The deciding moment of chasing your dream (or how I started travelling the world as a photographer)
I quit my job after graduating in social sciences from university to see more of the world. Months of saving up money, months of looking forward to the time of my life. But no matter how much money I could save, and how many days, weeks or months I could start traveling, something didn´t quite feel right.
It didn´t seem logical to go do something you love much less than something that just makes you go by. The daily grind. Going back to the daily grind.
I worked in one thing, did the other on the side. Having spent a lot of time and money on my photography portfolio for years and years without valuing it, all it took was the realization of the value, skills, and knowledge behind my hundreds of thousands of pictures stored on dusty hard drives. I just had start publishing, get recognized for my work and find a business idea to make it all come together.
(I took this several years before I started calling myself a photographer, and getting paid for it. For anyone interested in the location: Cappadocia, Turkey )
The "professional" idea was born. I started publishing on Social Media, Instagram, photography communities... Building relationship with fellow enthusiasts, professionals, artists. You´ve got to put the work into building an audience, the business comes naturally.
Businesses brands, magazines, science... they care about quality, professionalism. The rest of us, we care about passion.
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(Not a shot you´d expect to get a lot of attention. But the passion and story backing it made it one of my most viewed images ever taken.
I care about nature, I love sharing it and wrote about my dreams here before: https://steemit.com/photography/@janoliverkoch/the-life-of-a-nature-and-adventure-photographer
It´s all about passion. We love passion. Passionate musicians, people around us, artists. The deciding moment of chasing your own dream is when you realize what you really are passionate about. And then, it´s time to find its value. And go for it.
Take a look back, what have you done to realize it? What have you already done to achieve it? If the answer is nothing - is it really your dream, your passion? Or is it the beginning of your future? It took me years to realize that I had already been heavily invested in my dream, without realizing it. Understand your passion, evaluate your situation and go for it. Sell yourself in. The moment your dream becomes a plan, a goal, you can wake up and realize - it´s time to start chasing my dream instead of dreaming it.
(Skipping years ahead: ) This was a photoshoot for a client. A job. An actual job. Not because I wouldn´t have loved to ice climb anyways, spend days in the Arctic scouting the right locations, traveling, experiencing the northern lights... all that, years before I would have saved money, taken days off and traveled. This time it was my job - because I delivered footage worthy of keeping. Not just for myself.
I´m new here, this is my second post and I will be sharing my dream chasing journey. I´ll be sharing insights from my adventures, glimpses backstage to the life on the road or better - far off the roads. I´ll be sharing my photography knowledge, pictures and stories.
Chase your dreams.
Yours,
Oliver
Instagram: www.instagram.com/janoliverkoch
Welcome to steemit :)
Would you be up to posting a verification picture or linking to steemit on IG as a proof you are real - "Famous" people like you have the problem of ID theft sometimes!
Anyways, I believe you are real, that's why I am going to resteem you via @welcoming, my page for sharing promising newcomers!
Greets, @theaustrianguy
Hi! Thanks for the warm welcome. I haven´t linked my account on IG, as I´ve just started out on here... I´m well aware of ID theft ;) But could you elaborate on the verification picture? Thanks a lot for the advice! Grüsse, Oliver
Just a picture of yourself holding a sign with "Steem" + todays date written on it or sth ;) I fully understand if you want to wait with linking on IG. If you post the verification pic or link, I will add a big vote to this postfor your effort ;)
It´s in the making! Thanks for the feedback.
Posted. Hope this is what you meant. I included some bonus content for those less worried about my identity. :)
Yes, perfect ;) Voted that new post! Wishing you good luck on steemit! Maybe you should check out @czechglobalhost, he is doing awesome picture challenges?
Sprichst du eigtl. deutsch?
Danke! Ich schau es mir mal an!
Hallo @welcoming, herzlich willkommen auf Steemit.
Wenn Du Fragen zu Steemit hast, oder Dich mit anderen deutschen „Steemians“ austauschen magst, schau einfach mal auf unserem Discord-Server https://discord.gg/g6ktN45 vorbei.
