things lately). Itās called Open Front and itās free to play and quite addictive. Iād def recommend checking it out if youāre at all a Civ nerd like me (however ā maybe donāt click that link if you have things to do).
-Clayton
2025 07 21
GO E-Z. Chicago (I think), Illinois. November (I think), 2022. Ā© Clayton Hauck
When I first got my Ricoh GRiiix back in 2022, this here blog did not exist. Also, the camera date was wrong for a few years, so I have no accurate information about when the images were made beyond my naming conventions, which are fortunately a close approximation.
Lately, Iāve been going back through these old images in an effort to turn them into something a bit more tangible. A printed zine is the current working plan, which will feature both images and writing. This image likely wonāt make the cut, but I like the message it sent to me: Go easy (on myself).
One quick takeaway was how frantic I was shooting when I first got the camera. Itās no wonder the thing is so coated in dust that itās almost unusable now.
More on this another day soon.
-Clayton
2025 07 20
Another busted car. Chicago, Illinois. June, 2025. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Itās officially the end of Catalpa Season in Chicago. Busted Car Season never ends.
-Clayton
2025 07 19
Looking down on The Loop. Chicago, Illinois. May, 2025. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Hereās an image made with my relatively new Ricoh GR3 (not the X, the wider lens!), which I havenāt been using as much as Iād planned to (lack of time). Also, I havenāt been writing (here or in general) as much as I want to (lack of time). What is the point in telling you, dear reader, all of this? Iām not sure. I guess itās simply a reminder to myself that, while there are many things I would love to do, there is only so much time to do them. Prioritization is crucial! Stacking images for the rest of my life, like a modern-day Garry Winogrand, is realistically not the best use of my time in todayās age of image over-saturation.
-Clayton
PS- on the subject of not having spare time: if you happen to see this post on or prior to July 20th between 10am-2pm, you should totally come to our Realm photobook popup (happening from 10am-2pm at New Wave Coffee in Chicagoās Logan Square). In addition to myself, Jack Garland, and a bunch of amazing photobooks that you can buy, weāll have fellow photographer Cengiz Yar in person signing copies of his new book This Alabaster Grave. Hope to see you then!
2025 07 18
Double rainbow. Chicago, Illinois. June, 2025. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Sometimes a double rainbow really helps brighten your day. I continue to think someone needs to make an app that sends you a push notification whenever a rainbow or pretty sunset is occuring nearby. Feel free to steal that idea.
-Clayton
2025 07 17
Francisco during a Keep it 100 session at See You Soon. Chicago, Illinois. April, 2025. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Self promotional plug today: Iām doing my āKeep it 100ā portraits all next week (July 19-26) at the studio. $175 for one-hundred unique shots. Go book a session if you want to participate in these projects and/or need new portraits. Iām also due to update my progress on Becoming a Portrait Studio (See: 2025 03 24, 2025 05 13) and will do so once back home from vacation. But letās just say (spoiler alert!) things arenāt going so well.
-Clayton
2025 07 16
Greed. Do you see it? Chicago, Illinois. June 2025. Ā© Clayton Hauck
You donāt need to leave your neighborhood to make good photos. This is what my dog Buddy has taught me. Heās also harassing me to finally print those zines Iāve been meaning to get to. Okay, Buddy. Iām on it!
-Clayton
2025 07 15
On the road, to somewhere. Chicago, Illinois. June, 2025. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Well, it finally happened ā we hit a busy period with work and life, then vacation hit, and the next thing you know Iām a few weeks behind on posting to this here blog. It is what it is, and Iām not going to be too hard on myself. That said, I do aim to pick back up where we left off and (hopefully) stick with the daily posts once again, especially considering Iām sensing a bit of a shift in my photography career and I have lots of new work, heading in new directions, to explore. This here blog is a nice, low stakes place to do that.
While up north on vacation, we briefly explored some places Iād never previously been (Bayfield, WI; Ironwood, MI; Hurley, WI), along with a few I had (Ashland, WI and the Bad River Reservation land), and some we didnāt get to but that I very much aim to make happen soon (Laurium, MI and Marquette, MI). I bring all of this up because this land has sparked some new ideas in me that perhaps I will explore in the coming years. Some photography-based projects and ideas, which first I will explore remotely through reading and researching. Weāll see if that leads to something, but just getting excited about the potential helps keep me motivated to push ahead in this weird world of photography.
More soon, thanks for reading.
-Clayton
2025 07 02
Dollar General. Dixon, Illinois. June, 2025. Ā© Clayton Hauck
Some great nuggets in this talk with Tim Carpenter and Jason Lee. Photography is showing how you make sense of the world. Heidegger said: itās not what we know about the world thatās really ourselves, itās our habits and our inclinations, and the way we move through it; thatās who we really are.
When I pulled into the parking lot (reluctantly, as I loathe Dollar General) to buy some cups, this scene got me incredibly excited. I snapped a few frames out my window with the trusty Ricoh, and here we are, discussing it on the internet a week later.
Will it work as well in b/w? Likely not. Luckily Iām a color junkie.
-Clayton
2025 07 01
Dead plant. Chicago, Illinois. June, 2025. Ā© Clayton Hauck
While out doing yard work this morning, I was pondering the idea of time, and how itās so beneficial to work on tasks with the figurative wind at your back. It took me hours to give our yard a minimal dose of needed water, as I aim to help the plants I wish to thrive grow as big as they can in the time they have. Had Mother Nature decided to do the job for me, it would have been completed in mere minutes without my assistance. This may be an obvious observation, but lately Iām using this analogy quite a lot in my own life. As my list of tasks grows larger than possible to accomplish as one person, I can either choose triage or expand my capabilities through the help of others. Neglect is, of course, also an option. Like this plant, parts of my life will wither and die, with likely undesired weeds taking their place.
The garden is life. Everything can be compared to the garden.
-Clayton