If it is easy, nobody will pay you to do it

It boils down to this: People don’t want to pay you for something they could do themselves.

I’ve had so many chats with photographers over the last week, in the classroom and in industry, about why are things so damn hard, complex or tiring?

Yes, lugging a bunch of extra lighting gear around can be hard.
Yes, Photoshop is complicated to learn and hard to use.
Yes, that camera technique takes more than a minute to get good at.

And that’s a good thing because …

“That’s why people pay you to do it.”

Your skills, your patience, your persistence to learn frequency separation or back-button focus – all of the sweat, strain and hours of practice – that’s why people hire you, because you can do something they can’t.

It’s why I pay my hairdresser or my mechanic. They can do stuff I can’t do at home.

People pay photographers that are willing to sweat for them.

Look at the legends. @chasejarvis. @joemcnallyphoto. @zarias. It’s not just talent. They’re better than most because they outwork most.

Photography is great like that. It’s a muscle, not a gift. Flex it often, and you’ll be rewarded. (at Albury, New South Wales, Australia)