RUclips kind of fits into this too. I always feel like I have to make a video every week and it starts to feel like a job (all in my head) so I gave my self permission to take a few weeks off and create when I feel like it only
Yeah I've done the same! I just do videos because I find it to be a fun creative outlet. I feel that pressure too. Hard to find the balance but so important
People's mindset has become so warped. For some reason it is assumed that the pinnacle of any endeavor is making a profit on it. When in reality that couldn't be more wrong. The true highest form of something is doing it for no reward at all other than the enjoyment of doing it. Needing to do photography because I have to eat is not an achievement, it's bondage. This is also related to another thing that really bothers me which is the idea that has occurred where "professional" is interchangeable "high quality" or "expert" and I believe there needs to be a decoupling of those ideas. It reinforces the idea that the only way to acknowledge someone as skilled is that they are paid to do it.
I couldn't have said it better myself. Perfect summary to what I was thinking. Both on the aspect of society pushing the notion that money making is the highest achievement, and that people who make money doing photography must be the best. You nailed it.
Honestly I'm a chemist with a phD and simply hearing that it's okay that you don't wanna do more of what you love in your free time because it's also your job and all the fun gets sucked out from someone in another field really felt nice.
i love this video - i started videography stuff just to have fun and the pressure from others for me to make money from it makes me really anxious - doing something just for the fun of it is so much more exciting to me
Yes that's well put too! Even just the pressure can make things less fun! People don't seem to understand the joy of doing a thing just for the happiness of it and the creative challenge it presents.
I reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally needed to hear this. Thank you. I always regretted not pursuing stage managing and lighting design as a career because "talent". Instead, I became an executive assistant in entertainment...at the studios. It was almost like stage managing AND I got a regular pay cheque and benefits. It was how I supported my son. I loved it. You just helped me give myself permission to stop regretting my choice. Thank you.
Love this. Thank you. This is something I talk about with other writers, too. For a lot of authors, writing *was* the hobby before publishing. But then, when that hobby becomes a job (which was the goal!), a lot of new authors find themselves creatively in a rut. Because their creative passion is now monetized. Even if that was the goal, it's still difficult. It still changes your relationship with the work. So I always encourage authors (or anyone else whose creative passion is their job) to find *another* hobby, another creative outlet -- and not monetize it. It's so important to have something that is just for you!
Great video Colton! As a photographer and graphic designer, I have run into many time where people with good intention put creative people under pressure to preform or think because the creative has a talent that it is something they feel the creative need to exploit or worst, they want to exploit. That being said, NO is a great word. I chose when and where I use my talents. I do not hoard it nor easily give it away, but I can use my talents in areas where I can benefit others with no compensation and if compensated, I can accept graciously. It is a hard balance sometimes. I think sometimes the issues is understanding the value in what you do and the quality of what you do. Money is part of life, but is not life. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts.... I have a new bumper sticker. "Colton said I could!" 😆
Man you really put that well! To your point, that balance is difficult because of the pressure people will put on you, but so important. I think for people like yourself who are in a creative space and maybe also doing that for work as well it's probably even more challenging to keep the lines from blurring. I know I've had experiences where companies want to leverage my creative skills outside of my normal job duties without added compensation. It can be hard to say NO, but many times a lot easier than saying YES. Boundary setting is critical! I can't wait to see these bumper stickers hitting the streets! 😂 Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts as always!
Thank you for saying these things! I’m not a photographer but I am an artist and a crafter and the amount of times I’ve heard “you should sell this stuff!!” drives me absolutely nuts! If I had a dollar for every time someone said that to me, I wouldn’t even need to start a business selling my creations! Lol. Creating for me is my outlet, I do not want to be pressured to create for money because I strongly feel it would quickly kill the joy for me. For example, one thing I do is I crochet- I can’t imagine coming up with a design and then having to make that same piece over and over again, and on a deadline. Then dealing with the customer side of a business - no thank you m’am!! I like to make something and then work on my next idea- or hell, even work on multiple projects at once and switch between them at my own pace, with no pressure from anyone but myself.
