Why Should You Choose To Be A Photographer?
I certainly didn’t choose photography for a career, It chose me.
It chose me because I allow things to fully consume me, till they possibly can and there’s hardly any room left for reason or consequences. If you, however, are a normal, rational, assessing risk and reward sort of human being and are confused about why you should dive into the world of cameras and lights, this is for you.
There’s no easy way to say this. It is difficult.
It is bone crushing pressure in the beginning when you’re starting out. It is hauntingly difficult when you have a business to run. It is another ball game difficult if you become a top notch photographer and intend to be at the top of your game. Well, so is becoming an aeronautical engineer, weightlifting or a career in selling handmade soaps.
Its all about choosing your difficult.
Here’s a checklist of questions I put together, to help you inch closer to the answer.
Do you need an umbrella of a steady income?
We all do, but will you break if that doesn’t happen a few months in a year?
Can you run a business?
We’re all not born with business leading skills but can you adapt and get your head around filing taxes, client servicing, constant following up on payments, advertising and social media? As a photographer you’re often juggling between multiple roles to run a successful business front.
Can you commit to 7-8 years of uncertainty?
Uncertainty not only in terms of money but regular flow of work. This is an average figured from my experience as a commercial photographer. It can differ depending upon one’s personal journeys. There might be months on end till someone hires you. Are you willing to commit to those times in constantly building on your craft and upping your game?
You’ve to be Rocky Balboa to survive as a photographer. Keep getting back at your feet every time you get punched down, no matter how brutally you’ve been hit, you find your strength and get back. Its more like a marathon run, results don’t show in short terms.
I also have a formula for answering when you shouldn’t choose photography at all. I know it is foolproof.
Do not choose photography if every now and then you’re not wholly consumed by the magic of this medium. Do not choose photography if you’re standing in a busy street and your head is not overflowing with frames you could create. Do not choose photography if you haven’t fallen helplessly in love with the magnificence and the grandeur of light. How it looks on a cold winter morning or a shimmery summer afternoon. How it shapes things around you and how it can make feelings feel.
If you’ve ever found yourself in an incessant, urgent, fiery and gnawing need to photograph something, anything and this feeling grows like an ever hungry Labrador inside you, you my friend, have found your calling in life.