What do you think of these point?

Hi Scott, I’m a 62 year old amateur photographer who fell in love with the genre during the Covid lockdowns. ( I never stopped indoors, quite the opposite) I find your advice refreshing. I grew up poor, working class and basically without direction. I have found photography to be a wonderful passion. I’m obviously too old to consider it as a career but I love the no nonsense advice you give in your videos. I work 12hr days and nights in a factory ( well paid by the Rolls-Royce of engineering manufacturers) but get out in nature at every opportunity. I only wish I had discovered photography earlier. It WOULD have been my career choice. I love it. I would just like to say a big thank you for all you do to help aspiring photographers. It is really very much appreciated.

I came back to photography after a 10 year hiatus (I went through total burn out shooting weddings), but wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it. A year ago, I started volunteering as a photographer on a media team for a non-profit organization that works with kids who have been severely burned. I don't get paid a single penny for this work, but I feel like I'm the richest photographer in the world. Now, I've re-started my photography business and things are starting to fall into place. Photograph what you love and the rest will happen.

Discipline over motivation, that's a great advice!

Fitness isn't mentioned nearly enough in photography. I am not fit (although working on it) and I know it affects the quality of my images. I'm a part-time sports photographer, so it's heavy gear, lots of walking and long days

I am not a professional photographer and have no desire or ability to be one (I may barely be called an enthusiast), but these videos are fascinating and compelling. Great advice for all aspects of professional and personal life.

I think those are all great points and very solid advice. I will add that one of the biggest points you made is to stay away from alcohol. Now, before you think I'm prudish or a preacher, or a recovering alcoholic or any of that - I'm not. But I did have a lot of enjoyment of alcohol during my life, and at times to excess. When I decided I just didn't want to drink anymore I very quickly felt better, started loosing some weight without even trying, had better energy, got better sleep, was more motivated, saved quite a lot of money and just came to the realization that when you routinely ingest poison, guess what - it poisons you! So many things in life are way better without alcohol it's actually shocking. What does this have to do with photography? Well, all those benefits of being alcohol-free make photography (or whatever it is you do) easier and better. It's really just that simple. Thanks for a great video - I totally respect your discipline and admire your lifestyle.

Great Video!! I agree with everything you said. The only thing I would add is: Learn to spend less. It's almost as good as making more money. cooking meals at home, bringing a sack lunch to work, and never buying coffee out has saved our family thousands.

I have learned a few things in my lifetime that stand me in good stead as a late start fashion photographer. It may be particular to the business in Australia, but I took a leaf out of one of our contemporary photographers books and it also worked for my grandfather from 1911 to 1962. He ended up the official photographer to our parliament and all our national sporting teams. He also did weddings because he liked it. He made fortunes and lost them...three times. He married a Norwegian fashion model, but she died of TB. I loved him. In this country, if you are going to get gigs with Vogue or Harpers, and will fashion labels, you have to network your arse off and attend functions and events. You have to dress like you deserve to me there, hobnobbing with the gorgeous people and those who make decisions. You must not look out of place and be like one of them. This is the top of society and you have to look like you are one of them. So instead of buying that lens I wanted this week, I bought an Armani blazer and slacks off Etsy. I attended a film awards night and looked like I belonged. I got two shoots out of it. It's not the first time I heard the question, "Is he one of us?"

When I started out in photography I never had to have a 2nd (multiple streams) or 3rd job. My photography was my only income. But you are right today you do need to have other way's of keeping the roof over your head. It's sad but true, if I would have to put my finger on what happened I would say it's the WOKE & the idiots that think we should not use carbon !

multiple streams can still all be photography too. High end editing, office headshots, real estate, on site assistant work. im doing quite well when I factor in all of these things. I wish I was shooting exactly what I wanted more often but times are different

I agree with you. Healthy mind and body are leading to the whole new world of possibilities.

Wise words. Thanks.

I could never be a wedding photographer, but wholly appreciate them, and their skill.

Very good advice. Thank you.

Great video and great advice!

After all, what I believe we are looking for is freedom. You are achieving it! You inspire me.

Thank you so much!

Thank you Scott for this great video! This really resonated with me, especially the discipline part, you made me realize that I have to work on that.