Yes! That's a prime example. I enjoy the freedom of being able to start a project and then sit on it and come back to it. Sometimes it takes weeks of photographing the same candy before I finally get it the way I want it to look. I think it would be much more uncomfortable if I had someone breathing down my neck looking to hit a deadline. Or worse, having to put the candy art on the back burner because they're paying me to do something entirely different. Have you done paid gigs before? What was your experience?
@@ColtonMatocha I have made really small sales to my mom’s friends a few times, but that’s really it. I generally give the things I make as gifts. I’m into making greeting cards and crocheting recently (mostly clothes for myself and baby stuff because so many ppl I know right now are pregnant) so those things are perfect for giving as gifts.
Relate to this video a lot, i do photography and produce as a hobby, with producing i mainly did it for my self enjoyment but i’ve gained a decent following which put pressure on me and now i have artists asking to buy my beats, i kind of stopped producing now because every-time i try to make a beat i’m not making it for myself which took the enjoyment out of it.
Sorry - another comment. 'Hobby'. The word makes me bristle. Why? Because 'hobby' typically carries with it the implied sense that whatever it is is done in a less than perfectly serious manner - that it is somehow not invested with the importance of other uses of time, and that it is probably not done to the standard of a Professional (someone who is paid). The Cambridge Dictionary defines 'hobby' as 'an activity that someone does for pleasure when they are not working'. It's a problematic term. Any activity that is performed when one is not working MAY be pleasurable, and may also be done with utmost seriousness and to the highest of standards - just as work may be a vocation, not merely a 'job'. Personally, i do photography because i think that photography matters. Certainly i take pictures for fun and for aesthetic reasons - flowers, patterns, pretty-pretty, amusing - but i also take other pictures because of their usefulness in supporting certain causes - they have a social or political value and utility that is important both to me and beyond me. In none of that is remuneration relevant / desired / necessary - but it's all far from being a 'hobby' (and is definitely not Art, which i leave for those prepared to put the peculiar effort in). So, in sum, i'd say that there's nothing wrong with photography as a 'hobby', and photography as employment can be a worthwhile thing, but there's not a simple binary at play - either job or hobby, if only because Life is far more complex and nuanced than those categories admit. Cheers.
I agree with that. I used the words hobby and art to cover the variety of photographers out there. There are certainly hobbyists who are doing it just for the joy with no intention of making art or anything challenging and then there are folks who do work such as yourself that I would classify as artists! But my terminology may just not be precise enough in the end. Overall, I just meant to catch the wide spectrum of photographers!
@@ColtonMatocha Yep... it was not a criticism, at all, of either your usage or your message. Thing is - there are so many Ways of Photography. It's far more complicated than a lot of people seem to think - that is, either it's something you're paid for (a job) or it's not - End of Story. Me - i can assure you of three things: i do not do photography as 1. a hobby, 2. to make money, and 3. as Art. Maybe what i am arguing for is an understanding amongst those that shoot that those categories may not capture their practices, motivations and desires, and that instead of accepting those 'options' that serve to define (and perhaps delimit) their present and future as people who take photographs, they might benefit from evaluating what it is they do subject to other terms - their own rather than the ready-made categories. I guess, in all of that, is the attraction of your lolly shots - i get it, but i don't - i mean, you do WHAT?? And that's exactly what makes them interesting - Your Terms. Hope some of that makes sense. Looking forward to brown-on -brown with a chewy fudge centre. Cheers.
@@luzr6613 No worries! I think you make a great callout! I think the terms I use over simplify the dynamics and maybe that's a benefit to the message, maybe not. Either way, I always appreciate other perspectives, yours included. Am I crazy??? hahahaha. Have you been pressured to make money doing photography before? If so have you ended up taking on any of those gigs?
@@ColtonMatocha It's a complicated thing, but the outcome of it is that i'm really averse to money. I try to avoid having anything to do with it as much as possible. I'm not 'rich', and have never had a desire to be, and i've always been fortunate enough for money to not feature highly as a motivator in my life. I like to do things for people and for reasons of principle - a trait i seem to have, perversely, inherited from my parents and their lineage. So with photography, if someone asks me for photos, or if i'm shooting in an Industrial facility, i give anything worthwhile to them or to the Company. TBH, for the last 42 years i shouldn't even have been alive, so it ain't no big thing!
