getting the job done

The job that took me to Beijing recently seemed like an easy one at first, where if I'm lucky I would get the shot done on the first day and spend the rest of the time being a tourist. It didn't turn out that way, and when the sun set on me the first day, I was feeling the pressure. I always try to plan my trips so there is a weather contingency, but being in an unfamiliar city is another good reason to cushion yourself. It took me a day and a half of walking around to figure out the time and place I had to be to get my shot. Then, when I was there I realized there were other problems such as the position of the sun, and exposure values. After the second day, I felt there were adequate shots where I could relax a bit. However, adequate is not enough when you have a client spending alot of money to fly you out there. I realized I had a few hours before I headed out to the airport on the third day, so I forced myself out of bed again at 5am and into the sub zero climate. Glad I did that, because by then I had a grasp of what I was going o face which made me work more efficiently. The best results actually came out of this last effort.

My experiences within this business over the years have taught me that I am always rewarded for that extra effort I make when the situation is difficult. There's that extra push from someone up there when you're faced with a steep hill you think you can't climb, but nevertheless try.

Recently, I was reading a comment made by a fellow photographer John Harrington where he stated that a photographer's fee is not about the amount of hours spent on a shoot, but about the
photographer's experience where he/she can always get the job done even under the most difficult circumstances. I agree with that. The term "professional" photographer has certainly changed its meaning for me over the years. When I was just starting out 23 years ago, I used to define it as a person who just made a living off of photography. How shallow was that?