I'm now three weeks into my new career as a freelance photographer, and I'm still adjusting to the idea that my job is fun. I keep thinking I have to spend all my time on serious businessy stuff ... like redesigning my website, marketing, and such. Although I actually enjoy those things, what I really love is going out to shoot, or looking at other photographs, books and magazines for inspiration, and of course, experimenting in Photoshop. I have to keep reminding myself that, yes, I get to do this as PART OF MY JOB. And that, in fact, the fun stuff is a very important part of my job in that I need to keep creating new work.
Today I went to Old Montreal, mostly to shoot a couple of rolls of film with my toy Holga camera (AS PART OF MY JOB!). I've had it for over a year, but this is the first time I've used it, and it was the first time I've used film in probably close to a decade. I've been positively hooked on the immediacy and convenience of digital photography, not to mention the total control. Because it's 120 film and not that many places in Montreal process it, I have to wait a whole week before I can see the results. A whole week instead of the usual 2 seconds!
Today reminded me of why I love photography so much. When I'm shooting, I get completely absorbed by the process and get into that state the psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi calls flow. I'm almost sad it's the weekend.
