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Showing Your Work Daily

Lesson 5 from: How to Become a Freelance Photographer

Isaac Johnston

Showing Your Work Daily

Lesson 5 from: How to Become a Freelance Photographer

Isaac Johnston

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Lesson Info

5. Showing Your Work Daily

Showing your work daily is an immensely helpful routine in the creative process. It helps craft your own story, improve your craft, and strengthens your sharing muscle.
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Lesson Info

Showing Your Work Daily

Showing your work daily and why it's important. Second guessing your art and your creation is normal. It's part of the process that we evaluate what we made and see what was good, what was bad, and where we could do better. And at first, this process might make you second guess that you should be doing this at all. These feelings will make you naturally cautious about sharing your work. You don't want other people's opinions crushing your delicate flower of creativity, but you need to share your work, it's important, and here's why. When you upload your art to the internet, specifically Instagram, you get little dopamine hits when people like or when they comment, this is natural, it's addictive. And that's okay if you use it the right way. And what I want you to do is use it to help you create more, because only when we create more, can we get better. It's a double edged sword though, so be aware when people leave mean comments that you need to steel yourself and not let it stop you f...

rom creating. You also don't wanna create work for likes. That's really shortsighted and will lead to burnout. And even worse, your work will end up looking like, that's so 2020, so you don't wanna create just for the likes. Another reason to share your art online is the momentum it will create with other people and with yourself. So for an example, I have a friend who is a barista, and a good barista, and he started becoming a painter, and he started sharing his art, first in the coffee shop of course, and then online, and more and more, he became, in my mind, not a barista, but a painter who made coffee. Now I know him as an artist, only an artist. He took and shaped the way that I knew him, just by sharing what he wanted to be known for. When I started sharing my photos, I wasn't actually sure that I was a photographer. Maybe I was just doing this 'cause it was fun, or I was making the little money at it, but I wasn't sure that it was my identity. But by continuing to make and continuing to share photos, I shaped my own perspective of who I was and I took photography and made it part of my identity. So you can shape what people think of you by sharing, and you can shape your own perspective of yourself by your actions. Now, I don't post daily anymore. I actually just post about two to three times a week, but I still create daily. And the momentum has been built and by creating daily, I'm still keeping it going. It's not by one giant premier that people get known as artists these days. No one is gonna discover you if you don't go and discover yourself daily. So I want you to do two things, I want you to create as often as you can, I want you to create on the weekends, in the mornings, in the evenings, as often as you can, I want you to just get serious about making creative work happen. And I want you to find the platform of your choice and post one time a day on it. It doesn't matter if all your posts are A plus, but what you're trying to do here is build a story of your progression. Sharing your work is important, and I think if you continue to share work and continue to do these tips that I've just said, you're gonna find that you shape who you are and shape people's perceptions of what you are.

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

Workshop PDF
How To Build A Proposal - Pitch Deck Example
Idea Asset List Template
Story Creation Sheet Template

Ratings and Reviews

Ken Neubecker
 

A great course/workshop, one of the best I've seen with CreativeLive. While at 71 I'm not looking at starting a full new carrier in freelance photography or video work, doing the work helps keep me off the street. It has given me inspiration to do a stoty about what I am going through now as a full time caretaker for my wife, who has been suffering the declining pains of Alzheimer's for a few years now. No one with Alzheimer's travels that final journey alone. In a sence it is an adventure, mostly for those close to the one with the disease. While it's not like the travels I did 50 years ago when what today is called "adventure" (canyoneering, something we used to simply call a hike in the desert...). I spent a lot of my life running rivers and working as a wilderness wanderer and guide/instructor. Now my travels are pretty well limited to long walk with the dog and occasional fishing outings with my wife who used to be a guide herself. Maybe thats not all that interesting or exciting as say going over a cliff with a bike and a parachute, but for many older folks it is the new story, the new adventure as their later years unfold. This in itself will be an adventure, at least for me.

Ryan David
 

Practical yet fun Great workshop and worth the time/money. Isaac is an easy to watch presenter and the various modules were each concise and practical. Time well spent!

asieh harati
 

honest advice from an adventure photographer who went through career transition I think a lot of us are mulling over the idea of transitioning to become a photographer. It's not easy. There are lots of fears and hesitations. It's a change that could affect our life. I'm at this decision branch for the second time in my life, and I still fear. Isaac shares with us how he overcame those very same hurdles and fears. He is genuine, practical and proves that you don't need expensive gear to start or even continue to become good enough. The pitch deck example, the starting up a conversation with a prospective client, the way to deal with blockers, all are real. I cannot wait to put them in place and start my first pitch. Thanks Isaac for sharing your journey!

Student Work

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