The Dark Side of Photography

I love photography. I really do. I love everything about the craft. I love reading about photographers, and their work. I love sorting out the days shots. I love writing about the photos I make. I really get excited and love making a sale. I love the preparation that it takes to have a great day shooting images. I love sitting at the computer and key wording those shots. There really isn't anything that I don’t enjoy about the photography craft and business.
My love of the photography business started some forty years ago. Things were much different in the pre-digital days. The thrill of receiving a stack of boxes with slides in them for me to edit, and label was always one of the most enjoyable parts of my day. Nothing could beat the excitement of going to the lab and getting the first sight of a well printed 16x20 print. I could go on about film and digital and their differences, but that’s only a very small change that the digital word has created. The real change, the one that has made the biggest difference is the speed in which the world can now communicate.
The United States post office has been and still does a very good job of getting documents and products to my clients. Sometimes I just have to have an actual physical product to the client for their approval, but today, most of my work can be done through the internet. The speed in which I can receive feedback or even a payment is now minutes instead of days. This speed has provided a new thrill, and creates great excitement. My love of photography has now been given a new drug, a very addictive one, and I thoroughly enjoy it.
There is a dark side of photography that nobody seems to want to discuss. This dark side of photography can push your love of the craft to its’ very limits. There is a negative side of photography that can stop a photographer dead in their tracks, and destroy any hopes of being creative.