Welcome back for the latest installment of my monthly Behind the Camera feature. It is here that I will usually talk about something that has been on my mind, or possibly a question that has been raised during the previous month. The topic that I will be discussing this month will be kind of a combination of those things. It is also a little bit of a continuation from my last installment which wrapped up 2025. As you all well know, I have struggled with the meaning and importance of photography over the years. I’ve tried to prove that it is an artform in its own rite and can even drift into the quality of fine art. Those are just three quick links that came to mind, but if you read through my regular blog posts, you will find even more questions and searches for answers along the way. I’m not alone in this quest for clarity as many of the photographers that I follow on YouTube have done videos of this same type of conundrum.
Trying to find the importance of photography and an aspect of it to latch onto for motivation can sometimes seem daunting as I have discussed in that year-end piece from last month. When I first started with photography in 2005, I was looking for a way to balance out the negativity that I saw in the world as a Police Officer. It served that purpose very well, but I wanted more from it. That was when I started to think about creating marketable images and finding clients that were interested in prints. Over the next couple of decades, I looked at photography in many different ways and tried to make a living off of it. There have been times that goal has been successful, but more often than not, I am just breaking even with my photography. In extreme cases, like in 2025, I have lost money through the business of photography. I could sit here and blame the economy, the advent of Artificial Intelligence, or any number of other things that I have no control over. I have done that over the years, and it makes me feel a little better about things. However, I wasn’t giving the due credit to the biggest stumbling block that prevented my financial success in this business. I am not good with business and tend not to look at things in the correct ways to have a successful business.
Don’t get me wrong, I think that I am a very decent photographer and have a fair amount of talent behind the camera. That is not what this is about though. It is the business aspect where I let myself down more often than not. If I had it to go back and do again, I would have taken some business and marketing classes in college rather than upside down, underwater basket weaving (running ASU joke). That time has passed, and I have no interest in going back to school to learn business. I mean, I could, but I would be looking at time and expense for something that I am just not all that interested in doing at this point in my life. I don’t care for business on that level, and I don’t want to put that much mental energy into it. I’m almost 52 years old, and I don’t have to, Dang it!
Over the years, I have spent a lot of time trying to muddle through the business aspects of photography from registering the business and doing all the paperwork that goes along with it. I’ve set myself up to deal with sales tax and all the issues that come along at tax time related to having a legitimate business. Those are all just the boxes that need to be checked and pretty much anyone can go through those motions. It is the art of business that I don’t grasp. I don’t have a business mind and when it comes to marketing, I’m even less adept. I don’t really like tooting my own horn and I’m happier being in the background letting my photographs speak for themselves. It seems odd for somebody that creates something that is meant to be seen and enjoyed by others, and I get the dichotomy. The reality of it is the photography is the art that I produce, it is a part of me, but it is a public part and something that I am creating from a very intimate portion of myself. The business end of things has nothing to do with the art, or the visual language that I am cultivating. This is colder, more calculating, and not nearly as much fun for me. It actually takes the joy out of photography for me in most situations because I am forced to see what I am doing as a commodity rather than an artistic creation.
Sure, there is a certain amount of art that will carry over no matter what I’m photographing, but when I am dealing with a client session, I am trying to capture what they want which limits my creative choices. My photos are just the product, and I am selling myself which is fundamentally backwards from what I normally do letting the photography speak for itself. In the situation behind the photo above, I was engaged in a business exchange that took nearly a year to put together. I was working with the schedule of the vehicle owner and trying to include aspects in the photos that were important to him. This took away the very important part of the creative process known as inspiration. I was there to provide a service and that was the motivation behind the whole session. It was not about the art, but about getting the photos that I had promised months before. That was a business experience and left me feeling a little less than excited about the whole thing.
When we compare this next photo with the previous one, the thought process behind them both were totally different. With this one, I was inspired when I drove by the car after being made aware of its presence through a tip. I had gone out there on a day that I felt like shooting and found it in a condition that made me think of the scene in an artistic way. I wasn’t there to move things around or make things perfect. I was there to respond to what I had seen. Inspiration turned into art and a photo like this is what excites me. Even looking back at this photo I’m feeling more inspired to go out and create something else magical. The same can’t be said with the client shoot, though I did create some very strong images during that session. For me, one photo represents me doing photography as a business and one represents me doing it for the love of the artform. The same photographer created both images about a year and a half apart, so the skills and techniques are pretty much the same. The difference is that one of the scenes was cobbled together while the other one was just a naturally occurring situation.
