Hello world,

Cameron (Troy), back from a much-needed hiatus. For those of you who have been reading my blog for the short time that its been live, thank you for joining me again. To those of you seeing it for the first time, welcome; I’m glad to have to have you.

Before we get into the realness mentioned in the title, I’d like to say I’m glad to be back to this writing thing. It’s hard, but it stretches me. Not every one of my thoughts can be expressed in a photograph, though that would be ideal…considering my chosen profession. BUT this is another way for me to connect with you, so I am happy to do it.

That being said, I’ve been AFK-away from keyboard (shouts to all my gamer mates) for a good reason…or a few very good reasons honestly.

I am tired.

Owning a business is hard. I don’t have to tell some of you that. From networking, to planning, to shooting, to editing (rinse and repeat), it gets rough. Fatigue can set in bloody quick if one is not careful. And I didn’t even mention all the mundane administrative stuff (which, truth be told, I’m kind of a nerd about and therefore enjoy).

In addition to that, though this has since been remedied, I’ve felt less than inspired. At times, in any field, though in creative fields such as photography and design this can be a crippling dilemma. What do you do when you can’t create?

Watch Netflix and eat baby carrots (totally didn’t do that…*ahem).

NO.

To create one must simply create. No one is asking you, or me to have this overwhelming incandescent pride in everything that is produced. However, there should be some pride had in the effort put forth to make something out of the nothingness feeling that is the drought of an uninspired mind.

I struggled; did the work I saw as tedious and mundane – shoot-edit-deliver – and moved on. But in my off time, I explored.

No one else can be blamed for my own lack of inspiration. My art is my responsibility.

This brings me to my final reason for my absence.

The saddening one, the infuriating one, poignant one and hopefully, the sobering one.

As mentioned before, my art is my responsibility.

However, it isn’t my only one. I have many; my realtionships, my health, the roof over my head…all (and many more) a part of this thing we call human existence.

There is one more thing though…one more thorn, one more speck of dust that has floated in the to collective eye of the freelancer.

My demand to be respected as a professional.

*queue awkwardly chirping crickets

Some of you who are reading this already know where I’m going with this, because you’re right there with me.

Months ago (I forget how many), I quit a job in an industry I’ve worked in for more years than I care to remember because my drive to do what I love was steering my down a path of apathy.

If you know me, then you know that I am a man of passion, therefore apathy is not a good place for me to dwell. It could never end well; it doesn’t for anyone.

So I struck out on my own and started a business. The one that funds the time I spend ranting on this blog.

Cameron Story Photography, under the umbrella of C.T.S Media LLC.

Yes, I actually own a company; this isn’t a playground 20 somethings who don’t want to grow up.

I am a photographer, designer, social media consultant and part-time educator.

Most people don’t know all those things because in order to stay organized, I have to compartmentalize.

I provide a service, a product, and in return I receive payment. That’s how businesses work. But I didn’t need to tell you that, did I?

No, because you and I frequent business of various kinds every single day; from coffee shops, to pet groomers.

So when I am asked to asked to wake up, arrive at a certain location at a certain time, photograph something, retouch/edit said photographs, name files, export to a useable file type and deliver them to someone, all without requiring them to do much more than lift a finger…I expect to be compensated the same as your dishwasher repair guy. It’s only how the world works.

I understand that the life of an artist is lost on most people. It’s hard to comprehend that we can make a living creating things that are beautiful, but not always necessarily functional…but wait, art is functional.

Its function is to bring the viewer some joy, some solace, some thought that may not have been found without looking through the eyes of another…the artist.

Look around you. The building in which you sit, the lampposts you walk by every day, maybe even the shirt on your back had an artist behind its inception.

And you handed them your dollars without a second thought.

So please, be kind to, and respect the artists around you.

Their grind is as gritty as the 9 to 5.

Furthermore, the question “Is that your real job?” will no longer be dignified with an answer.

I love you all.

Thanks for reading, scrolling and reading some more.

See you next week

Cameron (Troy) Story