Jason Jones Photography: Personal work - Keeping the spark alive.

Lido Key, near Sarasota Florida.

I am a worker. My dad taught me to work from an early age. Always rise early, work late, complete the job you were paid to do on time. Things he still tells me today. 30 some-odd years later, I rarely ever sleep in, I cant remember the last time I was in bed by 9pm and I work until the job is done.

The problem is - all work and no play makes me a dull fellow. I still love photography the same as when it was a hobby (despite the old saying "This job killed my hobby".), but it was rare that I got to do it for myself. Clients will always take precedence.

About 5 years ago, when my travel work really picked up, and I was literally travelling coast to coast. I knew this was a golden opportunity to do a couple of things, and instead of "burning out" like some people do on the road, I made some solid decisions about my career, life and leisure.

Make my family part of it. They routinely come with me when I travel. We homeschool our kids for this reason, and enjoy every minute of it!
Every destination, after the job is completed, I take a small slice of time to see something off the beaten path, soak in some local culture, or just sightsee for things I'll never find in Dallas.
I continue to have time blocked off solely for personal work. In my case, I absolutely love shooting dramatic landscapes. I do not pursue them as a business or as part of my income. They cost me a fortune sometimes (travel) to take, but are worth every penny in sanity, and relaxation. Sometimes this time is integral with a destination a client has flown me to, sometimes it is just a specific goal I have had. I roll with the opportunities as they come.

I've been extremely blessed to have a large network of friends and clients, who have taken my personal work into their publications, galleries, offices and other places to exhibit, and occasionally sell, solely because they believe in me, and what I am doing. I've never considered myself an artist in the sense of a painter or sculptor (and still don't), but in a world of creating things to other people's specifications, this is my "no rules" outlet. And I love it.

Below is some of my favorites of the many places that I have been able to travel, and take my family to enjoy with me. I may not be an Ansel Adams or Peter Lik, but if you'd like to spend 4 to 6 figures on a print, I'll forget all about that "not pursuing as a business" thing I mentioned earlier!

Be sure to follow my Instagram as well. It's regularly updated with a mix of personal work, behind the scenes photos, and general photography observations that would never make it to a portfolio site, or have a full blog post made about them.