A Day In My Life as an Independent Photographer
Today, I’m going to share with you a day in my life as an independent photographer.
What is an independent photographer?
Someone who takes photos independently…
Meaning I create what I want to create and make a living off that - or at least try to.
Now I’m not fully where I’m aiming to be yet, but I am working towards building this thing to be more and more self sufficient to make a living off the stuff I make.
And much of what I do is make content, write, and sell prints and books.
For a period of time I freelanced, doing work such as video editing, photoshoots, and some wedding photography.
All of which taught me a lot but I quickly realized wasn’t for me.
So I switched things up.
Now I spend my days sharing and talking about photography, creativity, productivity, philosophy, and all that stuff.
And here’s how I do it.
Part One. Work.
My current days are split into 3 components, the first being work.
Now this might seem strange to some of you but I work every day.
I don’t have weekends and I usually don’t have any days off.
My reason for this is simple.
Working every day allows me to make more progress over the course of the year.
If we have 52 weeks in a year, that’s 104 days of work that could be helping me get to where I want to go.
And I actually don’t mind doing the thing I want to do every day.
It’s not fun all the time, but it is fun.
So this is what I found works for me because work never truly ends if you’re a creator today.
But this isn’t to say I work all day every day.
After experiencing burnout and other things I found it more healthy, productive, and sustainable to not only work every day, but also rest every day.
Meaning I limit my work hours.
Typically I’ll work from when I wake up (8-10am) until around 1-2 pm.
And I start every day off by writing.
This is the most important task of my day.
It’s what stimulates the creative cycle for me, gets things going, and is the foundation for all my creativity from blog/newsletter posts and YouTube videos, to even bigger projects like books or courses.
So although this channel is mainly about photography, writing is actually the bulk of what I do.
Its idea generation, idea development, and allows me to sort through all the experiences and lessons in my head.
Sometimes its fun, sometimes its miserable, but it is essential.
And I do this first thing every morning before anything, even coffee.
My reason for this is because of a term called “eating the frog” as popularized by Mark Twain.
Meaning, if the first thing you do every morning is the thing you hate or are avoiding, but you get it out of the way, the rest of your day in gets better comparison.
So every morning I write.
After writing, I’ll usually work on the next most important thing.
This could be editing photos, editing YouTube videos, editing short form, writing tweets, etc.
If I’m working on a larger project like a photobook or some other product I’ll do that during this time as well.
And generally I’ll work in pomodoro sets of 30 minutes, with 5 minute breaks to sit and do nothing.
This is key if you’re trying to be productive and focus better.
During this time you are NOT allowed to use your phone, scroll other tabs, etc.
The only think you can do is either do the work or sit there and let your mind wander - bored.
Trust me, this is such a powerful hack.
This is based on Seinfeld’s principle for writing, and I use it all the time.
If you try this out, you’ll notice your mind fighting between doing the work and wanting to do something else.
It’ll try and negotiate and say things like:
“If we get some coffee we’ll be able to focus better.”
Or “If we’re not gonna do anything anyways, we might as well do something fun and enjoy ourselves.”
Ignore it and sit there.
If you’re committed to this, eventually your mind will give and you’ll get back to work.
And the moment you do, your mind will focus much better.
Because it would rather do the work than be bored.
So that’s a hack for you if you’re having trouble focusing.
This deep focused work period usually takes me until 1-2pm.
By this time my brain is tired and I typically get diminishing returns for my time.
Meaning if I try to work longer, I’ll be less productive and get less done.
So I try to finish my stuff, but if it’s not finished I’ll save it for the next day.
And then I move on to fulfilling any print or book orders.
Lately I’ve been giving out a lot of 4x6 prints.
These I usually pick at random based on what I feel like printing and send them off with a small paper frame.
If you’re interested in getting one, you can find them on my website - they’re free (not including shipping).
This is also the time when I’ll ship out larger prints or books.
My latest photography zine “The Sinking Sun” has a hardcover and softcover version - both limited.
And these come with 11x14 prints as well as a bunch of extras.
So I’ll write notes, sign the books, make the prints, and ship them off.
And unless there’s a ton of orders this is usually a fun time of day for me.
Because it’s mindless so I don’t have to think too much.
Lets move onto the second part of my day.
Part Two. Activity.
By this time I’m usually tired, my brain is dead, and I’m hungry.
So I’ll eat something and then begin the next part of my day, which is typically more active.
I usually take an afternoon walk after eating - this is in my opinion the biggest hack for creatives.
Walks allow you to distance yourself from the work and your problems.
They allow you to get your body moving, which is healthy, and allow your mind to float and figure stuff out subconsciously.
