Fender are my favorites
Music. There is something about music which just cuts right through to the emotional core. Even dance music hits the spot – your body just wants to move in time. I think it is that aspect that also drives my photography – emotional impact and connection.
I check out DP Review often. I love the toys. Then there are photographers that I know, who I check out on Facebook regularly, like Chuck Arlund (a Fashion photographer friend of mine), Todd Laffler (a wedding photographer here in New Jersey). So it’s a mix-n-match of places I visit during the day as I need a break from work.
I also see older photographers complaining, but when I look at their websites, they are stuck in a previous era, and their sites are out of date. They also quite often haven’t embraced the modern technologies yet, or are not on Facebook, nor do they know how Search Engine Optimization works. (Although that is a dark science of its own.) And so on. Things have dramatically changed for photographers in the space of just the past 10 years. You have to adapt, and keep on adapting.
If you want job security, then reconsider studying something in the engineering or medical field instead. You certainly won’t die a rich person, working as a photographer, but the journey is an interesting one, filled with great experiences. Just don’t expect job security of any kind. Simply because of the numbers, many aspiring photographers simply won’t make it. The statistics count against that. But the energetic, hard-working, inspired and creative photographers, who know how to market themselves, and are personable, and know how to work with people … they will make it.
You will also have to work harder than you can imagine, since being successful as a photographer is a never-ending job in itself, constantly chipping away at it.
