I Stalled For Two Years. Here Is What Pulled Me Out.
Never stop learning. I know that sounds like something you read on a motivational poster. But the connection between growing publicly and landing better clients is one of the most direct things I have experienced in my career.
I stalled for about two years in the middle of my career as a commercial photographer. Not because work dried up. Work was still coming in. I stalled because I saw the writing on the wall. Photography was changing and I was not keeping pace with it. That feeling sat heavy on me for a long time.
Some of my best automotive work has happened along this road and the collision of fall colors and sunset really make this work for Rivian stand out.
So I made a decision. As a kid I always wanted to be a writer. I loved storytelling. I loved words. What if instead of ignoring that, I leaned into it? Not instead of photography, but alongside it. I started writing. Consistently. Seriously. Like it actually mattered to my business, because eventually it would.
Eighteen to twenty months later something clicked. Photography and writing collided in a way I could not have planned. Together they became a tool I could not have accessed with just one skill alone. The combination opened doors that neither could open on its own.
Then Rivian came calling. Inbound through a PR agency. They needed someone to photograph the Groveland Outpost and the surrounding area, then take a five day road trip and write the story using those photos for a digital publication. That job existed because I had become a complete package. A photographer who could also write the narrative. Digital publications do not just want images. They want images with a story wrapped around them. Companies with blogs need both. Social media managers are starting to understand SEO and they need someone who gets the full picture.
This project was more than a road trip, it was an opportunity to push the vehicle both on and off the road.
The moment I stopped treating writing as a side skill and started treating it as core to what I do, everything shifted. The work got better. The briefs got more interesting. The clients who reached out were the ones who valued the full story, not just the photographs hanging in isolation.
Your job is not to be perfect at one thing. Your job is to stay curious and keep adding skills that make you more valuable to the people you actually want to work with. The photographers who are building sustainable careers right now are the ones who refused to stop at the edge of what they already knew.
Getting to do this project with my new puppy and girlfriend was a huge added bonus!
Now, Let’s Make This Article Helpful For You
Sit with these honestly. There are no right answers. Just use them to get unstuck. Grab a coffee, find a quiet spot, and give yourself fifteen minutes with these questions. Do not rush through them. The answers you avoid are usually the most important ones.
When did you last feel genuinely excited about a project? What made that project different from what you are working on now?
What skill have you been curious about but keep putting off because it feels outside your lane?
If a dream client called you tomorrow, would your current skill set be enough to land the job? If not, what is missing?
Are you marketing the work you want to be hired for, or the work you have always done?
What would you do with your career if you knew you could not fail at it?
Who in your industry is doing work that makes you jealous? What do they offer that you do not yet?
What did you love doing as a kid that you have completely abandoned as a professional?
This lesson comes from my ebook "The Adventure Photographer's Playbook" and it costs $10. Why so cheap? The goal is to help as many new to mid level photographers as possible go from nothing to getting booked in 18 months:
The Adventure Photographer’s Playbook is an e-book created by full-time photographer Dalton Johnson to help new photographers go from nothing to booked in the adventure photography space.
This adventure photography e-book goes over the business and what “making it” as a photographer in the outdoor space requires. Covering topics such as pricing, marketing, building a body of work, reflection questions, and everything you need to know to make a career out of adventure photography.
Updated: June 2025
