Apr
27
People always ask each other when they’re growing up what they want to be. What do they want to do for the rest of their life?
The dreamer in all of us pick a career which lets us earn money doing something we would do for free. Something we love. Something we have a passion in doing. People asked me, “Do you want to be a full-time photographer?” I always told them, without much thought, “no.”
When I got laid off from Clear Channel back in 2009, a week before my 25th birthday, and just a few months before my wedding, I assumed I was about to have the life of a salesman. Selling cars, tv’s, advertising, or whatever I could find, to put food on my family’s table. I thought it would all depend on one sale. Week after week. I refused to base my family’s income on the click of a camera’s shutter. Plus, if everything was riding on the selling of a single picture, would it make my enjoyment of photography dissipate quicker than I received it. The risk seemed too great.
Years have gone by and I revisit this in my mind all of the time. Why don’t I become a full-time photographer? Sometimes I think I have been unable to develop my skills because I never have the time to truly “practice.” I feel like without trying new things, researching, learning in the field, I’m getting into a rut of photography. Maybe I should ask my full-time job to let me have a photography sabbatical.
All I can do is either accept what has been given to me or flip it around into something else.
We’ll see what happens.
Apr
20
It seems like everytime I see a new website design, I switch the way my site looks. I think I’ve had probably 10 re-designs in the past two years. My aesthetics when it comes to how I want to display my work changes everyday, it seems. I’ll find a design that I like 80% and then settle on the final 20%.
But as of RIGHT NOW, I like this design 100%
I’ve got a lot of exciting things in the future on how I work with all of my clients. I’m working on a way to make their online experience more seemless and user-friendly.
There’s more stuff that I could talk about, but I won’t. (This leaves you to speculate and gets people talking….or something along those lines, I hear.)
What would you like to see more/less of on TheRestlessOne.Com? Please don’t say, “Less Photos.“
I have a heart, ya know?
Dec
09
What qualifies someone as being a photographer?
What qualifies someone as being a professional?
What qualifies someone as being an artist?
Questions can go on like this forever; whether it be in comedy, writing, acting, or music.
I’ve battled with this for years. Am I a professional? Am I a photographer? Am I an artist? Does it even matter?
In the end, it’s just a label one places on his or herself.
In the end, it’s just a label one places on his or herself.
Today, I want to be a hero. If I call myself a hero and believe I am, who is to really say that I’m not a hero? There’s no criteria to become certain adjectives in life. Therefore, does the lack of criteria make those words less meaningful? If anyone can call themselves a professional photographer, without having met any type of criteria, does it take away from ‘real’ professional photographers?
We live in a time where any person can go to Wal-Mart, buy a camera, take a few pictures of their children, edit the photos with one-touch programs, upload it to Facebook, and call themselves a photographer. It’s as simple as calling oneself a hero, when all you’ve done is sit in front of your TV all day, watching Pawn Stars, and eating Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
I see ‘photographers’ online all the time that make me disgusted to call myself a photographer. I know this might sound egotistical, but hear me out. It goes the same for people who are politicians. Yes, there are A LOT of dirty politicians, but what about that one (probably only one) politician who is actually doing his job? Because of everyone else destroying the name of “politician,” they are now looked down upon because of other people’s actions. When people ask you, “So, what do you do?” I hardly ever say, “I’m a photographer.” I dread the responses like, “Oh, really? I bought my daughter a really expensive camera. She’s a photographer, too.” ‘Photographer’ is the new ‘politician.’
I read a great article by Zack Arias about are the cheap, amateur photographers killing the industry. I fully expected him to say “YES,” but I was surprised when he said just the opposite. To sum it up, he said that everyone deserves pictures, no matter what they can afford. No one can argue with that. However, do real photographers have to undercut their costs just to keep up with Aunt Lily’s photography business she does for fun? Maybe. And that’s sad.
All I can do is strive to be the best photographer I can be each and every day. I can’t focus on what other people are doing, charging, or calling themselves. Anyone can call themselves whatever they want in this life. But it’s our actions that truly define that.
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