We Love Our Comfort Zones, but... Guest post by Suzette Allen

Suzette Allen is one of those photographers who's constantly paying attention to technology and looking for ways to raise the bar. In this guest post she hits hard on the reality of change. It's all around us and in the 150+ years of photography there have never been more creative tools for you to maximize your creativity. Survival is no longer about the most fit, but the most creative! Skip Cohen

We love our comfort zones, but if we don't change we miss out!

This applies to everything in life, actually, not just cameras! But this week I’m preparing to go on a road trip to explore a new camera. That means I have to give up my fav camera the LUMIX GH3, [my comfort zone] and learn a new one… new features, new button locations, new feel… Isn’t it silly how we want to stick with our comfort zones? We are just wired that way! Change is hard– Even POSITIVE change! (btw I still get to use the GH3, but gotta learn the GX7 too) yay….

So I decided to do a little digging and find out all about this new camera before I get my paws on it. I will have it in hand one week from today! Only 8 models exist in America–and the 8 of us Lumix Luminaries have the honor to give ‘em a whirl on an amazing cross-country road trip! How cool is that? [so why do I not want to change???]

Well, after reading up on all its features and stealth technology, I’m feeling a whole lot better about the whole deal! Like, I’m really excited to get to play with some new stuff– like NFC (near field communication) where you just TOUCH the camera to your android phone and it transfers!! OMG, is THAT cool! AND it will have the Panorama feature, Clear Retouch (in camera, no less!) and Stop Motion Animation! (btw: For transfer to iOS iPhones, it uses wifi & the Lumix link app!)

Well, I don’t want this to be a blatant rave session about the camera, (although I AM excited about it!) **the point I want to make is that education and knowledge are great tools to help us manage change**.

Learning about the camera made me WANT to change; not resist so much. Learning about a college may take the fear out of moving away and being on your own. Reading up about a city/area may help you adjust to relocation easier. Reading a bit of the bible may make you desire spiritual things more. Studying photography techniques will probably inspire you to break out of your usual box and try something new. Reading about what is possible in Photoshop makes the learning less overwhelming and a lot more appealing and worth the time to master. Reading about the stats and analytics of social media makes me want to change and spend more of my marketing efforts in that area…. we all need to change in many areas.

So, be easy on yourself and take the time to do a little research and learning and the transition (whatever it may be) will be a lot more fun! (and take less time too!)

So lets just read up, get geared up and tackle our journey with fresh inspiration! I feel better already!