You have seen me comment before that people left & right are purchasing a DSLR camera & wham! - they are now "professional" photographers, in business. That alone is pretty self explanatory, but there is one area I just don't get. Hence, I must be doing something wrong.
Alot of professional photographers are moms. Stay-at-home moms. Moms of one or two young children - many the mother of three or four young children. Although I am certainly not a professional photographer, I can tell you that scheduling sessions & editing (mostly editing) & submitting print orders takes an unbelievable amount of time. #1.) I certainly could also be a professional photographer, if I would devote more time (& a build a little confidence, which I am lacking) but 2.) where in the world are these mom photographers finding the time to handle all that comes along with being a professional shooter? It's a package deal, & a hefty one at that.
Most that I know of are stay-at-home moms. Whose cooking breakfast? Whose paying bills? Whose bathing the children? Whose doing the laundry & washing sheets? What about lunch? Dinner? Reading stories? Helping with homework? Shopping for groceries & necessities?
Running to the post office? Dropping & picking up children from school? Talking & spending time with their children? Asking how their day was & actually listening to the responses? Playing Connect 4 (lol)? Cleaning floors & toilets & tubs & showers & loading/unloading the dishwasher, dusting & vacumming? Taking care of sick children? Doctor/dentist appointments? Etc., etc.
How in the sam hills are all these other mothers currently able to participate in a profession that I too love & also hope to participate in one day? Because I just don't get it! There is absolutely no time for me to devote to shooting sessions (an hour or more), editing photos (several, if not many, hours), showing proofs to clients (roughly another hour), sizing all photos in order to fit what the client wants to order, & then actually submitting/uploading the order (also time consuming, depending on how it's done). Oh I certainly could, but I will never chose photography over my children & their wellbeing. Heck, I even tweeted the other day that I haven't even picked up my camera in weeks! I have 3 three children who just had birthdays & I have yet to take their birthday photos. I can't even fathom trying to photograph other families & all the countless hours that entails.
So does that mean these other moms have nannies? Housekeepers? Stay-at-home husbands (doubtful)? Grandmas? Are they living with no sleep? I can tell you that all of them I am referring to make a nice sum of money from their photography business. However, the end result of their sessions leaves little to be desired. Obviously their clients don't know any better, because they pay them anyway. That to me is just sad.
Recently I have run across a few moms who too have jumped on the professional photography bandwagon. Seriously. And they have done many, many sessions! Actually, I was a tad shocked! And, they have very young children! Someone please, please, enlighten me. Let me know the secret. Because I find this all very frustrating! I must be doing something wrong.
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