Freelancing part 1

I decided to label this post part 1 because I am sure there will be more. In fact I am not entirely sure that this is part one because I may have written about it earlier.

After working for newspapers for thirty-five year (Yikes!), I took a buyout from the last company I had worked very hard for the last 26 years. It seemed to be the right time to explore other options. I had a couple freelance jobs right away that made me realize I really missed making pictures.

Here I am three months later and I am working. Sometimes two jobs a day and sometimes none. I am grateful for the jobs. I still love making pictures. Meeting people has been an unexpected perk. I forgot how social I can be. My most recent job has been a 3 day corporate event. Tons and tons of party pics at night and I am discovering the Fuji gear I have is serviceable but not perfect. In fact, it may be because I don’t know the cameras as well as I should but I can’t see a darn thing to focus in the dark. The LCD screen is dark, the view finder dark. I have flashes of an image but until I take the photo and chimp on the camera, I have no idea if it is sharp or framed well. I don’t mean to diss the brand I am working with because I love it for most everything else. Yeah, of course I love Sony the best after using it briefly at the end of my newspaper career but I can’t afford to buy a new system. I also use very old Canon gear that I have accumulated over the years. I love the Fuji mirrorless because it is small and light weight. Canon is great because the bright viewfinder but because it is a DSLR, it is heavy. Not great for long days of carrying gear around.

I shoot everything you can possibly image so for each assignment, I need to put careful thought into what each system will do for me. Which gives me more confidence to make the images I need for a client? Which has faster focus? larger file size? better high ISO? I always say “it’s not the gear, it’s the person behind the gear.” I can make nice photos with an iPhone and some have even run in nationally distributed newspapers.

Yesterday I came across a beautiful field of bluebonnets next to our local grocery store. Everyone seemed to be detouring to take pictures in the blue flowers. Some were having trouble managing pets and other were left out of the picture because they were taking it. I began to volunteer to make pictures for people. I could have parked there all day to do that. It was gratifying to help people on a beautiful Sunday. I enjoyed making people happy and feeling their gratitude. Sometimes you need to do what is good for the soul. It isn’t all about the money. My camera gear did fine in this situation, thankfully.

I will put it out to the universe though that I would prefer to have one system that I can get to know well. At this point it is Sony. Honestly, their cameras have been the ones I have had the most fun working with. Here’s hoping that I get some lucrative freelance gigs that help me work toward my goal.