Once upon a time, in a land far, far away...

I used to spend my weekends moonlighting as a photographer.

@aweber and I were chatting on one of this posts about studio photography and I thought I'd expand on it here. Thanks for the Steemit inspiration (steemspo?) dude.

My partner was in 3 bands, and while I'd go to all the gigs, there was a lot of rehearsal time where she'd be out of the house... I started as every dude does, playing computer games and watching all the action movies... but my partner was so driven, so passionate, so motivated to create beautiful tunes that you couldn't help but be swept up in the whirling dervish of creativity that was her life.

Ironically, it was her gigs that lead me to photography in the first place. Since I was always there, just being an awesome roadie and/or drinks-getterer and/or band groupie, and they needed photos for FB, Bandcamp, Myspace, etc... and my partner was working for a camera store at the time... it all made perfect sense.

Band photography is super hard

The thing is, it totally is. The stage is dark, the lights are way bright and flashing AND the musicians are moving.... jerks. Just stand still in moderate lighting for once in your life!

You actually need a fairly decent camera to cope with all of that... so while we had camera store access I kept buying better and better cameras.

By the time I had an unreal camera... my girlfriend's bands had all the photos they needed... classic.

Since I had a good camera... I started doing band promo shots.

Which lead to a female artist who wanted shots of just her, and inside....
... this meant I had to pick up a couple of cheap studio lights... and some material for a backdrop... and suddenly our tiny study became a tiny studio.

The above was my first studio shoot, all the images are cropped really tight to avoid filing cabinets and desks in the background.... filing cabinets are typically not rock 'n' roll.

The reasons for getting into studio photography

Musos know dancers and dancers know actors and word got out and I wasn't even charging money initially, I was just happy to help and really enjoying the creative process. My work can be totally dry (spreadsheets and grey screens yay) and so to be surrounded by super motivated creative people... while my partner was off rehearsing doing her own creative thing, just gelled really well in our lives.

I love studio photography... I loved controlling every single aspect to try and get the perfect photo. I loved the energy that the models and makeup artists and stylists and all their friends would bring. My partner would often come home from rehearsal to a photography party.

As I got more into it, I became super addicted to the process of everything coming together to form that perfect image. It took such a long time, I remember the first year being so disheartened because my photos were so shabby compared to everything else I was looking at.

I was completely overwhelmed with the technical aspect alongside the social aspect, ie, keeping up a conversation while trying to figure out what settings I should be using plus where the lights should be.

One day I was totally down on myself, I felt like I had wasted everyone's time and spent all this money on equipment I was producing trash with. My partner, who is super cute but feels awkward in front of the camera, dressed up nice, put some music on and posed for me while I figured it out. No talking... just figuring.

That helped me work out some quick wins... some lighting+settings+positions that always worked... and once I had those down I could converse with my model and start to push things a little.

How I started a photography studio

Eventually we moved house, and I got an entire one car garage as my permanent photography studio - which made dabbling on weekends a breeze.

Starting a photography studio is easy. You buy one camera... then you buy a light... then a backdrop... and then more backdrops... and then you hire makeup artists... and then you get more lights... and then you get better cameras... and before you know if 7 years have passed and you've gotten pretty okayish.

Finding work for me was easy, because it was just pocket money. It wasn't at all my full time job, it was my creative outlet... and because I wasn't stressing about it AND I was lovely, I actually had no end of clientele. At the time that I started, the photographers in Melbourne, Australia were a strange bunch. They often produced amazing work, but they were either socially awkward and way too technical, or 50% smarmy, 50% sleezy and 100% gross. I actually couldn't handle them and only went to one or two Melbourne Meetups.

I had a long-term rockin' girlfriend, it wasn't my livelihood and I was super hilarious but also totally chill (my words, I assume this is how everyone saw me). Considering that the modelling market is obviously young ladies trying to earn a living; an inexpensive, nice, good photographer was a welcome change.

Why the business ultimately failed

Reason Number 1

I spent way too much.

As it was a side-gig, I didn't keep track of any of my expenditure versus my income.
This is hugely important and very silly.
I didn't run up any huge debts or anything, in fact I was never in debt, but I doubt that even after 7 years I actually made back what I spent... which made it less of a side-hussle and more of an expensive hobby.

I did my own Photoshop, but money was spent on gear, studio set up and sometimes hiring models if I had a project I wanted to work on.

My clients were young ladies who were students, waitresses, worked in retail or did promotion gigs, and were spending literally their hard earned money on photos for their portfolios so they could get better paying jobs. It was an investment and they were always super poor and so I'd never charge them much. The makeup artists often made more than I did... and were often unreliable, to the point where I did a makeup course and became my own makeup artist (not a MUA for myself, like I wasn't wearing it, I mean, sometimes, but, ahh, you know what I mean)... but there is a whole lot of expense that comes with that too.

Reason Number 2

Got out-niched

Remember when I said I was lovely?
The only thing more exciting than a lovely dude photographer who is good, is 2 female photographers that are incredible. They both independently did photography full-time, progressed in skill way quicker than I and could communicate with their clients in a way I'd never be able to. They didn't drive me out of business, but over a couple of years I definitely moved down the list of priority photographers.

Reason Number 3

Ah, I might have hated my customers

I realise this sounds ridiculous... but hear me out. When I started, I was only a few years older than my model friends, and so we still had a lot in common... but as time went on, I aged but they stayed the same. Models, particularly those wanting to get into promotional modelling tend to be 19-21 years old. Still, this wasn't really a problem... I'm cool, I'm hip, I know what a Rick and Morty is.

The problem was when my customers went from working models to Instagram models.
These girls had plenty of money to throw around... but they didn't care about the final images. They couldn't put in the work, and modelling is really hard work, to get the shot. This killed me.

Honestly, most of these girls were done when they took their own selfies in the makeup room... we no longer aimed for the same end goal... and that made me want to give it all away.

Reason Number 4

We moved hemispheres

It was easy to close up shop and sell off everything when you even start to consider shipping fees... it just wasn't practical and it was exciting to start a new life. My partner decided I was going to be on American Ninja Warrior and well, that requires some training.

Photography is time-consuming... but the Photoshop process is even more so.

Would I ever take up photography again?

I'm really strongly considering it.
When I see the work that @aweber, @yumyumseth, @skiesandsports, @caitycat, @zipplyo are punching out, I get really excited. I haven't missed it at all over the past 2 years I've been in the States... but now... so much itch.

We're a lot poorer now, so I couldn't spent crazy amounts on gear. I'd basically buy the minimum, and then work to make that pay for the next bit of gear.

I'd also have to see what the market is like in Portland... if my clients would mainly be Instagram models again, then I'd make the sessions far less about the final product and more about the process. Videos, process shots, live streaming, etc etc... and of course Steem has opened up an avenue to reward the creative process.

The area that I live in, is so pretty.... it feels criminal to not be taking photos every day.

I'm looking to buy a Canon 6D, and even the process of researching is bringing back super great memories.

The centered images on this post can be clicked on to enlarge (thanks @mstafford) and all images in this post were all taken by me. My website for verification is Adam Waring Photography with a link to my Steemit account at the bottom of the home page.

Thanks so much for reading such a crazy long post... if you got this far... thank you!

steemaroo divider and ninja upgoats drawn by the incredible @ryivhnn