The talented and very experienced Scott Bourne has a nice write up today on Going Pro about how much hard work is it to take one’s ‘hobby’ of photography and make a career and business out of it.
I have to say I’m in total agreement here, its really hard work – really hard work.
That said, I have never been afraid of hard work and all the way through my first career in technology I have always worked hard. Back then it wasn’t unusual to work 70-80 hours a week, to be in the office on the weekend’s, to pull an ‘all nighter’ because you were getting ready for a show, launching some product or preparing for some exec presentation, to fly around the world and jump off the plane and give some presentation or dive into a customer meeting. Some might say I was moderately successful at the height of my career, especially when I worked for Microsoft. (I’m sure there are many that would say I was not, but then in that corporate world you don’t always make friends and I didn’t suffer fools very well! ) At the height of Microsoft’s peak I just loved it, I worked my butt off, but I loved it.
But looking back on that life right now I have to say that it was pretty easy.
Now as a full time photographer I will happily confess to the fact that this is the hardest thing that I have ever done. It’s not just hard work, its hard – really hard! At least for me, its not the fact that you are shooting professionally, its the fact that you are also the business owner and the actual art of photography is only a small percentage of what you do in any one day and some times I can go days without picking up the camera at all. Much of the other times you are working on your business plan, planning and executing marketing, responding to client inquiries, figuring out team priorities, reviewing and preparing materials, swamping samples in the studio, training staff, depositing checks and balancing who gets paid next, planning the next few months worth of activities and of course scheduling/scheduling/scheduling and then my personal favorite – fixing the network or some computer problem. Plus much more that I could add. Basically its everything from the strategic to the very tactical. Don’t get me wrong, its not all me and I have a great team who are all helping and doing their part to make the studio successful. But at the end of the day its my business and I’m not working for the ‘man’ as people like to day.
Sometimes I look at what we do and I’m really happy, actually I should better put it as I’m ecstatic. I watch the smiles on our clients face’s, I get to feel the energy that they feel when they leave the studio, I watch the look of love when we present the final product to them – its just an amazing experience. It’s seriously something hard to explain. Then at other times I look and I’m not happy with something that we have done, or maybe something we haven’t done and I know there is room for much improvement, especially when it clear that improvement needs to come from me! That is what gives me pause and the constant reminder that this is the hardest thing I have ever done.
That said, I’m the most happiest professionally that I have ever been and wouldn’t trade this experience for the world. Bring it on 
Anyway, back to to Scott’s insightful article. It is worth a read, especially for anyone considering taking their photographic hobby and making a career from it. Just click on one of the link’s below.
Posted by admin in Business on 08 17th, 2010 | 3 comments
By Scott Bourne
How Hard Do You Have To Work To Succeed As A Professional Photographer?
Really, really, really hard – that’s how hard.
How Hard Do You Have To Work To Succeed As A Professional Photographer?- Going Pro 2010
Sometimes, a photographer goes out in search of a good photo–and, because of unforeseen circumstances, he comes back with a great photo, one that gets displayed all over the world.
