How to Pick Up Your Photography Hobby Again?
The advancements in digital photography have led to an explosion in the industry. People are not just in the industry as a career path, but also for its creative art form. The basics of becoming a photographer are a lot easier now, considering the multitude of online photography courses available.
Whether you engage in photography as a professional or because it’s a hobby, you need to have the skills. Photography isn’t that easy as it calls for discipline and patience to get the best shots. You also need the tenacity to put in long hours and manage your hobby in a way that will keep you interested.
If you wish to pick up your photography hobby, here’s how you can start.
Spend Time Experimenting
As a hobbyist, you don’t have anyone paying you to take their photos. This means that you’ll have to decide the images to take. This allows you to experiment with different styles of photography like light painting, black, and white, and HDR.
You can take photographs of landscapes and perfect the quality of images. The best way to learn is to get started. Learn how something works and dedicate time to using it. The more you experiment, the guidebooks tutorials, and camera manual will make more sense to you.
If you are picking it up again, you might want to dig out your old photographs and photo films that you’ve done years ago. With the new technology accessible to everyone, you can easily use your old photographs to start your new portfolio. Pick out the best photos of your earlier work and turn them digital using different services such as the one found on the Everpresent website.
Join a Community of Photography Hobbyists
Working on your hobby by yourself can pull you down when you come across challenging situations. Join a community where you can share your work and get to hear other people’s point of view. It can be scary to put your work out there for scrutiny but don’t be afraid of criticism.
Make friendships through online communities and also join photography clubs in your local area. You can find online forums on platforms like Reddit or photography Meetup events, which are more professional than Facebook or Twitter. While skill and talent will get you started, relationships with other hobbyists will propel you further.
Recognise Real-World Challenges
As you work on photography as a hobby, keep your mind open that it could become your full-time job. If you perfect the art, you might find yourself transiting from employment to self-employment in photography.
Should this happen, be prepared to put in long hours of work. With a wide variety of clients to deal with, you need to work on your prioritisation skills. You’ll be dealing with super rush projects and insane deadlines.
Unlike with an office job, you’ll hardly experience an eight-hour workday in your photography business.
Start Now
Procrastination will only make you self-guess your passion for photography. Now is the best time to get started on that portfolio. Stop making excuses and start visualising how you can make your photography dream a reality.
Remember that you’ll only get out what you put in. Opportunities for making your skills better are out there, and all you need to do is to grab them. Each day, create different end goals and don’t let circumstances dictate how much you can achieve.
Final Thoughts
It’s not easy to break into the photography industry, but you can if you’re passionate about it. If you had ditched the hobby and wish to come back, start from somewhere and start today. Join a community of like-minded photographers and share your work.
By hearing from other photographers and having your photos criticised, you’ll know what needs improvement. Dedicate time to online photography courses to sharpen your skills. Most importantly, be dedicated to your hobby.
Just because it doesn’t pay or it’s not your career path as yet doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve seriousness. After all, you never know where it could lead. It might end up becoming your full-time business in the future.
