Pro-crastination

 

The title is hyphenated because I am a *PRO* at crastination. It has been months since I have posted here. I have been thinking of posting but what finally inspired this was that procrastination seems to be a theme today. A couple of the comics I follow were about procrastination then a post by Kirk Tuck in my Feedly blog collection chimed in apparently in response to one that Michael Johnston had posted that I read belatedly after reading Kirk's. I then procrastinated by posting some photos on Facebook and doing the daily exercises that I seem to manage only occasionally. Finally, I came back to the computer only to be confronted by a "Peanuts" series on the subject so I guess the universe is telling me to get my self discipline act together.

It goes even deeper though. I have been asked to be on a panel about what it requires to be a successful photographer and they are talking about success in the business sense. In two words, 'I'm not'. I was a successful photographer in the army where that was my MOS (military occupational specialty). In just three years I rose to the rank of E-5 and was in charge of a lab. I have been a successful art photographer in the sense that I have had work accepted into exhibits and even a handful of one-man shows. I have been a success at creating high-quality images, a point of pride for me.  I like doing things well. Aside from the army however I have never 'made my living' exclusively from photography and I spend more on supplies every year than my print sales earn.

There are several reasons for that, procrastination being one. To be economically successful one has to spend way more time on marketing than any other aspect of the creative process. As much as 90% of your time by some estimates. I have an intense dislike for marketing and it takes very little at all to divert me from it. I make sporadic efforts at it like updating my portfolio on Zenfolio (something else I haven't done in many months), making new notecards and prints to take to galleries (I have made new cards but haven't delivered them), and contacting prospective new galleries.

Aside from Kirk Tuck all the pros I am remotely acquainted with make the bulk of their income from publishing, Brooks Jensen - Lenswork magazine, Guy Tal - writing and running workshops, Chris Dodds - running workshops, or by doing things like shooting weddings/family gatherings/events. In small-town America, local photo studios are pretty much dead. With the surfeit of cameras including those in phones, there is very little market for formal portraits. I have dabbled in doing some of those things and didn't like doing them. At this point, I am old, retired and only want to do what I enjoy.

The bottom line is that I have redefined my success in photography as making enough from it so that I can keep doing it and still pay all the other bills because, in the end, I do it because I love doing it. I would be happy to sell you a print though if you see an image here or on FB or Zenfolio that you really want to hang on your wall. If you'd like to help keep me doing it, contact me about buying a print or some notecards. Or you can go to my Fine Art America site if you want a commercially printed copy. They will even print them on all sorts of 'merch' as the YouTubers call it, shower curtains, shopping bags, phone cases, you name it. I'll put the links down below.

To purchase a print (or a whole bunch of prints) go to:
https://jimbullard.zenfolio.com/

https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/james-bullard

or send me a message detailing what you want, image, size, etc. The ones you get from me are archivally printed by me and (other than notecards) are signed. I will reply with my current prices.

Have a great day.