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Stephen Walton
You’ve obviously chosen to click this guide because you need help, and that is the first step to discovering any problem. Welcome to my guide on how to make time for photography.
This is a class for busy people who have got other priorities before their beloved photographic passion.
But what if there was a way that you could change or plan your daily routine to allow for a little more space to do some serious snapping? It would really add a highlight to your week knowing you’re going to get some play time!
I’ve put together 8 ways to make more time for photography.
If you don’t use one already, get one. Honestly writing down all your appointments and commitments in a diary (or on an app) will help you visualise your week ahead. By filling in all the busy parts, you’ll start to see where the gaps are.
When faced with other duties, chores or things on your to-do, you have to start saying to yourself ‘is it essential?’. Like is the world going to explode if you don’t de-weed the driveway? Are the dishes going to decompose if you wash them tonight instead? Or will your clothes become forever crumpled if you don’t iron them immediately?
When thinking about how to make time for photography you have to be blunt honest; can you push back those jobs to another day and make a little space for something you are going to enjoy, and you want to do. Let’s face it, who really likes washing the dishes?
If you’ve gotten yourself in to rut where your camera has sat on the self-gathering dust, then it’s hard to re-establish that loving connection.
You have to ignore the old grandad in you thinking ‘well it’s not a productive use of time’ and instead listen to your heart. I remember reading a quote once that fits this situation…
Be remembered for something worthwhile, leave something for the next generation to remember you buy. A tidy house doesn’t last long, but a photograph can last forever.
Getting off your bottom and taking some pictures may seem as arduous as a marathon when you haven’t done it for a while, so you’ll naturally find a million reasons not to find time for photography.
While we expect you may have other hobbies you want to indulge in, remember the reason you clicked on this guide in the first place – you want to know how to find time for photography.
Therefore, here’s my second relevant quote;
– John Lennon
It’s sods law that you’ll always see a great photo opportunity and never have your camera with you. That’s just the universe laughing at us for our amateur mistakes. Instead, bring some karma to the galaxy and carry your camera everywhere you go.
Slide it in your handbag or backpack, even better if it’s a compact pocket sized one, now there’s no excuse for missing that shot. In your quest to find how to make time for photography then you’ll discover it can be sneakily blended into the routine you already have.
If you get a lunch hour at work then take a walk around, burrito in one hand, camera in other. We like to call it the ‘snack & snap’ – god that’s terrible. Fingers crossed I’ll remember to delete that before this gets published.
Don’t shoot in RAW. Don’t spend time editing. Don’t put extra pressure on your time.
Whack your camera into fine JPEG format and start shooting. Shooting in JPEG will help you save time numerous ways:
• You can upload your pictures faster to your computer.
• You can apply colour and effects filters in-camera directly onto the JPEG file.
• You can share JPEGs online easier than RAW files.
• Some cameras allow direct upload to social media from the camera but only in JPEG formats.
If your time is short, then don’t shoot for the highest quality image especially if you’ve no opportunity or interest in editing it. Just shoot it and share it. It’s a step ahead of where you are already.
Without a reason, what do we do anything for? WOW, big question to ask, but what we mean is that you should set yourself a target to reach. This will make you feel more accomplished when you reach your aims and you’ll see how easy it is to repeat.
Target different things like:
• How many pictures do you take in a month.
• Submit 3 pictures to a competition every month.
• Add 1 picture to your favourite’s portfolio every month.
• Fill up a 4GB memory card every week.
• Visit a new location every week with your camera.
Finally, to further our previous point, you need to hold yourself accountable to your goals. Whether you hit them or not you need to see how you go there. Plotting your success in the form of a chart or spreadsheet takes minutes to do and update as you go along.
You can look back over the course of a year and see the months you were more successful and review what happened in times that slowed you down. Think of it like sales meeting and figure out how to improve those tough months.
Do you feel more alive, energised and ready to smash the world?! Let us know what you thought.
How to make time for photography isn’t as hard as you may have thought, and fingers crossed these points proved that. The only hurdle to challenge is yourself and at least that’s in your control.
If I’ve made a dent in your procrastination and helped you find some time to photograph then shoot those pictures up to the gallery, show off your talents.
If you’ve got any other questions or hurdles you need answers to then just sling us a line and we’ll see if we can solve the problem.
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