Fitting in photography practice

I tend to carry a camera with me (on weekends mostly) and just shoot anything I'm curious about. It adds up to between 40 and 50 rolls per year. I develop and scan everything but print almost nothing...I spend about 100 hrs per year processing film. Considering commuting, working, and, sleeping there is about 2000 hours left in a year to goof off... why don't I have time to print??

Saganich said:

I tend to carry a camera with me (on weekends mostly) and just shoot anything I'm curious about. It adds up to between 40 and 50 rolls per year. I develop and scan everything but print almost nothing...I spend about 100 hrs per year processing film. Considering commuting, working, and, sleeping there is about 2000 hours left in a year to goof off... why don't I have time to print??

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We're in the same situation. My current working theory is that our current schedules are too fragmented. I can fit in some scanning, development, editing, shooting anytime in small chunks of 20-30min in the morning before work, after dinner, on my lunch break. Once you're out of time you just stop and pick up later. But for printing to be reasonably productive you need to block off a continuous 3-5hrs and that's a bit harder to fit.

i retired over ~3 years ago - that lasted for 3 months, before my grandkids moved in and I became mr. mom for a then 6 and 3 year old... not as easy a job at 70 that it was at 35!

for the first 2 years 1 did sporadic darkroom work, but continued to take pictures. most of my pictures are of them. i always carry my rolleiflex.

for the past 1 1/2 yrs, i've been able to work at least 8 hours a week in the darkroom.

1- the family supports my darkroom time; it helps that the kids are now 10 and 5.
2- we don't have a tv. i limit my computer time, just as we do the kids. i don't carry my smart phone and often let calls go to voice mail.
3- i don't have a full time job. other than kids activities, volunteering, shuttle service, housekeeping, shopping, laundry, yard work, home repairs, etc. so spend my week days getting it all done.
4- late night and mostly 4-5 hours on weekend in the darkroom.
5- i keep a calendar to allocate my day and task lists - i'm stingy with my time . things that i used to view as important are lower down the priority list and i focus on "important" tasks, (as others have said) - family and photography in that order.

i'm lucky - don't know if this helps.

lauffray said:

I'm interested in hearing about how everyone is fitting their photography practice into their regular life.

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I can relate to your question. About 5 years after I fell in love with photography, I got married and took on a very active stepdaughter (I later legally adopted her). This was a significant life change, and coupled with a fairly demanding career, I found it difficult to spend time on photography. Now my daughter will soon graduate college, and things are easing up, but still a challenge. Some thoughts I can offer:

-Consider giving up processing film at home. I decided that I didn't have enough free hours in my life to process film and do printing, and I'd rather spend the time printing. I realize that some photographers consider this sacrilege, but if you find the right lab this can work just fine. Honestly, I've used a couple of labs that handle my film so well, I don't see how developing the film myself would be any better. Test a few labs, and pick one that gives you good results. This will save time and allow you to focus on printing. You can tailor the development when needed, just tell the lab "increase development time by 20%" etc. I've found better results with labs that do dip-and-dunk processing vs. machine processing.

-If it's too difficult to print during on weekdays due to time constraints, carve out time on one or two weekends a month. Give yourself time to get off the treadmill and immerse in some darkroom time. For many, it's theraputic, and an wonderful escape from our task-oriented lives.

-It certainly helps to have an understanding spouse/partner. If you explain that photography is your passion (more than just a hobby), hopefully he/she will understand and respect that you need some time to immerse in it. And they might appreciate seeing some nice prints coming out of your darkroom...

-Lastly, never give up! Even if there are fallow periods, you can always return to your passion. Life can get in the way, but know that your photography is always there, waiting for you. Take heart in knowing this.

Good luck!
Dale

images39 said:

...

-Lastly, never give up! Even if there are fallow periods, you can always return to your passion. Life can get in the way, but know that your photography is always there, waiting for you. Take heart in knowing this.