Unter dem folgenden Link findest Du einige Anleitungen, die Dir den Einstieg in das Steem-Universum deutlich erleichtern werden: Deutschsprachige Tutorials für Steemit-Neulinge: Ein Überblick
Epic photos and story my friend! Very inspirational! Can't wait to hear more about your adventures.
Thank you my friend! it´s an honor to start sharing the thoughts and behind the scenes of the pictures out there... :) Will keep you posted!
Nice post
Thanks for the feedback. Appreciate your comment!
That's quite a journey you 've been through @janoliverkoch !
Welcome to steemit and I hope you keep on being happy and sharing with us these amazing pictures!
By the way, I’m calling the @originalworks bot (which someone posted in my first blog) to verify this article for you. Every time you write an original article you should call the bot. It is a great bot service that boosts your article for free.
Have a great day,
@stmoreau
Hi, and thanks for the compliments. I haven´t quite figured out Steemit yet, but will be learning as quickly as I can manage! Thanks for the tip. I´d love to hear more what I can do to improve. Oliver
Welcome to Steemit! It's got a steep learning curve, but it's worth it in the long run if you keep putting in the time! Just know that it will take quite a while before you start getting attention and followers. The secret to success? Keep posting high quality content regularly, and make sure to search out other people's posts, read them, and give relevant comments.
Tagging is extremely important. Always make sure to use all five possible tags, and to keep them relevant. You can always just tag something "blog" or "photography" or something else really general (so long as it's still relevant) to fill the quota if you need to- most of your tags should be established ones, though one or two less used ones are fine.
Posting more than four times a day can reduce your potential rewards, as well as turning off potential users. (I aim for one post per day most of the time.) Consistency is important, though, so you should try to post often.
Always make sure to attach a photo to your posts! You should also have a finished profile: Write a description, add a profile picture and a banner- neither needs to be of you, necessarily, but you should have something- and set a website.
There are a lot of really good resources out there for minnows (new users). You should check out the following groups and services, they offer a lot of valuable resources to new users:
@thesteemengine (Check this one out first- they're an extremely supportive group.)
@qurator (These guys offer an excellent liftime upvote to accounts that post consistent quality content.)
@originalworks (Whenever you write an original post, tag this account- they'll verify it's original and upvote you.)
@steembasicincome (Another lifetime upvote option.)
@steemstem (The biggest and best STEM curation group in the game. If you're interested in writing or reading about science, check these guys out!)
@geopolis (A fairly new science curation group, this one's dedicated to the study of the Earth.)
@ocd (A curation group that seeks out undervalued new writers.)
And, again, the biggest thing is just patience. Breakout successes are incredibly rare on Steemit- you've got to find your way there through perseverance and hard work. It takes time, but you'll eventually succeed if you put in the work.
Please feel free to repost this guide on the posts of other minnows you run into!
Thanks for all the tips!
The @OriginalWorks bot has determined this post by @janoliverkoch to be original material and upvoted it!
To call @OriginalWorks, simply reply to any post with @originalworks or !originalworks in your message!
Great experience in this post
Thank you new friend. I hope to inspire as many as possible to get out there and live to the fullest extent of their imagination.
Amazing shots! Glad to hear that you pursued your dream, and now you get to do what you love. I hope I'll get to do that as well. It's a rare thing to be able to do your passion as your career. :) Best of luck!
Thank you for your appreciation. It`s a tough one to follow, but well worth it. We only have this one time here... Thanks again for your support!
Exactly, I agree 100%! Good luck with everything once again! <3
Takes a lot of hard work and courage to do it your way, but that is why it matters, because it is your way. You sound happy and thriving, what else could you ask for. Long may it continue.
Thanks. It took me a long time to realize the simplest things. Thank you for your wishes! :)
Very inspiring! will keep an eye out for your posts, Welcome to the platform hope you like it and will do well.
i traveled for four years and post about it now, stuck in the 9-5 grind here in Amsterdam for now, thinking about my next move, happy for you that you can life this way.
Hey man, Thanks for the compliments and congrats to living in amazing city... Hope you´ll either like it way more than travelling, or you´ll find your solution to not feel stuck anymore. I´m constantly battling it, and surely will blog about it, too.
nice man , goodluck on your journey!
thank you! :) Ill be keeping you updated on here.