Here is a short video wrap-up of my favorite stock images, photographs, and graphics that I’ve created in the year of 2013. Some of my favorite photoshoots included food, fitness, sports, and travel scenics.
It was a very crazy year for me, yet I still felt like I did improve in a few more areas of my photography. We are all our own worst critics, however. In the last few months I’ve actually lost a little bit of motivation towards my craft, and I find that spending the time to make this slideshow summary of the previous year has helped me to rebuild a little bit more of my enthusiasm toward my work. Being a full time independent photographer might seem glamorous to some, but the real live working ones know this isn’t always the case. We are talking long hours stuck sitting at a desk, staring into large glowing monitors, straining your eyes, sucking down lots of coffee, lacking physical activity, all while you develop carpal tunnel syndrome in your wrists. Every trade has it health hazards, and sadly capturing images is only about 5% of my job. Self employment brings along a slew of other complicated factors, as you don’t exactly have anyone breathing down your neck to get the next project or task done.
The truth is, whenever you are in any career field, you will find yourself going through peaks where you absolutely love what you are doing. Other times you’ll hit those “valleys” when your work feels repetitive, and maybe even boring. Then you will hit periods where it feels like drudgery. Its up to you, and only you, to force yourself to become interested in your own work again. If you can’t keep on doing that, you might find yourself falling behind creatively or even in your overall productivity. If you ever find yourself feeling this way about whatever you do, don’t give up. Keep on pushing ahead. Challenge yourself to something new that you might not have tried before. Change up your approach. At the end of the day, a job is a job, and all work will begin to feel like work, even if you’re doing something that you love to do. The old expression goes, “Do what you love, and you won’t feel like you’ve worked a day in your life.” That can be true to a small degree, but in the end, I think even doing what you love comes with its own set of tasks that you can’t always afford to outsource or avoid altogether. Dreamers can keep on dreaming, there are no 100% perfect jobs. Brain surgeons have to put in the long hours. Lawyers have to as well, and deal with all of the stress. Auto mechanics have to break their backs to get at those manifold bolts. Every job, no matter what you love to do, is going to come with its own challenges. The important thing is to realize this, and to always remember that everything good will come with a little bit of sacrifice.
Video music by Music4You licensed through Pond5.com
