This week was extremely busy for me, both personally and photographically. And all week in the back of my mind I knew I was going to blog about it. But after the photos had been edited, I sat down to write and drew a blank. I knew I had the photos I wanted to share, but the words just weren't coming. I took a break, read other blogs and still couldn't come up with anything to write about. That was interesting atleast. And all the while I kept thinking to myself, where does everyone else find these great ideas. And then it hit me, they don't "find" them. They make them. And while it may have been the result of some other inspiration, they made their own path. And it was at that realization, that I knew what I was going to write about.
Making my own path.
In the beginning of my photography career (think last July) everyone always told me to find my niche, find my niche, find my niche. But at the same time, everyone was telling me to try everything. Try this, try that, try this new product. And it got quite confusing at times. And being the 20 year old hot shot I thought I was, the last thing I had was patience. I wanted to be famous, like yesterday. I wanted my big break to be, like yesterday. Unfortunately, that all takes time.
I listened to an interesting interview today based soley on making your own big break. (Or a series of several little small breaks) And it hit me, I had come quite a long way in just a few short months. But those of you who know me, know that I am never satisfied. I always want something bigger, better, shinier, or in this case, more successful. And this interview really inspired me to stop waiting for someone to come to me with a big break. But to make it happen for myself.
Last week I talked about my love for natural light. And I also mentioned the fact that I have always dreamt of being a commercial fashion photographer, but always shyed away, simply because I love shooting natural light and lets face it, most commercial photographs are lit with lights that could light up a small town in Africa. And then it hit me. Why can't I shoot commercial photographs that are naturally lit. Could that be my niche? A natural light commercial photographer? Sure, you could argue that some commercial lifestyle photographers shoot natural light. And you would be right, but the majority of those shoot primarily with large studio strobes. It was that realization, coupled with the mindset of creating my own big break that lead me to this blog post. And to the notion that in order to be successful, you have to make you're own path. Making your own path is never going to be easy. Its going to be way more work than if you were just traveling down the same path everyone else was. The one where the grass has been matted down from the hundreds of those who have travelled down that same path before you. The one in which all the bryer patches had already been pulled. But, the reward from making your own path, and then looking back and saying, "I did that", is a far greater feeling than the alternative. And this doesn't just relate to photography. But to any career, and to life in general.
I'm going to work hard these next few weeks, and hopefully I will have something to show for it. I'm about to make my own big break.
Ok, enough of my rambling. On to my busy busy week.
We had a group of students visit this week from Stellenbosch University, or Uni, as they referred to it. I always enjoy getting to know people from a culture different than mine. And South Africa is one of those places I've always wanted to go. So it was a natural that I was extremely excited. Although I didn't get to spend as much time with them as I would have liked, due to the whole school/work thing, I was able to get to know the students pretty well. It was an absolute delight having them here, listening to their stories, sharing some of our own, and just looking at things from a different perspective.
Once we all got a little more comfortable with each other, well, thats when I pulled out the camera.
The first night I was really able to bond with the group we went to Mary Mac's Tea Room in mid-town. In order to give our visitors a true southern experience we thought it was fitting. And being from the south, I was introduced to a whole different level of southern food. We started with pot likker and cornbread. A definite first for me.
Making my own path.
In the beginning of my photography career (think last July) everyone always told me to find my niche, find my niche, find my niche. But at the same time, everyone was telling me to try everything. Try this, try that, try this new product. And it got quite confusing at times. And being the 20 year old hot shot I thought I was, the last thing I had was patience. I wanted to be famous, like yesterday. I wanted my big break to be, like yesterday. Unfortunately, that all takes time.
I listened to an interesting interview today based soley on making your own big break. (Or a series of several little small breaks) And it hit me, I had come quite a long way in just a few short months. But those of you who know me, know that I am never satisfied. I always want something bigger, better, shinier, or in this case, more successful. And this interview really inspired me to stop waiting for someone to come to me with a big break. But to make it happen for myself.
Last week I talked about my love for natural light. And I also mentioned the fact that I have always dreamt of being a commercial fashion photographer, but always shyed away, simply because I love shooting natural light and lets face it, most commercial photographs are lit with lights that could light up a small town in Africa. And then it hit me. Why can't I shoot commercial photographs that are naturally lit. Could that be my niche? A natural light commercial photographer? Sure, you could argue that some commercial lifestyle photographers shoot natural light. And you would be right, but the majority of those shoot primarily with large studio strobes. It was that realization, coupled with the mindset of creating my own big break that lead me to this blog post. And to the notion that in order to be successful, you have to make you're own path. Making your own path is never going to be easy. Its going to be way more work than if you were just traveling down the same path everyone else was. The one where the grass has been matted down from the hundreds of those who have travelled down that same path before you. The one in which all the bryer patches had already been pulled. But, the reward from making your own path, and then looking back and saying, "I did that", is a far greater feeling than the alternative. And this doesn't just relate to photography. But to any career, and to life in general.
I'm going to work hard these next few weeks, and hopefully I will have something to show for it. I'm about to make my own big break.
Ok, enough of my rambling. On to my busy busy week.
We had a group of students visit this week from Stellenbosch University, or Uni, as they referred to it. I always enjoy getting to know people from a culture different than mine. And South Africa is one of those places I've always wanted to go. So it was a natural that I was extremely excited. Although I didn't get to spend as much time with them as I would have liked, due to the whole school/work thing, I was able to get to know the students pretty well. It was an absolute delight having them here, listening to their stories, sharing some of our own, and just looking at things from a different perspective.
Once we all got a little more comfortable with each other, well, thats when I pulled out the camera.
The first night I was really able to bond with the group we went to Mary Mac's Tea Room in mid-town. In order to give our visitors a true southern experience we thought it was fitting. And being from the south, I was introduced to a whole different level of southern food. We started with pot likker and cornbread. A definite first for me.
In order to digest all that food properly, we were subjected to quite relaxing back rubs. Another first.
A couple of nights later we were all treated to another true southern tradition. A shrimp boil. Yet again, another first for me. At this rate I feel like I was one of the South Africans visiting for the first time.
After we all ate way too much we took a couple of group pictures and relaxed. And thats when the fun began. Each party began sharing stories and the laughs and smiles just came naturally after that.
And this one I like to call "PERFECT"I had a great time getting to know all of the students this week and hopefully this won't be the last time I see them!
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