This video was spot on! I think what's become truly more important to me especially over the past year has been having good "work vs creative project" balance, rather than trying to turn my creative project into work. Also have been kind of terrified at the prospect of needing to change my creative videos just to appease an algorithm instead of doing them for creation's sake. It sounds kinda soul crushing.
Yes balance is absolutely key! You have to find that right mix. And I couldn't agree more about the distaste for changing your videos just to appeal to an algorithm. I realized early on that I was just making videos as a creative outlet and that I didn't want to go chasing views at the cost of the fun of it!
Well said! Somehow I was recommended this video and I'm glad I was. Oddly enough I'm not a photographer but a video game developer, but your message resonated with me nonetheless.
Giving you a 'Like' right from the start (haven't watched the vid yet) on the strength of your new hair-do. Congrats to your stylist - back to the vid. Ok... i started photography (well, for the second time) because i woke up one day and thought 'Money?... yeah, Photography - that's a great way to spend money!' Actually, that's not true (although it is a 'great way...' etc). There's a contemporary fetishization of attempting to 'monetize' all and everything in 'our' lives and i can't work out whether it's because 'everyone' is on the bones of their arses, desperately insecure, or just completely devoid of imagination. It's a phenomena that represents the worst and most banal of motivations, and if anything is likely to corrupt authenticity, stifle creativity and debase relationships it's the imperative of turning everything into a buck. There's also the reductionist conflation of 'monetary value' (market price) with Quality, or any other way of experiencing the value or worth of a thing or practice. Even the idea of the 'Professional' has changed over time, from referencing someone who demonstrates mastery over a process and outcome to being just someone who gets paid for doing it, no matter how shit or tedious their performance. STOP IT! Anyway... that's enough ranting at 0400hrs. Nice vid, Colton, i couldn't agree with you more - and i appreciate you giving me permission.👍
Thank you on the hair style, but that just happened to be a day I was too lazy to "do" my hair hahaha! You are right about photography being a great way to spend money. So much of RUclips is dedicated to hyping new camera gear when the reality is that your old gear was totally fine and didn't need to be replaced. But most of us fall for it, myself included. I also agree further that placing such emphasis on making money stifles creativity and also drives people toward making the same stuff everyone else is making. A lot of the time that ends up being free advertising that pretends to be art or creative imagery.
@@ColtonMatocha I totally agree about how there's the jumping on the trend thing and then everything starts to converge. Thing is, that's quite a normal process, and especially in Institutions, but it's a shame when it colonizes something with so much possibility - creative, documentary, educative, decorative etc.
Thank you for this. I didn't need your permission, but I appreciate it! I think part of it might be from this idea that value always has to equal money. Or perhaps that life can become so expensive, to spend your time doing something that could earn money but it isn't, its less valuable or even wasteful. Or it comes from The Dark Knight when the Joker says "if you're good at something, never do it for free." but... he was a madman - we shouldn't take our advice from him. 😆
That's a great point as well. As the cost of living goes up, so to does the pressure to make more money anyway you can. And I really like that statement about the Joker! Definitely gave me a laugh this morning!
My wife studied fashion design in grad school. Some of her classes were taken with undergraduate students, and some picked fashion design because they liked shopping.
I just started considering photography as a job, seeking for opportunities, clients, "improving my marketing" as I was told by youtubers and people around... And it became so soul-sucking already, that now I hate to just look at my camera... It became obligation from inside. My photos definitely got worse in quality, quantity, they have less personality. Ideas and feelings are the most important part of what I like to do, and money race won't help me with that.
Damn that's a bummer to hear. I had a similar experience when I was working the Photography trade. Have you considered ending the job aspect and just doing photography for your own passion?
@@ColtonMatocha that's what I want to do. I just feel that it isn't right. I like architecture, abstract stuff, geometry, colors and geometrical harmony... I am not comfortable with people 😂 Who will pay for that? Way less people than I thought. But that's what I love. Although it is possible to integrate my preferences to various projects, it shouldn't be done by forcing myself to make money. I am growing as a person and photographer in both ways, but I still want my freedom to be myself. Money have principle of "client is always right", and for me that's not about true, honest art...
