Patrick Michael Chin

I love my gaming PC. It's so nerdy and unnecessary but I just have had a lot of fun getting back into gaming with friends ever since Covid. It's probably a tie between that and my vintage Fender Rhodes keyboard. Though I don't play it nearly as much as I should, it's my favorite instrument by far. I picked it up in college for cheap and now they're next to impossible to come by. My kids play it more than I do, which is why I set it back up in the first place.

I'm not great with having a solid routine and I struggle with pretty crippling ADHD so for me I have to get lucky to really find a creative groove. I can't just sit down and start being creative. Getting started is always what's hard for me. Typically if I'm wanting to work on something creative for myself it doesn't happen until really late at night. I get a lot more done when the world is all quieted down, so I'll stay up really late most nights and that's really the only time I feel like I can "strike gold" creatively.

I'm not a pro at this by any means but I do feel like my family and I have a great thing going. My wife is a full time mom to our three kids and when I'm not traveling for a shoot I'm working from home with them all, so I get lots of time at home with them. My office space is in our of our spare bedrooms. Then more often than not my family travels with me for work as well so we get to experience a lot of fun things together. I love our set up.

The flexibility of remote work far outweighs the cons for me, but I personally miss being around people. I often think it would benefit me to be a part of a co-working space or something if I can ever find one that's a good fit for me. I'm a people person - it's what I love most about the photoshoots themselves, but I do miss being around people in a more everyday way. That said, I don't think there's a way to overvalue the extra time I get in the day with my kids. So many hours I'd miss with them if I were in a 9-5 in an office plus a commute. I'm so thankful to be doing what I'm doing and that it allows me this level of freedom.