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My thoughts the last few months have really ranged all over the place. There are simply times when I want to throw my camera against the wall and say "forget it" and there are times when I absolutely love doing what I do. That being said, I sat here this morning with the fan in the window and feeling the nice morning chill of a coming Autumn and thought about things. I came to the conclusion about something which has been on my mind for some time but never gave it much thought. I always said I would address it when the time came and that time has now come.
Each and every year I hold a big photography get together in Fall up in Rocky Mountain National Park here in Colorado. People come from all over, some near & some far, to have a good time, relax and to experience the absolute beauty that my state has to offer during Autumn. I look forward to this every September and October. I knew the day would come though where I would have to move on from doing it however and start concentrating more on "me" and my career as a working photographer. This is why that either this year or next year will be the last time I hold my annual Fall workshop. It is a great time to chum around every Fall and to help people learn about photography, however doing it continually isn't realistic financially. That is why I am really concentrating hard on my health right now because in the next year or 2 I want to be able to hold actual paid professional workshops. This is how professional photographers make a LOT of their living - holding workshops and education. If Colby Brown has taught me anything, it is certainly that!
I will have a call out posted here on DA along with other sites of the specific dates and such in the next week if any of you care to join us. You are more than welcomed to, we just ask you are 18. So you have maybe 2 chances left if you ever wanted to shoot with all us in Fall, this year and next and after that I can't make any promises as I plan on holding paid workshops.
I think my focus has really been heading this way for a long time and I just needed to signs and such to get pushed in this direction. I knew it would eventually happen at some point, at least I hoped so. This year though has opened my eyes a great deal. A lot really. I have been invited to show my photography inside several TCF Banks in Colorado, been invited to join my local arts district to display my work inside coffee shops and restaurants, been invited to show my art in galleries in Europe & Asia, been published several times, my work is selling a lot more and selling better not only on sites like DA and RedBubble but stock as well with extended license sales on several stock agencies...it has all motivated me.
I took a step back and have taken a rather large break from deviantART the last year and half and decided to start concentrating a lot on 'me' and seeing what is all out there in the real world. I think I made the right choice. baby steps at first, right? I remember reading what one photographer said a year or so ago that said (paraphrasing here) "I am no longer interested in what my fellow photographers think of my work. They aren't my clients, they don't buy my work, they don't hang it on their walls. I am interested in those who like my work and who support me with it. That is my target audience and market, along with those who publish my work".
I think that speaks volumes, really.
Onwards and upwards!
---John
same on me on 3D
There comes a time where you've got to put yourself first.