What
do you do when you just can't seem to do anything? When the work isn't
there and you're sitting on you're arse everyday wanting to shoot but not
shooting?
Ok so yeah, I
could go out myself with my camera, but I've done that, for years...and I like
doing it don't get me wrong, but what happens after you've gone to the next
level...a self portrait a day won't cut it anymore...you want bigger! But for
bigger you need models, and a team and a plan and location and to pray for it
not to rain. You try and plan but everyone has to be free and up for it! Then
you plan it all for one day's shoot and if it's part of a project it's one
shot, just one. Or maybe it's an editorial so it's many shots, but then you
have to submit to a hundred online magazines in hopes that one like it and want
to actually share them.
And
these are just the days when you're not working, because photography work doesn't come day to day...for me anyway, it's say, 5 jobs a month. sometimes from a regular client that pays well, or a wedding or something. But there are a lot of those days when there's no work, and people around you who have there 9-5 jobs just say 'go, be
proactive' and you ask them, how, what should I do? 'I dunno, email magazines
or something for work'...tell me, fellow photographers out there, is it just my
pessimism or is this just an ignorant statement? Email them what exactly? For
what job? I don't know...maybe I am just lazy...but I do believe if a team
wanted to shoot with me everyday, if all I really had to do was turn up and
take the photos I would, I would be there every damn day.
Any what burns is that I'm a photographer, so yeah, I'm friends with a bunch of photographers and follow a bunch and I swear all I see them do is upload photo after photo, or post behind the scenes and tweet about the many many shoots they have coming up. But WHY DON'T I TOO! Does no one want to work with me? I try and plan, but when the plans fall through so maybe I just bail to easily?
Any what burns is that I'm a photographer, so yeah, I'm friends with a bunch of photographers and follow a bunch and I swear all I see them do is upload photo after photo, or post behind the scenes and tweet about the many many shoots they have coming up. But WHY DON'T I TOO! Does no one want to work with me? I try and plan, but when the plans fall through so maybe I just bail to easily?
I don't know what it's like from a fashion perspective because I only really shoot weddings. I do know that for me the actual photography is probably the smallest part of what I do. I am constantly busy but I'm not shooting all of the time. I'm marketing or doing admin or doing PR or doing my accounts or submitting to blogs etc etc etc. I assume for most types of photographer the actual photography only makes up a tiny fraction of their work. I know having chatted with a photographer who specalises in editorial portraits recently that they have to constantly contact editors and make appointments to show their books etc etc. That's their process and how they get the work to come in. As for the social media side of things, it's a curse to sit there and see other people sharing their work and success stories, as it can have such a negative impact on the way you feel about your own achievements. What you have to remember though is that every single one of those people who are tweeting and sharing their behind the scenes stuff or money shots are omitting the crap that they are dealing with behind the scenes and their own struggles. Anyway this was a bit of a ramble more than anything. I discovered your work this year and love the way you work with natural light. I hope to get along to one of your workshops soon. Keep on keeping on.
ReplyDelete<3
ReplyDeleteWaw, i totally get what you're saying!!
ReplyDeleteI discovered your work through the photoshoot you did with Rosie and i instantly became a fan of yours! :)
There was a time when i had some nice clients to whom i shot events and portfolio sessions, but then i went to another country to study for a semester and when i came back, it was like i vanished. My facebook fan page stopped having Likes and stopped showing on their News Feed. Now i'm struggling to have people following me again, even on Flickr. It's so sad that now i only have like 10 faves at average.
All theses made me feel kinda sad and unmotivated and i ask myself the same question. Am i lazy?
I could be investing my time on Flickr again, or i could go outside and take nice photos and increase my portfolio, but guess what? My friends are all busy and the weather is always raining. People say "Go outside, take your camera and shoot! Be proactive!" The thing is that i also want some models, a nice team, friends that like to do what i like to do, so we could do it together!
Alex, why aren't you from a place closer to me so we could go out and shoot some great conceptual/fashion photography and make our own awesome team? :)
Well, i just wish you luck (cause we all need a little of luck) but most important, be persistent, don't give up, you have awesome works already and i look forward to see more. And i'll try to do the same :) Let's work and no more excuses, we're not lazy!! :) xxx
This time of the year everything slows down a bit. All look back at what was "achieved". Ten best photos of this and that for 2014. You should get concerned when you don`t get worried about the " situation "! A dog that is trained and used as a sniffer dog can only function at full capacity for +/- two hours and nothing can replace them! As for myself inspiration rarely comes from others work. Most of it comes from what my senses experience and what I see read hear smell taste and think or the place where I see it and it all snaps together in my mind! If I am not mistaken the weather is a bit shitty in your part of the world now so take it easy! Let your senses do the work!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, you have written the words that spill out of my mouth all the time!! All my friends are photographers, they are always uploading weddings and images, but don't worry, a LOT of them are just using a different image from a previous shoot, something else they have dug up, they like to make out that they are super busy, when they're not. And social media can be fantastic by means of sharing images and possibly picking up some work, but on days when you're feeling flat, it can be the worst thing to see! Why aren't people booking me, why do they get all the clients, oh I could go on and on and on...but you just have to keep your chin up and keep going, and I'm sure we both will, we're not lazy, I'm sure we work out butts off....maybe we need to do things differently - it's hard being a creative. xxx
ReplyDeleteOh, we all get exactly what your saying. You have to ignore almost what other people are doing as I dare say they are doing as much as you think, just hyping it up to seem like more than it is.
ReplyDeleteWhy not try some SEO marketing and getting the work to find you? :)