The Sky's the Limit!

© Andy Dean

"There is only you and your camera. The limits in your photography are in yourself."
Ernst Haas

Earlier in the week, I posted the Ernst Haas quote above, and it's been on my mind ever since. There are a lot of you who just can't seem to get off the excuse train. You blame every shortcoming on something outside your control. In fact, in the search for success, you truly act as if your order for accomplishments is on backorder at Amazon.

​I don't want this to be a rant, but a wake-up call. My point is your only limits are the ones you keep putting in your head!

• "I wish I had better gear!" In a presentation at Skip's Summer School in 2011, Vincent Laforet talked about not having the right gear. "If you can't afford a longer lens, then move in closer!"
• "If only I had a great studio!" My most favorite image by Don Blair was of my Dad and me. It was taken in the Hasselblad booth during a convention! It's not the studio that's missing in your life, but understanding lighting and posing in your skill set.
• "I wish I had the time to do more marketing!" Guess what? For many of you, there will NEVER be enough time, but you've got knuckleheads like me and dozens of others all out here willing to help. Even better, you've got programs like Marathon's MAP which assigns a facilitator to you account and then helps you plan out marketing plans for an entire year!
• "Being a photographer isn't the only thing in my life!" Look, I get that, but missing opportunities for workshops, conventions, and online webinars because life got in the way isn't going to help you build your business. You're either in it and committed or not!
• "I'm a natural light specialist!" Bullsh**! You don't understand lighting. We all love natural light, but you have to take the time to learn to control your environment, rather than it controlling you. Take the time to put your fears aside and just learn lighting.
• "I have the same gear he/she does. Why don't my images look like that?" Years ago a photographer came up to us in the Hasselblad booth at a convention and asked us to "spec-out" everything Denis Reggie had for gear. He went and bought everything on the list and came back a year later, furious, because his images didn't look like anything Denis would have done. Well, he'd shot everything at f8 - 125th. It's not about the gear!
• "It's just me. I've got nobody to help me with this stuff." That might be the biggest cop-out of all. I'm not a fan of a lot of Facebook's policies, but I am a fan of the many different forums. Get yourself into the forums and take advantage of the community when you need help. Then there's your network - get active in your local guild or affiliate. Attend the meetings and work on building relationships.

I know I'm bordering on a rant, but the truth is, you're part of an amazing industry. I've written this so many times before...with the exception of modern medicine, no career field has given society more than photography. Every day photographers become magicians. They stop time, capture a memory and put intangible moments in people's hands to cherish for a lifetime!

Be proud to be the best artist you can be and let's stop making excuses.