Three years ago, when corona first broke out in Indonesia, almost all workers tried hard to keep their jobs. Economic instability has caused some companies to lay off workers. Finding work has become increasingly difficult. However, Shella Lodra actually went against the flow. He decided to leave the company that many people dream of and become a full-time photographer.
Initially, Shella had a dilemma. However, his love for photography turned out to be greater. If you remember, when she was in elementary school, Shella was diligent in bringing a camera to class and taking photos of her friends. Then, after he entered high school, he sharpened his knowledge by taking part in photography extracurriculars and when he entered college he was known as a specialist photographer. Since then, Shella has started to increase her flying hours by becoming a photographer at various campus events.
However, the graduate of Parahyangan Catholic University, Bandung, initially did not see photography as a potential business. It was only at the end of the lecture that Shella had the opportunity to cover big events, photograph her friends' businesses, and meet people who had the same interest in photography. From there, a graduation photo service vendor @grad_co was formed , which is now Shella's mainstay business.
Apart from that, this woman from Jakarta also runs a business through the Instagram account@shel.shot. There, Shella women are involved in the photography business for family photo shoots, events, pre-weddings, fashion products and still-life. To maximize promotions, Shella also uses advertising. He also uses TikTok as a means for personal branding. It seems that these efforts have had a big influence on the development of the number of Shella clients so far. Shella then began to realize that she could live off her income as a photographer when her average income was the same or even more than her income as an employee.
For three years, Shella's daily life as a photographer was filled with pre-production, production and post-production processes. When compared to how he felt when he was a Relationship Manager at a leading e-commerce company and now when he was a photographer, he is quite happy with the world he chose. Because through photography, Shella can work in her favorite field every day and feel what it's like to "work on your own". Even so, it cannot be denied that after doing it, he felt that every job has its own pluses and minuses. However, Shella said, when she does what she is passionate about, the negative things that appear become less dominant.
Despite Shella's satisfaction with her choice, the world of photography also holds its own challenges. For example, in photos of graduations, family events and birthdays, the challenge faced is speed and skill in capturing the moment that takes place. However, this type of photography holds interesting and impressive things for Shella because it has the opportunity to capture someone's precious moments. He also felt the feeling of happiness that radiated from his clients.
Then, other types of photography that have bigger challenges according to Shella are fashion photoshoots and product photoshoots. As a photographer, Shella must be able to take photos according to the agreed concept. However, this type of photo often brings special satisfaction to International Relations graduates because their work will be published online and offline.
For Shella, to start a job based on passion, apart from requiring great determination, it also requires strategy. If you want to pursue your passion full-time, it's best to start pursuing it while working full-time. However, don't let it interfere with your main work. Once the work you are passionate about has started to stabilize, then you can consider focusing on carrying it out. Based on his experience, this method is easier to implement. While you are still young, there is nothing wrong with exploring many things. Also, taking on challenges is a natural thing, as long as you remain responsible for the decisions you take.
From her profession, Shella now sees that the creative industry has very bright prospects. Because its existence is supported by social media where everyone has the same opportunity to promote themselves. Shella then said that one of the most important things in the creative world today is consistency. The more often someone uploads content on social media, the greater the opportunity for optimization on each platform.
So that's the story of Shella who is pursuing her dream with photography. How about you?