Beerbread
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I've been reading the forum for some time now, and I'm terrified of posting this, but I'm at a point where I'm almost ready to show it to the world and I got a groove going on in terms of productivity and keeping focused. It also doesn't hurt to bounce ideas off of you guys in case my mind goes to 500 places at once.
Since the COVID outbreak, I've been studying nonstop on how to shoot commercial product photography. My background is in photojournalism, but aside from only using speedlites for fill, I almost know nothing about how artificial light works. My usual outlets went radio silent on me after the outbreak, so I'm SOL. I do have another job working at a hardware store so I do have consistent income coming in to pay the bare minimum. Plus, I'm able to use the employee discount to buy equipment I need to build my photo studio.
Another thing to add: you know that your occupation is becoming obsolete when you go to networking events and the speakers are heavily implying to get out of the field. I'm upset that I spent 7 years chasing after a dream of working for an outlet with benefits, only to come up with nothing, but hey, lesson learned. I'm not saying that photojournalism is dead, but the industry has failed to adapt.
Progress thus far:
My Next Steps:
This might be ambitious, but I got this far to start backing down. I do plan to learn copy and marketing, but I haven't figured out how to incorporate them without getting overwhelmed yet. For now, I want to do one at a time. Every time I do multiple things at once, it never goes well.
If you guys have any questions or you want to throw ideas and criticisms out there, feel free! I'm sure I'm missing things and I'll be happy to clarify.
Since the COVID outbreak, I've been studying nonstop on how to shoot commercial product photography. My background is in photojournalism, but aside from only using speedlites for fill, I almost know nothing about how artificial light works. My usual outlets went radio silent on me after the outbreak, so I'm SOL. I do have another job working at a hardware store so I do have consistent income coming in to pay the bare minimum. Plus, I'm able to use the employee discount to buy equipment I need to build my photo studio.
Another thing to add: you know that your occupation is becoming obsolete when you go to networking events and the speakers are heavily implying to get out of the field. I'm upset that I spent 7 years chasing after a dream of working for an outlet with benefits, only to come up with nothing, but hey, lesson learned. I'm not saying that photojournalism is dead, but the industry has failed to adapt.
Progress thus far:
- I created 5 out of 8 product photos. I've been using @Lex DeVille's Upwork courses and they've been a godsend for me. However, it's a lot of work and it's been trial and error in getting the shots I want. They're all heroic shots, but I'm not sure if I should add more regular product with white background ones. Either way, whoever said that product photography is easy, is lying. I keep saying to myself: "If it's hard, then the pay off will be great." (Though if this is a fool's folly, please let me know)
- I've been reading books and posts on the forum and Reddit on productivity. My favorites are:
- The ONE Thing (Fantastic for time-slotting)
- Discipline Equals Freedom: Field Manual (It's a big slap in the face on getting your crap together)
- The Alchemist (Not exactly productivity, but I read it when I feel demoralized or frustrated)
- And MJs books <3
- I've also been studying tutorials and reading books on lighting. My favorites are:
- Light Science & Magic: An Introduction to Photographic Lighting 5th Edition (Very technical book, but it's the bible of lighting)
- Workphlo's Channel (Dustin's great at showing how apply the techniques shown. His voice is also very soothing)
- I've been active on Facebook group-related subjects and the feedback I get is very helpful as well.
- Getting up at 4:30 am every day since the outbreak has been a game-changer. I workout in the morning before I drop my sister off to the bus for work, I make my coffee, breakfast, and get right to work.
My Next Steps:
- Continue the course of finishing the last 3 pieces of my work.
- Write captions for them to appease the SEO on Upwork.
- Start sending out proposals
- Make my first $1000 by August.
This might be ambitious, but I got this far to start backing down. I do plan to learn copy and marketing, but I haven't figured out how to incorporate them without getting overwhelmed yet. For now, I want to do one at a time. Every time I do multiple things at once, it never goes well.
If you guys have any questions or you want to throw ideas and criticisms out there, feel free! I'm sure I'm missing things and I'll be happy to clarify.
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