Hobby or work?

I guess all of us sometimes face the choices of making our hobbies into a professional full time job. I did that with computers. Starting with the Commodore 64 back in the old days I ate basic for breakfast, assembly for lunch and later all kinds of programming languages for dinner. Now I am a full time software developer, and have been for the last 6 years. Suddenly I realized that I had lost my hobby. Getting back home after a full day on the office, doing mental work, solving all kinds of software problems, the temptation to sit in front of my computer was diminishing. Although I am still interested in the technology I dont find as much energy for it like I did before, and eventually realized that it was a good thing. Not only did I get more time for photography, but I also got a break from the computer. Then I went digital, and suddenly the computer was a necessary tool for my hobby. While some people do 90% of the imaging work on the computer, I hope that I can balance this by using more time on making the photo correct the first time off. But sometimes the technology opens new creative doorways that "you just have to try", and so you are stuck in front of the computer again. Its rather dangerous, and it can drain the energy from you faster than you know - especially when you also work with computers full time.

But the challenges has now entered a new dimension, and that is, I love photography so much that I can see myself doing it fulltime. Hey, but wait, wont I loose my hobby again? Yeah, and thats what bothers me. I do see photographers working fulltime that love their work, and that they can enjoy walking in the mountains shooting picturesque landscapes and come home and said they had a busy day in the "mountains". It sounds like a dream, but I guess its hard to live off photography alone, unless you are Ansel Adams. In any case it can easily become motivated by different aspects than the pleasure of photographying as a hobby. Well, there are those that seem to be able to combine both, professionals that produce images that just sell and sell. But there are also those that do both. A bit of Winnie the Pooh mentality. Why choose?

Recently the photography club that I am part of (Bergen Kameraklubb) had an exceptionally talented underwater photographer showing what he does. His name is Espen Rekdal and has documented new species as well as some classic shots with excellent composition lighting and colors. Well, it seems he is a teacher and photography is a hobby-parttime-work-business-thing. In any case the balance seems to work well and I guess having enough time for photography so that it truly becomes professional is the key to getting somewhere, and having a fulltime job that isnt quite as full. Maybe 3 days of work and 2 days of photography that can be combined with long weekends. Now that sounds like a compromise I like.

Well, enjoy some of Espen Rekdals images here:
http://www.espenrekdal.com