be a professional photographer

Getting paid for a rather large commercial gig on an on-going basis. We’ll call that professional. Time to figure out a different photo goal that is much more meaningful.

It went smoothly this year, and I got much better coverage. I won’t look at the photos again for a few days, providing me with a little distance before the sorting and rating phase. Overall, I’m happy with what I did.

AKA- Grip and Grins. Shooting a small, local film festival this weekend- patrons and filmmakers. Tonight is the opening night.

It’s their second year as well as mine. With an understanding how the festival plays out, I hope to get better coverage than last year. There will be some Q&A’s with filmmakers after screenings, in the screening rooms again. Theaters are dark for a reason, and last years photos were less than ideal. Going to use some wireless strobes this time around. It’ll be fine…

It was difficult to get out and shoot. However, there was a great deal of reading done, some work around the house, and getting a tiny chum used to his daddy being around considerably more than he was used to.

But now I have my 24-inch iMac for digital darkroom work, which is nice, and fun. I’ve got a contract to redesign a catalog and rephotograph all the products, even though it is for the in-laws family business.

And there was much thinking about photo programs, talking to departments, and the odd bit of soul-searching.

Earlier this year I contemplated a BFA program to run through for training and experience leading into a profession. How I’m going to make money has been a big question for me. But that educational route was not completely honest. I love the idea of working as an architectural photographer. Yes, the exciting world of home porn (Architectural Digest, Sunset, Better Homes and Gardens).

But as I’ve never actually done it, I could do a BFA and find out I don’t want to work in that particular sub-genre. I’ve always known, and always found hard to admit, that creatively I can be rather dry. I don’t bubble over with ideas.

Where I have done well, however, is documentary photography. While it’s not as creatively driven, it satisfies. So that pulls me back towards an MFA, and pursuit of a job change at the same time.

It’s going to take some time, but overall an achievable goal. I’ve returned from the Maine Photographic Workshops with some renewed vigor.

Towards the very end of the workshop, during a class break, I asked the instructor what I should do next to grow as a photographer. If I were an MFA student of his, he would suggest a single long-term project. I’ve got technical proficiency, but need to work on vision and style. With a single project, I’ll work past seeing cliche images and begin to develop a style (the goal).

I’d already thought my next step would be a couple long-term projects; with them becoming protfolio projects for technical school admissions.