Disciplined was me last night, after starting with symptoms Tuesday i tested positive for covid yesterday morning but still went out and did a nightscape shoot. Did it kick my ass after i got home, yep it did but it was worth it

Right on point as usual.

This is gold

Perfect!

Love your talk about something videos. Always relax and items to think about. Thanks for the video! Managing income flows or reserves is the stuff that makes life 'nice'. Less worries. I have been thinking about what 'my' photography is, what i like and what i absolutely do not (also includes weddings 😆)

Thank you for this video. Your view on life as a photographer is very refreshing.

Good points all. I would only add, and perhaps it is implicit in what you say about living below your means, but budgeting is important. Getting a handle on expenses, and forecasting future expenses, is critical. For example, your new puppy (beautiful dog by the way) has introduced a new cost element and being a pet owner myself, I have found that there is a base amount of money I have to set aside. In my case, it is about 2000 dollars a year for veterinary care, food, and incidentals. All I am really saying is that everything we do has a cost and it is important to know what those costs are and what we have to have in terms of revenue to meet those expenses. And as an extension, it is impossible to forecast all upcoming expenses, such as a tire that fails, so a contingency fund is a good idea.

Good advice!

I was a wedding photographer for years and towards the end of my wedding career, I was pretty miserable. Nice to start over and build a new people portfolio. I’m also taking better care of myself with better sleep and exercise. Thanks for the pointers.

I've done a fair share of weddings, my observation: long days, if you know the families it can be great fun, if not, just pure stress. A wedding can take up 12 hours of a day and you'll have a week of editing after it. I suspect the full time wedding photographers are 110% disciplined. You have very little control of a wedding shoot, so be prepared to be flexible and have a brass neck!

Watched it twice. Thanks for the reassurance and confirming things I learnt the hard way.

I find in myself all those points, special the last two!

I think this is great life advice in general. Regardless of if you're a full-time photographer, part-time, if it's just a hobby and you make a living doing something else, this is great

man... I always love watching your videos "these make me a happier person" while not smiling 🤣🤣 love ya dude!

Love your energizing videos!! Also a non-drinker here (small town Minnesota, USA) and I could never be starting a photography business if I still drank alcohol. I love being able to reliably show up 100% for everything every day!

Tough talk. Good advice.

My dream is making a living with aircraft and aviation (both civil and military) photography. No dream is too big to not to be followed. Pros who are working in this field already are only humas too, so I can also learn how it works

So true...I love the part about diet, alcohol and sport. It changed my life, career and mood/energies overall!

Great point the healthy individual part (specially the drink thing), and how can they compete. A very overlooked point. If I were to sudgest something else, I found over the years it works wonders for me, is to practice another artform or other genre of photography. It can be with profit in mind or not, but, not only is it useful for inspiration, it also helps to clear the mind in those creative breakdowns, wich I often feel are from saturation (the fact I decided to combine photography with music, after years of playing hours a day)

This is some of the best advice for life in general ✌️

I have to agree with you on living below your means. I am a school bus driver for my day job and I love it. I make enough money to pay the bills with that job and my photography is my side hustle which pays for itself. I make enough from photography to pay for the trips to get new images from shooting sports images for the kids. This is a win win for me. I get to work a job that I love and go feed my passion from making money from photography

While I absolutely love your photography and your videos, I'm really hoping we get to hear more about and hoping even more that we get to see the puppy. I'm extremely intrigued about his training plans, especially his being an assistant.

I like the ideas expressed.In my twenties I lived on the edge and was creative but useless,Cannot do it anymore because time is valuable and I don’t have time to waste.With discipline the ideas flow .

🔥🔥🔥

⭐️

Sagely advice indeed! I'll ditto all points (except I haven't had the 'one decent job' yet this year... yet). It's better to think like an Olympic athlete than a rock star, that's certain.

As a novice planning a mktg agency, I want to include photo/video services for clients and base the scope of activity on that but I get a lot out of the pros who do it full time dropping gems.

I have a day job where I work four on four off this pays the bills but more importantly it means I get six months of the year to do my photography and not have to worry about paying the bills so all I have to do is create when I do it.

Amen

Great video and I can really relate. I gave up alcohol and focused on myself 260 days ago and my creativeness is so much better.

