One of the things that I’ve had to battle internally is this whole notion of what it means to be a photographer.  More specifically an art photographer.  Even more specific I suppose would be “artist”.

I used to be a “professional photographer”.

Big deal.

I used to charge thousands of dollars to take pictures at people’s weddings.

Big deal.

I have over a decade of experience with a camera to my eye.

Bid deal.

Now?

I haven’t made very much money directly from my photography in a while.

Making the switch from a working pro to an artist is probably harder than starting from scratch.  There’s this whole stigma that follows you.

“Oh…you used to do weddings.  That’s nice.”

You kinda get that from the gallery owners and art buyers.

I need to stop telling them that.

Sometimes, when I’m feeling a bit bogged down by financial worries, or just thinking about how this will all pan out, I think about the knowledge I have now and how I could easily tear up this town doing weddings and portraits again.  With my knowledge of website building, SEO, tons of built in contacts throughout the community (especially in the right tax bracket), I could easily become one of the top wedding photographers in West Texas.

But that’s not what I want.

It really wasn’t ever what I wanted.

At one time, sure, it mades sense.  Sometimes, financially, it still makes sense.

But man…I hate shooting weddings.