The other day I came across a quote by Ira Glass, the famous host of the radio program This American Life. Although I haven't listened to that broadcast more than one time, I know that Glass has had tremendous success and is well known as an epic storyteller. Something he said in a series of talks about how to be a good storyteller really resonated with me from a photography standpoint.
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
You see, I put so much pressure on myself to be perfect. I know my potential but I don't feel close to meeting it yet. I look around and see so many people who are better photographers. I see all the equipment I would like to have but can't afford. I see the mistakes I've made and the things I would like to learn. My husband and I were talking the other day about a principle that has challenged me. That is simply this: reach for excellence, not perfection. Perfection will never be attainable. Excellence, however, is always within grasp. Excellence means doing my best with what I have. I take the equipment I have, the time I have, the training I have, the experience I have, and the knowledge I have and I use them to create something I can be proud of. Because excellence is attainable, I have no excuses for letting fear hold me back.
Ever since I took my initial photography class, there has been one thing that has scared me in the realm of photography: light. Isn't that funny? Something as simple as light can be so scary. Any photographer knows the lighting in a photograph has the potential to make it either horrible, mediocre, or incredible. It can make or break a photo. For that reason, for a long time I tried to play it safe when it came to light. But then something happened that challenged that fear.
In the past year since delving into photography, I have been hired to do somewhere between 20-25 photo shoots. These have ranged from birthday parties, weddings, family photos at a retirement home, real estate photos, and just general portraits. I've enjoyed most of these experiences, but discovered that one of my very favorite things is photographing babies. I'm not sure why, but it is. But here's the thing with babies: you can't take them outside for an hour in the heat of summer or the cold of winter to do an outdoor photo shoot. The natural remedy to this predicament is to do photos indoors. But indoors typically means bad lighting. That means light must be added. Flash photography is something some photographers avoid at all costs. Natural light purists want nothing to do with it. Now don't get me wrong: some amazing things can be accomplished with natural light. I know photographers who won't use anything else and they product amazing work. But there is a difference between avoiding strobes because you don't like the style, and avoiding them because you are afraid of them. My hesitance, I have to admit, was because of the latter.
But rather than allowing that fear to get me down, I plunged in headfirst to explore the realm of Strobist beauty. And I'm glad I did because I have found that I actually LOVE lighting with strobes and get extremely excited over the potential I see. The possibilities are endless and practicing is fun.
David Hobby, the founder of the popular Strobist movement, said something on his blog that hit me like a freight train when I read it. He said:
...light is a tool. You have to know how to use it and how to make it when you need to. So do not fall for the "putting-yourself-on-the-available-light-pedestal" excuse. You can always choose to use available light when you know how to use flash.
Heck, it is always available.
So drop the excuse and learn your craft.
Photography may always be scary to me. I may always get nervous before a photo shoot. It may take me years to comfortably refer to myself as a photographer. But the best successes often start from humble beginnings. And there's no shame in that.
