Something New to Work On

The blog has been dwindling somewhat and, although I'm a bit sad at that, it is really a good thing. I try to keep it relevant, and that means the subjects are meant to be always about my life as a person who used to be among the brethren. Either things that occur to me about the brethren themselves, or things I've been "protected from" in the past and am therefore encountering for the first time. Well, as time has gone on, there's been less of that. Call it creeping normality ... or maybe a rut. Depends on the viewpoint.

Except that in the summer warmth something is stirring. An old dream is flickering into life. I have taken steps, and thought about more. Yes, I am attempting to move into wedding and portrait photography. That's new.

I've considered that in the past and tended to dismiss it. There are a lot of people in the game, and a lot more people dabbling part-time and so diluting the paying market - Adam Smith himself pointed out that it's very hard to make money doing something that others do for fun. I've tended to concentrate on commercial work when not taking photographs for my own pleasure, as nobody does that for enjoyment and people are readier to pay out for something that has a clear benefit to them in monetary terms. A good picture makes a product easier to sell, and anybody who's tried knows that such pictures are more difficult than they look. And besides, I'm by nature a quiet person, and products don't need bossing around in the way that people do for official photos.

However, there is one huge advantage to the social type of work, and that is that it can run alongside normal employment. Just now, that's very important. And if, as an outside possibility, it turned into enough of a money generator to actually live on, it would also leave useful free time to catch up on areas of my life where I've missed out. That, combined with the fact that I need no longer restrict myself to working alone (and can consequently put some of the burden of visible authority on a trusted partner) means that I can't resist giving it a go. A side benefit is that I already have basically everything I need as equipment, and so needn't risk anything financially.

So I've looked through my photo collection and found just a few photos that could be a seed - maybe enough to convince others I can be trusted with their occasion. I shall spend a bit of time putting together the cards, leaflets, information etc that say "competent professional" and see where that gets me. I may need to get some people to pose artificially, perhaps, so as to fill in gaps. But overall I think I shall be presenting myself as the type who's almost invisible, capturing people and events while staying out of the limelight, and that means I needn't spend too much effort on huge formal set-ups. I have a few more ideas that may offer a bit of differentiation, too.

The biggest problem is publicity, at least in my mind. I've never liked shouting about myself (writing, yes, but that feels more private) and I suspect success may depend on being fairly blatant about self-promotion. I'll gather ideas from wherever I can, but there may have to be some gritted teeth and forthright blowing of my own trumpet at some point.

Still, I've been almost a year treading water. It's time for some vision and this feels like a good one.