In the quest to become a professional photographer, it is really easy to come to the conclusion that anything we shoot from that point forward must be for our portfolio and must be within our lane. This line of thinking can quickly lead to photography burnout and losing our love for the art/practice/business.
In this video by James Popsys, he talks about his jump from photographer to YouTuber and how he no longer has to worry about things going in his portfolio or alienating his clients. He can shoot just for fun, and it's so much more freeing, allowing him to be less of a snob and no longer shoot what he feels he "should" and just shooting essentially whatever he wants.
In this particular video, Popsys waffles around a lot, and it is very stream-of-consciousness, which I really appreciate. Near the end of the video, he brings up a great point, how he no longer will be the sort of guy that says: "It's a beautiful mountainside, but I only take photos of autumnal woodlands!" He can just shoot where his heart takes him.
Have you ever caught yourself being a snob in your own work, just shooting what you think you should, rather than what you want? How did you get out of that rut?
I shoot whatever comes my way or whatever I feel like. I really don’t care one bit what my feed looks like or what direction I’m going.
Operating this way keeps me moving forward. IMO “Staying in my lane” would be boring.
Great comment.. I naturally like to expand knowledge so in photography this means trying new types of photography out, the thought of sticking with one genre/style seems restrictive.
Absakenlutely. Being a 'real' photographer is how we define ourselves.