Do I Have Time for Photography?
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?
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.
“Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do.”
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.
