A Change of Direction
It’s been an interesting few weeks that have made me think about photography and why I do it. I think I lost the point of it all somewhere along the way.
I’d forgotten that photography is supposed to be fun. It’s supposed to be an outlet for creativity. Some people, talented people, can make a living from it. However, not all of us can and it’s taken me an embarrassingly long time to realise that. It’s a tough business. There are lots of amazing photographers out there and you really need to have a niche of some sort to make an impact.
You won't be seeing much of this sort of thing from me anymore
The company I sometimes order canvas prints from had a half-price sale on recently. I decided to pass this on and sell my photos with the same deal. It would be quite nice to make enough out of this business (I thought) so that it’s self-supporting and I can feed profits back into getting a new lens or camera body for example. I put out ads on Facebook several times a day but there was absolutely no response at all. Nothing. Now I know Facebook doesn’t distribute every post sent from a business page unless you pay them extra, but I must have got to 100 people at least.
So what conclusions can be drawn from this? Here are mine:
- I should be taking photos because I like doing it, not because I want to be successful in the business. I should try to keep my day job.
- If people like a photo enough to want a copy to hang on their wall, that’s great and an amazing compliment, but don’t stress if they don’t.
And what am I going to do about it? Well, keep taking photos obviously, but because it’s fun and a release from the stresses of my day job. Not because I feel I need to or have some sort of obligation. If my daughter wants to take a photo with my camera or help her make a sandcastle instead, then I will. I’ll try to anyway.
However, if you want to buy a photo, I’ll sell you one. If Redbubble or ink-FX or anyone else I know about has a good deal on, I’ll try to pass it on via this page.
