500 Posts Later // My Instagram Journey

October 1st, 2021 was my 500th post on Instagram. Not nearly as impressive as Miguel Cabrera's 500th career home run, but it's a milestone for my business and it means something for Sarah Jayne Photography.

I got Instagram in July of 2017, right after getting back from Mackinac Island for the Michigan District Youth Gathering. I was determined to not get addicted to this new app on my iPod, so I set very strict guidelines for myself and asked my friends to help keep me accountable. I still remember that checking and posting to Instagram was part of my morning routine for a long time!

My first Instagram post featured this photo, taken from a porch at Mission Point Resort. It's still one of my all-time favorite photos.

Since then, I slowly worked my way up to the point where I had three or four designated times I was checking in per day. I was trying to be active and present, without getting sucked in. I was trying to figure out a posting schedule that worked for me and what "being present and active" was really going to look like.

This is my first "nine". I started out photographing landscapes as I learned my camera and lighting and the like.

Shifting to 2018, I was doing more people portraits.

For a long time, I really loved Instagram. I got in right before Facebook took over, before ads cluttered the feeds, before IG stories were really even a thing. It was a simpler place. I met some great people and formed a fabulous little online community. I couldn't understand why I'd always heard that social media was so toxic and figured it must have to do with who you choose to follow and interact with. But it turns out that what I was doing was not sustainable.

I'm starting to step into my light and airy style and introducing text images.

I rebranded in 2018 and became Sarah Jane Photography. Here is my first logo.

2020 wrecked a lot of things and Instagram was one of them, for me at least. By the end of the year, I was suffering burnout. I didn't want to be on the platform anymore. From the beginning, I had taken Sundays off but even that wasn't enough of a refresh. As the year went on, I started stepping back. I turned off notifications again, started checking in a little bit less. I was trying to find a way to stay engaged but it wasn't working. I decided that I was taking the entire month of January 2021 off the app. I deleted it off my phone and that was that.

2019 had me very pleased with how my feed was looking!

And we see my light green making its first appearance in 2019 as I re-evaluate my brand colors.

I've always enjoyed brief breaks from Instagram because they serve as a pulse check as to how I'm doing. If I can go a weekend or a week without being on there and I'm fine, then I know I'm doing a good job with my boundaries. I will not let an app control me.! That month off was a little weird at first, mostly just missing my good internet friends, but quickly it became so nice! So much so that I wasn't sure I wanted to go back in February!! But I did and I went back with a plan.

2020 saw me get a brand new logo that I am still so pleased with!

The bottom right is my first post of 2021 in February, after my month-long break to start the year.

Here we are, almost done with 2021, and I don't feel burned out. I'm posting just twice a week, have intentional plans for IG stories, and I take the whole weekend off. I'm planning to make January a standing month off, and I may do one in the summer too. We'll see.

This is the first time I've disrupted the look of my feed!!!!

My current "nine" as of October 1st, 2021.

I'm sad that Instagram is no longer a place I really enjoy, but I love the friends I've made on there, the ways it has allowed me to reconnect a little with friends from my past, and while it is definitely more of a work tool now, it has had it's blessings. One thing I love is how easy you can see my progression. It's a very easy way to see how my business has grown in the past three/four years. Thanks for being on this journey with me!

THEN.... (2017)

... NOW (2021)