Time and Resources spent gathering the photos you see here..

Am I the only one that finds blacking out your website to protest free speech to be a little backwards?   I'd rather be heard in protest and go silent in one.  Just me.. so .. whatever..  Enough of that.  Good job guys.. no way the politicians will push that through in an election year, now..

anyway..

I'm working on a photo book.  If it sells not one copy, that's cool.  But, before this year is out I'll have some of my photos put in book form, even if I only publish 10 copies myself to give as Christmas gifts. :)

I don't think my stuff is "ALL THAT" and it is not a get-rich-quick scheme.  Simply a bucket-list item.   

One of my other resolutions has been to be a better friend.  In that spirit: I was catching up with this sys-admin buddy of mine that lives in the Louisville Area and he makes this indictment to me:

"I see all the stuff you post online.  You used to be one of the strongest software minds I've ever met.  A machine.   It seems as if you are wasting your time with this photography thing."

(he's not a Flickr, G+ guy.. yet. and yes I'm still busting my ass as a developer though I've never been as good as claimed)

I told him that he smelled bad and shouldn't still live at home with mom @ 40.  We said our graces, marked our calendars to insult one another in a few weeks and ended the call. (Skype)

I respect his delivery method for trying to inform me that I suck at photography.   Exaggerated flattery and then BAMM -- the gut punch.

That's how our relationship is though.  Brutal honesty and rudeness. 

Now, his opinion of my photography skill, I don't even care about.  We all have our opinions and that didn't phase me at all.  

The indictment of "wasting my time" however.. did get me thinking.

I'm not worried at all about wasting my time but I was curious.. to see just how many "photo outings" sourced a year's worth of posts.  It is an interesting question b/c as I look at a significant investment in another camera -- and having a perfectly epic Sony A77 in-hand.  I tend to mentally itemize the cost of the camera over the number of times it gets touched.

Here's what I found.   

I milk the crap out of a relatively small number of actual outings.  hehe.   

Extreme Honesty Hour, Begin.

32 Outings in 2011.

2 outings playing hooky from work (personal salary days, HR -- cool it) 

2 outings surrounding funerals/planning

1 vacation

2 weekend sailing trips

2 lighthouse - blue angel practices

1 local festival

1 daytrip to Battleship park

1 after-work tour of Ft. Morgan

1 Naval Aviation Museum Trip

1 Family-Beach Outing

1 Dance Recital Portrait Session

3 Family-Friend Portrait Sessions

1 "long way home" ferry ride from an errand

1 Charity St. Jude Walk

1 Sea Turtle Release

4 Christmas Outings

4 After Work Sunsets

1 Before Work Sunrise

1 After-Christmas Shopping Beach-Marina Walk

1 Lunch on Wolf Bay

My 2011 Photos are divided into two catalogs..

13,014 "Family Photos and Portraits catalog"

17,650 "Everything else catalog"

  -30,664 Total

    avg of 958.25 shots per outing

    divided by 1.5 if half of those were bracketed by 3

     = average of 638.83 unique shots in an outing

Year End 2011 Financial Recap (Photography Activities)

Number of Canvases Sold in 2011: 2

Number of Canvases Donated in 2011: 12

Canvas Print Costs: $1372

Hardware Investment: $2200

 Revenues from Portrait Sessions: $0

(did I mention, it was for friends?)

 Revenues from Canvas Sales: $124.00 

(did I mention, friends bought them?)

 

Estimated 2012 Financial Recap (Photography Activities)

Estimated price of Nikon D800 and 1 "Do - Everything" 28-300 Lens: $5200 (- $1800 Sold Nikon) = $3400.00

$105.25 per outing

Number of Canvases Sold So Far: 0

Number of Canvases Printed So Far: 6 (Located at the Wharf, Bravo Taco)

Number of Metal Prints Printed So Far: 5 (Located in a UPS Truck ATM)

 Print Costs: $790.00

Estimated Cost for Photo Book Per Copy: $24

Expected Retail Print of Photo Book: $MerryChristmas

I post all of this to say.. that if you look at your passions as a business, a waste of resources.  It seems insane.   Cut your losses and walk away, right?

No way, man.  The things I've seen in those few outings, the people I've met.

Wouldn't trade it for anything.

You can't put a price on what you love to do.   So don't.