Stress: A general discussion

[mishele]

I find wedding photography to be quite relaxing.

Of course if I told you what I did in real life...

What are you in the CIA?!

 

[Hooligan Dan]

As a photojournalist I can say photography can be very stressful. Long, unpredictable hours, low pay compared to other pro photog careers, regular dealing with people who don't want you taking photos of them. Trying to meet deadline and then spot news happens .Regularly seeing people in some of the worst situations possible. And working in a dying industry(print newspapers). Very stressful.

That being said, I wouldn't trade it for anything. On my worst days I love my job more than a lot of people on their best days.

And I find wedding/portrait photography to be way more stressful.

 

[TwoTwoLeft]

Any occupation that is your main source of income is likely to cause stress.... Hell, I'm sure even a yoga instructor's job is stressful at times. Client cancellations, low enrollment, rent increases, yoga mat prices skyrocketing.... Same crap, different pile.

I got back into photography because I needed something to get me away from my job & relax....

 

[imagemaker46]

It is true that any job can be stressful, especially when other people are counting on you to produce. In photography it also depends on what you're doing, if you shoot landscapes and just sit on a hill waiting for the light it would be far less stressful than doing a shoot outdoors and losing the light. Freelancers that have no other source of income, that have no pension at the end of the road, that watch prices of eveything go up on new gear all the time, that have a family to look after, will find it far more stressful than a photographer at a newspaper, that can look forward to a buy up if there are cutbacks, or a pension at the end.

Everyone deals with stress at some point through their lives and learning how to manage it is so important. I know way too many people that struggle with it all the time, I can throw myself into that group as well, but for the most part I have learned to deal with it.

 

[Hooligan Dan]

Freelancers that have no other source of income, that have no pension at the end of the road, that watch prices of eveything go up on new gear all the time, that have a family to look after, will find it far more stressful than a photographer at a newspaper, that can look forward to a buy up if there are cutbacks, or a pension at the end.

I think that's a bit of a generalization. If gear prices go up for a freelancer they go up for us photojournalists too. And we have to provide for our families just the same. Pensions? We're not a union. We have to pay into our own retirements.

All jobs, photo or otherwise are stressful. It's a matter of how well you can deal with that stress.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

It is true that any job can be stressful, especially when other people are counting on you to produce. In photography it also depends on what you're doing, if you shoot landscapes and just sit on a hill waiting for the light it would be far less stressful than doing a shoot outdoors and losing the light. Freelancers that have no other source of income, that have no pension at the end of the road, that watch prices of eveything go up on new gear all the time, that have a family to look after, will find it far more stressful than a photographer at a newspaper, that can look forward to a buy up if there are cutbacks, or a pension at the end.

Mmmm...I don't know if you are really trying to promote the idea that being a photographer is stressful. What I get out of your posts is the underlying truth that is applicable to anyone running their own business regardless of what it is.

Pension...Setting money aside is the individuals responsibility and nobody should rely on anyone else to do it for them. The days of pensions are dwindling for everyone.

Prices of materials/gear...When I started my shop less than 2 (2 years this september) years ago, 14K gold was at $38/DWT (DWT is a pennyweight), it is now at $51/DWT. Two decades ago, gold was at $400 an OUNCE.

Family to look after...Many people have this responsibility. Even those working at MickyD's.


Back to photography, I can't imagine how hard it would be for a Landscape photographer, to make a living off of it. You have travel costs, to get you to the cool places not everyone goes, and the time spent waiting for "THE SHOT" that will sell. While it may not be stressful in a conventional sense, the stress comes later hoping your work sells, and you can feed your family, and afford the next trip.

While I do appreciate most of the discussions you bring here, you tend to look at this with blinders. Having your sole income coming from something you do, from your own business, and the running of that business is stressful. You need to look deeper into the matter. Right now my stress is the amount of work I have to do, and all the conflicting deadlines I have, and not enough time to do it, and being very, very tired and unmotivated. I am also juggling my expenses, and trying to expand and grow. I am taking some big risks, and putting out a lot of $$$, hoping I get the return I desire. Hoping gold doesn't continue it rapid climb. Hoping the ever higher price of gold doesn't slow down peoples desire for a purely luxury item that has no other intrinsic value, apart from the raw materials other than it looks pretty. April was my best month EVER, beating xMas. The work is still pouring in. I work over 90 hours a week. My customers are starting to become a little iritated that I am not meeting deadlines. I risk losing that work. I am not making enough, with my current overhead (accountant tax fvckup, loan, legal fees,growth plan) to afford hiring a QUALIFIED employee and pay their wages, taxes, workmans comp, and healthcare, which would help alleviate my time stress, and possibly allow me to bring in even more work. Don't get me wrong, I am doing well, but not where I want to be. This is all very stressful. I am managing well over all, but on a beautiful Saturday like today, I REALLY don't want to be here.

