Keeping A Passion for Photography … When You Do It For a Living

About three years ago, I left my 9-to-5 to pursue photography full time. Although I can genuinely say that I am living the dream now, that doesn’t mean it’s always a breeze.

The thing about turning your passion into your career is that you have to rely on it to pay your bills – and you may go through rough patches where it feels like more of a burden than a blessing.

If you feel this way, don’t worry. We’ve all been there, and thankfully there are a few things that I’ve found that help me stay passionate about photography in times where work feels like … a lot of work.

Make Time for Passion Projects

No matter where you are in your career, I think that it’s important to always make time for creative projects that fuel your fire and make you excited about creating again. It’ll feel like going back to your roots – creating for the sake of creating, experimenting with new styles, and bouncing ideas off others. When you take money out of the equation, it can feel like all the expectations you put on yourself are lifted, and you can be free to try new things without any pressure. At least for me, this is when I grow the most.

It’s understandable to not want to make time for passion projects when they don’t contribute to your income, but you may find they bring your business value in other ways. Some of my most viral, pinnable content was the work of a passion project. It can lead to new clients finding you and wanting to book you for similar work, which would be the dream, wouldn’t it?

Try starting by scheduling time on your calendar once a month for a passion project. Whether that’s through self portraits, attending a styled shoot, or collaborating with a team, you’ll be grateful you did and it may inspire your paid work too.

Create Unique Packages

Another idea is to incorporate creativity with clients whenever you can. Try creating unique package options for clients who may be interested in something a little bit more outside the box. Maybe you offer an “all inclusive creative package” that includes a makeup artist, wardrobe styling, props, and a creative concept you bring to the table for your client.

You’d be surprised how many people are interested in booking a creative session, but aren’t sure where to start – as the photographer, you can create a package that guarantees something unique that they don’t have to do the legwork for. This would not only be fulfilling for your client, but it would also allow you to cross items off your photography bucket list.

If this sounds like something you know that you would love, but you’re not sure if anyone would book it – just put it on your website anyways. Eventually, someone will, and you can take what you learn from that session to revamp the package for the future.

Come With Inspiration

Another way to incorporate creativity with your clients is to bring a mood board of all different types of creative poses or compositions and suggest trying them out together. I’ve seen a lot of wedding and couples photographers especially doing this lately, and I think it’s a really cool idea. For example, if my wedding photographer came to me with a couple of really artistic and creative shots she was interested in trying on our wedding day, I would be stoked to try it out. The idea of having something different from the norm is really appealing, and if you are the one to come prepped with these ideas, I’m sure you’d have quite a few clients who are down to try it out.

Another options is to ask your client to send you inspiration images or build a mood board of the types of shots they love the most – this can get you a feel for their style and allow you to get creative with it too.

Consume and Practice Other Art Forms

When all of your time is consumed with things like communicating with clients, going to photo shoots, editing, marketing, and social media, you kind of lose touch with the things that inspire you in the first place. I think it’s always important to take a step back and consume other forms of art, like watching movies, listening to music, and reading magazines and books. I particularly love watching music videos to get inspired for photography.

This may even mean picking up a hobby outside of photography that is still art-based – for example, you could try painting, singing, writing poetry, drawing, knitting … the list is endless. In high school I went through a couple of different phases where I was obsessed with sewing and collage art. Now, when I need a break from photography but still want to be creative, I play songs on my ukulele.

Making time to do these types of things can end up inspiring you in ways that sometimes photography can’t, especially when you’re drowning in client work.

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