Who's living the dream?

[Paula]

So I've had a hard day, and as so often happens there I am on the bus on the way home day dreaming about chucking it all in to make snapping photos my full-time profession. But then the bubble bursts and the familiar..."it's too competitive, there is no money in it, you've got no talent..." bla bla bla comes into view!

So I was wondering - do we have any tales here of those that have made the dream come true ? Or can anyone recommend biographies of those that offer inspiration to someone who's bus journeys are far too long!

Cheers All

Paula

 

[Biber]

Robert Capa - Slightly out of Focus

 

[XAos]

If you truly love photography, find some other way of making a living. This can be said for about any field but is especially true of entertainment or other fields which grow out of things that a whole lot of people do for fun, I know little about professional photographers, but ask a professional diver, musician, athlete, driver, etc... What separates the proficient amateur from the professional in these fields is all the other crap that you get payed to put up with. The part everybody loves anyone can do (not to imply that it's easy to do, what I mean is that nobody is stopping you from doing it, and you might not even get to do more of it).

 

[cp_ste.croix]

If you truly love photography, find some other way of making a living.

As a former professional diver, I would concur that my enjoyment was at it's lowest during the periods that I worked...that said, now, when I travel, it is a pretty neat way to dive for free for a brief bit. I just have to make sure that I don't work for very long or am dependant on it for sustenance.

I would still love to be a famous photographer though, but only on my terms, which I fear would be so specific and unreasonable as to put me out of the game before it started...

 

[vincentbenoit]

What separates the proficient amateur from the professional in these fields is all the other crap that you get payed to put up with.

Yup. Freedom is priceless.

Vincent (forever amateur)

 

[FrankS]

I agree with the above posts. "The dream" would soon become "the nightmare". If you love it, don't ruin it by doing it for a living, it'll suck the joy out of it. Sure, doing photography wholly on your own terms and getting paid big bucks would be great, but becomming that famous is exceptional. Better off buying a lottery ticket. Sorry to burst your bubble. 🙂

 

[back alley]

to my buds, i AM a famous photographer.

i'm published, have done a few cd covers, a number of weddings and i know more about photography than anyone else in my circle of frinds.

it's good to be a star😉

joe

 

[FrankS]

Big fish, little pond, just like me. 🙂

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I guess you could live the dream if you got paid doing what you love without running the risk of hating it because it would run your life. There are some who love what they do, no matter how it burns (like the garbageman that won the New York lotto and said that even after he won his millions of dollars, he would not quit his job -- crazy? Something for Rod Serling to muse about). Mother Theresa lived the Dream, it may be somebody else's nightmare.

Ah...the "complex" Three Wishes dilemma; for many people, in that comedy of errors, Pandora's Box would be a cakewalk!

Perhaps the question could be: to be Bohemian, or to be a paid Consultant?

 

[Wayne R. Scott]

I think that, (based on my experience), the only difference between living the "dream" as a paid photographer and a nightmare, is that you get to wake up from the nightmare.

Wayne

 

[ErnestoJL]

I´ve studied elctronics just because I liked it so much, then I made my living of it. Nothing can be worst than doing something for fun and suddenly or not it turns into your every day obligation....
It would be the same with photography, unless you´re lucky enough to have all the gods staring at you saying "This guy is the One!!"

But remember: at the time you become forced to do it the enjoyment disappears.

Best regards
Ernesto

 

[rover]

Awe, I kind of have checked out of the "dream."

I suggest the Harry Potter books. They will take you away into a world of fun and the things we all wish could have experienced in school.

 

[Rick Waldroup]

I have been "living the dream" for almost 30 years. I am an architectural photographer by trade. I always tell my friends that I haven't had a "real job" in all that time. Seriously, I love what I do for a living, but it is very, very hard to be self-employed like this. Doing what you love to make money has many disadvantages- namely that you can loose sight of what got you into this wonderful medium to begin with. In other words, it becomes a job just like any other job. I shoot large format for my work, but my "hobby" has become shooting with my beloved rangefinder cameras. It is here that the creative juices still flow and I still amaze myself with my love of photography. I can't imagine myself doing anything else for a living, but guess what, every now and then, I dream about doing other things.

 

[Sean Reid]

I'm not so sure I agree that making one's living doing what one loves ruins a person's passion for that thing. I have been self-employed for most of my working life (I'm 39) and I split the year between running motorcycle tours (5-6 mos./yr.) and professional photography (6-7 mos./yr.). My working life has been split in that way for the past ten years and I have not found that it has killed my love of motorcycling or photography. Certain clients I deal with sometimes, in either business, can drive me up a wall, but that's true in any job. I photograph as intensely now as I did when I was 20 and I'm as eager to go for a motorcycle ride as anyone. I wouldn't say that I'm living a dream exactly (many people make far more money than I do and I sometimes work 60+ hours per week) but I am pretty much making my living doing things that I enjoy.