@@danoncho I couldn't agree more! Sounds like you're having to compromise too much. Sometimes it's worth it to put the money aside and focus on what makes you happy. Easier to do if the money already isn't right.
I am actually planning to create beautiful geometrical art photography, that can be sold for usage in modern interiors. I would love to do that, to see my big photos inspiring someone at their home. But, locally we don't really have a trend for that. So I'm just growing in what I love for now, and will maybe catch some opportunities later.
I love the ambience of a locked down psychiatric ward, without having to go there. Thanks Colten. Sorry, i called you Cotton...truly, are you the one who dropped the dime?
Funny enough I got into photography with the mindset of making money but I think I was just making an excuse to legitimise the high costs of the gear I wanted. 🙄
Yeah camera equipment is no joke when it comes to cost and I've certainly done the same thing in the past. I'll make money to offset the high price tag. Which similar to you, I did, but it came with the cost of hardly using the gear for any creative work.
The title of the video really made me scratch my head because it makes no sense. The english definition of hobby is: "an activity that you do for pleasure when you are not working". The moment you monetize it, it is not longer a hobby and becomes work.
Yeah that's my point! You're doing it as a hobby but then you get pressured into making money with the skill you've gained and so it becomes work and you no longer do it as a hobby. With that often times you lose what you enjoyed in the first place and you end up with just another job.
Indeed. And this should be the reply to anyone who asks why someone doesn't make money with what they love doing. Once money is involved, pleasure slowly slips away.
RUclips kind of fits into this too. I always feel like I have to make a video every week and it starts to feel like a job (all in my head) so I gave my self permission to take a few weeks off and create when I feel like it only
Yeah I've done the same! I just do videos because I find it to be a fun creative outlet. I feel that pressure too. Hard to find the balance but so important
People's mindset has become so warped. For some reason it is assumed that the pinnacle of any endeavor is making a profit on it. When in reality that couldn't be more wrong. The true highest form of something is doing it for no reward at all other than the enjoyment of doing it. Needing to do photography because I have to eat is not an achievement, it's bondage. This is also related to another thing that really bothers me which is the idea that has occurred where "professional" is interchangeable "high quality" or "expert" and I believe there needs to be a decoupling of those ideas. It reinforces the idea that the only way to acknowledge someone as skilled is that they are paid to do it.
I couldn't have said it better myself. Perfect summary to what I was thinking. Both on the aspect of society pushing the notion that money making is the highest achievement, and that people who make money doing photography must be the best. You nailed it.
@@ColtonMatocha Thanks for making the video! I think about this a lot. It was nice to hear someone else say it!
Honestly I'm a chemist with a phD and simply hearing that it's okay that you don't wanna do more of what you love in your free time because it's also your job and all the fun gets sucked out from someone in another field really felt nice.
Oh man that's great to hear! I spoke to it from my pov but certainly this applies to just about anything!
i love this video - i started videography stuff just to have fun and the pressure from others for me to make money from it makes me really anxious - doing something just for the fun of it is so much more exciting to me
Yes that's well put too! Even just the pressure can make things less fun! People don't seem to understand the joy of doing a thing just for the happiness of it and the creative challenge it presents.
I reeeeeeeeeeeeeeally needed to hear this. Thank you. I always regretted not pursuing stage managing and lighting design as a career because "talent". Instead, I became an executive assistant in entertainment...at the studios. It was almost like stage managing AND I got a regular pay cheque and benefits. It was how I supported my son. I loved it. You just helped me give myself permission to stop regretting my choice. Thank you.
I'm really glad to hear that. Sounds like you made a great choice ultimately. Thanks for watching! I'm thrilled it made an impact!
Love this. Thank you. This is something I talk about with other writers, too. For a lot of authors, writing *was* the hobby before publishing. But then, when that hobby becomes a job (which was the goal!), a lot of new authors find themselves creatively in a rut. Because their creative passion is now monetized. Even if that was the goal, it's still difficult. It still changes your relationship with the work. So I always encourage authors (or anyone else whose creative passion is their job) to find *another* hobby, another creative outlet -- and not monetize it. It's so important to have something that is just for you!
