Hi.
Im considering taking the plunge to doing this full time however its obviously going to mean more Saturdays away from my family and that week time will be spent processing. Im also concerned that as they get older, I will miss key events like football matches and concerts etc.
For those of you that have families and you are full time, how do you manage your time?
I have regular studio hours and try to work during them. During peak times, sure I work longer hours or on my day off etc., but most of the time I can handle things during my set hours. One pluses among many is that with being self-employed, I am able to cover many of my kids events-photographically. I've been doing this for a long time though so it is different when you start out, just value your time with your family over a couple $'s from your clients and try to set up regular working hours.
John,
Thanks, I only do weddings and would be obliged to do a lot per year. Bookings at ~12 months out would often mean that I would be booked before I knew about a kids event.
What does your wife/partner do? Is she working full/part time?
B
I'm about 80-90% full time now with a 1 y/o and 4 y/o. I'm at the point where they know I'm going to be done most Saturdays, so we're scheduling things so Mondays are my "days off" that I mostly spend with my kids playing around.
It's rough. Not gonna lie... Probably the sucky-est part of this job. My boys are 6 and 8 and I've missed so many Saturday games, birthday parties, art exhibits, etc... There's just nothing I can do about it besides finding another line of work and God knows I'm not very good at anything else so unless they want me to not be able to pay for all the things I miss, it is what it is. I try to squeeze things in as best I can though.
ckhagen wrote:
It's rough. Not gonna lie... Probably the sickliest part of this job. My boys are 6 and 8 and I've missed so many Saturday games, birthday parties, art exhibits, etc... There's just nothing I can do about it besides finding another line of work and God knows I'm not very good at anything else so unless they want me to not be able to pay for all the things I miss, it is what it is. I try to squeeze things in as best I can though.
Yeah, being a photographer means most of your weekends are spent working. That is when most people have the time for their events/portraits.
We're not full time (although at the moment we are, since we've got two weddings in a row while neither of us have day jobs), but one of the things we learned from this season is that we don't want more than around 10 or so a year, simply because we don't want all of our weekends to go to this. You've really got to set limits or else they get set for you.
Kids here have so many vacations that we do not feel disconnected from them and having dad and mom at home is priceless.
Also only one of us shoot on weekend so we still can attend school activities which are on the weekend with them (though separated). 9-17 people are usually tired to attend on saturday anyway.
The last 13 years ,before retirement was spent on the "Weekend Shift" (Fri., Sat., Sun.)... You and your family will adjust... but remember,"Time spent never returns"... You will miss a ton of activities...
Owning your own business is a 24/7 job. If you don't have the drive and discipline to set aside time for family or things that are important to you, you'll end up going insane. If you spend too much time with family or things that are important to you, you'll end up folding. It's a balance and some people can do it while others can't. My wife and I both shoot and we're about to have our first child. We both understand the amount of sacrifice it takes to start a new business so it's the path that we have chosen. We have also decided that our child will travel with us and also be exposed to different stimuli throughout their life. If you want to make it work, you'll make it work. A few things that may be of interest in our situation however is that we are full time photographers but not full time wedding photographers. If you can find a situation where you can shoot full-time, it's a good situation. Salary, health benefits, and vacation are some of the benefits of separate lines of work. If you need to make more time, you'll make more time but you need to know when it's good to take time and when it's not good to take time.
I shoot an average of between 60-65 weddings a year. I have been married 18 years and have a 14 year old and 12 year old. I book a lot of doubles so that I can keep some weekends always free. I only work on my images during the week while the kids are at school. The second they come home the computer shuts off. Yes, I have some appointments in the evenings but for the most part I spend more time with them during the week than most people with real jobs get to spend. It's not difficult.
As someone who is in the midst of 50 straight days of work (day job and wedding work and editing and second shooting and...), I just make the most of my time with my son. If I have a free 15 minutes, I try to be on the floor playing with him or taking him for a bike ride. If I ever go full time, I'll just have to do everything I can to make the Thursday/Friday night games, and the games/matches/meets on the weekends I'll do what I can.
The advantage is that you're there a lot during the week, at home editing sometimes, sure, but you're around with a somewhat flexible schedule. Right now it's hard with my 1 year old because I'm gone all day M-F, and I'm gone all day and night Sat-Sun.
MarcAnthony wrote:
I shoot an average of between 60-65 weddings a year. I have been married 18 years and have a 14 year old and 12 year old. I book a lot of doubles so that I can keep some weekends always free. I only work on my images during the week while the kids are at school. The second they come home the computer shuts off. Yes, I have some appointments in the evenings but for the most part I spend more time with them during the week than most people with real jobs get to spend. It's not difficult.
I'm full time and have 8 and 10 year olds. This year I have yet to miss a game of my sons Rugby. He plays at 9-10 am and I generally start at 1pm. So there's plenty of time to get home and have a shower etc. I may miss a game here or there but I'll make the majority.
I pick my kids up from school 4 days per week and drop them off 3. Because they're young I can get some stuff done when they go to bed at 7.30pm. I actually think I get more time than the typical 9 to 5'er because I'm there almost every day. Friends of mine leave for work at 7 and get home at 7. They only see their kids on the weekend. I feel lucky.
MarcAnthony wrote:
I shoot an average of between 60-65 weddings a year. I have been married 18 years and have a 14 year old and 12 year old. I book a lot of doubles so that I can keep some weekends always free. I only work on my images during the week while the kids are at school. The second they come home the computer shuts off. Yes, I have some appointments in the evenings but for the most part I spend more time with them during the week than most people with real jobs get to spend. It's not difficult.
Useful, Thanks.
flash wrote:
I'm full time and have 8 and 10 year olds. This year I have yet to miss a game of my sons Rugby. He plays at 9-10 am and I generally start at 1pm. So there's plenty of time to get home and have a shower etc. I may miss a game here or there but I'll make the majority.
I pick my kids up from school 4 days per week and drop them off 3. Because they're young I can get some stuff done when they go to bed at 7.30pm. I actually think I get more time than the typical 9 to 5'er because I'm there almost every day. Friends of mine leave for work at 7 and get home at 7. They only see their kids on the weekend. I feel lucky.
My wife works full time as a microbiologist assistant so we can have health insurance. I don't do as many weddings as I used to, but I and my relatives just knew if it was a Saturday, I'd probably be busy. Most school events aren't on the weekends around here, so that was never a problem. We didn't get to do as much camping as I would have liked and we usually took our main family vacations in the winter(cruises). We just adapted to what was necessary. You'll just have to weigh which is more important and plan accordingly. If/when you go full time though, it will be much easier to set a firm hourly schedule and stick with it. When I did it as a part-time job, I would spend many days working on photo stuff till 8-9 at night and not being able to spend quality time with family even if I was at home. I did it for about 12 years before I felt comfortable quiting my job and buying a building etc.
