One Year Later: Welcome to August 23 Media

August 23, 2025, my life changed. August 23, 2026, I get to show you what came from it.

PHOTO JOURNAL 2026

James Bradley

8/23/20266 min read

One Year Later: Welcome to August 23 Media

August 23, 2025, my life changed. August 23, 2026, I get to show you what came from it.

That’s a sentence I never imagined I’d be writing.

A year ago, I fell down the stairs and busted myself up. What I originally thought was probably a broken ankle or torn-up knee turned into something considerably more serious when doctors discovered a blood clot in my lung. Things went from, "Well, this sucks," to realizing pretty quickly that life can change in a hell of a hurry.

I’ve written about the accident before, so I am not going to retell the whole story here. The important part today is what happened afterward. For reasons I still can’t completely explain, I picked up my camera again. Then I kept picking it up. Somewhere along the way, photography stopped being something I occasionally enjoyed and became part of how I looked at my life.

I Thought I Was Learning Photography

On January 1, I started a challenge to take photographs every day for a year. I figured I’d learn more about aperture, shutter speed, ISO, composition, editing, lenses, and all the other photography stuff that sometimes makes my brain hurt.

I did. I also learned that cameras almost always prove that they know more about photography than I do. This competition between the cameras and me has been an uphill battle, but I’m finally winning more of the battles than losing.

But I learned a bunch of other things too. I learned to slow down and pay attention. I learned that a photograph does not have to be perfect to mean something, and some of my best lessons have come from photographs that absolutely did not work. Improvement is usually messy. Really messy.

I’ve had photographs I’m proud of, photographs I’ve shared even though I could see their faults, and plenty that will remain safely hidden on a hard drive where they can’t hurt anyone.

I've learned a little more patience, although Susan may dispute that statement. I've learned to spend more time looking at what is happening around me instead of constantly thinking about whatever needs to happen next. Probably the biggest lesson of all has been figuring out that sometimes I need to put the camera down. Not every moment needs to become a photograph. Some just need to be lived.

Somewhere Along the Way, This Happened

When August 23 Media first started taking shape, the idea was pretty simple. I wanted somewhere to share my photographs.

That was about it.

It turns out that I am incapable of leaving a simple idea alone.

Now there is an actual website.

Today, August23Media.com officially launches (even though it has been live for a while already).

It has become a home for my photography, writing, the things I’m learning, the mistakes I’m making, and eventually the classes, videos, prints, and other ideas that have been bouncing around inside my head. For once, one of those ideas actually made it all the way from "Hey, this might be cool" to something real.

I'm calling it a win.

The website is not perfect. Neither am I. There are things I’ll change and things I’ll learn. I’m fairly certain I’ll break something at some point and then spend several hours wondering why the thing I swear I didn't touch suddenly stopped working.

That's part of it.

I don't want August 23 Media to be a finished monument to everything I already know. I want it to grow as I do. That’s really the point of this whole thing. The photography, writing, website, classes, videos, and whatever comes next are all part of learning how to build something instead of waiting until I know everything before I start.

Where I Am Today

Am I a better photographer than I was a year ago? I think so. Am I a better writer than I was a year ago? Yes, definitely. I'm more comfortable sharing something I created without staring at it for three weeks looking for another reason it isn't good enough. Analysis paralysis is a real thing.

I'm still learning. I'm still making mistakes. I'm still stubborn. I still get distracted by new projects.

Frequently.

Squirrel? Yes, lots and lots of squirrels!

But I also see the world differently than I did before the accident. I notice light. I notice people. I notice birds sitting on fence posts, reflections in irrigation canals, clouds moving across a mountain, tiny details inside flowers, and a hundred other things I probably would have walked right past before.

Photography didn't put those things there.

They were always there.

I just wasn't paying attention.

That may be the most important thing this whole strange year has taught me.

A Thank You to the People Who’ve Joined in on the Madness

None of this happened by myself. Friends, family, coworkers, photographers, readers, people on social media, and people I barely know have encouraged me, criticized me when I needed it, answered questions, looked at photographs, read my ramblings, and reminded me to keep going.

Every comment mattered. Every conversation mattered. Even the brutal critiques mattered.

I think especially those.

To everyone who’s subscribed to August 23 Media already, thank you. You signed up before I officially opened the doors, and that means more to me than you probably realize.

As a little thank-you, some of those subscribers will be receiving free photography prints (I believe it was the first 50). I’m genuinely excited to send some of my work out into the world and know that it will be hanging in someone's home instead of living on my computer. More about the winners is coming.

But there is one person who deserves more than a quick thank-you buried in a paragraph.

Susan.

My rock.

She’s been beside me through the accident, recovery, photography, writing, website building, questionable ideas, good ideas, and ideas that probably should have remained unspoken. She pushes me when I need pushing and tells me to slow down when I need to slow down. She listens when I need to talk something through, reads things I write, gives me her opinion whether it happens to be the opinion I wanted or not, and somehow continues to encourage me to chase this thing.

August 23 Media may have my photographs and my name attached to it, but Susan is woven through all of it.

I would not be here without her.

Thank you, Sue-Sue Quay. I love you.

So, What Happens Now?

I really don't know exactly, and I'm okay with that.

I know I want to keep taking photographs. I want to finish the daily photography challenge. January 1st 2027 is coming quickly! I want to keep writing, make videos, and take people along when I go exploring. I want to help other people who are trying to learn photography without making them feel like they need to understand every technical detail before they are allowed to enjoy a camera. I want to continue to build the photography classes I’ve already been working on, create prints people actually want hanging on their walls, and keep finding ways to turn some of these crazy ideas into things that actually work.

Photography is not the only thing bouncing around in my head either.

There is another project I've been quietly working on called Vulcan. I’m not ready to say much about it yet, other than it has absolutely nothing to do with pointy ears or living long and prospering. It’s a different kind of project, built around helping people work through problems, organize what’s going on in their heads, and hopefully find a useful next step when they feel stuck.

That's about all you're getting out of me for now.

Keep an eye on TikTok and the other August 23 Media social channels. You'll probably start seeing little pieces of Vulcan show up there before I explain the whole thing.

I also want Susan and me to keep traveling, exploring, learning, and seeing what we can find.

There are a lot of ideas.

Probably too many.

No surprise there.

But for today, I don't need to have the next five years figured out.

The website is live.

That's enough.

August 23

For a long time, August 23 meant the day I got hurt.

I don't think that is what it means anymore.

It’s still part of the story. I don't want to forget what happened because I don't want to forget what it taught me. Life changes fast. People matter. Time matters. Paying attention matters. Sometimes something good can grow out of something you never would have chosen to happen.

One year later, August 23 means something different.

It means August 23 Media. It means photography. It means learning. It means the people who helped me get here.

And now it means moving forward.

Welcome to August 23 Media.

Let's go see what we can find.

Subscriber Print Reminder

One more quick note for those who subscribed early: the first 50 email subscribers get one free signed print from the regular August 23 Media gallery. You can choose either an 8x12 or 10x10 print with free shipping.

Limited Edition prints are not included in this offer, but any regular gallery print is fair game.

If you are one of those first 50 subscribers, please contact me with the print you would like, the size you prefer, and the best mailing address to send it to. Thank you again for subscribing early and helping me get this project started.