Getting the Ball Rolling
The past few months I’ve felt what it is to be a freelancer. I work three days a week at a great restaurant job and spend the rest of my time adventuring and teaching myself what it is to be a professional photographer. It’s hard. Long gone are the days of financial stability from working in an office and signing off at 5:30 in exchange for a comfortable living. But I have time to devote to what I love and what I want to make my living doing: photography. When I feel like heading out to scout the light or weather of a location, I go. I have been reading extensively on techniques, style and business practices. This past week I even used some frequent flier miles to travel to the PDN Outdoor Photographer’s Expo in Salt Lake City to network and take some workshops from the pros. One thing I learned: many of the pros in outdoor photography had no formal training at all and are self-taught. They decided to follow what they loved. Just this example is invigorating.
This past month I landed my first payed assignment shooting real estate near Yosemite. It’s not skiing or climbing, but I am close to the Park and making money from photography is a fantastic feeling. I get paid to be creative and build a product that people want. Working to create something beautiful is far more fun than staring at a spreadsheet for hours. Being near the Park also gets me in the mountains, shooting landscapes and climbing. I have time to practice again and again, try out new techniques and situations and learn the craft. Finally I am seeing progress. It’s tough starting from the bottom again, but when I know that this career is what I love, not just something that I was educated to do, the struggles seem far easier to work out.
Moving forward, I will be publishing photos far more often from my time out in the field practicing. Check back in every now and then and enjoy. Here are some recent favorites:
Erratics, Half Dome and High Sierra
Sierra Foothills in Evening Glow
Milky Way and Mt. Dana
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