Thank you for sharing! I totally agree with the idea of having a new hobby if your previous hobby/passion becomes monetized!
Great video Colton! As a photographer and graphic designer, I have run into many time where people with good intention put creative people under pressure to preform or think because the creative has a talent that it is something they feel the creative need to exploit or worst, they want to exploit. That being said, NO is a great word. I chose when and where I use my talents. I do not hoard it nor easily give it away, but I can use my talents in areas where I can benefit others with no compensation and if compensated, I can accept graciously. It is a hard balance sometimes. I think sometimes the issues is understanding the value in what you do and the quality of what you do. Money is part of life, but is not life. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts.... I have a new bumper sticker. "Colton said I could!" 😆
Man you really put that well! To your point, that balance is difficult because of the pressure people will put on you, but so important. I think for people like yourself who are in a creative space and maybe also doing that for work as well it's probably even more challenging to keep the lines from blurring. I know I've had experiences where companies want to leverage my creative skills outside of my normal job duties without added compensation. It can be hard to say NO, but many times a lot easier than saying YES. Boundary setting is critical!
I can't wait to see these bumper stickers hitting the streets! 😂 Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts as always!
Thank you for saying these things!
I’m not a photographer but I am an artist and a crafter and the amount of times I’ve heard “you should sell this stuff!!” drives me absolutely nuts! If I had a dollar for every time someone said that to me, I wouldn’t even need to start a business selling my creations! Lol.
Creating for me is my outlet, I do not want to be pressured to create for money because I strongly feel it would quickly kill the joy for me. For example, one thing I do is I crochet- I can’t imagine coming up with a design and then having to make that same piece over and over again, and on a deadline. Then dealing with the customer side of a business - no thank you m’am!! I like to make something and then work on my next idea- or hell, even work on multiple projects at once and switch between them at my own pace, with no pressure from anyone but myself.
Yes! That's a prime example. I enjoy the freedom of being able to start a project and then sit on it and come back to it. Sometimes it takes weeks of photographing the same candy before I finally get it the way I want it to look. I think it would be much more uncomfortable if I had someone breathing down my neck looking to hit a deadline. Or worse, having to put the candy art on the back burner because they're paying me to do something entirely different. Have you done paid gigs before? What was your experience?
@@ColtonMatocha I have made really small sales to my mom’s friends a few times, but that’s really it. I generally give the things I make as gifts. I’m into making greeting cards and crocheting recently (mostly clothes for myself and baby stuff because so many ppl I know right now are pregnant) so those things are perfect for giving as gifts.
Relate to this video a lot, i do photography and produce as a hobby, with producing i mainly did it for my self enjoyment but i’ve gained a decent following which put pressure on me and now i have artists asking to buy my beats, i kind of stopped producing now because every-time i try to make a beat i’m not making it for myself which took the enjoyment out of it.
Yeah and that burnout can happen so quickly. It can be difficult to balance that opportunity for growth at the expense of your own creativity and fun.
Sorry - another comment. 'Hobby'. The word makes me bristle. Why? Because 'hobby' typically carries with it the implied sense that whatever it is is done in a less than perfectly serious manner - that it is somehow not invested with the importance of other uses of time, and that it is probably not done to the standard of a Professional (someone who is paid). The Cambridge Dictionary defines 'hobby' as 'an activity that someone does for pleasure when they are not working'. It's a problematic term. Any activity that is performed when one is not working MAY be pleasurable, and may also be done with utmost seriousness and to the highest of standards - just as work may be a vocation, not merely a 'job'. Personally, i do photography because i think that photography matters. Certainly i take pictures for fun and for aesthetic reasons - flowers, patterns, pretty-pretty, amusing - but i also take other pictures because of their usefulness in supporting certain causes - they have a social or political value and utility that is important both to me and beyond me. In none of that is remuneration relevant / desired / necessary - but it's all far from being a 'hobby' (and is definitely not Art, which i leave for those prepared to put the peculiar effort in). So, in sum, i'd say that there's nothing wrong with photography as a 'hobby', and photography as employment can be a worthwhile thing, but there's not a simple binary at play - either job or hobby, if only because Life is far more complex and nuanced than those categories admit. Cheers.
