I am pretty much shooting the same kind of things in my freelance world that I shot for the Eagle except I do not have to write captions, just invoices. Speaking of accounting, thank you Mrs. T and Dee for the help with all of that. I am shooting sports, portraits, agency work, weddings and even a couple of cool photo essays for an awesome client that runs my photos very well. I no longer get paid for holidays, but I do not have to work them either. I get to start my day (and spend most of it at times) in my pajamas in my awesome office in our home, the Eagle did not like me showing up to work in pajamas and I did not have an office. My work load is about the same, a bit busier at times, but certainly MUCH less stress and more profitable.
What I do not miss? Meetings of doom and gloom in the newsroom, hated them and I quit attending them after only a few of them. The writing was on the wall about our newspaper business, but to have to hear about it sucked. I do not miss walking into a building that has been destroyed by the economy and decline of the biz. I miss the "full" newsroom that the Eagle used to have, great folks putting out a great product. I do not miss lay-offs, furloughs, pay cuts, pay freezes and buyouts, all terms I hope I never have to hear again.
What I miss? Large snow storms and the itch to go shoot snow features for the next day's issue, I was like a caged animal on those days this winter. My brain said it was time to go shoot, too many years of thinking that way. I miss walking into the building and seeing the same folks each day, great people. I miss my boss, he was totally cool to work under, we now just share beer together and that is good too, maybe even better. I miss representing the newspaper and shooting a photograph of someone and trying to get to know them in our short time and make the best photo of them I could. I new that they were excited to have me there and I wanted to let them know that I would take care of them and represent my newspaper in a very positive way.
