The wilder the camera angle, the more people stop to ask.

I didn't plan for this. I went out to make images and film regularly, in public, because that's the job. But there's a thing that happens when you're lying flat on the rocks at Errol Flynn Marina with a camera pointed up, or holding a gimbal at knee height walking backwards with ninja-like precision — people get curious. They come over. They ask.

It is free advertising, and I did nothing to earn it except show up and look slightly ridiculous.

That's most of what six weeks has taught me, actually. The things that worked were not the things I planned.

Six Weeks In. Here Are All The Numbers.

Six weeks. A month and a half of actively courting this idea of being a full-time landscape photographer.

In that time I've built the website, made one significant pivot, started shooting deliberate film work, and landed my first official corporate client.

I promised a detailed breakdown. Here it is, including the parts that aren't flattering — and one important figure near the bottom that I genuinely did not expect.

The metric I'm losing on

Nine subscribers.

That's the number. It's my worst-performing metric by a distance, and I had one unsubscribe this week to go with it. I'm not going to dress that up.

The metric that needs an asterisk

Two one-on-one sessions completed. Both went well.

Full disclosure though: both were booked by well-meaning friends who mostly wanted their portfolios reviewed. That's two real sessions and I'm counting them, but I'd be lying to you and to myself if I filed them under demand. None of the money further down came from them.

The sessions are not selling like hot bread. Not yet.

The one I can't tell you about yet

First paid gig with a corporate client.

We're early enough in the relationship that I can't give out much, so I'll leave it there — but next week's issue is a deep dive on it.

Where the vision moved

I went into this wanting to be the Jamaican Mark Denny. A pure landscape photographer making a full-time income from it. That is still the core of the mission, and I'm not walking it back.

But six weeks in, I can see how many services sit adjacent to that — things that either relate directly to landscape work or run entirely on skills I built as a landscape photographer. The concept keeps evolving. The opportunities keep multiplying.

The clearest case was a branding shoot for an adventure company up in the Blue Mountains. They hired me for their brand, not for landscape. But everything I used that day came out of landscape work — reading where the light was going, working the scene for the most interesting and aesthetic compositions, being able to create a narrative .

And when the client work was finished, I was still standing in the Blue Mountains with a camera. The frame at the bottom of this email is from that same trip. Nobody paid me for it. That's the part I'd have driven up there for anyway.

The biggest change was putting Jamaican heritage at the centre of the craft rather than the background of it. That leverages Brand Jamaica, which is more potent than anything I could build on my own, and it invigorated a small following that had been fairly quiet. Engagement improved remarkably. Same photographer, same country, different frame around it.

The door I didn't see

Two opportunities to shoot listing photos and video for luxury Airbnbs.

I did not have this on the list when I started. It's an intriguing field, and it's getting more of my effort and focus from here.

The money

One real estate shoot. One branding session in the Blue Mountains. One location shoot.

Every one of those was a genuine client. No friends, no favours, nothing from the sessions above.

J$105,000.

My net salary at the 9-5 is J$106,000 a month. So I did not beat it. I came a thousand dollars short — and that's the generous reading, because the J$105,000 is before fuel, before gear, before the tax I'll owe on it, while the J$106,000 is already clean.

I wanted to open this email telling you I'd passed my salary in six weeks. I hadn't. So I'm not going to.

The number I did not expect

Here's what I actually found when I went back through the calendar.

Those three jobs took me about 24 hours. Shooting, travel, edit, delivery.

A month at the 9-5 is roughly 173 demanding hours.

Same money. A seventh of the time.

I checked that more than once, because it didn't look right the first time. Three days of work against twenty-one for the same figure. That isn't a better salary. It's a different relationship to an hour, and it is the first thing in six weeks that has made full-time look like a plan rather than a wish.

The caveat, because I said you'd get all of it: those 24 hours are shooting and delivery only. They don't count the six weeks of building the website, posting, learning, and driving to places that paid nothing at all. Those hours are real. They're just not billable yet.

September

So — can I replicate it, or beat it?

September is harder. My time and energy go back to being split between the 9-5 and First Photons.

But the split looks different than it did in July. I'm not weighing a salary against a hobby anymore. I'm weighing 173 hours against 24, and holding onto the 173 until the 24 is repeatable.

Six weeks isn't enough to bet a house on. It's enough to keep going.

I'm still feeling very confident.

One Frame

Made on a paid day, after the paid part was over. Blue Mountains are famous for the loads of atmosphere, mist, and rolling clouds. I noticed a selective patch of light breaking through the gathered clouds and reached inside the bag for the frame. This is the one nobody commissioned, and six weeks in, it is still the reason the rest of it is worth doing.

The Hollywell Park at the Blue Mountains is a gold mine for atmospheric nature shots. For maximum atmosphere, venture up in the cooler months, like December to March. A dedicated off-road vehicle will allow for a more confident approach but is not necessary. Prepare for cold temperatures; pack an extra pair of socks. Access to the park and its camping facilities is available for a very modest fee.

There are nine of us reading this.

If one person came to mind while you were reading, forward it to them. At this size, that isn't a formality — it's the entire growth strategy, and I notice every single one.

Instagram — the frames that don't make the newsletter

YouTube — the longer version, with the mistakes left in

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Kevin - First Photons

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