So, I wouldn't neccesarily discourage someone from trying to make a living doing what he or she loves. It is difficult but sometimes possible and it can be very rewarding. Just forget about financial security and you'll be fine <G> Winogrand made his living doing commercial work, largely advertising. Many, many other famous photographers also worked in the trenches doing commercial work to pay the bills. Working as an artist and doing commercial work aren't mutually incompatible.

Cheers,

Sean

 

[Erl]

Many years ago, when I was in my early 20's I was warned that turning Pro would kill my passion for photography. (I am trained as en engineer). Undaunted, I resigned my job and started eaning my living from my passion.

Now, about 45 years later, I can report that living from your passion can be a dampener, can be trying, can be thankless, etc. ...... just like any job!

BUT overall, what a fantastic rollercoaster ride it has been (still is?). There is no way I could have learned so much about my love by just fiddling around with it. There is no way I could have bought all the beautiful gear I did for work, and thus was able to 'play' with it.

The adrenalin rush of doing 'the impossible' just because someone wanted it done, getting opportunities to shoot in places where the 'average Joe' was barred, and so on.

So, now at 64 I am getting tired of the pressure, but still loving the challenge of each assignment. These days, when everyone has a Digital this or that, many think they can do my job for a fraction of the cost, which is true. But their pics can't compete with 45 years of knowledge springing off the steepest learning curve I have faced yet.

The result is, I no longer call myself a photographer. I am a 'Trouble Shooter'. When it gets too hard or imossible for you, call me! Be prepared to pay for fixing up what you stuffed up and I still meet your deadline, even if it has already expired. 🙂

I find myself wanting to retire so that I can indulge my passion full time, but photographers don't usually take home a lot of money and I am no exception, so I need to keep working.

Since I have been focussing more on my own work, my style has changed as a consequence. I am glad I followed/still follow the above path because I needed the pressure for me to produce effectively. I believe the same is true on a personal level. Going out with a camera is not the most effective way of getting good picture. Needing to achieve a particular end, maybe in a particular time, is a great catalyst for 'producing' something.

Enough of this rant.

Paula, I hope this puts some clarity before you.

May you choose with your heart.

Cheers,
Erl

 

[Traut]

I worked for Time Life in the 70a as a young man. Too many photogs died. No money to speak of. My mother said "Do fashion photography". The fringe benefits were unbelievable doing fashion. Went to graduate school and became a CPA. When I'm 80 I'll sit in my rocking chair and smile,

 

[Skinny McGee]

I have been "living the dream" for almost 30 years. I am an architectural photographer by trade.



Hey RDW,
I have recently purchased a Calumet and the I picked up a 90mm Super Agulon.
I have shot 4x5 with speedgraphic equip. and I am getting ready to order film and a 90 degree shutter release adaptor and should be able to start shooting some for sh*ts and giggles mainly... I have a Modernist Architect friend here in town that used to shot all his building him self in the 50's that is welling to help me learn some..
He new and learn some thing from Ezra Stolzt ( I think I spelled that right).. But any pointers would be great I love Architecture and want to shot it for my own walls and may be for people.

Thanks
Skinny

 

[richard_l]

I have too much fun taking pictures. It's good therapy. I'm fairly sure it wouldn't be fun anymore if I had to depend on it to put bread on the table. You may be different, however.

 

[RObert Budding]

My dream is for my wife to earn so much money that my income won't matter. But she's an academic, so that just ain't gonna happen!

Robert

 

[XAos]

So, I wouldn't neccesarily discourage someone from trying to make a living doing what he or she loves. It is difficult but sometimes possible and it can be very rewarding. Just forget about financial security and you'll be fine

Ok, who's the wise guy that went and undermined the stern warning. The secret is you can't let all these naysayers dissuade you. It's part of the entrance test. But now that the secret is out, the effectiveness of the warning is compromised. 🙂 Seriously, I enjoy my work, but I dont do a lot of programming for fun outside of work (though I do some.) I'm sure that a professional machinist would think I was absolutely nuts for wanting to play with metal in my garage bad enough to get a mill and a lathe.

Divers in particular seem to be almost a special case of this. Competition is fierce, it's often not a family friendly career, and it's not an old man's career. I like to draw a triangle when discussing careers. Fun, Skill Required, Limited Entry. Things which are fun, easy, and anyone can do you generally have to stand in line and pay money to do. Hard, Fun, and Limited entry can be some intensely rewarding careers with high burnout. Easy, Not Fun, Unlimited entry tends to be dull and boring and not pay well. (Would you like fries with that?) Not fun - Limited Entry - Difficult tends to pay very well but you really have to be cut out for it.