I agree with that. I used the words hobby and art to cover the variety of photographers out there. There are certainly hobbyists who are doing it just for the joy with no intention of making art or anything challenging and then there are folks who do work such as yourself that I would classify as artists! But my terminology may just not be precise enough in the end. Overall, I just meant to catch the wide spectrum of photographers!
@@ColtonMatocha Yep... it was not a criticism, at all, of either your usage or your message. Thing is - there are so many Ways of Photography. It's far more complicated than a lot of people seem to think - that is, either it's something you're paid for (a job) or it's not - End of Story. Me - i can assure you of three things: i do not do photography as 1. a hobby, 2. to make money, and 3. as Art. Maybe what i am arguing for is an understanding amongst those that shoot that those categories may not capture their practices, motivations and desires, and that instead of accepting those 'options' that serve to define (and perhaps delimit) their present and future as people who take photographs, they might benefit from evaluating what it is they do subject to other terms - their own rather than the ready-made categories. I guess, in all of that, is the attraction of your lolly shots - i get it, but i don't - i mean, you do WHAT?? And that's exactly what makes them interesting - Your Terms. Hope some of that makes sense. Looking forward to brown-on -brown with a chewy fudge centre. Cheers.
@@luzr6613 No worries! I think you make a great callout! I think the terms I use over simplify the dynamics and maybe that's a benefit to the message, maybe not. Either way, I always appreciate other perspectives, yours included. Am I crazy??? hahahaha. Have you been pressured to make money doing photography before? If so have you ended up taking on any of those gigs?
@@ColtonMatocha It's a complicated thing, but the outcome of it is that i'm really averse to money. I try to avoid having anything to do with it as much as possible. I'm not 'rich', and have never had a desire to be, and i've always been fortunate enough for money to not feature highly as a motivator in my life. I like to do things for people and for reasons of principle - a trait i seem to have, perversely, inherited from my parents and their lineage. So with photography, if someone asks me for photos, or if i'm shooting in an Industrial facility, i give anything worthwhile to them or to the Company. TBH, for the last 42 years i shouldn't even have been alive, so it ain't no big thing!
Great video dude. Not preachy or pushy. Just clear ideas and a new perspective 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽
I appreciate you saying that! Glad you liked the video! 😁
This video was spot on! I think what's become truly more important to me especially over the past year has been having good "work vs creative project" balance, rather than trying to turn my creative project into work. Also have been kind of terrified at the prospect of needing to change my creative videos just to appease an algorithm instead of doing them for creation's sake. It sounds kinda soul crushing.
Yes balance is absolutely key! You have to find that right mix. And I couldn't agree more about the distaste for changing your videos just to appeal to an algorithm. I realized early on that I was just making videos as a creative outlet and that I didn't want to go chasing views at the cost of the fun of it!
Well said! Somehow I was recommended this video and I'm glad I was. Oddly enough I'm not a photographer but a video game developer, but your message resonated with me nonetheless.
I'm glad you got something out of the video! I think it's a message that can apply to so many people and many different situations!
Giving you a 'Like' right from the start (haven't watched the vid yet) on the strength of your new hair-do. Congrats to your stylist - back to the vid. Ok... i started photography (well, for the second time) because i woke up one day and thought 'Money?... yeah, Photography - that's a great way to spend money!' Actually, that's not true (although it is a 'great way...' etc). There's a contemporary fetishization of attempting to 'monetize' all and everything in 'our' lives and i can't work out whether it's because 'everyone' is on the bones of their arses, desperately insecure, or just completely devoid of imagination. It's a phenomena that represents the worst and most banal of motivations, and if anything is likely to corrupt authenticity, stifle creativity and debase relationships it's the imperative of turning everything into a buck. There's also the reductionist conflation of 'monetary value' (market price) with Quality, or any other way of experiencing the value or worth of a thing or practice. Even the idea of the 'Professional' has changed over time, from referencing someone who demonstrates mastery over a process and outcome to being just someone who gets paid for doing it, no matter how shit or tedious their performance. STOP IT! Anyway... that's enough ranting at 0400hrs. Nice vid, Colton, i couldn't agree with you more - and i appreciate you giving me permission.👍
Thank you on the hair style, but that just happened to be a day I was too lazy to "do" my hair hahaha!