The disparity between business and art goes much deeper than what can be seen in a photograph. It actually goes beyond anything dealing with the camera. I have struggled with the business aspect of photography since the beginning, and I find that I do the bare minimum on the business end while always striving to achieve more artistically. I know if I could just put half the effort into the business practices that I use, I could see improvement in the bottom line. The fact that I know that and haven’t put forth that effort tells me some valuable information. I’m in this for the love of photography, not for the bottom line, although I have to pay attention to that for survival. It is that attention that I pay that has led me to really question if it is worth pursuing photography. Years of breaking even or minimal profit just doesn’t seem sustainable to me. Those years when I lose money hurt even more.
Those are the times I really think about giving up on photography and just moving onto something else. I’ve tried that before and I regretted it within a year’s time. It wasn’t the business or the income that I had received from photography that got me to go back to it, but the art of creating with the camera. Of course, once I got back into photography, I swore to keep it just for fun and stress relief. That didn’t last long and I was back at trying to find that one thing that would make me successful. Eventually, that turned into more of a business focused experience which set the stage for me actually retiring from law enforcement in 2019. What had been a dream and a side hustle was now a legitimate business with all the necessary paperwork in place. I was going to make this into a solid business and that was where my efforts went. Of course, things didn’t go that well and I met several hurdles, but the biggest one was myself. I just didn’t spend the time and effort needed to cultivate the business and get my work in front of the right people.
Even when I decided in 2022 to start doing portraiture, I didn’t do all the things that I should have done from a business perspective. That was especially important after years of saying that I didn’t do “people photography.” That was, and still is my legacy among so many. It is an uphill battle that I am constantly faced with, but don’t have the energy to overcome in a truly business way. There are so many facets to marketing and getting a business in front of others that just doesn’t interest me at all. I do spend time doing that, but again, it is the bare minimum that I can get away with. I would much rather spend my time with photography behind the camera creating something artistic.
Even in the portraiture realm of photography, I have the same kind of reaction between client work and work that is more inspired. I find the sessions much more engaging when it is an exciting concept and something that is a bit creative. Those where I am hired to provide a service just don’t excite me in the same ways, but I do try and find an aspect that I can latch onto for the sake of art. This is why I will not do student photos for schools where it is just one after another on an assembly line. I have never wanted to be an image mill, nor have I wanted to be a volume shooter for anything. I feel that every image of mine that is seen needs to have the same level of care and attention as those fine art pieces that I created in the past. I do find that I am more connected to a photo when there is an artistic element to it, and that is what I am drawn to over any other concern.
That brings me to the question of the day, which has most recently been brought up last month in this very feature. What do I want to do in terms of the future of my photography? From a business aspect, it has become a total failure. I’m not saying that to be funny, or to prove a point, it really has been. While photography has successfully paid for itself for many years now, I have yet to take an owner’s draw from that account. For those that don’t know what that means, I haven’t paid myself once for the photography that I have created. I’ve been working for free since starting this as an official business and that is hard to swallow. Since 2023, I have not had to put my own money into photography which is a nice thing after funding it as a hobby for years. I now have a decent savings in the business account, but there are always expenses that are required throughout the year and even when I am not earning a dime, I am still having to pay those expenses.
I’ve talked about the possibility of letting the portraiture go because it was the last thing that I have added onto my business model and the part that I’ve spent the most on by far. However, looking at the years since including portraiture, I’ve found that it has also been my largest source of income with the smallest portion being my landscape and decay print sales. That was an interesting realization that I made late last year. The part of my photography that started it all with creating landscape images and later decay photos with the intent of them being purchased as wall art has become a very small portion of the business. It is also the part that costs the least to maintain. It is what keeps me current in the field of “content creation” because I routinely get out and create new images as fine art prints. What I do the most of brings back very little income, while what I do the least, carries me through the year and funds the whole shebang. There is just no way of doing away with what I have put together to save money and streamline the business without negatively affecting the entire thing in one way or the other.
