There are so many of us landscape photographers that try or have a some kind of balance in our relationships. Some of us are gone for long periods of time or gone for just a few days but quite frequently. Many of us may feel we dont’ have the time because the important balance in life is spending time with the ones we love the most. Some of us have that special someone that doesn’t mind us leaving without notice and reappearing at random times but some of us might not have it so lucky. I have been in and out of few relationships during my love for landscape photography and in each relationship the constant leaving was dealt with in different ways. I found landscape photography before I found the right person for me and I was always curious to how I could make both work for me.
In the past I was a weekend warrior type of photographer and my luck wasn’t the greatest when I tried to balance the two loves. One love always seemed to be a little heavier so my big fat camera unbalanced the scale a little too much. Now life has changed since weekend warrior days and I can arrange my scedule so I can see Christina during here time off of work, eventullay when we have kids I’ll have to make some more changes to balance out the scale when the time comes. I shoot locally more often and focus on California as a long term project for myself which keeps me closer to home and helps balance my time away.
Some of you might be interested in how another professional deals with the same topic. A few years ago I had a conversionation with Marc Muench and he was nice enough to share his own personal experiences. He likes to spend at least 4 days because it is enough time for him to be able to get into his flow and come back with some great shots. If he needs to be gone longer it’s usually a week or maybe 10 days and other projects can keep him away even longer so the numbers were more of advice to me. His wife and 3 kids love to go on trips but if he tries to mix in the photography he realizes he wants to shoot longer and the family doesn’t grow fonder of waiting longer. Maybe everyone has their own certain amount of time they like to have while gone in the field?
I’m no Dr. Phil but I do know all relationships are different and there is no magic recipe for them so finding balance is key.
Website: Portfolio
Workshop info: Scenic Photo Workshops
Private or small group workshop info: Learn.
Steve’s Photo Tips and How To Page
Steve’s Landscape Photographer Tools Page
Steve Sieren's Blog 