You are right about photography being a great way to spend money. So much of RUclips is dedicated to hyping new camera gear when the reality is that your old gear was totally fine and didn't need to be replaced. But most of us fall for it, myself included.
I also agree further that placing such emphasis on making money stifles creativity and also drives people toward making the same stuff everyone else is making. A lot of the time that ends up being free advertising that pretends to be art or creative imagery.
@@ColtonMatocha I totally agree about how there's the jumping on the trend thing and then everything starts to converge. Thing is, that's quite a normal process, and especially in Institutions, but it's a shame when it colonizes something with so much possibility - creative, documentary, educative, decorative etc.
Thanks Colton!
Absolutely! Thanks for watching!
Thank you for this. I didn't need your permission, but I appreciate it!
I think part of it might be from this idea that value always has to equal money. Or perhaps that life can become so expensive, to spend your time doing something that could earn money but it isn't, its less valuable or even wasteful. Or it comes from The Dark Knight when the Joker says "if you're good at something, never do it for free." but... he was a madman - we shouldn't take our advice from him. 😆
That's a great point as well. As the cost of living goes up, so to does the pressure to make more money anyway you can. And I really like that statement about the Joker! Definitely gave me a laugh this morning!
My wife studied fashion design in grad school. Some of her classes were taken with undergraduate students, and some picked fashion design because they liked shopping.
Lol! I had such a hard time picking my degree. Took me forever
I just started considering photography as a job, seeking for opportunities, clients, "improving my marketing" as I was told by youtubers and people around... And it became so soul-sucking already, that now I hate to just look at my camera... It became obligation from inside. My photos definitely got worse in quality, quantity, they have less personality. Ideas and feelings are the most important part of what I like to do, and money race won't help me with that.
Damn that's a bummer to hear. I had a similar experience when I was working the Photography trade. Have you considered ending the job aspect and just doing photography for your own passion?
@@ColtonMatocha that's what I want to do. I just feel that it isn't right. I like architecture, abstract stuff, geometry, colors and geometrical harmony... I am not comfortable with people 😂 Who will pay for that? Way less people than I thought. But that's what I love. Although it is possible to integrate my preferences to various projects, it shouldn't be done by forcing myself to make money. I am growing as a person and photographer in both ways, but I still want my freedom to be myself. Money have principle of "client is always right", and for me that's not about true, honest art...
@@danoncho I couldn't agree more! Sounds like you're having to compromise too much. Sometimes it's worth it to put the money aside and focus on what makes you happy. Easier to do if the money already isn't right.
I am actually planning to create beautiful geometrical art photography, that can be sold for usage in modern interiors. I would love to do that, to see my big photos inspiring someone at their home. But, locally we don't really have a trend for that. So I'm just growing in what I love for now, and will maybe catch some opportunities later.
Well said
Thank you!
I love the ambience of a locked down psychiatric ward, without having to go there. Thanks Colten. Sorry, i called you Cotton...truly, are you the one who dropped the dime?
man i love this
Thanks dude! Glad you appreciated it!
Funny enough I got into photography with the mindset of making money but I think I was just making an excuse to legitimise the high costs of the gear I wanted. 🙄
Yeah camera equipment is no joke when it comes to cost and I've certainly done the same thing in the past. I'll make money to offset the high price tag. Which similar to you, I did, but it came with the cost of hardly using the gear for any creative work.
Pressure to make money? Pfft, my family tells me I'll never make a dime off of it. We are all on the same page 😂
Hahahahaha 🤣
The title of the video really made me scratch my head because it makes no sense.
The english definition of hobby is: "an activity that you do for pleasure when you are not working".
The moment you monetize it, it is not longer a hobby and becomes work.
Yeah that's my point! You're doing it as a hobby but then you get pressured into making money with the skill you've gained and so it becomes work and you no longer do it as a hobby. With that often times you lose what you enjoyed in the first place and you end up with just another job.
Indeed. And this should be the reply to anyone who asks why someone doesn't make money with what they love doing.
Once money is involved, pleasure slowly slips away.
@@NickoTyn I couldn't agree more!