I’m kind of at a stalemate in terms of business and that leaves me feeling kind of hopeless. However, I’ve proven that I can stay afloat at least mostly over the years with my business model. I could probably make some more tweaks to that model and see some better returns, but I think that will probably detract from my love for the art of photography and put me back in the frame of mind to just shut it all down. That is the hamster wheel that I have been on for years and it gets me nowhere. There is a struggle that has developed with pulls in very different directions. On one end, I have the business concerns which pull me away from the artistic pursuits in relation to both subject and product. Then, I have the artistic want and inspiration that have no concern for the business aspect of things. When I am creating based on being inspired, I am doing it mostly for myself and without thinking too much about the marketability of the images. Only in one of those situations do I achieve happiness that is measurable. It is the artistic pursuits that I find more exhilarating, and it is those that keep me coming back for more. While the money is nice, it has never been an overbearing source of motivation for me. If it were, I would have started to photograph weddings a long time ago.
Where does this leave me in 2026?
Well, I have chosen to pursue photography for the art of it all. I’m going to let much of the business end go choosing to focus on what makes me happy behind the camera. Oddly enough, this still includes doing portraiture even though it started as a potential income stream and has turned into the primary income stream. I have found that I really enjoy working with people as subjects and have found so much creativity in a studio setting. There are photographers that won’t pull their camera out unless they are getting paid to do so. I’m not going to be one of those. I will do “test shoots” and tfp shoots from time to time when I am inspired. These are typically free shoots all the way around but will give me an outlet to create when I want to rather than hope that a client has a creative session in mind. Of course, I will continue with my landscape and decay work as that will always be where the core of my photography exists.
What does this mean for you?
Well, you likely won’t see much difference except in the sales pitches. I’ll still be doing the same blogs, I’ll still be photographing the same types of things, but I’m not going to spend too much time on marketing or get frustrated when I am not selling anything. The photography that you see will be because I love the art of photography and have found this to be a very effective voice for me. I’m going to put less stress on myself and not worry about what images might sell and which ones won’t. I’m going to create for me, and I’m going to share those photos with you because that is part of what an artist does. If you like them, great! If you don’t, stick around because I’ll have something else that you might like showing up soon enough. If you hire me for a session, I will greatly appreciate it, especially if you want a creative twist on it and I’ll put my all into your session. If you want to purchase a print…Fantastic! I’ll make sure that your print is perfect and will be a treasured piece of art for years to come. I’m in this for the art at this point; the rest is all gravy.
I don’t know if this has been a happy or a more depressed type of Behind the Camera. Obviously, I would love it if I was here to say that business was booming, but as I’ve said, I just don’t really care about that aspect of it anymore. I am happy that I have decided to latch onto the art of photography and just focus on that. It changes the dynamic of what I am doing in a pretty significant way. No longer will I be stressed that I’m not “working” enough at my photography. I won’t feel that my down time is wasted because I’m not out getting the photos that might sell. I can just go out when I really feel like it and have something to say through my photos. I don’t need to spend countless hours on my phone going through social media pages promoting myself or trying to meet potential clients. I don’t feel like I have to be productive as a photographer. It is kind of freeing to me, and then to make it even better, what I am creating, I don’t have to worry about marketability and just need to make myself happy with what I am creating. If you want to tag along through these blog posts, you are always welcome. I’m happy to have you here. If you would like for me to capture something special for you, I’m all ears and will be happy to do that as well. I’m also looking forward to spending more time with the people that I love and doing other things that bring me joy in addition to photography.
I think you can say that I am now a self-employed, part time photographer that works as a volunteer for a company on the verge of bankruptcy. I’m just here for the art of it all.
Thank you for joining me for this latest installment of my Behind the Camera series. If you want to make sure that you get notifications of these blog entries, be sure to subscribe to the blogs…or not, it’s your choice. I’ll be back here next month with a new topic to talk about, and one that hopefully will be a little more upbeat.
Until then….
