October 2024
Finding balance and defining your own version of success
Housekeeping
Hello everyone. I hope you are doing wonderful this week!
Welcome to my monthly recap where I discuss thoughts and observations through my work. This month I wanted to discuss finding balance with what it means to be successful.
I recently picked up this Pocket Dispo Lens I saw on IG. It seemed a bit hokey but was super cheap and thought why not try it out. I have done a little experimenting with it and while I don’t want to do a review per se, it has lead me to wanting to discuss some thoughts on photography becoming a bit gimmicky at times. So I look forward to sharing some of those thoughts with you in an article soon.
I also wanted to share a video of a photographer who I really enjoyed learning about. I love the Walkie Talkie series on YouTube and I recently got to watch this episode with Sabrina Santiago. I admire her personality and approach with people in street photography and it has helped me to try and push my own personal boundaries a little more each time I go out. I hope you enjoy the video.
Finding Balance
Finding Balance with Success
This was the year where I wanted to go all in with photography. I had a passion to go from a hobbyists to a full time professional photographer. I would imagine that many of you might have similar aspirations as well.
The problem I noticed with these aspirations though was that I was losing balance in life. Granted there have been some curveballs thrown my way over the last few months but even if those curveballs had not existed, I still think there would become a lack of balance.
Balance is such an important aspect of life. Simply put, it means that all aspects of life are given a proper amount of time or energy so as not to allow other things to suffer. When something begins to lose your focus then balance has been lost.
There are so many things that can tilt us off balance whether it be work, family, school, life issues, and so on. For me though, I noticed it was a drive to make it as a photographer or artists that became unbalanced.
When I started to go all in with this I was starting from nowhere. Even though I had been doing photography for years, I rarely went on social media to share my work. I had no following or no connections. I was just guy with a camera.
When I decided in March to this year go for it I was a bit lost. I did not know what steps to take exactly or how to actually “make it” in this industry. I just wanted to get out there and see what happens so I was trying to do everything.
I was trying to do too much!
Between the newsletter, YouTube, writing for other publications, working on getting my pictures up for sale at different art venues, plus actually going out to take pictures for a zine is a lot of work. In the beginning I think it was pure adrenaline keeping me going but as time has moved over the last few months I realized just how unbalanced these efforts were becoming.
Simply because it was taking time away from some very important aspects of life. You could even say it was taking time away from things that are not vital but things I enjoy nonetheless like gardening.
Worst of all though, I was losing time to do the very thing that drives my career… photography. I have struggled to get time to take actual pictures this month due to other side adventures.
Now I am not one to want fame of any kind. I don’t desire to make a ton of money with my work. For me it is all about being able to just do photography and writing. Being able to just simply go out and take pictures as often as I so choose without time restraints or feeling rushed. But I have had to meditate on what success means for me at this time.
When it comes down to it I really feel success comes from doing the things you love most and embracing what works best for you personally.
This lead me to make some big choices about my work and where I will share it for the foreseeable future. There are some things I absolutely hate being a part of like Instagram, Facebook, and really any social media platform out there. I am starting to post less and less and I am kind of loving it.
As much as I love YouTube and making videos the truth is that it just takes a ton of work. So many hours are spent making the video, editing, reshooting, cleaning audio, and so on. It is just too much work at this time and even though I love it, it takes away from other things like photography.
When it comes down to it, I don’t know where my work will lead me. I may never really get a great career with photography but I have decided to stick to a few things that matter most. A few things that make me the happiest.
That is taking pictures, working on my books, and writing about my work here on Substack. Those are the things that have been the most beneficial and the most enjoyable to me personally.
The bonus with this is I have been able to get back to doing other things I love like spending more time with my wife, spending more time in the garden growing our own veggies and fruits, and more time to simply enjoy life in general.
It can be easy to fall into the trap of what the world defines as success and that definition can quickly lead to imbalance. I think it is important that we all look at success as something that leads us to feeling balanced and happy with life as a whole.
I feel like having that clarity has helped me recenter my focus as a photographer and helped me clear away the distractions so I can get back to working at a capacity that is beneficial for my own desired outcomes.
Dynamite person her photos and the video. Made my day!