i've been waiting for a while, but it should be here any minute now
but while we wait, I wanted to share a little story with you
about the day I became a professional photographer
and by professional, I don't mean that I have the skills
or even that I make the money
by professional, I mean that photography is my profession
it's what I do
you'd think, at least that's what I thought
that I became a professional photographer the day I quit my day job
but that was not the case
it actually happened a few months later
it's been a few years now, but it feels like it was yesterday, I still remember that day
I was talking to someone about this move of mine
about becoming a photographer, about quitting my job
and they were quite struggling to understand this whole photography thing as a job
they asked me: "okay, so this is your job now, this is a real job according to you, so
do you work eight hours every day?"
I was outraged!
how dare they?
I mean, creativity doesn't work that way!
come here
do you remember that I broke this camera
and I sent it for repair?
do you remember it took more than a month, but I finally got it back?
do you remember how happy I was and what I said about it?
it's fixed and everything is working as it should
turns out that not everything is working just fine
everything seemed to be fine the first day,
but after that it feels like every day there is a new problem with this camera
as of right now, it turns on and off by itself
the front dial barely works
and a couple other problems
so I have to send it back
it's going to take a while, it took them 3 days just to send me the shipping label
so I'm not expecting to see this camera anytime soon
and that kind of s***
anyway, going back to that question: "are you working eight hours every day?"
it took me a while, but I finally realized why that question was keeping me awake at night
I mean, it wasn't, but you know what I mean
I had gotten criticism
not about my images, not about my photography
but about my process, my workflow, the way I was working
I realized that I was focusing only on the results, and that was a big mistake
you see, photography is a little bit like a relationship
when you meet someone, everything is new and exciting
it feels like you finally found the one
the same thing happens... or at least it happened to me when I picked up a camera
everything was fun and play
but time is a hammer, man, and it gives things perspective
having a 2-week, 2-month, or even 2-year
relationship is different from being with someone for, say, 10 years
taking photos during your vacation to Florida or a few sunsets here and there,
is not the same as being a professional photographer
when I quit my job, I didn't change my mindset towards photography
I was still in that honeymoon phase, where everything was fun
I was still chasing the exciting moments, only
but I was neglecting the foundation of the relationship
let me use another example: firefighters
their job is to extinguish fires, right?
but they don't do it eight hours a day, they don't do it every day
they don't expect to go to work on a Tuesday morning and extinguish fires the whole day
what are they doing with the rest of their time?
just waiting?
because that's what I was doing with my photography back then: just waiting
as you can imagine, firefighters do much more than just waiting for the next fire to happen
they work hard, preparing for it
they train, they practice, they get in shape, they take care of their gear
and they learn, so they can grow
I was missing all of this
I was a full-time casual photographer
and it was about time to become a professional
today my whole life revolves around photography
this is something that I work on every day
it's something that I try to cultivate every day
of course, that doesn't mean that I'm going on photography trips every day
nothing farther from the truth
but there are plenty of things that I do every day that make me a better photographer
I try to be in good shape and stay as healthy as possible
a few years ago, when I was just a casual photographer, I was in a terrible shape
I wasn't able to go on long hikes
or I just didn't have the energy to pay attention and look for images for that long
also, the healthier you are, the longer you live
and the longer you live, the more images you can make
I write and read about photography every day
I study other photographers work
and I just try to be more knowledgeable when it comes to this art
of course, I always carry a camera with me
not necessarily because I expect to make an image every time I go out
that rarely happens
but because just having a camera on me makes me more aware of my surroundings
makes me pay more attention
I'm always looking for an image
this is how I train, this is my practice, and I do it every day
so when I do go on a photography trip
this is something that comes more natural to me, easier
because it's something that I do every day
it's not something that I have to remember how to do because the last time I did it was months ago
and of course being a professional photographer
made me realize that I have to embrace everything about photography
the good and the bad, the fun and the boring
photography doesn't often look like this
but there is a lot of work and a lot of preparation behind every single image
yes, there is some luck involved, but one generates their own luck
just wanted to share this little story about that little piece of feedback
that made me think twice about how I was approaching photography
and what I needed to change in order to become a professional photographer
in order to make photography my profession
the craft that I'm going to dedicate my life to
I hope this video was useful
Thank you so much for watching, and see you in the next one!