So, please continue talking about how stressful it is being a photographer, and implying it is more stressfull than many other career choices.

 

[imagemaker46]

Bitter I never implied that it is the most stressful career out there. As this is a photographic forum I have relayed that from my side of business that photography is stressful, especially as a freelancer. I could make a list of jobs that I feel are far more stressful. Anyone that is running their own business and is dealing with any kind of deadlines, customers, rising costs, etc is obviously dealing with a great deal of stress. Having too much work and not having the time to complete it on time is stressful, but is it more stressful than not having enough work and constantly dealing with banks credit payments all looking for money? This doesn't happen all the time, but there are slow months, get behind one month, and it takes two months to catch up. When you run your own business it's hard to turn anyone away, but having to constantly juggle deadlines to keep everyone happy is something that small business owners have to deal with. It's one of those, if I don't accept the work then I risk losing the client, but if I accept the work and can't meet the deadline then I risk losing the client, some days you just can't win. I hate turning away any jobs these days and just try my best to work around schedules, it just doesn't always workout.

Having to buy gear when the life of camera bodies is less than 3 years, (depending on how many frames have gone through it) is an issue as it gets closer to that camera lifespan, you start to worry when will something go wrong, and if it does will it be during this shoot or the next, that adds stress. Newspapers, wire services generally buy all the gear for the photographers they have on staff.

Hooligan Dan I work as a photojournalist, I always have, when I use the word freelancer it is a general definition of what I do.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Ok, I am not sure I get the point of this thread.

Are you asking how people deal with stress? I mean I can relate just about anything you want to bring up that is stressful about photography, to my business.
Your camera fails? My laser welder fails. It nearly halts work while I wait for parts, and have to fix it myself. It's also too expensive to have a back up.

So, again, I am just not sure what this discussion is about.

Is photography a full time stressful occupation?

Sure! So is just about every other occupation you make your living from.

/end?

 

[Overread]

I'm not quite sure where this thread is going save to being some kind of e-dick comparison based on how stressed out you can all make yourselves in your chosen/unchosen jobs/professions. There is a level of stress on most peoples lives from those with work to those without (and I speak not just of those who need a job and don't have one, but also those who don't actually need employment). Trying to compare the various stress levels is probably going to be a futile effort since its so reliant on specific individuals, specific situations etc....

Now lets all go de-stress and do some photography

How about being the person responsible for 110 kids.....lol Aging from 6 wks old to 12 yrs!!! Dealing w/ parents is not the easiest of jobs....lol

Pfft easy - now if you are taking care of 110 artists - now there is pure stress right there

 

[imagemaker46]

Yes you're all quite correct, this thread has no valid point to it other than saying everyone gets stressed, regardless of what profession you're in. I should have just lead it off by saying people under-estimate how stressful photography can be. It is pointless as the amateurs use photography as a source to help avoid stress, while my working with metal as a hobby is my way of dealing with stress. I guess when you hear "you have an easy job" enough times you do have to point out to the uneducated that there is more to it.

 

[Garbz]

Stress is in my opinion not field related but person related. I can quite confidently say I rarely if ever get stressed. Still at work at 7pm, need to be in the city at 7:10pm for dinner with friends? This can cause some people to go mental. In my case it's a simple SMS saying sorry won't make it today. No stress.

People react to different situations differently.

 

[TwoTwoLeft]

If you're good at what you do, the job, itself, shouldn't be stressful.

 

[imagemaker46]

Doesn't matter how good a person is at the job they do, there will be stress. There are jobs that will produce much less stress, but being good doesn't stop stress.

Garbz, you put in a long day that doesn't produce any stress, what do you do?

Yes stress is definately handled differently by everyone, some can't do simple tasks without finding it stressfull. There are alot of people in simple government jobs that are on "stress leave" in Canada it's something like 20%, personally I think alot of these cases it's a bogus way of getting paid for sitting at home.

 

[TwoTwoLeft]

If the fundamental tasks required to do your job are stressing you out then you are not fit to perform that job. This doesn't mean one cant get better, but at that point in time, you suck at it...

Are we talking about the GOOD or BAD kind of stress? There is a difference. One increases performance, the other hinders it. That is where this discussion should start.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

:roll: