Why I Love This Job (and OMG I'm starting a YouTube Channel!)

I am a full-time teacher and part-time photographer, at least for now. My plan, Lord willing, is to retire from teaching after 28 years (what I have to work to receive full retirement benefits), and then I will be able to be a photographer full-time!

Every teacher I know has had a side hustle. I have had many in my life, from working as a summer camp counselor for 15+ summers (also a passion), tutoring, working at Bath & Body Works (that only lasted about 2 weeks—I am not cut out for retail sales at Christmas!), selling Stampin’ Up, painting and selling Christmas ornaments, and selling Mary Kay. While I made enough extra money to pay a bill or two, many of these hustles were creative outlets for me. I always thought photography was one of those creative outlets and that I could never really make any money at it, but boy, was I wrong.

I began photographing families and weddings a little over eleven years ago, and it did take me three years to “break-even” with my investments in equipment, education, and other photography business requirements. But I have made more money as a photographer over the last couple of years than I did in my first several years as a teacher—a teacher with a Bachelor’s AND Master’s degree. And, I built my photography business from the ground up. I don’t have any degrees in art or photography…I am mostly self-taught with a few classes and workshops under my belt. But I LOVE it—it’s my passion project.

What do I love about this job? It’s not just that I get to pick and choose when I work and who I work with (but that is a great perk!). I get to spend time with people on their best days, when they are happiest. I get to be present at people’s most important milestones and capture precious images that people will cherish for years to come. I rarely ever have to deal with people who are hostile, defiant, or disobedient (other than a random cousin who disappears to cocktail hour during family photos or an ornery toddler—but I readily accept those challenges!). There is always something new to learn and experiment with, and no one is forcing me to do things I know are unproductive and a waste of my time. I am always encouraged and thanked for my work. What I produce is proof of my abilities—my success is not dependent on someone else’s willingness or effort, and there is no data analysis or year-end test to “prove” that I have been successful. I get to be creative.

This job is quite the opposite of my teaching job.

I love teaching, and I love where I work and who I work with—but teaching within the public school system is incredibly difficult and is becoming harder and harder every year. I often feel overwhelmed and sometimes crushed because of unattainable teaching standards, ever-changing legislation, lack of student motivation to do anything hard or turn anything in on time, the expectation that everything has to be entertaining and engaging, and lack of parental support. But photography allows me to be who God created me to be—the dreamer, hype girl, organizer, supporter, and creator—all the things I love about teaching that often get buried. And when I can combine teaching and photography, I am in my sweet spot.

So, all that being said, one of the most exciting things I am embarking on this summer is a YouTube channel, blending my love of photography and teaching. I have thought about trying this for a couple of years, but honestly, the logistics behind it seemed so daunting. And then I thought—how many lessons did I record for my students during the pandemic? How many students did I teach online during the Spring of 2020 and in dual-modality during the 2020-2021 school year? It can’t be much harder than that! Plus, my almost 10-year-old son wants to start a YouTube channel for gaming, so I thought this might be a way to help him figure it out and give both of us a little experience.

So….drumroll please….here it is! My first YouTube video, a 20-ish minute tutorial on the three things you really need to understand to master manual mode on your camera, also known as the exposure triangle—aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. I wrote a blog post about this topic a year and a half ago, but if you’re like me, sometimes I just need to see/hear someone explaining things and not just read about them to really comprehend them. I created my tutorial so that even middle schoolers can understand, so hopefully those of you searching for less technical tutorials will find it very accessible! I included sample images and graphics that I sketched (no judging, please…maybe one day I can outsource some graphic design ideas with one of you!). And a good friend even created some intro/outro music for me (check out @EDaddyM on YouTube!). Please click the image below and give it a watch!

Why I Love This Job (And OMG I’m Starting a YouTube Channel!)