My aunt, who is an AMAZING professional photographer (karenhalbert photography) sent me this quote a couple of days ago, and it spoke to my soul:
“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”
― Ira Glass
I never knew just HOW MUCH goes into being a good photographer! Seems like the more I learn, the dumber I feel (seems that's the case for me with most things in life).
My sweet friend, Carmella, did me a huge favor yesterday and let me practice on her and her 2 boys. Despite my technical errors I kicked myself for when I got home and viewed the photos on the computer, I learned a lot, and we had SO much fun! We also stumbled upon a photographer's heaven, and I still can't believe it's only a mile down the street from me!
From May of last year until November, I gave up photography. I got frustrated and felt like I could never be good enough. I constantly compared my work to others,' and that made it even worse.
I honestly can't remember what my turning point was, but a switch flipped in my head. When I'm not at work, I basically eat, sleep and breathe photography. I read about it, look at pro photos, edit my photos, browse Pinterest for inspiration... the list goes on and on.
ALL of what I'm feeling now is described in that quote at the beginning of this post. But at least I know I'm not alone.
Lord, I will do my best to cultivate this skill you have blessed me with. May I never forget the beauty I capture is not by my own hand but from You, and only You.
~Robin Renee
