This will be short, because I have a lot to do today. But I’ve been paying for this photo website for nearly TWO YEARS without launching it – which is ridiculous. Why bother to launch, though, unless it has content? So today is the day to write a post and hit “Publish.” Whether I can keep it up is another matter, time being a key factor. That begs the question – do I have time to seriously pursue photography at all, let alone publish a website about it?
What do I want to do?
By pursuing photography I don’t mean publishing a book, having exhibitions or selling prints. I just mean making quality images in a mindful way of things that interest me – and continuing to improve. I have been taking pictures, off and on, for thirty years. In that time, I don’t think I have ever devoted more than a day at a time strictly to photography – making images, editing images or studying images or techniques. Many of my successful images – those that I am most personally pleased with or that have been selected for juried shows – were taken during short periods when my family was away, while quickly trying to test a new lens or piece of equipment, or while doing some other “main” activity.
Part of what holds me back is that I really enjoy spending free time with my wife and sons, and it’s hard to regularly give that up. I try as often as possible to include image making in our time together – to incorporate their hobbies, like my wife’s gardening, into my hobby. And so I wonder – is that enough? Is that being a photographer?
Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. ~ Ella Fitzgerald
What can I do?
Of course, I am not the first or only person to wonder how to make enough time to pursue this hobby. I found pages of links to blogs and articles talking about exactly that. They have tips, tricks, and ideas and I use many of them – be alert to good compositions as you go about your day, always carry a camera, use your phone. I will keep doing those things because they do work – especially the phone lately.
But the main point of the best of those writings is that we always have time for the things that are important to us. So I guess I should re-frame the question – will I make time for photography? We will see.