Accepting Yourself

May 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Accepting Yourself

Now that you’ve accepted that you can’t change the past you are now left with yourself as you are.

You, right now, exactly as you are. You now know that you can’t go back in time and change things so you have to work with what you’ve got. I will not be revealing some miracle cure or product or getting weird and telling you to take up some sort of spiritual journey.

No, none of those.

But what I will say is that you will need to do something simple, something you may already do.

Accept yourself as a photographer.

Stop thinking about lenses, camera bodies, website SEO and client correspondence. Leave the Lightroom presets and Photoshop actions at the door, turn off the phone and stop stalking other photographers in your niche.

What I want you to do is step back and stop reaching for the stars for just a moment, hold off the obsessive compulsion towards order and image cataloging just for a moment.

Stop what your are doing, or, more likely, what you are stressing about.

Stop worrying.

Just accept your self as a photographer. As you are right now, not what you will be in 3 months, a year or 5 years.

All those things you haven’t done.

The clients you haven’t responded to.

The bills you haven’t payed.

The Facebook status update you had been crafting.

Just clear your mind of it and just accept who you are flaws and all. All the ugly bits, the emotions and the weaknesses are part of who you are.

The fear, the guilt, the inadequacy. It’s all a part of you and what I want you to do is accept that.

The reason I want you to do this isn’t so you can mope around for the rest of your life. It’s the opposite!

We are going to clear out all the cobwebs with full transparency and start a fresh with full disclosure of our true self.

The change will come later.

This is a pointless exercise I hear you say?

Not at all! It’s purpose is to simply acknowledge that we are complex individuals and all have our faults.

You and I are no better the the next human.

We are all a product of our experiences.

Nothing more.

But that means that you are, in fact, very complex.

You have a ocean of emotions and ideas. Values and beliefs. That’s one of the things that makes you great as a photographer! You are just you.

You may not ever be the world’s best photographer but you are certainly unique. That individuality alone is enough for you to start work everyday and try to do better than you did yesterday.

Once you have made the decision to try and make everyday better then the last then you are on the right track.

Don’t over think it just be alert and active in the way you tackle everyday and it’s unique problems. Everything may not go as planned but you can still be a winner in some small way. As long as you have accepted yourself you can accept others and deal with all the problems we face everyday.

Trust me I know how hard it can be as a photographer but once you start accepting yourself you will see the path more clearly and you will stop getting bogged down in the detail.

Think forwards, not backwards.

As long as you are doing the best you can do as a photographer at this current time and place then that is all that can be asked of you.

So stop beating yourself up and get on with it.

Have you accepted who you are as a photographer? Or are you like me and still have a lot of work to do?

Feel free to answer in the comments below.

Filed Under: For Photographers, Motivation Tagged With: , , ,

You Can’t Change The Past.

May 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment

you cant change the past 0001 You Cant Change The Past.

Humans are funny creatures. They’re full of faults and really good at making mistakes. Sometimes with some pretty dreadful consequences. A lot of the time these mistakes are not deliberate and have no malice.

Humans are great at losing their heads and not keeping their composure. That’s what makes us human. If people have ever treated you badly as a photographer, or as a human for that matter, it may not have been because they intended to. They may have been having a bad day or just acting up or being as naive as the rest of us.

Clients may treat you like dirt, art directors and picture editors may seem cruel and pick on you. You need to realize that this is not personal, it’s either business or because they just don’t know any better.

It is within your power to truly let go of these feelings of resentment, inadequacy and frustration. You can decide that every previous interaction good or bad that has happened to you has made you who you are today. They’ve moulded you into the very photographer that you are.

What’s more important than acknowledging all the things good and bad that have happened to you is how you deal with them. You could let all the anger from the bad things that have happened grow and swell inside you. You could let them dictate the way you feel and the way you conduct yourself on location or in the studio.

Have you ever met a resentful photographer? Or person for that matter.

It’s not pretty.

On the other hand have you ever met a photographer that only sees the positive in things and uses everything to their advantage? Let me tell you if you haven’t, it’s a wonder to behold.

Think about it. If you could line up all the shitty clients, all the editors that cropped your images or the kid that dropped your lens. What would you do? What could you do?

You could yell, shout and scream.

But there’s nothing on this world that could undo what they had done and put it right. They would agree that what’s happened, happened and there is no way to undo it.

Do not look back at what was, instead look forward at what can be.

Always move forwards.

What’s your motto? What creed do you live by? Do you use the past as a tool to move forward or do you let it bring you down?

Filed Under: For Photographers, Motivation, Photography Industry Tagged With: ,

Older Photographer Not Wiser Photographer

May 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

older photographer not wiser photographer 0001 Older Photographer Not Wiser Photographer

Within the photography industry there is a common misconception that the older the photographer the wiser the photographer.

