I am experiencing the lull that often happens in January. Now that I am entering my fourth year as a freelancer I am more comfortable with this lull and feel confident that things will pick back up. Fortunately I’ve had some editing projects for shoots I did at the end of the year, a few shoots in the past week, and some bookings for bigger projects in the upcoming months. Plus it’s been nice to have a little breather. (Too bad, though, that this annual lull happens to coincide with the crappiest Boston weather, as it’d be lovely to spend this time outdoors.) I’ve been able to do a some long-needed housekeeping on my computer, and gear storage and also start to flesh out some fun personal projects I hope to do this year. But it’s also given me some time to think about the biggest change that will be happening later this year: the birth of my first child.
My wife Kate and I found out in late November that she was pregnant. This was fantastic news. It had actually taken us some time to get pregnant, so it was wonderful and surreal to get the positive test result. We actually had started a blog last winter when we started trying to get pregnant. We certainly hadn’t anticipated it taking as long as it did, but writing this blog was a nice way of sharing what we were going through and keeping us upbeat about the whole situation. And we picked up a lot of readers experiencing similar trouble and it was nice to have that online community.
Anyways, so now with fatherhood in the forecast, it has made me think a lot about my life, my family and my work. I know that I will always be passionate about the work that I do, but come early August, I certainly imagine that that little baby will trump everything else in my life. At least I hope so. Even in watching these my wife through these early stages of pregnancy I am really understanding what a miracle this is.
So how will it change my work? I am not really sure yet. Certainly I am hoping to cram as much work as possible into the year leading up to the birth so that I can take some time off once the baby comes. But, like it or not, work will have to continue. I look forward to figuring out the right balance of work and family, and I am sure it will shift, but that is one of the benefits of working for myself. I have talked to other artistic people who have discussed how their work changed after having children. They’ve said that it made them see things differently and the new experiences (and more importantly watching their children have new experiences DAILY) gave them a different vision to their work. I imagine and hope that will be the case with me.
One thing I am sure of is that our child will get pretty comfortable very quickly with getting filmed or photographed. I can certainly imagine that this baby will have a well-documented childhood. Kate and I have already started to incorporate some video in our blog, including this video, which is probably one of the most emotional things I have ever shot (and at 6am mind you):
http://www.vimeo.com/7816787
I think that was an emotional video for all of us to watch – even those who only know you from afar (I know I was in TEARS and I’ve never even met you!!)
I think your work is only going to be strengthened by your growing family. I think you are going to be able to tap into new emotions and ideas. You will be inspired by the nuances, frustrations and joys that come from being a new parent. The best is certainly yet to come!!
Peace,
Sarah
Hi Benjamin,
Thanks for sharing. As a relatively young freelancer myself I sometimes consider how this and other major changes in life will affect the work I do, albeit many years down the road. Great to hear your perspective.
And that video is amazing! (I’m really impressed you were able to keep focus as well).
All the best,
Jake
Well I must say, it’s about time I found a decent site with good info on what I was looking for. Great job on the site and the post. Thanks
What lens did you use on this? I KEED I KEED. Thanks for sharing this and congratulations on your new life!