And it’s often my best ideas and most creative solutions come from when I’m on walks.
So I’d recommend integrating walks into your everyday life if you’re a creative person.
It’s an easy way to be creative without really doing work.
After this, I’ll usually hit my routine workout, which typically consists of a pull up or push up routine.
Currently I’m also integrating a lot of ATG (ass to grass) squats and core exercises.
I’ve been trying to strengthen a lot of my deeper core muscles which means planks, leg lifts, and other stuff.
After this, it’s shower and eat.
Which brings us into golden hour.
Golden Hour is the most important time of day for photographers because that’s when the lighting is the best.
And if I’m going out to take photos, I’ll do it during this time.
This could mean capturing epic sunsets or walking around taking street photos.
Usually it depends on what bigger photography project I’m working on, what camera or lens I’m testing, or where I feel like walking.
Now, this is important.
Photography is what I do but I try to keep this time as pressure free as possible.
Because although good photos leads to good content, good prints, and good books, I’ve found that trying to create “good work” can easily lead to bad work.
It’s stressful, there’s pressure, and you get too in your head about stuff.
So I’ve trained myself to just walk around, take photos, not care, and just enjoy the moment.
I listen to music, explore places I want to explore, and try not to think too much.
And good photos come on their own.
So this is how I keep photography fun despite it being such an integral part of what I do and make.
Part Three. Learning and Unwinding.
The last and final component of my day is a weird combination of learning and resting.
Because I’m doing work everyday, there has to be a time of day where I unwind from that.
I’ve learned over the years that I’m not a machine, and although I could work on miscellaneous tasks all day every day, it’ll often be unsustainable.
So now I take great care in resting, because that’s what allow me to be effective the next day.
“Resting” might mean lying there watching YouTube videos or going out and hanging with friends.
It’s also a weird mix of learning as well.
Because during this time I’ll usually read, watch podcasts, and journal.
And those are all productive things that contribute to my work, but don’t feel very productive.
Journaling and reading especially is just healing for the mind.
I’m not thinking too hard about stuff, but I am stimulating my mind in a different way.
In terms of what I read, I’ve been doing a lot of non fiction over the past few years and am now getting into fiction again.
Currently I just finished the third Dune book and am working on the fourth.
I’ve been following that rabbithole after the hype from the recent movie, so yeah.
But other times I’ll usually read non-fiction books relating to improving my life, and I try to follow what interests me.
Sometimes its philosophy, sometimes productivity, and occasionally I’ll flip through a photobook.
When reading or listening to podcasts, I’ll take notes of anything I find remotely interesting or useful.
This is another productive unproductive thing I do because it leads to good ideas and more content later.
So I know this is supposed to be a “rest” part of my day, and a lot of this might seem like work to you.
But I don’t see it as work, it’s just stuff that’s fun and interesting to me.
They do help my work though, so that’s a neat upside.
Finally, I’ll finish my day with journaling.
Over the years I’ve experimented with many different ways of journaling.
Sometimes I’ll write my thoughts, other times I’ll plan out the next month.
And lately I’ve just been rating my day as well as tracking what I eat.
This is what I’d call my health and happiness journal.
I’ve been trying to pay close attention to what I do when I have a great day.
That way, I can get more data on what makes me happy and what makes me less happy.
If I’ve noticed I had a lot of anxiety or worry throughout the day, I’ll take note of that and try to switch things up the next time I find myself struggling.
I’ve also been tracking what I eat because I’m trying to improve my gut health.
And I’ll finish the day off with thinking about what I’m going to do tomorrow.
They often say, “The morning after begins the night before.”
I’ve found that to help.
So that pretty much wraps up my daily routine.
It’s composed of three things: work, movement/activity, and learning/unwinding.
It’s a structure I developed for myself that works for me and is composed of what I’d consider my “ideal day”.
Some final tips if you’re looking to structure your day better - ask yourself:
“What would my ideal day consist of?”
And then list out all the things you’d want to do every day, including the responsibilities.
Design your day how you’d like it and slowly make changes to your daily life - if it’s possible of course.
Another good question to ask is:
“If I could live one day in a row for the next 5 years and be perfectly happy with it, what would it be?”
And of course you can leave flexibility and variety for different activities as you see fit.
But that’s a good way to hone down on the things you actually enjoy doing.
And doing this has granted me a ton of happiness points overall.
So that’s my daily life as an independent photographer.
I hope this was interesting, I hope you found it helpful.
If you did, please do share this with a friend.
Also check out my latest photobook “The Sinking Sun” and grab a free 4x6 print if you haven’t yet.
Thanks for reading, have a great day!