I think you are on the money

75Kg, TRYING to get there. You are right, covid set in and hardly the civilised world got back to the same lvl of productivity as before. Remote work + mediocrity are at an all time high (booster by netflix et al). Do some videos on how to get people off that dream state of non productivity, that would help and open new directions for the channel - no, never become a coach- but genuinely help people in other areas than photography, it is all linked.

Hey man, just curious. Plenty of years of salary set aside just in savings accounts or also in investments like index or stocks? :) As always it is so interesting to listen you and your wisdoms. Cheers from Estonia. Btw I think soon is good enough time to review again my portfolio ;) Did I took your advice or not haha.

Awesome points again cheers. Personally I quit a relationship that went sour late last year it’s costing me financially and emotionally it’s a pisser but it was the right thing to do now I concentrate on what I enjoy without the negativity my work has improved. I have a day job as a newspaper photographer I also have a passive income renting out my house as I choose to live out of a van it suits me I don’t need much space and I love the freedom to move around I’m also just starting to earn an income from my KZfaq channel so far this month around 90nzd I mean fair play it won’t change my life but it will put some diesel on the tank. I think all up I’m pretty much happier with my little lot than I was last year 📷

Brilliant video, I needed to hear that. April was a struggle. And I learned I am fat at 99 kg, good thing I am not 115 kg anymore 😂

Brill

I’m retired and just want to photo assist. Can you advise knowledge base and other insight for good assisting? Thanks.

So brutal 😂

Certainly, focusing on multiple income streams is a good idea. However, as your career advances, it's also important to avoid jobs that don't bring you joy when you wake up, in pursuit of both happiness and revenue

Speaking of just being alone in your studio to work on what you want- I would love to see what work you do entirely on your own. What is it you like to work on? Every time I see you doing any shooting, even test shoots or personal work, you have a multi-person crew with you. I don't mean this as any slight or to be challenging, just sincerely curious. Do you still find joy just creating as a solo artist without needing to turn it into a production? Also, more importantly, what would you say to commercial photographers who have never worked with assistants and wouldn't know what to do with them? It's easy to develop impostor syndrome when you're a small solo operation who's never had a crew and you see pros using crews to shoot even just personal work. Maybe I'm just easily intimidated...

Dear wedding photographer that is reading this, if you are not enjoying wedding anymore and you contemplate if you need to stop with weddings and move into another direction.. I wanna tell you to do it, move on, forget weddings. 4 years ago I felt I wanted to stop with weddings, I eventually only stopped last year. I wish I just stopped when I first felt like that 4 years ago, dont hesitate, its your life, your time. there is money in other areas.

You told me I sucked at photography

If I didn’t drink alcohol I could probably live on $2000 a month. I would probably be really grumpy though.

I'd like to say but it's a bit personal. I have mental health and depression. One friend I hardly see. Bereaved on top. Sitting here eating a mark down and now out of date microwave meal. I'm a mess. The place is a mess. Hardly any room to take photos. Sleep 12 hrs a day, need to get hit to get tired to sleep. If I do one thing a day in doing good.

I need to move to where you are. In the state of Utah in the US, $2,000 a month is unlivable in a studio apartment with no car payment... That's it, I'm outta here lol

…But I love model photography 😂

My secret is I don't own cars... Total money pits, I'd much rather buy glass. People claim work as the reason they own a car, but I work 115 miles away from home. I just take a train instead (I just work on edits during this downtime)

This was hard to listen to. Because of she'd in light on lottery much almost everything in don't wrong! Needed to hear this. Thank you! You've just got one more subscriber. Thank you again. 😊

I'm just shocked that you can live off 2 grand per month? I'm assuming 2000 GBP? Is it that much cheaper where you live than London? Is that the difference maker? I'm in the greater Toronto area (not toronto itself) and 2k GBP is about $3430 CAD. Just my rent is nearly $3000 and I don't live in some massive fancy place, add in food, bills, automotive, insurance, etc and I'm well over $5k CAD before I even start thinking about stuff like luxuries, hobbies, etc. I would have assumed the greater London area would be similar costs? I'm just amazed that you can live so cheaply near a major metro city.