Does anyone else struggle to find the time

jamesoliverstone

jamesoliverstone

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To actually shoot for yourself?

It feels like ages since I actually did some of my own work! Especially ages since I have update my own portfolio ;) I am so busy with clients, training and new products that I rarely ever get the time to do something just for me. I really need to update my portfolio too (but I think most people struggle with updating their own work and focusing on client stuff instead) but work and family just takes up so much of my time.

I really am going to make a push to setup a shot for myself over the next couple of weeks as I think I will go mad if I don't!

Anyone else stuck in the same boat or is it just me ;)
 
That's one thing that would concern me if* i ever took the plunge to tried to make a living out of photography - would i loose my hobby?








(that's a big IF, btw, my photos would have to be good enough and i would also need to grow a bigger set to take the plunge....:D)
 
Yeah, I'm dying to set up a couple of shoots to test some new stuff but at the moment I'm just stuck in front of the computer processing all the time. Yawn. All the photos I take for fun, such as friends' birthdays and whatnot just get left for months as it's not what I want to be doing when I get some time to myself.
 
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jamesoliverstone said:
To actually shoot for yourself?

It feels like ages since I actually did some of my own work! Especially ages since I have update my own portfolio ;) I am so busy with clients, training and new products that I rarely ever get the time to do something just for me. I really need to update my portfolio too (but I think most people struggle with updating their own work and focusing on client stuff instead) but work and family just takes up so much of my time.

I really am going to make a push to setup a shot for myself over the next couple of weeks as I think I will go mad if I don't!

Anyone else stuck in the same boat or is it just me ;)
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I'm not a professional but my thought when I read this post was "Be glad you have got plenty of work in these difficult times".You will have plenty of time to enjoy your hobby when you are older and your family grown up.
 
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Absolutely, I have a personal shoot all lined up with the model and location and I just cannot get round to doing it! Utterly solid for the next three weeks! and I get to the end of that and it's solid again and by the time I get any free time there is no light to shoot it.

Really frustrating.
 
Lazlo Woodbine said:
Yeah, I'm dying to set up a couple of shoots to test some new stuff but at the moment I'm just stuck in front of the computer processing all the time. Yawn. All the photos I take for fun, such as friends' birthdays and whatnot just get left for months as it's not what I want to be doing when I get some time to myself.
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I know that feeling :)

To reduce my time in front of the computer I've taken to using RAW+JPG FINE so I can quickly trawl through the jpgs to delete the dross and mark the ones that are a) okay straight from the box and b) worth processing. I then process those from the RAW file and save along with a) before deleting everything else.

Cuts down computer time enormously :clap:

Example: Went to the Great Dorset Steam Fair on Saturday, shot about 800 pics. Trawl through the jpgs and deleted about half (OOF/repeat shots/poor exposure/camera shake/lousy composition/etc). Marked about 50 for processing and ended up with 76 interesting shots to keep. Total time on the pc was about 3 hours :thumbs:
 
jamesoliverstone said:
To actually shoot for yourself?

It feels like ages since I actually did some of my own work! Especially ages since I have update my own portfolio ;) I am so busy with clients, training and new products that I rarely ever get the time to do something just for me. I really need to update my portfolio too (but I think most people struggle with updating their own work and focusing on client stuff instead) but work and family just takes up so much of my time.

I really am going to make a push to setup a shot for myself over the next couple of weeks as I think I will go mad if I don't!

Anyone else stuck in the same boat or is it just me ;)
Click to expand...

Thats the risk you take when you turn a hobby into a job.
 
I've just bought myself a 5x4 view camera so i can shoot some of my own projects, it's made me feel like a student again :):)

I could do them on my 1ds3, but I want to get away from the day to day work, slow down and get the image correct in camera without relying on PS.
I've also recently purchased a film processor so I'm doing my own C-41 and b/w processing (after a break of 15 years!)

What I'm finding is that the personal work is filtering down into the commercial paid work.:)
 
Totally agree.

This is why I gave up wedding photography last year, just delivered my last album yesterday and boy do I feel good.

It really did spoil my hobby and now I have it back....yahooooooooooooooooo
 
It just goes to show that I need to put aside more time for myself!

I really do enjoy working with my clients and especially teaching students, dont get me wrong... But I had planned 3 major shoots to try out some crazy new ideas I had but unfortunately I just dont have the time to get them done.

Plus, I also have my wife nagging me to hurry up and process, print and frame all the shots I have taken of the kids recently, which is no mean feat in itself :lol:
 
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