This is by far the most random, but sensible passion I have ever had. From musician to software engineer to web designer to game developer to data scientist and now photographer! And the crazy part is that it makes so much sense.
I always knew I wanted to be in the creative space, but in countries like Namibia things like that aren’t real jobs for most people, so I opted for the school route. I got my bachelor’s degree in informatics and I’m currently doing my honors degree in data science because that’s what I currently work as, but I’d be lying if I said I’m living my dream. I have been longing for freedom ever since I started working in different corporate organizations. It would start out great, but at some point, I’d always find myself wanting to be freer rather than fighting for dear life from 8am to 5pm. When I would think of things I could be doing that would enable me to have that, it would always be something creative coming to mind and not profitable business ideas using my below average tech skills. I’d disregard the degree and the experience completely because deep down I knew that I wanted to be a creative, I just didn’t know what kind.
I’ve dabbled in quite a lot of hobbies growing up. Music, drawing, graphic design, web design, video editing, even drama but although they were fun, none of them seemed to be the thing that resonated with me the most. They definitely come in handy now because I have a lot of skills at my disposal that can aid with what I actually want to be doing, but I can’t say I’d like to do those things for a living. One day while on a work trip for 2 weeks in a coastal town called Swakopmund, my phone broke which led to me borrowing my little cousin’s iPhone (It was an iPhone 11 SE, and I’ve never had an iPhone in my life) which basically became my first camera. At the time I was looking into starting a YouTube channel where I would talk about scripture hoping that it could become my fulltime gig (which is the wrong heart posture to have btw). The plan was to buy an iPhone 15 and a microphone then get to work. I remember watching so many videos about filming on an iPhone, lighting, composition etc., just trying to learn everything I could to make good videos. Those were seeds, but we weren’t fully in the game yet. What happened a few days after I got the iPhone was when things really kicked off. I was climbing a huge tourist attraction called Dune 7 but got tired half-way up and just sat down to get some rest. The view from that half-way point was so beautiful I just had to take a picture using the new things I had learned through the filming videos, and once I did that it was like a whole new world opened up, it was like I suddenly unlocked the ability to capture moments and I loved it.
This was the picture I took:
A photograph of the dunes in Swakopmund, Namibia
Don’t shield your eyes for too long, I said I took a picture, I never said it was good. From that moment on I became obsessed with taking pictures and just kept consuming more and more content. The iPhone was doing great; I just sucked too much to make it work. The lack of skill and knowledge lead to me falling into the most beneficial trap I ever could’ve fallen into. Gear Syndrome, a medical condition found in photographers that causes them to want and acquire new gear whether it’s necessary or not. After my diagnoses life became so difficult because no matter what I did, all I could think of was ditching the iPhone and committing to buying a real camera. Eventually I did, I got the Canon EOS R50 and that’s what I’ve been using till this day (All this happens 4 or 5 months ago by the way. It helped me grow so much as a photography, I was thinking of composition more, looking for light instead of subjects and just falling in love more and more with the art of photography.
Eventually I figured out what photography I enjoy most (editorial portraits) and kept doing more and more of those until I took a chance and decided to try turning it into a business. That brings us here. The blog is you tagging along with me on my journey to become a fulltime photographer and build a successful photography business. I plan to post a blog every week talking about something I experienced or progress and what not, so I hope you stick around. I’ll see you next time.
