Not enough hours in the day.

Q: I GET INSPIRED TO GO MAKE PHOTOGRAPHS. I HAVE THE GEAR. THE ISSUE IS I DON’T HAVE THE TIME. I HAVE A YOUNG FAMILY AND I’M WORKING A JOB THAT I HATE TO SUPPORT MY WIFE WHO IS IN LAW SCHOOL. THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH HOURS IN THE DAY TO LOVE AND SUPPORT MY WIFE AND KIDS AND GET TO DO WHAT I LOVE. DO YOU HAVE ANY MENTAL HEALTH SUGGESTIONS TO GET ME THROUGH THIS? THERE IS A LIGHT IN THE DISTANCE BUT IT IS YEARS AWAY.

A: I used to have an attitude that to be a photographer you had to be a photographer. Working a day job meant not being a photographer.

I could not have been more wrong. I was recently reminded of how wrong this type of thinking is as I’ve gotten to know a guy named Wes Quarles. Wes installs residential Internet service. I first found out about him via my BFF Kevin (http://ab8ta.tumblr.com). Kevin told me about Wes on Instagram and I love his IG feed (http://statigr.am/wesq).

Wes is learning and pursuing photography the old school way. He drives over an hour each way, once a week, to take a darkroom class at night. He recently traded all of his digital gear for an old Leica. He’s shooting some 4x5. I let him borrow my Hasselblads whenever he wants them. The only digital camera he owns right now is his iPhone, and he shoots a lot with his phone.

© Wes Quarles / www.tinycollective.com

He’s a great effing photographer when he’s not in a bucket truck hooking cable lines to houses. Which he does full time and then some. To support his family. He’s doing photography for the love. Not the money. You know what? He’s also a great photographer when he’s in that bucket truck. Because he’s a great photographer. Period. Doesn’t matter if he can claim it as a job or not. You know what else? I’m jealous as shit of him. It’s easy to be jealous of folks like Jeremy Cowart, Kareem Black, Dan Winters, and other successful full-time photographers. I’m a full time photographer and I get jealous of those folks. But I’m equally as jealous of Wes Quarles, if not just a bit more.

For Wes, there’s no promotion campaign he has to stay on top of. No overhead of a studio and staff. No constant fretting over when and where the next check is coming from. He has benefits. He can go to work, do his work, go home, and forget his work. How awesome would that be?

Grass. Greener. Other. Side.

Cameras are always going to be around. Your kids aren’t. Don’t trade your kids’ youth for lenses and lights. I’m a photographer and do what I do because it’s the only thing I can do beyond an eight- or ten-dollar-an-hour job. I have to make this photography thing work because it’s all I know how to do. I love it. I wouldn’t have another job in the world most days, but it comes at a cost. I have to get on a plane and go to where the job is or where the next teaching gig takes me.

© Wes Quarles / www.tinycollective.com

Sometimes money is great. Other times money is tight. Sometimes we know where the next check is coming from. Other times we don’t. It’s a hustle and it affects your whole family.

I tell folks who want to leave their day job for photography to be careful what they ask for. They just might get it. You’ll end up trading your day job for a day-and-night job. The first half of your career will be an uphill battle. The next part of your career won’t look much different, but it’ll be easier because you’ll become accustomed to it.

Kill your television. Kill stuff that takes time away. Make time for yourself to go shoot on a regular basis! You have to make time for yourself. Meg and I struggle with this a lot. I’ve learned how to turn things off and go do something for me. It seems totally selfish, and Meg has a very difficult time doing it for herself, but when she does it’s productive.

Grow slowly and methodically. Shoot whatever you want. You’re free. You don’t have to shoot stuff you don’t want to. You can plan personal projects. You have a job that can finance it. You have the gear. Time is the hard part, but if you put a few hours a week into it you can get a lot accomplished. You’re in a good spot. Go do your shitty job you hate and take an hour later that night to shoot pictures. Build a darkroom. Buy some film. Learn to live with less sleep. Teach your kids how to print a photo. Know how awesome that would be?

Jeez. I want a day job sometimes. In the meantime, check out a few of Wes’s photos. That he shot with which camera? Oh yeah. His iPhone! A phone! Tell me he’s not a great photographer. I dare you. I’m tellin’ you. Wes is the type of guy that you see work hard, care for his family, shoot photos, and leave you in a place where you can’t complain about much. Wes is doing it. You can do it.

© Wes Quarles / www.tinycollective.com