Turning Your Passions Into A Business.

I love photography! I enjoy getting out with a camera and seeing what images I can get. I also appreciate the editing process, which helps me create the emotion I felt when I took the Image. Photography gives me a creative outlet that I need in my life. Without the ability to express myself, my mind struggles to function with much enthusiasm.

Being a farrier for a living fills many of the artistic expressions I need. Trimming horse’s feet and shaping steel to fit a freshly trimmed foot is a creative endeavor. Problem-solving lamenesses and working with horses and some of my clients is a gratifying experience. But it doesn’t fill the void of creative expression like photography and writing does.

Most humans and artists, in particular, want to connect with other humans. They want their work to be appreciated by other people. Humans are social creatures. We need to be accepted by our friends and peers. One of the best parts about creating art is when someone replies to a post on social media saying how much they needed to read the words I wrote or seeing an image I created that made their day. Or when I see the look on someone’s face when they walk into my gallery for the first time, and their eyes light up looking at all the images on the wall. I create my art because it’s what I would want to see, but it’s also to put good vibes into the world in hopes that it might inspire another human.

This brings me to my point. Should creatives make their art for profit or for enjoyment? I have had this discussion with many other artists and friends, and the answers always vary. Some points of view come from the angle of why you would want to ruin your creative endeavors by making them for profit. Wouldn’t that take the fun out of it? Some artists I talk to have the uncanny ability to be incredibly creative and a business mindset that allows them to do both. 

I find it hard to switch from a creative to a business mindset. Part of me wants my photography to stay fun and simple, searching out stories and images that get me excited without worrying whether they will sell or not. This is fundamentally the way it should be. But when you are also thinking about art from a business point of view, it’s hard not to let those thoughts creep in.

I am also self-employed, and I have been pretty much my whole adult life. There is no company 401k waiting, nor is there health insurance. So, no matter how fun and easy I want to keep my art business, the more time I spend on it, the more it will take away from my other source of income, shoeing horses. Thus, it puts pressure on me to generate an income from art. 

In the forty-nine years I’ve been on Earth, I’ve gotten to know myself. When things work out the best for me, I head in a particular direction with small, attainable goals that I can accomplish. I have an overall goal that I am working towards, but I am not too concerned about whether it becomes a reality. Putting less pressure on me and enjoying the process. And things seem to work out like they are supposed to.

I don’t know if photography will ever become my full-time job/income. But at the end of the day, I’ll do whatever I must to keep doing it because I love it! As long as I’m a better photographer year after year and learn to tell better stories, I’ll be OK with how it turns out.

Connecting with people through this journal/blog and social media is the most rewarding part of doing what I do with my photography, regardless of the financial rewards it may bring.

But if I ever get hurt while shoeing horses, you can expect a lot more emails from me pushing you to buy prints. Haha