INTRODUCTION
Starting a business from something that you love is very difficult.
It is difficult to take a hobby, a passion that you absolutely love doing, and try to make money with it in order to live a more fulfilled life. Not everyone wants to work for someone else for 50+ years, but it can be scary going out on your own to slowly learn what it means to be your own boss. But what are hobbies? Why would people want to turn their pastime into a job?
Hobbies can be a way to escape from everyday life stress. Some people love fitness and use that to find hobbies that help them destress. Others prefer the arts like painting or pottery. Being creative gives them an outlet that most jobs aren't able to. Each person is different and unique in their interests and what helps them recharge after work. Most hobbies are used just as they are, to relieve stress and help people recharge from their day job. Others enjoy their hobbies so much that they want to share them with others.
Most hobbies can be turned into paying jobs. Yoga instructors, dance teachers, painters, photographers, fashion designers, chefs, bakers, the list is endless. Almost every job on the planet could be considered a hobby. But some hobbies turned to day jobs are looked down upon. How many times have you heard someone talk down on artists? On mechanics? On teachers? But these services are needed in one way or another.
While I have used a variety of examples, most of what I will talk about will be about artists, because I am one. My name is Angela Michelle and I am a Photographer.
As a child, my mother always had a 35mm film camera for occasions like birthdays, holidays, family trips, or sometimes just to capture us being children. I remember almost always hating when my mother would pull out her camera and make us pose for photos, but I am forever grateful that she did. I have photos of family that aren't here anymore, memories that I forget about until I look at those photos. I get to see who I was through my mothers eyes when I look at those photos. I will always be grateful that my mother took photos of all of us kids when we were young because I appreciate it so much more now that I am older and have lost important people. Photos end up being the last memories of the people in our lives be it family, friends, people we barely remember. These things are so important and yet people tend to look down on not just photographers but most artists.
I did not start to explore photography until my senior year of high school when I was gifted a digital camera. I walked outside a lot and took so many photos of nature. It was relaxing and helped me respect and love the little things in life. I always took a point-and-shoot type of camera on marching band trips to record my trip with my friends in places I had never been before and I am able to remember those trips more now because I have those photos. I never thought I would get my degree in photography until I was in my second year at Hinds CC in Raymond, Ms. At first, I was going to get my degree in Graphic Design, but that changed when I won an award for a photo I took in our student show. That one show changed everything for me.
I will always appreciate my photo teacher, Randy Minton, as well as my ceramics teacher, Sarah Teasley, for allowing me to be creative but also giving me real feedback on what I was doing. I wouldn't be the artist that I am today without the foundation that they laid for me while I was in school.
I graduated from Delta State University in May 2020 with my Fine Arts degree in Photography and I couldn't be more proud of myself and what I have done to be where I am. I am grateful to the many instructors that helped me on my journey. Many questioned the art that I made because they didn't understand my reasons because I wasn't sure of them either. My second photography professor kept telling me to zoom out more, to get more of the overall subject in the photo. When I would say “no I like what I have,” and they would ask “Why?” I didn't have words yet to explain my reasons but now I do.
If you look at my landscapes, they are small areas of larger plants and forests. I love looking at the small details more than the overall subject. Most people don't take the time to walk slowly through the forests and natural trails around them to take in the small details of what makes nature so beautiful. I did not start to understand that for myself until I had been out of school for over a year and locked inside because of the covid pandemic.
I was taught what other artists had to say about their work, but I wasn't taught how to come up with that for my own work, I wasn't taught how to talk to myself about what my meaning was. I had to figure that out for myself outside of school and it wasn't always easy. I hope by sharing my experiences, my mistakes, and what I have learned that I can help other photographers and artists figure it out sooner than I did and set them up to succeed sooner and better than I have.
My goal has always been to inspire and help others with my art. Our world is slowly dying, everyone knows this. We have had many talented artists show the beauty that exists in the world in “exotic” places that others could only dream of visiting. I was to inspire people to find the beauty in the “mundane” nature in their everyday life. Just because your backyard isn't like Bali, or the Amazon Rainforest, or any other places you've seen in photos does not mean that it is not beautiful. The small weeds, frogs, butterflies, wildflowers, and trees in your backyard can be just as beautiful to someone in another country as theirs is to you. Everything can be beautiful and different to someone that doesn’t see it every day. This is the goal of my landscapes, to show people that everywhere can be beautiful to someone if you just take the time to look a little closer.
My portraits are different. So many photographers do the same portraits, golden hour light right behind the subject, warm light, white clothes, etc. But that is not my style. I love everything else. The goths, cosplayers, fantasy, ren fair, Society for Creative Anachronism, themed shoots. These are the kinds of shoots that I have been focusing on more recently and not many photographers in my state do these kinds of shoots even though we have a large population of people that love these kind of shoots. We have many cosplay events, the Renaissance Festival on the coast, the SCA has many events in this area and not many people even know about these events. It ends up that most of the people in these communities are only able to get photos of themselves at these events on their phone, because many photographers aren’t interested in these events. I am and I believe that everyone deserves to have photos that make them happy, that bring up good memories, and that make them feel good about themselves. I do not want anyone to ever walk away from a shoot feeling like they are weird, that they don't look good in their photos because of what they are interested in simply because another photographer has shot them down. I want to help nurture these communities and let them know they are also beautiful and normal even if their shoot isn't what most people are posting.
Starting a journey to make money from something you love (like photography) can be stressful and scary. Now that we have the internet, you can find all kinds of articles and lists of how to go about making your hobby a business but it can be extremely overwhelming. Many of these articles say the same things,
-what equipment or materials that you need
- the basic idea of steps to take
- networking
- making a LLC
-get an accountant
But many of these articles dont go into detail of where to start looking for these things, I have taken 3 years to pick a permanent name for my business, to make a LLC, to try networking with other photographers and models in my area, to really research how to go about different things in Mississippi and how to do it the right way without getting scammed. It has been scary and stressful and confusing. I wish they had covered this in school so I would at least have a little bit of an idea of what exactly I was getting into.
This is why I decided to add a blog to my website, so I can share what I have learned so far and what I continue to learn on my journey to become my business. I will share my struggles and thoughts as well as any advice I come across so that you can learn with me and maybe learn a little bit sooner than I did so that you can be set up better for success. Most of my information will be based on my experiences in my state as well as the rules my state has for these things. It will differ between states and countries, but the bottom line will always be the same:
Never give up on yourself
Never stop learning
Youre never too young or too old to learn something new
You will always be your biggest support and drive
At this time I am not sure how frequently I will post because I work a full time and a part time job on top of my photography (for now), but I will post updates on my socials so please follow me to keep up with when I have posted and feel free to message me to be added to my mailing list because I will also be sending out messages when I update my blog. Thank you so much for being here with me through my journey of learning.
