Post 78

See this post at my new blog: http://www.danpomykalski.com/blog/2014/8/

post-5

Camera companies are churning out new lenses all the time, and with those new lenses come reviews. Although usually highly subjective, I love those reviews because new gear is one of the most exciting parts about photography, honestly; at least I think so. There seems to be a recurring theme in these reviews, however. 

This recurring theme is the common complaint about how cheap these new lenses often feel. This "cheap" feeling is usually because lenses are often made out of plastic now. It makes me think back to the day when lenses were made of metal, and felt like the highest quality and bulletproof. I often think of my Nikon 105mm f/2.5 Ais and how much better it feels than my new lenses. It makes me wonder why a camera company would ever stop making lenses like this.

And then I realize it's because so many people were complaining about the weight of these metal lenses...

Obviously, a cylinder of metal and glass is going to be hefty; neither one of those components are light. So it makes sense that a company would change what the lenses were made out of, since that's really the only option. Undoubtedly, lenses are now much lighter than they used to be, with the trade off being a cheaper feeling product. Personally, I don't mind the weight of lenses. People often mention the weight of heavier lenses like it's a drawback, but there hasn't ever been a time really where I've wished a lens was lighter. To me, heavier lenses feel more professional and durable, and I'd definitely take a lens made of metal instead of plastic any day. 

www.danpomykalski.com

Post 77: What do I do all day?

Check this post out on my new blog: http://www.danpomykalski.com/blog/2014/8/post-4-what-do-i-do-all-day

Out of all the questions I'm ever asked, one of the questions I'm asked most by my friends and family is "what do I do all day?" Before I decided to pursue photography as a full-time job, I was under the impression that professional photographers had the privilege of doing whatever they wanted all day every day, except for when they were shooting. I can't help but assume this is what people think I do when they ask me what I do all day. I imagine they picture me, sitting in our apartment, playing video games and eating junk food all day while Devan is at work. I wish this were true, but over the years, it has become apparent that this scenario rarely happens.

I've done a post like this before, but it was a while ago and my daily routine has changed since then. I have a fairly strict schedule that changes every couples of months that I follow religiously. This is what my schedule looks like at the moment when I'm not shooting.

I try to wake up sometime between 8 and 9 every morning. I hate sleeping in because I feel like I miss out on a large portion of the day, so I try to wake up sometime before the late morning. Waking up at 9 usually isn't too much of a problem, but if I happen to wake up earlier, all the better. I also feel somewhat more like a responsible adult if I wake up at a reasonable time every day, instead of sleeping in until noon or later like I used to in college. 

For the next half hour, I play a game of NHL 14 (which will soon be NHL 15). My philosophy is that if I get playing video games out of my system right away and only play one game of NHL, I won't be as tempted to not do any work throughout the day and I'll be able to focus better. So far, this has worked out. I also like to have some personal time every morning, and that half hour allows me to wake up a bit. 

After my game of NHL, I'll clean the coffee maker, and get a pot brewing. I used to work at a coffee shop when I was in high school, but since then, I didn't drink much coffee until my last semester in college. Now I'm one of "those people" and can't get work done without it. As the coffee is brewing, I take a shower so the coffee will be ready when I get out. 

Once I'm out of the shower and have poured a cup of coffee, I turn the computer on, and begin my actual work day. This is usually sometime between 9:30 and 10:30 am on a good day. Sometimes I don't start work until noon, but that's pretty rare. The first thing I do is I look at my website and record the number of unique visitors that my website has. I just started doing this in July, and it really isn't that important to me yet. I used to check my website views whenever I thought of it, but then I could never remember what it was at the last time. It's pretty cool when I look at the views and see that I've had 10 new unique visitors in one day. On the other hand, it's not exactly a morale booster when I don't receive any new visitors over two or three days. Recording the views on my site usually takes me less than 10 minutes each day.

After I record the views on my website, I begin talking to people. From the time I first began taking photos until around January 2014, I was under the impression that I didn't have to reach out to anyone. I used to think that I would be able to create photos, people would see those photos, and then approach me and hire me. I also thought that someone would "discover" me, and pay me a large amount of money to do work for them. In general, I thought that I would be able to just sit around and do whatever I wanted, and people would come to me without me doing much of anything. It wasn't until around January that I realized I could be doing much, much more.

I'm not going to get very specific with this part of my routine, because I don't want to give away too much, given how much competition there is. But I will say that this portion of my routine is the bulk of it, and can take anywhere from half an hour to two hours. I imagine myself as those business people you see in movies or TV shows that are constantly emailing and calling people, although I probably don't look that cool and am not really that important. This is probably the most important thing I do for work during the day.

Once I'm done talking to potential clients, I usually check Craigslist. This is probably the most useless part of the day, because anyone looking for a photographer on Craigslist is usually looking for someone to do it for free or for way less that what I charge. I have gotten a couple of decent paying jobs from Craigslist, though, so I check it anyway. This usually takes anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. 

The next thing I do is jump on social media and try to build my social media presence. Social media is the only advertising I do really. The only other advertising I get is through word-of-mouth, which I don't have a whole lot of control over. I upload a photo of the day to both Facebook and Twitter, and also respond to any comments or mentions, and other fun social media stuff.

After this, I take my lunch break, which is usually a game of NHL 14.

Next, I get back on the computer. This time is basically dedicated to replying to any emails that I've received since the morning, to motivating myself, or to learning how to run a better business. This can take anywhere from half an hour to two hours.

And there you have it. This is what I do every day unless I'm taking photos. If I'm taking actual photos, I still try to do at least a little bit of my work routine. I've been taking photos professionally since 2012, but this is basically my first full year in business. School took up a lot of my time until I graduated in December 2013, so I'm still trying to figure things out. I think this routine is working pretty well for me, but I'm sure there will be changes sooner or later. 

I hope this post helps people understand that although I'm my own boss and can take days off whenever and however often I want, I still have to put in work if I want to be successful. When I first started, I realized that most people have to apply for a job a handful of times, while I have to basically apply for a new job every day. It isn't as easy as people often think, and there's times I feel like my work is terrible and I'll never make it, but I can't imagine myself doing anything else. 

www.danpomykalski.com

Post 76: If you're trying to sell something, do yourself a favor and hire a photographer

Devan and I have started looking at houses to get a general idea of what we can afford. More than a few times, a posting has almost been painful to look at. If you're trying to sell a house, or anything for that matter, do yourself a favor and hire a photographer.

When I see a really bad photo, I can generally tell what went wrong and what needs to be changed. Sometimes though, I don't always analyze a photo, and I find myself thinking, "wow, this house looks terrible." The chances of me sticking around and looking at that listing is pretty much 0%. Sometimes I'll look at the photos for a little longer and try to figure out what went wrong; it's usually on camera flash or too slow of a shutter speed. I don't know for sure what someone who doesn't know much about photography will think, but I can't help but assume they'll think the house looks awful, and go on to the next one. 

The house might sell eventually, but do yourself a favor and hire someone to take the photos if you can't do it yourself. This doesn't only apply to houses, either. If you're trying to sell anything, it'll be much easier to sell if you can provide a decent photo.