In my experience this is untrue.

Unfortunately we continue to be just as bad at Photoshop or Lightroom, just as bad at changing lenses and just as bad at responding to emails.

Of course most of us learn form our experiences and avoid making the same mistakes over and over again, but when we round the corner there is a whole new set staring us in the face.

I’ve found the secret is to just accept this and not get down on yourself when you do make mistakes.

If you are like me and in the photography business because it is your passion as well as your career then the trick is going to be forgiving of yourself when you do make mistakes.

Acceptance.

You are an older photographer not necessarily a wiser photographer. When you are a young ambitious photographer ageing is something that seems to happen to old photographers. But I am here to tell you that it happens to everyone and you need to accept that as fact and move on.

Look at it like this, the older you are as a photographer the more fields of photography you have had a chance to make mistakes in. There are always going to be areas of photography waiting for you to make mistakes in, loose your cool or be completely overwhelmed by.

The more ambitious you are as a photographer the more you will have a chance to make mistakes but if you can be accepting and flexible those mistakes will be much easier to tolerate.

Being a wise photographer is not about avoiding mistakes, it’s about executing a job regardless of the issues faced.

As a photographer you need to be able to look back and see what’s gone wrong (clients, gear, weather) and have mechanisms in place that will allow you to deal with those moments.

The sooner you realize that everyone else is getting older and not necessarily wiser the quicker you can differentiate yourself and ultimately be the most cool, calm and collected photographer in your industry.

The more mistakes you make as both a person and as a photographer the less mistakes will be left for you to run into. I’ve heard many great photographers say that they completed their best work in their youth and the reason for this is that they were willing to make mistakes. Willing to reach for something big. Willing to dream.

Use your mistakes as fuel for the fire. You’ll adapt and you’ll improve. You are the only one that will benefit from your mistakes and the quicker you realize this the quicker you will start to truly succeed as a photographer.

Have you made mistakes? Let me know in the comments below.

 

Filed Under: For Photographers, Motivation, Photography Industry Tagged With: , ,

Keep It Secret.

May 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment

keep it a secret vscocam Keep It Secret.

I give out a lot of free information and insights on this blog and today marks the first day in a dramatic campaign of aggressive content marketing. Don’t be alarmed! All I mean by aggressive is regular and consistent and that I have your best interests at heart.

All of the content that I will be giving out is one hundred percent free and as such I want to ask you one favour: Keep it a secret. Keep your lips sealed. Take your finger off the social buttons and just read.

Sounds counter intuitive, right?

Well, in a way it is but what I’m after is genuine interest and people who are hardcore devotees, not the masses. So if you are going to go and share this and future posts please keep in mind that I’m looking for people like you, not a swarm of social butterflies.

What I will be letting you in on is the way I have generated large amounts of website traffic, gathered loyal fans across multiple social networks and booked clients both locally and abroad while all the time keeping a smile on my face and a spring in my step. This is for you and perhaps the other dedicated photographers you know but that’s it. It’s a secret, so let’s keep it that way.

In today’s world there are many options to share and discuss but for this to work I want a small community of like-minded professionals, not All of the Internet.

This is a blog and it’s not going anywhere, so let other people find it for themselves. I don’t know about you but I hate having information forced down my throat and anyone you tell about this will probably feel the same. Soon you will be a more enthusiastic and successful photographer and when people ask where this remarkable change has come from you can shrug and say ‘it’s nothing’. Tell them it’s a good coffee or a great exercise session, but under no circumstance are you allowed to them your secret.

Ok?

So please do me a favour and keep it a secret and don’t go blabbing to everyone about what you have discovered. Sure there will be a few people that must tweet, share or +1 it but all I want you to do is read, comment if you have a voice and subscribe if it resonates with you. No pressure and definitely no obligation.

There will be many more posts and they will come quickly so if you’re game come along for the ride.

What are your thoughts? Can you keep this a secret?

Filed Under: For Photographers, Motivation Tagged With: , , ,

Thank God It’s Friday!

May 10, 2012 By 2 Comments

thank god its friday 0010 Thank God Its Friday!thank god its friday 0014 Thank God Its Friday!thank god its friday 0013 Thank God Its Friday!thank god its friday 0022 Thank God Its Friday!thank god its friday 0023 Thank God Its Friday!

We got lucky this week with a bit of well deserved sunshine that makes you forget we are currently in winter. Even though the weather seems to have taken a dive we can still hope that the weekend will bring forth some more of the good stuff. Hope these images help you through the day! TGIF!

Filed Under: Personal Photography, Surf Tagged With: ,