Short Break

I'm going to be taking some time "off." Today and maybe tomorrow, until I finish signing prints. If I don't, Ctein is going to put his philosophical pacifism on hold just long enough to kill me. 

Sorry for the interruption! Pretty much everything I'm doing right now is designed to give me more time for doing what I do best...writing. Ironically, however, the work of getting to that place takes time away from writing.

I was talking to Peter the other day and I mentioned the high and bitter irony of that. I'm getting to the point that I have so much work to do running my little business that I won't have any time for writing posts—which is, of course, the foundation of the business.

He replied that that's a very familiar situation for photographers in general—and he's right! It's quite possible to have so much work to do running a photography business that it crowds out most of the time available for actually taking pictures.

John Sexton solves this by taking photographing trips. It becomes easier to find time to shoot when it's just you and a 4x5 and you're living in a tent.

Michael and Paula used to shoot for six months a year and market prints for the other six months. I don't know if they still do that—I don't think so. But when they were, they were pretty strict about it.

This is one reason why, traditionally, many professional photography businesses were "Mom and Pop" operations. One spouse (not always the male) took the pictures and schmoozed with the clients, and the other ran the business.

The patron saint of the "woman behind the man" in photography is Tabitha May (Pritts) Kinsey, wife of Darius. She labored in the darkroom for half a century so that he could roam the West taking (and selling) photographs. They've got to be candidates for photography's hardest working couple.

I wish somebody would reprint the great two-volume set of Kinsey, Photographer. The single-volume paperback is still findable, but the two-volume set is rare now.

Tabitha was one of photo history's unsung great printers, too. She was one of my heroes when I was a custom printer.

What was this post about, again? Oh, yeah.

One more word and the ASA (able sale administrator) will blow his lid, so I'd better get to signing. See you in a few.

Mike

P.S. Oh, and a quote o' the day for today: David Vestal: "Do your work." This is taped to the top of my iMac. Okay, now I'm off to take David's advice.

Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

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(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Jim Hart: "Might as well take some time off; can't leave the house, there's a hole in the road...."

Brooks Jensen: "I'll put in a vote for my wife, Maureen Gallagher, without whom LensWork would simply not exist. But then again, I might be biased in this.  :-)  "

Comments

[Richard Alan Fox]

Wait before you go please tell me what instrument you use to sign your prints.
This is a serious question.
Thank you.

[Mark Levison]

Mike - let me offer to buy you a copy of a book called "Personal Kanban". It will help reduce Work In Progress and multi-tasking. Net result - more time to focus on things you enjoy.

[Thanks Mark, but too many books is one of my problems! But hold that thought, for the distant day when my life settles down a bit. --Mike]

[Marc Gibeault]

You have to see this film:
https://www.nfb.ca/film/j_a_martin_photographe
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074702/
One of the all-time best Canadian movie. I couldn't find a link for an English version but I know there is one; I saw it.
Anyway what's going on is pretty obvious ...

[Marcin Wuu]

My wife is the Mom behind the Pop me. Without her I wouldn't be able to work at all. She has this bartender's knack - everyone's spilling their guts in front of her. Getting people feel at ease five minutes in. Invaluable trait for a portraitist. Plus, she's incredibly proficient make up artist.
Behind many an artist stands a woman I think. If nothing else, someone has to make sure the artist wears both socks of same colour.

[Robert]

Classic situation for all businesses. Then wait till you try to expand.

[pascaljappy]

Mike, it's called investment. You invest money to make more money. You invest time to make more time.

The secret is to hope for long term earnings and to not sacrifice too much of your short term ressources. (in other words, carpe diem)

As for multitasking, it's rarely a fun thing or an efficient practice. It's what Seth Godin calls Cognitive Overload : http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2014/05/cognitive-load.html

Your readers won't suddenly leave you because you take a few days off.

[Robin Dreyer]

My father was a theater man. He was a capable actor, singer, dancer, and piano player. He was also a first-rate director, and that's what he loved the most. When he was in his 40s, he started a theater company so he could direct all the time. Unfortunately, he was also manager and producer. After a few years he had to start hiring other people to direct because he was so busy raising money and running the company. When he realized what had happened, he folded the company and went back to doing freelance directing for other people.

[Ralph Kolewe]

At the risk of being pedantic...

"But do your work, and I shall know you. Do your work, and you shall reinforce yourself." -- Emerson, Self-Reliance