Good luck!
Dale

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Thank you for this exhortation. “Fallow period” describes the bulk of my life photographically. I’m now retired, tho working pt as a school bus driver, and have the opportunity to get back to it. I constantly fight the “my dark space is not ‘perfect’ so I’ll wait” syndrome. So I’m forging ahead. Most of my dark work work will be in my garage, dusty, cluttered, etc. Far from ideal but moving ahead anyway.

Vaughn said:

Don't sweat it. Times will change, just keep plugging away when you can, however you can.

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fantastic advice !
when my kids were small i switched the type of photography i did because i didn't have as much time to make darkroom prints, so i started
making sun prints. and batch process 40-70/sheets /rolls at a time once every few months.
just gotta keep doing it whenever however you can.
have fun!
john

lauffray said:

I'm interested in hearing about how everyone is fitting their photography practice into their regular life. [...] What do you guys do to carve time for some printing or shooting? How do you make sure you have at least a few hours a month to spend doing the things you like?

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what is "photography practice"? surely you can fit 1/250s into any schedule. you don't stop looking and seeing when you're not in the "creative mindset". just don't leave home without a camera

there will always be more things you don't do than things you do. be honest with yourself - perhaps photography is just one of those you don't do. you don't work on a vocation, it works on you; it will call you when it has a use for you

I try, at least during decent weather to go for a walk around town on my “lunch hour”, which can be anytime I want. I always bring a camera and a single lens.

I get both my miles and my shots in, and as I’m downtown in a fairly big city, I never feel challenged for subject matter.
Andy

Other than "shoot what you can, when you can," I can't really give any advice. I could easily go off on a rant about not getting to shoot what I want or when I want, however. The coolest looking sunsets always happen while I'm cooking dinner. The light is great when I'm walking the dogs (no, I can't shoot while wrangling a German Shepherd and a black lab). I rarely have time to go hiking when the weather is best for it. I've used the darkroom to print exactly once since school started in August. ONCE. I finally managed to develop two rolls of 120 from this fall, but I still have about 10 sheets of 4x5, some from over a year ago. And even doing those had to be sandwiched in between helping paint a pinewood derby car and taking the munchkin to basketball practice. I tend to get free time in small batches and at times of day when I can't get to anything worth shooting (or I'm too tired). And I don't even have an actual paid job - I'm a stay-at-home-mom. Today, it's unseasonably warm here in PA. Instead of being out and about in the woods with a camera, I'm helping (still) with the pinewood derby car and he had a basketball game at a time that broke up the day into too small chunks for anything useful.
Sorry for the rant! I needed to get it off my chest because it's been simmering for a bit.

Just wanted to thank everyone here for taking the time to chime in, I've been encouraged by all your responses. I'm going to implement a few of the great suggestions

images39 said:

-Consider giving up processing film at home...
-Lastly, never give up! Even if there are fallow periods, you can always return to your passion. Life can get in the way, but know that your photography is always there, waiting for you. Take heart in knowing this.

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Developing at the lab is a good idea, should free up some time. Thanks for that last point

winger said:

I could easily go off on a rant about not getting to shoot what I want or when I want, however. The coolest looking sunsets always happen while I'm cooking dinner. The light is great when I'm walking the dogs (no, I can't shoot while wrangling a German Shepherd and a black lab). I rarely have time to go hiking when the weather is best for it. I've used the darkroom to print exactly once since school started in August. ONCE. I finally managed to develop two rolls of 120 from this fall, but I still have about 10 sheets of 4x5, some from over a year ago. And even doing those had to be sandwiched in between helping paint a pinewood derby car and taking the munchkin to basketball practice. I tend to get free time in small batches and at times of day when I can't get to anything worth shooting (or I'm too tired). And I don't even have an actual paid job - I'm a stay-at-home-mom. Today, it's unseasonably warm here in PA. Instead of being out and about in the woods with a camera, I'm helping (still) with the pinewood derby car and he had a basketball game at a time that broke up the day into too small chunks for anything useful.
Sorry for the rant! I needed to get it off my chest because it's been simmering for a bit.

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hey no worries, I understand very well. If nothing else, hearing from other people who are equally busy if not busier has been great support.