I literally get paid to do what I love for a living
It took me years to get to this point, but I literally get paid to do what I love for a living. They say the easiest way to figure out what you’ll love as a career is to ask yourself what you would do for work, even if your weren’t getting paid. For me, this is anything photography related.
Even when I’m not getting paid to shoot, I’m still often out wandering the streets of whatever city I’m in at the time, shooting whatever I can to find some more great shots to add to my portfolio. This is truly how you know you love what you do.
But it wasn’t always this way. I’ve had high paying careers, as well as owned some small businesses, but it always seemed like work to me. I’ve found in life you can do work you don’t like for good money for short periods of time, but not over the long term. The best way is to find something you love to do and you’ll never work a day in your life.
Apart from the creative aspect of photography, here are some of the things I get to do everyday that many don’t:
I get to visit a different location everyday. This could be a hotel, someones house or business, a park, sporting field, church, restaurant - the list is endless - and for me, I love the variety of going somewhere different each day. I never know where I will end up each day.
Then there’s the weather aspect. If I’m shooting indoors, obviously this doesn’t apply, but outdoors is a different story. I’ll shoot in sun, wind, rain, hot and cold, and I love all of it, because it changes each day, and gives me the opportunity to think of how to best get the shoot done given the conditions. This also improves my skills as a photographer because I am forced to learn new things.
I get to meet amazing people every day. This one is strange for me because Im generally an introverted person, but honestly, some of the people out there are incredible, from CEO’s to waiters and everything in between. I always enjoy meeting and talking to people about their life and business, and I learn something new everyday. At a recent event I heard a US helicopter pilot talk about his life in the military, the people he’d saved and the people he’d lost. Really moving stuff.
I get ample downtime. When I’m not shooting (or walking my crazy dog) I’m often at home editing images in the comfort of my own home. I can sit down with the laptop and a coffee, put the TV or some music on, and just get in the zone and edit the images I’ve captured from the previous shoot. I find this really recharges my batteries and gives my body a rest.
I’ve become a human encyclopedia! I’ve shot events with topics ranging from nursing, energy, politics, technology, food, sport, and much more. I get to hear the latest information from all these industries as it comes out. I feel like if I had more time, I could start 100 businesses just based on the information I take in each week. Essentially, I never stop learning by default.
Gone are the days when I have to pay for tickets to see keynote speakers - they essentially come to me! Whether its CEO’s, politicians, celebrity’s, models, or athletes, I get paid to see them speak. And the ones that you’ve never heard of are often the best and can deliver a powerful speech which creates atmosphere even in the biggest rooms.
The other thing I love is the randomness of times and days. I might have Sunday and Monday off, shoot Tuesday night, Wednesday morning, all day Thursday and Friday, and Saturday afternoon. I find this makes the 5 day working week seem obsolete, and I’m not in that 9-5 grind like everyone else, battling in peak hour traffic. It’s a great way to live.
Do I ever have bad days? Of course, that’s just life, sometimes things don’t work out, but I cant blame myself or photography for that. I remember once I did a 2 day event shoot at a beachside location, and it was pouring rain for the whole 2 days. I was well prepared, but some of the activities that were planned for the event were cancelled at the last minute, and the big finale was supposed to be a beach party, but most people had already left by then. Because of these factors, I did not get as many images as I would have liked, and the client was not happy, writing me a scathing email to tell me what a terrible job I had done.
But the thing I always get asked is how to do what you love when things are more expensive than ever. In other words, how do I leave my job that I hate whilst still being able to pay the bills? Don’t worry, I get it, it’s not easy to just say I’ll leave my corporate career to stay at home and make candles. The thing you have to figure out is how to make enough money selling candles (or whatever tickles your fancy) and until you can do this, it’s better to stick to your day job for the time being.
The benchmark I use is the average wage. Here in Australia in 2025 the average wage is pretty much spot on $100K AUD. I think if you can earn at least that, and do what you love for a living, you’ll will be in the 1% club that the 99% never get to join. Now keep in mind that there are people who have started a side hustle doing what they love and earn $1M or more, so don’t think its undoable. I’m simply saying that as a bare minimum you should aim for the $100K (or whatever the average wage is in your country) so you can still pay the bills whilst enjoying your life.
It’s also important to note that I think you need to have 3 key elements in place for this to work:
You love doing it
You can make a living from it
You are good at it
Even if you only have 2 of these elements, you will find it very hard - thats just the reality. I love music, and obviously famous singers make lots of money, but I cant sing so the fact that I tick the other two boxes is pointless. Make sure you tick all three boxes!
I’m also not a very religious person, but there is a famous comedian based in the US who is very religious, and his belief is that everyone was put on earth wth a special talent and they just need to find out what that is. Once you’ve done this you can use that talent to make a living by following the three points above.
Finding this talent can be tricky. I’ve found the best way to search is to just start writing down the things that you love to do, even if they seem crazy as a career. For example, if you’re like me and you love dogs, write it down because they might be something there - maybe you are supposed to raise guide dogs, or work at the RSPCA. Just keep writing down a list of things that you love, and once compete, then start to figure out what the possible career is, if you can make a living from it, and if you would be good at it. There are people in Australia that make $200/hour from walking dogs - so always been open minded!
This exercise may take some. It took me years, so don’t give up. The important thing is that you make a start now because the sooner you start the sooner you will be able to do what you love for a living.
Have you ever thought about leaving your job to follow your dreams? Let me know in the comments.