(Part of) an average day as a photographer
Last weekend my boyfriend Joel watched the movie PI, and the part where the main character narrated parts of his day (“11:15, restate my assumptions: 1. Mathematics is the language of nature…”) is stuck in my head. So I decided to keep a running tab of what I do today in that same format. Are you ready to see what a photographer does on an average day? (Until I got tired of logging my activities, that is.) Here it comes…
5:15am- Wake up, try to fall back to sleep.
6:30am- Realize I’m not really sleeping, just pretending. Get out of bed.
7:00am- Joel walks David Bowie the Dog so I don’t have to. I LOVE HIM.
7:15am- Breakfast: Scrambled eggs and toast.
7:30am- Check email, respond to former client asking if she can use one of her headshots as a passport photo. Read photo blogs.
8:00am- Headshot client is stuck in traffic on the Eisenhower. Continue reading photo blogs and answering email.
8:30am- Headshot session for COO updating his LinkedIn profile with a new headshot. David Bowie the Dog observes, scratches himself.
9:30am- Commotion outside my door. A painting crew starts power washing the walls in the courtyard of my building to repaint. Neighbor and I speculate on what the color will be.
9:45am- Receive phone call for a quote on location headshots and editorial style shots of people in front of a 12 foot tall die cutting machine for company press releases. Pat myself on the back for knowing what a die cutting machine is.
10:00am- 2-look photo session for art school graduate: indoors and outdoors.
10:30am- First location on street too sunny. Too much squinting. Move to shade.
10:45am- wind blows over light, umbrella is bent beyond repair. Umbrella was bought for $10 on sale. $500 light unharmed. Funeral for umbrella scheduled for later in the month.
11:15am- Got a voicemail asking about headshots. Return call, leave voicemail.
11:20am- Open Lightroom. Begin messing with photos taken at 10am.
11:40am- Eyes watering from not blinking for 20 minutes. Walking away from computer.
11:41am- Survey fridge for lunch. Make vegetable tofu stir fry with udon noodles. I’m not a vegetarian. Tofu was on sale.
11:53am- Try to fit square tofu into round container. TOFU EVERYWHERE
12:00pm- Number of emails received while away from computer for 15 minutes: 10. Eat lunch while responding.
12:22pm- Hard drive suddenly decides to restart or something in the middle of Lightroom exporting photos. WTF?!
12:23pm- Hard drive back online, begin re-exporting files. Hard drive is new RAID 5 system purchased recently. Begin looking for tech support phone number.
12:25pm- Text from photo assistant- wants to see gallery from wedding we shot to see if any of his photos made the final cut. PHOTO ASSISTANTS ARE AWESOME.
12:36pm- Re-export has produced duplicate files. GRRRRR. Delete duplicates.
12:52pm- Phone call for last minute headshot tomorrow afternoon: am I available? Sorry, I’m booked downtown for group photos at an investment firm. Refer to photographer friends.
1:00pm- Still hungry. DO WE HAVE COOKIES?
1:03pm- Dog is basking in sunbeam. Not enough space to bask next to him. Dog is hogging the sunbeam. Dog is a jerk.
2:51pm- spent 2 hours answering emails, phone calls, editing photos, not much blinking. Don’t want to track what I’m doing anymore. This was a fun game while it lasted.
FIN.
