business
Making money with photography isn't easy. It takes a long time and a lot of hard work to even make a few $$$, but it's totally worth it if you love the process. And I do.
Starting today, I want to offer the option to those of you who can afford it to support me even further. I opened a Patreon page where you can choose one of the different tiers. Your contribution will allows me to keep doing this that I love so much.
Nature was the reason why I got started in photography. The beautiful landscapes of Oregon awakened my senses, and I felt like I had to create something with what I was seeing, hearing and smelling. For a long time, that was what drove my photography.
Even though I was documenting my everyday life with photographs as well, I never thought of those moments as situations where I could create art. They were just snapshots.
I was wrong. Very, very wrong. Any moment, any situation, no matter where you are, no matter what you are doing, is a good moment to create art. I shot the image above while I was writing this post, from the window in my bedroom.
Not just that, but anything could be worth of your attention. Why limit yourself to a tiny subset of the world, when there are so many interesting things to photograph everywhere?
Sometimes, all it takes is to try it. Before judging a place or an object worthy or unworthy of a photo, just put your camera up to your eye and try it. Walk back a little and show the whole scene, or get close and look for the details. Try to find the beauty in everything.
Going from landscape photographer to everything photographer was one of the most profound changes I made to my photography. It opened a whole new world of imagery for me, but also showed me that I could do photography at anytime, anywhere. I didn't have to wait to go anywhere, I could do right at home.
All photography is practice. The more we practice, the better we get. And because we don't control most of what happens outside, the more we get out, the more chances we have to make great images.
The most important step is also the hardest: don't stop.
Photography is a long-term game - it takes a long time (perhaps a lifetime!) to have a portfolio full of good images.
But it's a game we must play as often as we can. Showing up every day will give us a much better chance to create what we want.
You'd think -at least that's what I thought- that I became a professional photographer the day I quit my job and started to do photography full-time. But that wasn't the case. It took me a while to realize that I had become a full-time casual photographer. And it was about time to step it up and turn pro.
One of the recurring themes in the messages I get from other photographers is about their struggle to find time for photography on a daily basis.
Today, we are so busy all the time! It's the busyness era. If you aren't doing something, you are falling behind. It's all about the hustle, right?
This is an issue I'm deeply interested in. Recently, I read the book related to this topic, Make Time, and in this video I share some of the key points from the book, along with some of my own, all applied to photography.
We'll see why we are so busy, why we need to make time for photography, the highlight of the day, and several tips to make time for photography.
I am a photographer, and I need my images to be seen.
Years ago, that would mean I'd have to persuade magazines, chase publishers or convince galleries. And even then, not having the right contacts would pretty much seal my fate as a photographer.
Today, the attention has shifted and very few people buy photography magazines or books anymore. A big chunk of people's lives is spent online, and for most of that time they are where everyone else is: social media.
Read MoreA while ago, I had a "terrible" realization: everything I had done in life as a software developer was already gone or will be gone in the next few years. Apps have been taken down, websites have been closed.
The exception might be a few lines of code, here and there. They will survive as long as someone else keeps them alive.
The fate of all the side projects I've worked on over the years (hundreds upon hundreds of hours of work) is already sealed, though: they are all gone.
Even as a photographer, if I stop paying the bills this website would be shut down, and all online platforms will eventually go away and / or delete my images.
Your life's work gone, just like that.
The day I realized about this was the day I sold my first physical copy of "Went West", my first book. At that moment, my website and online platforms stopped being the only places where my work lived. There are 40+ copies of that book all around the world, and since then, I've also shipped several prints of some of my images.
I know they too will vanish, eventually. Some might have already been thrown away, or put away. Most will follow at some point.
My hope is for just a few that will survive and outlast me, if someone finds them to bring some joy. A legacy of sorts.
While I appreciate the immediacy of the web and the convenience of online platforms, I'm aiming to create more physical work this year and to put it in hands of more people.
I truly believe smartphones are the single most empowering tool of our era. These little devices can do things we couldn't even dream of just a few years ago, no matter where we are.
With great power comes great responsibility, though.
My phone has greatly improved my photography, but it's also hurt it. I've found myself losing track of time while on my phone and missing shooting opportunities, like a sunrise in the morning. I've also found myself replying to tweets in the middle of a shoot, just because I grabbed my phone to meter the scene and saw the notification.
To avoid stuff like this, many people go to the extreme of keeping just the very basic apps on their phones. This is a mistake, in my opinion. Trying to avoid the downsides of using a smartphone, they are also missing out on the good stuff.
I believe there's another way, a way where we can still take advantage of these devices while limiting their negative effects.
