For a guy who hates looking for a job, I sure did pick the wrong profession.
My friend Ryan can sit down at any moment and tell me how much money he will have at any point in his life. Part of me hates him and is very envious of his excruciatingly thorough planning of his life. Part of me couldn't stand to be in his shoes for 10 seconds. You see, Ryan is OCD and I am...well, ADD. We make quite a pair. Ryan picked a profession where he could work in a system that is very regulated and he knows what is expected of him, when he needs to go to work, when he gets a vacation. Ryan is a high school teacher. I wouldn't want his job if I was held at gunpoint. BUT...he has security. That is one thing that I dream of like eating a dark fudge sundae on a beach in Fiji.
Me?
One day, I'm looking to be wealthier than I ever imagined and the next I'm wondering how I will be able to pay any of my bills. I might wake at 4 am or 10 am. Next month I may be shooting in my hometown and riding my bike every evening or flying all over the country shooting jobs. Like most photographers, I live a life of uncertainty. Whether it be what I will be shooting, where I will be traveling, when I will get a day off, when I will get a day shooting...it's all fairly uncertain. Just when things are good and we think we can relax, just do our job for a while and not worry about hunting for the next client, another photographer is knocking on the door trying to get our jobs. Just like we did to get where we are. Pretty crazy business we are in.
But something about that uncertainty is the driving force behind many photographers. We thrive on that uncertainty. We take enormous risks, both emotional and financial, to fulfill ambitions and dreams that others can't quite understand. Is it part of the business plan? Not always. But we feed on instinct and intuition which can't be measured. It's a hunch. It's like when we make a mistake and get that result that we never expected. It puts a big grin on our face that has everyone questioning and all of the sudden we are thrust into a totally new direction of creativity. It's in our wiring to keep exploring an inner realm that is always scratching to get out. And when it happens, it's magical.
Granted, we have to market what we create and that is what puts food on the table. Even then, we are putting our souls on sale. We expose our vulnerability to the world and pray that it will be accepted. It may be accepted and it may be denied. But no matter what the outcome, the next morning we wake up and we have to figure out how to create something new, something better.
We get to look for another job.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Monday, July 7, 2008
OK, enough about you...let's talk about ME
Instead of diving into camera, photo industry shop talk, I thought I would talk a little about myself. Contrary to my post title, I have a very modest ego. I do what I do, because I love what I do. The dream of being a glamorous world famous photographer left me years ago. Hopefully this blog will allow me to share my ideas, techniques and problems with others. I learned photography by looking at what others produced and then analyzing how they did it. Simple problem solving. I guess that's what I love about photography is the opportunity to solve problems. So here we go!
I started my photographic journey when I was in college. I was going on all sorts of journeys around the American southwest. When I came home and tried to tell my friends and family of all the cool things that we did and saw, I never could really convey how cool it really was. That's because I'm pretty much a crappy storyteller. Half the time I can't remember half the details that make a story meaningful. Either way, being a visually stimulated person, I thought a camera would be a cool way to show our journeys. And a career was born.
I bought a Canon A2 with some sort of zoom lens and started shooting... a lot of bad photos. I actually picked up photo books and read all I could about the basics of photography. That was the technical side of my education. Each evening, I would go to the library and pour over National Geos and study photography. That was more the aesthetic side of my education. I dissected images to determine how the photo was made. I then would go out and try to replicate photos that I admired. That has been my method of education to this day.
If you've gotten this far, you've been to my site and see what kind of work I do. The outdoor stuff is what I've been doing from day one. I love it, but I will admit that I have stepped back from it a bit in the last few years. I found that work and play became one. Every time I went out for a bike ride or hike, I was toting cameras to get the shot and I never really took time off from my job. I pulled back from the outdoor photography and concentrated more on architecture and now environmental portraiture. Architecture is something I have always loved. I actually wanted to be an architect when I was in high school, but I never followed through with that dream. Now I am blessed to have the opportunity to visit and work in very cool homes and see all forms of architecture. The portraiture is exciting because I get to meet all sorts of people and visit new different locations. Then I get the opportunity to visually connect people with their surroundings or environments. I haven't let go of outdoor photography. I have a feeling that a new exciting project is not to far off. That's the beauty of photography. We get to shoot what we want to shoot when we want to shoot it. I'm really pretty lucky.
Yes, I love to ride bikes. I've been riding a bike since I was 2? All I know, is as long as I can remember, my butt's been one with a bike seat. My dad used to yell at me when I was young and my grades were bad. He would ask, "What are you gonna do? Ride your bike up and down the street all your life?" Yep. I'm still riding my bike up and down the street. Sorry dad, I love cycling. It's the one place in the world that nobody can tell me what to do and how to do it. It's the one place where I can really, truly be myself and I'm absolutely in my realm. I love it.
Well, that's about all for now. I guess I could go on, but readers would probably get bored. If you've made it this far, I thank you for taking an interest in me and what I do. I'm excited to post stories of my shoots, my trials, my business, my failures and successes. It is my turn to contribute my experience and hopefully others will benefit in some way.
Cheers
I started my photographic journey when I was in college. I was going on all sorts of journeys around the American southwest. When I came home and tried to tell my friends and family of all the cool things that we did and saw, I never could really convey how cool it really was. That's because I'm pretty much a crappy storyteller. Half the time I can't remember half the details that make a story meaningful. Either way, being a visually stimulated person, I thought a camera would be a cool way to show our journeys. And a career was born.
I bought a Canon A2 with some sort of zoom lens and started shooting... a lot of bad photos. I actually picked up photo books and read all I could about the basics of photography. That was the technical side of my education. Each evening, I would go to the library and pour over National Geos and study photography. That was more the aesthetic side of my education. I dissected images to determine how the photo was made. I then would go out and try to replicate photos that I admired. That has been my method of education to this day.
If you've gotten this far, you've been to my site and see what kind of work I do. The outdoor stuff is what I've been doing from day one. I love it, but I will admit that I have stepped back from it a bit in the last few years. I found that work and play became one. Every time I went out for a bike ride or hike, I was toting cameras to get the shot and I never really took time off from my job. I pulled back from the outdoor photography and concentrated more on architecture and now environmental portraiture. Architecture is something I have always loved. I actually wanted to be an architect when I was in high school, but I never followed through with that dream. Now I am blessed to have the opportunity to visit and work in very cool homes and see all forms of architecture. The portraiture is exciting because I get to meet all sorts of people and visit new different locations. Then I get the opportunity to visually connect people with their surroundings or environments. I haven't let go of outdoor photography. I have a feeling that a new exciting project is not to far off. That's the beauty of photography. We get to shoot what we want to shoot when we want to shoot it. I'm really pretty lucky.
Yes, I love to ride bikes. I've been riding a bike since I was 2? All I know, is as long as I can remember, my butt's been one with a bike seat. My dad used to yell at me when I was young and my grades were bad. He would ask, "What are you gonna do? Ride your bike up and down the street all your life?" Yep. I'm still riding my bike up and down the street. Sorry dad, I love cycling. It's the one place in the world that nobody can tell me what to do and how to do it. It's the one place where I can really, truly be myself and I'm absolutely in my realm. I love it.
Well, that's about all for now. I guess I could go on, but readers would probably get bored. If you've made it this far, I thank you for taking an interest in me and what I do. I'm excited to post stories of my shoots, my trials, my business, my failures and successes. It is my turn to contribute my experience and hopefully others will benefit in some way.
Cheers
Sunday, July 6, 2008
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