I love and hate photography
Photography is one of my passions. It’s also a puzzle. And honestly? A bit of a pain.
Here are 5 things I love aaaaand 5 things I hate about this choatic, funny, beautiful career.
I love...getting lost in the flow of shoots.
There’s a wonderful magical flow state that happens in shoots where I forget time, responsibilities, hunger. I'm consumed with the act of capturing the scene.
I love...witnessing how much emotion exists in every moment of every day.
When you pay attention to it, every single moment of every single day has an emotion. Being a human on this planet is actually insane - in the best way.
I love...that it taught me to notice things in the world everyday - light, shadows, composition.
Whether I'm holding a camera or not, my eyes and brain now see the world through a lens. Noticing the light hitting something, the shapes shadows make, the composition of a scene randomly exisiting. It gives so much depth to the world.
I love...meeting so many people.
I have met so many people, with so many stories, from so many walks of life. I have always been fascinated by stories, information, experiences. Being a photographer helps me be a story collector and I love it.
I love...feeling creative.
I grew up very academic focused. I was convinced I wanted to be some kind of psychologist/brain specialist. Went to uni and everything. Embracing creativity took time and a lot of working against my disbelief that I was creative at all. Now, I can't imagine it any other way.
I hate...editing burnout.
Being deep in the trenches with 5 jobs backed up waiting to be edited is the worst feeling. Sometimes I want to throw my computer out of the window, I just can't stand looking at it for any longer. It can be so repetitive and detail focused that my brain turns to mush.
I hate...the perfectionism trap.
I definitely get caught sweating the small stuff. I overanalyse, I become over invested in details that don't matter and I 100% fall prey to the comparison trap.
I hate...the ever changing social media cycle.
Social media is integral to a business like mine - but sometimes the need to turn up everyday is simply exhausting. It can be a lot of effort for a 24hour cycle of content, and seems to consume a lot of time when I would prefer to be shooting.
I hate...creative fatigue
Being bogged down in admin, editing, emails and due dates very quickly sucks every creative thought and feeling out of my body. I find myself only picking up the camera for work, and going through the motions. It can be hard creating space in my brain and body to feel creative again.
I hate...not having my camera and missing moments.
I still get that ache every time I see something happen - anywhere anytime - that I KNOW would be an incredible photo and I don't have my camera. Learning to let go and simply witness the moment can be hard to remember for me.