It's a Saturday morning and I woke up with absolutely no idea what to blog about. Then, as often happens, I picked up "Dance first. Think Later." It's part of a series of books, at least four, by Kathryn and Ross Petras. (Click the cover on the right if you want to check them out.) These books, along with a variety of other authors help feed my brain something other than business, marketing and photography. Often it's the jump-start I need to get my day going in the right direction. Well, they never let me down and I found the perfect quote for where my head was going this morning: "If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate you are bound to wake up somebody." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow I always get a little retrospective on the weekends, and here's where that quote took me.
In college I decided I wanted to be a writer. I wrote an outrageously trite piece, probably while under the influence of some illegal substance. It was called "The Blues is Love"....I remember writing it while the stereo blasted, and the more I wrote, the more brilliant I saw myself. The next morning I tracked down an address for Alice Cooper and mailed it to him. That's right, no shortage of arrogance here - I was destined to be a songwriter, and I knew it. I never heard back from him, but I wasn't done. There was a great little subculture magazine out then called Evergreen - so I sent it to them and got my first rejection letter. Well, I gave up on the immediate quest, but I kept documenting my thoughts and knew I enjoyed writing. Sooner or later I knew I'd do something as a writer. Longfellow's quote this morning got me thinking about so many of you and the doors you keep knocking on. In turn, I thought of a couple of tips/reminders that might help you on your journey to becoming a great artist:
And, oh yeah, be patient! Yes, it's here twice. Just keep knocking on those doors. Stay current on your blog. Be consistently active in your community and let your passion show every day.
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The year is 2009 and I had just moved from California to Ohio. It was my first real winter in a lot of years and I remember thinking about whether or not I could handle good old ugly midwest winters. I never thought about how Molly the Wonder Dog would do. The bottom line was she loved it. It was better than chasing tennis balls in the sand at the beach and in the moment I got the shot above, I swear I could hear her laughing. The snow would stick to her fur and at sixty pounds, she'd pick up another five just in the snow stuck to her paws and face. So, while Molly loved it, Sheila and I gave it up in 2011. Moving to Sarasota and having sunshine almost every day all year long has had a dramatic impact on our life style and especially the number of times we smile each day. As always, there's a message on Throwback Thursday. Take a few minutes today and find a few older images. Think about the memories each image brings back and then remember the incredible trust every client has in your work and the responsibility you have to capture their memories. Happy Throwback! Over the years of blogging, I've noticed there are trends. While I don't mean to go through stretches with a lot of motivational "preachy" content, it's driven by what I hear or read from photographers either directly or in various forums. I've mentioned Melody Beattie's books a few times over the years. I try to hit one of her books at least 2-3 times a week, just to feed my soul with something other than photography. Ever notice how much fun it is when you get out to dinner with a friend who's NOT in our industry? You talk about other subjects and each time you grow a little. Well, feeding my brain with something other than our industry is the same thing. Here's what she wrote for July 7 which hit home: "Sometimes the Road Gets Rough" Don't be dismayed when you come to pothole, a detour, a stretch of rough and rocky road. Don't be surprised. Slow down a little. Be patient. It's not the whole journey. It's not the way it'll always be. But it is part of your journey, too, part of your journey to your heart and soul. Even when we're living with joy and freedom, we continue to learn, grow, feel, experience. And the road can still get rough. Happiness doesn't mean feeling gleeful all the time. Happiness doesn't mean the road we're traveling is always smooth. Happiness means feeling all we need to feel. And accepting each part of the journey, even the changes of course and direction." Here's how that translates.
Here's my closing point this morning. Remember that Algebra class you had to take in junior high or high school? I remember looking at the last chapter of the textbook on the first day of class and thinking how awful and hard the class was going to be. The truth is, by the time we got to that last chapter six months later, it was all understandable. Building a business as a photographer is no different, and there's plenty of help along the way. Stop worrying about how much you have to learn and give yourself a big pat on the back for how far you've come! Photo Credit: © antiksu I picked up a series of great little quote books a few months back. One of them is called "Don't forget to sing in the lifeboats" by Kathryn and Ross Petras. I opened it up for my own inspiration this morning and there was a quote that really hit home. "When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great bully, the world, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to find it comes off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the timid adventurers." Ralph Waldo Emerson I look back on so many different aspects of my own life where I spent so much time worrying about failing that I missed the beauty of the process. I, like so many of you, was a "timid adventurer". I hadn't yet learned to believe in myself or my dreams. The definition of success is very personal. We each have our own ever-changing priorities. Success is a moving target. You have to stay focused on your goals and aspirations. This post today isn't meant to suggest I have the answers, only to remind you that you do. Remember the scene in the Wizard of Oz where the Wizard is behind the curtain manipulating all the special effects to scare away Dorothy and the gang? Well, business and this industry are no different. Making mistakes is all part of the process and there are virtually no permanently fatal mistakes. That means you've got to experiment with your skill set along with your marketing and stop letting the "world" bully your dreams. It's time for so many of you to look behind the curtain! It's hardly a typical Sunday morning. We drove down to Naples, Florida to spend the weekend with