Recently, I watched a two-day “Taking Care of Business” course that Tamara Lackey did on creativeLIVE. It was full of good information, but I especially appreciated what she had to say about branding for Photographers. My degree and my background are in Marketing/Advertising, and I dig that stuff in a geeky way, but even more so now that I have my own business. (Side note for photographers: creativeLIVE is a great resource for learning about photography, the business, Photoshop, you name it. Another course I thought was fantastic: Foundations of a Working Photographer with Zack Arias. The way that dude teaches is so perfect for the way my brain learns.)
Anyway, one concept (among many) that really hit home for me was to consider your gut instinct – or at least that’s how I interpreted it. I believe her quote was something like “If what you should do is A, then what is B?”
My entire life, I’ve worried too much about pleasing others, making sure everyone likes me – even if it means I’m not really even being me. Following the rules or traditions, even if it doesn’t necessarily make sense for my situation. But what I’ve found lately is that when I force myself (and it does take some force) to go with my gut, things almost always turn out surprisingly well. It’s not easy, but it’s incredibly rewarding.
I get more “likes” when I post something on my Facebook Page from my heart – even if I feel a little nervous putting it out in the world. (Like today’s status update, which prompted me to write this blog post.)
I create much more compelling photos when I shoot from my heart than when I’m trying to get a shot that I think my client wants.
Hmm…. I can’t think of another example to make it a perfect three, but you get my point, right?
No, I’m not going to start breaking all the rules in the name of “just being me” or anything crazy. I’ll save that for when I’m 84 years old. But I am going to try to give my thoughts, feelings, opinions, ideas a little more credit. ‘Cause apparently, they’re not half bad!
And since I can’t stand a post without an image…. Here’s me and my little Max (10 months old), captured by Leo, my three-year-old (after I got the settings in place and let him fire off about 50 completely random frames). It’s overexposed, poorly edited, out of focus, it has some motion blur (shot at 1/125 of a second in a toddler’s hands), Max has a dazed expression, I have zero makeup on, there’s baby drool running down Max’s chin and onto my thumb. And, jeez, the worst part of all, my hair could not possibly look any worse! Couldn’t I have at least re-adjusted the ponytail?
But…. back to Tamara’s advice…. what I should do (A) is delete the file, right? But what I would like to do (B) is post it online for the world to see. Because despite all those imperfections, I LOVE this image. Because it was a wonderful moment with both of my boys, in our own home. And because (in my opinion) you can see my “mama love” shining through all the rest of the mess.
Oh, and because I can’t get enough of that heavenly window light. :-)
