Photography: Way of Life

I took last weekend off from photography. I did not even open the camera compartment on my Lowepro camera bag. I have to admit it was a nice change.

Recently, I have spent my weekends out this place or that photographing landscapes and the occasional cow. Photography has been my life when away from work over the last six weeks. Which circumstance has brought me to an interesting observation about my life as “a photographer”.

That observation is just that; it is becoming my life. Now allow me to lend a little clarity here as I enter this conversation. I have not forsaken all that is my life to travel and be a photographer.

I have spent a significant amount of time with my wife and children over the last six weeks and I cannot express the importance of their role in supporting me through this process of becoming as a photographer. I truly love them for being so patient with me.

With that expressed, photography is actually becoming my life. I really do live for it. I miss it when I cannot do it and when I am doing it my little world becomes altered. I find myself in a type of mental, physical, and even spiritual mode separate from everything around me. It becomes a world in and of itself with me as it’s only inhabitant.

I have actually had to work at not ignoring others around me while I visit that little world. It can be pretty aggravating for those traveling with me or working with me or photographing with me or… Well, you get the picture.

As part of this new photographic life, that is as it becomes, I have decided that there is need for me to work more on my own. Yes, there are times when we need the companionship and support of others while at work in the craft, but there are also times when one must venture out on their own to create as an isolationist. I seek that now.

I believe I can liken what I am seeking to the child who grows to adulthood. Independence is sought more and more as the child moves through their teenage years. Then one day a switch is flipped and they stand an adult responsible for their own life and the avenues of life they choose to travel down.

I believe I may have just had that switch flipped and reached the beginning of adulthood in my photographic life. My focus in photography has changed to less “shoot whatever” to “these are projects I want to accomplish”. I have an incredible desire to and do exercise the honing of skills in photography.

Atop all of that, I find myself more involved in the photographic community striving to encourage and lift others up as they seek to share their work and efforts. Coupled with writing, photography has been my goal and with every passing week I seem to find my stride with both making the photographic experience even more a lifestyle than anything else. That, of course, brings us back to the point of this article.

Photography is becoming my life. The weekend before last I shared “this life” with my wife. Before that I shared “this life” with my children. Before that a friend. In the future “this life” will bring an abundance to my family through the hard work of a husband and a father who lived his life as a photographer.

There is a wish and hope that goes with all of this as well. That is that I make a difference in your life with “this life”. It is never a dream, it can only be reality, when one builds a lasting relationship with those who have and they who you have impacted for good. After all, isn’t that what life is all about?

It is true that I need to grow on my own, but I never want to forsake the family and the friendships that I have made over the years. The hard work would seem so empty if those I love and respect were not along for this wonderful ride. Yes, become and live life as a photographer, but always remember who helped bring your life as a photographer to life. Their involvement should, and will never with me, be overlooked.