The longer I do this, the more I realize how easy it can be to get sucked into the frame of mind that we, as photographers, must compete. Like we have to constantly "one up" each other. Instead of it being about our art, it is about whether or not other photographers validate our work.
I feel like an anomaly to have friends and acquaintances in the business that are super helpful and inspiring. But, I am not the norm.
It seems like everyone is so damn worried about how much "So and So" is charging, if "So and So's Photography" is original in their work or copied from someone else, even down to "stealing likes" (SO ridiculous, if you are a photographer, please feel free to comment on my work from your business page. I have enough faith in the originality of my work that I am pleased to share my "likes"- wow, I can barely write that without an eye roll at how ridiculous it sounds to even address.)
I'll admit, there have been times when I have to stop and think about what the big deal is. Should I care? Am I missing something here? Can't we all just get along? (I imagine the big banner in my middle school lunch room when ever I say that out loud... totally off topic but amusing to me. Bare with me, I have a point here...)
Then I take inventory. Not of what everyone else is doing, but what I have done and how far I have come. I feel like I learn more and more with each session. It has taken two years to find what I enjoy photographing the most, to find "my style," which I would say is still evolving, to learn what I like and what my clients like. Every fan I have has either loved the work I have done for them or loved the work I have done for someone else. I earned them. And I appreciate every single post and comment- I read every single one!
I do this because it makes me feel good. It is a release. The hours in photoshop seem like minutes when I look at the clock at midnight and realize I haven't budged since I put my babies down. I do this because I want my clients to feel the same excitement when they see their photos in print. I want them to be in yearbook timelines, frames in nurseries, and old dusty albums 60 years from now. THAT is what my goals are. I want my work to mean something to the people who invest in it.
I began looking back at my work. Wow, I have come a long way! From old,over processed images to what is now emerging into something meaningful. I feel like it takes guts to display the timeline below of how far your work has come, but I am PROUD of it. I am proud of the progress I have made. Classes, workshops, and the kindness of my dear photog friends' critiques have made my work grow exponentially. From a cheap version of a photoshop program and a little "starter" Nikon, to learning my way through CS5 and the fifth member of the family,my Canon 5D, I get excited about the images that lie ahead of me :)
So, I just wanted to get this out. Your work stands on it's merit, and if you love what you do, it shows. It never stops evolving. You never stop learning. And thank God you don't, because how boring would that be?
