job Archives – Michael is Amazing

Should Creatives Sellout? Moving Past the Starving Artist Romanticism

Is there a more romanticised scene than that of the “starving artist” persona? The struggling artist who moved to the big city with hopes of making it big. Whether the painter in Paris or the actor in Los Angeles, there is an idealised view of these creatives and their lifestyle whilst striving to prove themselves to the community of artists and the wider public. Cries of “sellout” abound when that same artist receives not just a level of success, but more importantly payment in return for that success. So, should creatives sellout? Let us look past the romanticism of the “starving artist” role and see.

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My Photography Journey: From Amateur to Hopeful Professional

It has been a long time since I first picked up a camera and it has been quite the journey. From point and shoots to DSLRs and now mirrorless cameras, my passion for photography began in earnest in my university undergraduate days, although I did not realise it at the time. Now I am taking my first steps as a professional photographer and earning money from what once was a hobby. Here is my photography journey so far, from amateur to hopeful professional.

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When does a hobby become something more? A look at trying to become a professional photographer

There are some lucky people out there. Lucky people who have a day job which is something they truly enjoy and fulfils them. For the rest of us, that is but a dream. I think most of us have had thoughts about turning a hobby into a stream of income. Perhaps even had lofty goals of this income replacing our day jobs. To be able to do something that we wake up excited to do every day would be bliss. But at what point does a hobby become something more? Here is a look at my thoughts about this and trying to become a professional photographer.

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My experiences with interviews and tips to answer 4 basic questions you almost always get

I have some interview tips for you today, although my own interview experience has not always been brilliant. For the most part, my stories involving interviews are tales of woe. I’m am known to be bad at interviews! Even with confidence before going in I still suddenly have issues when answering questions. A change in the tone or pitch of my voice or abrupt memory loss is a common problem I have. Luckily it isn’t normally an issue that goes past the first interview question once I’ve settled in.

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5 tips to overcome your fear of failure

When talking about goals, about dreams, and about life, it is easy to feel a bit daunted. It is often viewed as easy to give up on a goal in favour of maintaining the status quo simply because we worry about the cost of failure. Over our life, this worry slowly develops into a fear. Partly due to it being normalised in our society to fear failure, but also because we remember how it feels to fail.

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What does happiness mean to me?

Aside from being the title of a decent Amy MacDonald song (“What happiness means to me” – perhaps most notable for an excellent cover of “Dancing in the Dark” which follows on the same track) I do sometimes wonder what happiness means to me.

Happiness can come in short bursts, upon the completion of an act which brings it, or can be longer lasting, such as the happiness that comes from fulfilment. Some people call this second type of happiness “true happiness” although I would disagree with that to a point. We should take happiness in any place we can find it.

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Let me tell you why I am amazing.

It sounds presumptuous. Like my ego must have overflown from my oversized head filling the entire room with my conceited self-opinion. But it isn’t presumptuous, it is true.

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