In photography there are rules that function as guidelines that help create interesting and compelling images. These rules also tend to play a role in photography competitions making them rules photographers strive to adhere to but also the things to break to see what we can create when we throw the rules away.
2025 is slated to be a busy year for me. Heading toward 50+ equine show dates, weddings, and regular shoots scheduled with more still rolling in. Which is fantastic but challenging as some events overlap, and I will still have weather cancellations and such to deal with making this a very busy season.
As photographers we can get into our heads that certain looks are perfection in our work. It raises our expectations and can make culling out shots we deem less than perfect easier. Stepping away from our own ideas to listen to potential clients can actually save a lot of great images from seeing the trash can.
Wedding photography is a very popular genre for photographers to specialize in. At some point for those who do not specialize in the genre we all end up trying it out anyways. However regardless of what genre a photographer practices in primarily we all field questions on if we are available for weddings, pricing, and what it would look like to for us to take on a wedding photography contract.
You are a professional photographer… You made it! You are living your dream, you are working and earning with your passion, the sky is the limit… and then the burnout, the exhaustion, the sheer daunting task of being a professional photographer will eventually raise its ugly head and make you say whoa.
The decision to turn photography from a passion into a full time career usually comes down to a photographer needing more of the most valued aspect of photography… Time.
For most entering photography the dream is to be a professional photographer. To make a living off the images you take. It is a grand goal, a challenging goal, and a goal that once you reach can make you second guess if it was really what you truly wanted.
Photography is a journey. An ever evolving journey with several stages that at one point or another each photographer will go through. Some times we hit these stages quickly and other times we may be in one stage for a long time. Other times we may be in two stages at once or revisit a stage.
There are arguably a lot of challenges to breaking into the photography field and “making” it. Photography is an increasingly popular career choice for those who are creative, are stay at home mothers, are dreaming of being their own boss, or simply just love photography. Yet, most photographers will fail in the first two years, the rest will crash out around year five, very few make it past that and those that do are the privileged and lucky few.
Almost all photographers come to photography because they love it but somewhere along the line it becomes work and the joy can fade. It becomes a job to figure out how to make our initial passion thrive so we keep the joy even when it becomes our job.