You’re not just a photographer…

‘You’re not just a photographer though!’

This was said to me the other day and it got me thinking about how I’ve described myself for years. Whenever anyone one asks that inevitable question… ‘What do you do?’ I say ‘I’m a photographer!’ It’s what I am! The next usual response to this is… ‘Oh wow, that’s cool! My sister (insert appropriate relative, distant or otherwise) is getting married soon how much do you charge?’ To which I reply ‘NO WEDDINGS! NO BABIES!’ These seem to be everyone’s go-to reference points for photographers generally!

Anyway, I digress! Back to the ‘You’re not just a photographer!’ statement the other day. As I said, it got me thinking. Maybe I’ve pigeonholed myself into this one ‘title’ for too long and maybe now, I’m slowly starting to accept that, as pretentious as it sounds, I am more than JUST a photographer!

Let me try and explain what I mean without sounding like a douche! Some of it is obvious and applies to most self-employed people. You are more than just your one ‘title’ when you work for yourself. There are all the other things that come with it; Sales, Marketing and Social media, Accounting, Project Management, Networking… The list goes on!

For me, as a self-employed photographer, my own list is no different. I have all of these things to tackle and all of which I’ve had to…