Photographers love to talk about and dream of the title of being a ‘professional photographer’. It stems from what I believe to be a pipe dream of ambition to break free from a more monotonous life. This ‘professional photographer’ that we all idolize is someone who shoots all the time, has the best images, makes a ton of money, and has all of the gear. This daydream is just as false as it is dangerous to our amateurism in photography. Plainly put, being a professional photographer isn’t all its cracked up to be. Let me explain…
I would expect most already know that we are currently in the longest partial government shutdown ever in the USA. With the current political climate, there isn’t an end in sight yet either. This is unfortunate for many reasons, but I would like to focus in on what this means today and going forward with our public lands.
I love the creative process. Any creative process! The idea that art is art because it takes an effort to visualize something and then put it out into the world. It is a mindset to be in where what is important becomes the art and rather than having to come up with things to create around the art creates itself.
Photography is what you choose to make it. As I learned in my day job, everything you do should have a purpose behind it. If you make it your job or business there is an expectation that you photograph very specific things, and while this is important when you are making an income to make sure you “got the shot”, that isn’t the sole purpose of photography. In your personal work and during your free time you should be very picky about what you choose to make images of.
Photography can be done as a business in many different ways. The most common one is to be doing portraits because people always need photos! Another way is, or at least used to be, shooting stock photography.
The constant pressure and stress of everyday life are demanding on us. It beats us down and wears out our bodies of energy reserves. Inevitably, we need to turn off and stop because we all have a set capacity for how much we can take. These ‘release valves’ may materialize in many different ways like food/drink, vacation, and entertainment. This is a natural part of the process for everyone, but what if there were an alternative?
The cluttered forest has its own benefits because making even the slightest sense of it can create an impact. It also forces you to be very deliberate in where you place the tripod because an inch off or using the wrong focal length can change the compositions significantly!
Life is filled with hazards, walls, and obstacles. As we get older, there are more and more things that can be dangerous. The biggest danger in life though is regret and not enjoying creativity of your own and others. In fact, this might even be key to continuing to live a long and happy life!
I wanted to sit down really quick today and post something that sums up my best work of 2018, and go into a little detail of why I like each image. I have become more picky with what I shoot and what I consider a portfolio worthy image, so hopefully this will be a marker of that progression! This should be a bit more “off-the-cusp” than my other articles on here, but there will be a new one of those tomorrow to start out 2019 as well!
In a world where there is more and more demand for quality images the challenge of creating enough as one artist becomes increasingly difficult. Posting on Instagram every single day a new composition that works isn’t always possible without cutting some sort of corners! What some have turned to in landscape photography is modifying the landscape to fit their needs. This could be done in many different ways.
