Surviving Professional Photography... As an Artist!

Surviving Professional Photography... As an Artist!

The thing about professional photography is that it is not YOUR art work. Professional photography involves doing a job, in a creative way, for SOMEONE ELSE. As an artist working as a professional photographer, it is incredibly important to find ways to sustain your soul, AS AN ARTIST. There are many ways to achieve this.

First, make it a practice to create for yourself. This can be a day of street photography per week; it could be a personal project that lasts weeks, months, or even years. Even photographing your family or your dog can be a great way to stay engaged with yourself as an ARTIST. As creatives we NEED stimulation. I've found that if I do not create for myself I begin to get depressed. Personally, I find creative expression not only in shooting for myself, but also in other pursuits like Jiu Jitsu.

It took me far too long to realize that being a professional photographer actually got in the way of my journey as an artist. (watch my video on why, I highly recommend it over most of my videos).

How can we stay engaged with our artistic side on the job?

Personally, I love to shoot film. I enjoy the challenge of seeing how many keepers I can get on a single roll of film. I also enjoy shooting portraits of interesting people using various medium format film cameras.

I also constantly try to push myself out of my comfort zone, while also leaning into what I know I'm good at. For me this means approaching people to shoot their portraits. Something I never used to do as a professional photographer. Honestly, I was too concerned with how I would come off approaching celebrities; I used it as an excuse!

In general, as an artist, I strongly recommend you always push yourself to be a better photographer. Pushing yourself will make you feel like you're growing: Also important to creatives! Try new things. Try things you never thought would work. Work outside the box and ultimately expand your box! Stay engaged with your craft!

Your goal should of course be to get to a point that you can do everything intuitively, out of habit. But that said, you want to slowly expand what you're able to do as an artist, intuitively, by expanding your box.

Watch the video for my last bit on choosing the right genre of photographer that works for you as an ARTIST.

SORRY ABOUT THE CAPS. You know I normally use them sparingly ;) If you're actually reading this line, let me know. Who reads this stuff, you weirdo!
I have been a professional event photographer and photography teacher for over 10 years. Follow the links below to see my work.

Los Angeles Event Photographer | https://mikmilman.com

Patreon | https://www.patreon.com/mikmilman

Instagram | @retrograding https://www.instagram.com/retrograding/

Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/mikmilman/

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Видео Surviving Professional Photography... As an Artist! канала Mik Milman