Not All For Money, Not All For Love

I just came back from a wedding dinner shoot, my last photo assignment for the month and year.

December has been a crazy month, keeping me busy with 7 shoots. Fortunately for me, I only have one shoot scheduled for January - for now.

December also sees the launch of my music album, ROCK ON PIANO. This album has eluded me in CD shops: I have no idea which category they classify this under: new age, rock or pop. Either the album is selling so well or the shops are shelving them in some obscure corner.

Just found out that one of my videographer affiliates will be retiring from freelancing videography due to career commitments. He decided to call it quits because he did not have the confidence of doing videography full-time.

Sometimes, I wonder, all the time and energy I spent on doing photography or music. What is it for? I'd be fooling myself if I say it's all a labour of love, but I'd also be lying if I say it's all about money, because, I really love what I am doing. In my last music assignment, I only charged $1000 to arrange 13 minus-one tracks. Yes it's below market-price because the album is for a school fund-raising. But then all the hours I spent on them made me wonder: is it worth it?

I think it'll be quite accurate to say that I am merely want some form of compensation for the time I spent, away from my family, on my hobbies.

Given a choice, I would not be too bothered with making every cent count. But with the arrival of my first child this year, I am no longer in capacity to indulge in personal enjoyment. Over the months, I have come to terms about shifting my priorities. I have got to devote more time with my family, unless there are financially-compelling reasons otherwise. In other words, the time I spent away from my family should be for increasing family income.

Put it bluntly, if I don't get much money out of the job, I would rather spend time with family.

That's probably going to be my mindset for 2008, until I encounter further changes to my life.

So, sorry, no more charity or free requests. I think I'll be happier spending time with family. Life is not all about money, but at least pay me enough to make me spend time away from my loved ones, ya.