friends and spend some time in a house right on the beach. As much time as I've spent on the water, I've never actually been in somebody's home that opens to the ocean. The last couple of days have been ponder-time at its very best, which is what being by the water has always done for me. Some of you like a walk in the woods; some of you just like a long quiet drive; others have a big over-stuffed chair that's your retreat. For me, it's simply by the ocean. One day by the water is the equivalent of 2-3 days down time, it's that therapeutic. Over the last couple days, I started fooling around with the LUMIX cameras I brought...just for the fun of it. It started with a spectacular sunset, and while I know it takes virtually no skill to take a great sunset shot, I found myself experimenting with all the enthusiasm of a kid with a new toy. I'm always preaching to you guys to do something different, experiment with your camera and get to know every aspect of the technology in your hands. I rarely practice what I preach, but remember, I'm not the working photographer here, you are. The sunset kept changing, including some strong vertical lines, as God put on his light show prior to July 4th. That got me thinking about shooting a vertical of the scene as a mother, and her two kids walked up the beach. My expertise and first love in photography is the business and marketing of it all, but I'll match my passion and respect for the craft against anybody. The luxury that I had just to take the time and play, without any firm intent of the results is what made it pure entertainment. As I played with the camera and saw the constantly changing results, it gave me time to ponder other projects I'm working on. I found myself thinking about things in my personal life. I spent time thinking about friendships like the ones that brought us here. Then, with all the humor and triteness of Monty Python's Meaning of Life, it was all just for the fun of it. However, at the core of so many things we do, it starts with great friendships. Our good buddy Andy, who invited us down in the first place and Sheila's life-long friend "Beaner" gave us an amazing couple of days. Friends don't have to see each other all the time to be top-shelf - it's the quality of the experiences you share that build on the relationship. Most important of all, everything we do doesn't have to have any deep, poignant meaning...sometimes it's just enough to appreciate the fun of it all. Wishing everybody a wonderful Sunday and wrap up to the July 4th weekend. Hug your family, cherish them and your friends and don't forget to make hugs last for eleven seconds! It's July 4th and probably one of the slowest days of the year for anybody with a blog. It's also a long holiday weekend and for many of you this is an opportunity to spend time with family, friends, kick back a little and ponder the meaning of life. This is a very short post today, mostly because I loved this long quote from philosopher, Alain de Botton and there's not a lot I can really add. "A lot of the time our ideas about what it would mean to live successfully are not our own. They're sucked in from other people. And we also suck in messages from everything from the television to advertising to marketing....We should focus on our ideas and make sure that we own them, that we're truly the authors if our own ambitions. Because it's bad enough not getting what you want, but it's worse to have an idea of what it is you want and find out at the end of the journey that it isn't, in fact, what you wanted all along." There it is, the perfect thought for so many of you who are chasing your dreams. The fun of chasing dreams comes out of all the experiences from the journey. Just make sure your destination is the choice of your heart and soul. As I've written before, you can't create images that tug at people's heartstrings if your own heart is somewhere else! Wishing everybody a wonderful July 4th weekend and time to relax, laugh a lot and spend time with the people you care most about. And, in those moments of time alone, think about your journey and make sure your dreams are truly your own. It was June of 1992 and Mike Bowen, Hasselblad's Sales Manager for New England talked us into white water rafting on the Penobscott River in Maine. It was an amazing trip, which through most of the day Mike managed to scare the crap out of me. We'd be headed towards some rapids and he'd lean in and say, "Hey Skip, this one's called the Widow Maker! I hope your life insurance is paid up!" I remember meeting our guide, a woman who couldn't have been more than 5' 3" and I was sure we were going to die on the river! The other boats had these big muscle-bound captains and we had this little woman. Well, I learned not to judge a book by it's cover or anything else for that matter. On one of the rapids we cleared the boat and she had us all back in, safe, sound and laughing in a matter of minutes. She was amazing! But the fun and the craziness of the day is only part of this Throwback Thursday. Mike passed away in 2010 after a valiant fight with brain cancer. He was only 56 and there are so many times throughout the year when something triggers a memory and a past moment with Mike.
Today's post isn't just a throwback moment, but a reminder to celebrate the lives of friends we've lost over the years. They're all watching over us at this very moment and it's those incredible memories that help keep them alive in our hearts. So, what are doing to celebrate Throwback Thursday? When was the last time you looked through those old images of yours and thought about all the stories that bubble to the surface - all thanks to being a photographer. What an amazing industry we're all a part of! Don Komarechka is no stranger. Since I first met him two years ago in a live chat from Panasonic's booth at PPE in New York, he's become a great friend. He wrote a terrific guest post a while back and we've talked on the phone a number of times.
I know how good he is, but had no idea how much information he'd share in this new Google+ Hangout with Rich Harrington and me yesterday. Don has completely opened his heart and his "archives", sharing information about publishing, special projects and defining your passions. It's a terrific episode. Just click on the banner to listen to it directly. |
Our Partners"Why?"Check out "Why?" one of the most popular features on the SCU Blog. It's a very simple concept - one image, one artist and one short sound bite. Each artist shares what makes the image one of their most favorite. We're over 100 artists featured since the project started. Click on the link above and you can scroll through all of the episodes to date.
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