How I Quit My Job and Became a Photographer Full Time

Spoiler alert, I didn’t.

I’ve been a concert photographer for about a decade now, and it’s been an adventure. Not to brag, but now I’m working festivals, getting flown out to shows, and haven’t really paid for a concert in a while. So By all means, photography should be my full time job and I’m using it to pay all of my bills, right?

Nope.

Now I’m not going to say it’s impossible to be a photographer full-time, I know more than enough people who can attest to it being how they live their lives, but it just wasn’t for me. There was a point, however, when I did quit a job to be a full-time freelancer, but at the end of the day, it just wasn’t the structure I needed. I wouldn’t say I liked having to do so many taxes (I still don’t tbh, but we do it anyway), not having a team to back me up or bounce ideas off of, I didn’t like working alone. And on top of that, I started leaning more into graphic design.

Something I learned about being a creative is you have to be flexible. Especially when you’re doing it on your own. You won’t always be able to take photos of what you want, and sometimes you’ll have to take a break and pick up a steady job to make sure your bills are paid until you catch up again, and that’s fine! It’s life! Plus, why struggle making a name for yourself when you could be getting a consistent paycheck AND make a name for yourself?

I may work an 8-5 now, but I still freelance regularly, and I’ve only slowed down on going to as many shows as I used to because I’m tired. I’m not as young as I used to be, and, quite frankly, I like being in bed by 11 sometimes.

Some jobs actually pair well with being a creative of any kind: bartender, barista, graphic designer (like me!), photo studio manager, you get the idea.

All of this to say, you don’t need to quit your day job to be a successful creative. You can, but you absolutely don’t need to put that much pressure on yourself. It’s competitive and sometimes harsh, and the starving artist way of life is a lot harder than it looks in the movies, especially when rent is skyrocketing. Take care of yourselves!