I’ve got a job. It’s a good job, the pay isn’t bad, it’s in a pretty damn good location (Perth, Australia), the hours are fine and my colleagues are all nice.
But it’s not what I want to be doing. It’s becoming gradually clearer to me that I would love to be a full-time professional photographer. I’d also love to dabble in the film side of things too.
Apart from having always loved film and photography, this new found inspiration to do it as a career has come about in large to me having sold my old dSLR and ordered a spanking new one (the Nikon D7000). In doing so, I was checking out reviews of the camera and came across the website and blog of photographer Mr Chase Jarvis (www.chasejarvis.com). I’ve been hooked on it ever since (also now a fan on Facebook, subscribed to the Youtube channel…). It’s also led me to discover other great photographers; Joey Lawrence, Zack Arias to name just two. The great thing about Chase is that his blog is SO inspirational and he does my absolute dream job – photographer, film maker, runs a great studio, works with a whole range of clients, does commercial work, artistic work, hell, he’s so well known now, Nikon just give him their prototypes to test. And in a few ways (if I’m correct from what I’ve read and watched) I have some similarities to him – there is obviously the passion for taking photos and being creative, he has done a lot of work in extreme or outdoor sports but he also quit medical school and a Phd course. This has given me hope. I’ve just graduated (Psychology) and am being encouraged to do a Phd in my current field (Forensic Psychology) but am being torn in two by the very very tempting option to quit all this and follow the path that I really want to follow: photography and film, specifically in travel and exteme sports. Maybe even the commercial side too. Yes, very similar to how Mr Jarvis began.
It’s scary though. The risk is huge, the market seems oversaturated, “everyone wants to be a photographer these days”, I don’t think I’m good enough, where do I start..?
I’ve taken a few timid steps so far, rather than committing myself to the gigantic leap; the D7000 is ordered (due to arrive in two weeks), and I’ve joined PIP (Photographers in Perth) via Flickr, I’m setting up my own (proper) website and I plan to develop my portfolio a whole lot more. And I’ve started this blog.
Let’s see what happens…