This what I've come up with (this is for iOS, but Android should provide similar functionality).
Read MoreCasey Neistat tells us to show up every single day.
I think it was Michael Kenna who said, during an interview, that photography is something you have to do every day.
Showing up doesn't mean that we have to shoot every day. There's so much more to photography than using a camera: from developing / editing the images to publishing and promoting them, organizing your work in books, contacting models, agencies or brands, uploading stock images, planning your next trip, even cleaning your gear or posting on Instagram.
The point is: photography has to be in our minds every day, and we should make every day count, even if it's just a little bit.
Note: I have an audience of one in mind when I write these kinds of posts - me. While some might find them useful anyway, it's me writing to myself, about things I struggle with.
I rarely get a good image from a trip that didn't require a big effort from me, so big that it made me feel miserable (unfortunately, it doesn't work the other way around: feeling miserable doesn't guarantee that I'll get a good image).
My best images were made on days where I had to push myself beyond not only my comfort zone, but also what I thought were my limits.
I love the feeling of exhaustion after a whole day of shooting, looking at those negatives or RAW files, and finding out you captured what you saw.
It's ok to be miserable. It feels good.
Photography is not linear. No matter if you've been a photographer for a month or for a lifetime, we all are just one click away from our best image.
Think about that the next time you pick your camera.
One click away.
Today could be the day.
I don't know where I got this quote from. I even had to Google the name to confirm he was The Rock.
“Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.”
I believe in this.
Don't sit and wait.
Study, improve, work, put yourself out there.
Little by little, every day, get closer to where you want to be.
Don't stop.
Nothing is guaranteed in this life, but consistency is our best shot at getting what we want.
I've been uploading 2 to 3 videos a week to my YouTube channel for the last couple of months.
It might not sound like much.
A family member was wondering about this recently, and they were surprised when I told them the amount of work involved in creating one of my videos.
Most of them are from the field. Going out already takes anywhere from a couple of hours -minimum- to a full day.
Then I work on the images. This means developing and scanning film -at least one hour per roll- plus post-processing for both analog and digital negatives.
Editing the video can take me several hours as well. More often than not, it's a whole day in front of the computer.
Lastly, I upload the video to YouTube -not an easy task when you are on the road-, create the thumbnails, and promote it everywhere.
It's a long process. One that takes hours and days to complete.
I love every bit of it.
Ain't nobody got time for nothing nowadays.
You can see it on the road or at the grocery store.
Time is the asset of our days. It always has been.
In the past, there was no escape to a "let me show you the photo album from our last vacation". Today, you can simply leave a like on the FB post and swipe away. People aren't paying attention, though.
Curation is more important now than ever.
We need to respect our viewer's time. They will give us a few seconds -minutes if we are lucky- of their days in exchange for good content. We need to use that time wisely.
Give too much, even when it's awesome content, and they'll swipe away. Give too little and they'll forget about you.
Small doses, all the time.
Edit your videos. Keep clips short, between 5 and 10 seconds. Use good music. Show only the parts that contribute to the story.
Edit your images. Don't show 30 pictures of the same thing from different angles. Sit on them for a while before sharing them.
Discarding clips and images will hurt. Like a wound that is healing, this is good.
Knowing what to share and (even more importantly) what NOT to share is a skill in high-demand, a skill that may take time and effort to develop.
I'd say it is THE skill a photographer must have today.
You've spent weeks, months, or even years creating a body of work you are proud of. Now, you'd love to show it in the real world and not just online, but you have no idea how or where to start.
Hopefully this post will help you.
I just had the first exhibition of America Untitled a couple of weeks ago, and I thought I'd share how I got my work hung on walls, people to come see it, and what I've learned for the next one.
Read More“[...] to everyone who is freaking out because they fear the noise and distraction of all the additional content on the Internet, you can relax. Quality is a tremendous filter. Cream always rises, my friends, no matter how many cups of coffee you pour.”
I believe in this.
Keep posting and sharing your photography: it's the only way it can be discovered and seen by people who will love it.
During the last few days, I've been trying **IGTV** (Instagram TV) as a possible (and yet another one) outlet to share my work.
When it first launched a few months ago, I was very skeptical. I still am, but after playing with it for a bit I can see its huge potential.
So far, I’ve released 4 videos on my IGTV channel and I’m liking what I’m seeing.
Read MoreI believe images are meant to be hung on a wall, and I wanted mine to fulfill that destiny. My semi-nomadic lifestyle didn’t allow me to do this for a long time, until I figured out a way to do it using drop shipping services.
Read More
