Moreover, the kicker for me was as I realized that my dream was false. The sorts of shoots I hated to do were the ones that brought in money while the ones I loved were unsellable. I realized that my dream for what I wanted to be as a pro photographer just wasn't tenable. Rather, I would be forced to go down a road that I didn't even like.
Finally, the true breaking point was the eventual realization that to be a professional photographer I had to be a salesman, marketer, and customer service rep first and foremost.
For every hour I spent shooting, I had to spend hours selling and dealing with customer requests. Salesmanship makes me miserable. This is why I chose to step back and kick back photography to being just a hobby. I am so much happier for it. I have nicer gear now and I no longer have to pinch pennies.
I only shoot what I want to shoot with whom I want to shoot. And most importantly, when shooting the only thing in my mind is to create an image I am passionate about.
I'm no longer worried about adhering to a consistent style, creating marketable images, creating a commercially viable portfolio image, satisfying client requirements, etc. I get to shoot, just to shoot. It is such a liberating thing. I have nothing against those who choose to continue forward in the realm of pro photography, but it definitely isn't for me. Well, at least for a long time.
I mean I do recognize that eventually, assuming I do well, I can hire staff to do all the stuff I hate, but we are talking potentially decades before reaching that point and most photographers never get there. Side note, boy am I glad I stepped away from shooting pro before Covid hit. I'd be in such dire straights right now. If someone in an agency leaves and the replacement choose to use a photographer they typically work with, you are out.
It's a more stressful life than most people who envy photographers can imagine but there are good sides too. I think breaking a leg and needing to take weeks off is very different than being legislated not to work for a year or more. Home Topics Business. When You Should Quit Photography. After 3 months and no clients, I was seriously ready to throw in the towel. I didn't understand why I wasn't getting business and just figured that no one wanted my services.
Tired and bummed out, I didn't want to keep trying. I thought this was my last opportunity to create something with my camera and if it didn't work out I was just going to shelve the whole thing again and find something else to do.
After talking to my wife about sticking with it, I decided that I would give it another 3 months of effort and, if after 6 months of being in business, I didn't have much success I would call it quits. If he can stick with it for a year and a half with no results, surely I shouldn't give up after just 6 months, right? The greatest blessing and the greatest curse was for people to tell me that I had an eye for photography.
This made me feel like Superman when I first got started but also was my Kryptonite during my early growth phase. After all, if I was so great at photography, why did all my photos suck? However, it was what kept me going when I finally started to get some traction and develop some consistent results.
If I had a natural talent for it, then I couldn't just give up so easily. I really felt like something was pulling at me from the inside to keep going with photography. Like Moana, it called to me and I didn't know how far I could go with it. I know that sounds so silly but it really feels like I was put on this Earth to take pictures of it.
Now, I understand that most people probably don't feel that way. Instead, they just want to get better at a hobby they enjoy. So let's talk about some more concrete advice on how I kept going instead of just that I felt a pull inside to not give up. First off, I really recommend having a champion or two. I've talked about this in other articles, but having someone cheering you on really helps to improve your photography.
My champions were my mom and my wife. There were so many people who didn't say anything constructive or gave watered down advice, but my mom really pushed me forward. Secondly, when I was newly married, my wife told me that no matter what hobbies I pursue, she didn't want me to give up on my photography. Find yourself a champion.
Get on some Facebook groups, reach out to other members of the IP community. Join some local photography groups. There are lots of ways to do this. The next thing was that I slowly learned the difference between knowing what you don't know, and not knowing what you don't know.
Let's use a couple examples from Photoshop to help me sell this idea. In Photoshop, let's say you know about layer masking and that it's the main way Photoshop is so effective at photo editing. But you don't know how to use them or that it doesn't really make sense to you. This is an example of knowing what you don't know: you know about layer masking, you just don't know how to use it. Now you know what you need to learn more about. You know what you don't know.
For an example of not knowing what you don't know, let's talk about Gaussian Blur. A lot of portrait photographers will use this to smooth out skin and clean up blemishes.
But you can also use it in landscape photography in the same way. Let's say you want to smooth out some water. You can use the clone stamp tool but that would take like an hour to clone stamp out all the imperfections in your water.
Or you can use Gaussian Blur and layer masks to brush that layer on. But as a beginner photographer, you don't even know what Gaussian Blur is or what it does. You don't even know what you don't know. The best way to learn about what you don't know and find out more about you never thought even existed is to watch YouTube tutorials.
I subscribed to PixImperfect, Phlearn, and other Photoshop tutorials to find out neat little tricks in Photoshop. Even if the theme of the video isn't targeted at your genre of photography, there is still a wealth of knowledge to be had in applying the principles taught in those videos.
Doing this got me excited to try new camera and editing tricks and to reprocess some of my older photos to make them more refined and polished. Next, I sought the advice of photographers in my field.
I stopped reaching out to anyone who has ever held a camera before and started asking the photographers who I trusted and respected to review my work. In the early stages of my photography, I joined a number of different groups and forums. Most of them were populated by beginner photographers and 1 experienced photographer.
Getting advice on my photos from another beginner photographer was never very productive because they didn't have the skills or experience to see what I was trying to do and how to help me achieve it the next time. But when I reached out to experienced photographers, I began an education from their years of experience. I've said it a dozen times before, the portfolio review from Jim Harmer was one of the best things I've ever done and I highly recommend it for anyone looking to get a clear and direct review of their work.
One of the biggest things that helped me continue in my photography was the opportunity I had to give it as a gift to my friends and family. I'm not talented with hardly any trades but I can bring beauty into people's lives and homes.
I have frequently given photographs for birthdays, holidays, and speical ocassions. The joy and anticipation I get from given fine art to those closest to me has given me such a strong sense of purpose in my photography. I get tears, hugs, and thank yous from those who get a print as a gift and I get to see it take a prominent place in their home when I come to visit.
Lastly, the best singular thing I did to keep going in my photography was to just keep going. The first time you try something new, you're going to suck at it.
And that's totally fine. Tony Hawk was the first skater to land a , or 2 and a half rotations in midair. He tried 11 times in competitions before he actually landed it. You can see her work on Flickr , Behance and her Facebook page. Alex is a commercial photographer based in Valencia, Spain.
She mostly shoots people and loves anything to do with the outdoors. You can see her work on her website and follow her Spanish landscape adventures on instagram. Adam owns a production company that specializes in corporate marketing and brand strategy.
His videos have collectively hit over a quarter billion views. Submit A Story. Share Tweet Pinterest. Use the lockdown to master these seven photo editing skills ».
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