I believe many colleagues would share the same feeling of incredibility when for the first time they realise that capturing people’s memories can be a career…and soon after comes the realisation that you’ll never work a forty hour week again, it’s at least a minimum of sixty! Then there’s the difficult task of dividing your personal life from your work one. I still at times feel there is imbalance, but have learnt over the years that the intertwining of the two can often benefit both me and my family.
Along with this, having the opportunity to share this passion with others who feel as strongly as I do about this art, is another step to the path of “am I really doing this” “pinch me because I must be dreaming”. It’s not necessarily something one must work towards, but it’s an incredible privilege to know that someone, somewhere has been inspired by something of yours, enough to make an investment with their time and finances, to learn a little more about what you do and why you do it. The opportunity to help them avoid mistakes I’ve made myself and gain the much needed confidence to run a successful business and be paid for their time, which you soon come to realise gets more and more precious.
We each have our own why’s and sometimes in the search of it, we need a little reassurance that what we are on the right path…funnily enough there is no right or wrong way, nor is there a final destination; is there such a thing as the perfect photo? It’s a journey made from many experiences, each one contributing to it in one way or another, leading you in different directions which must all be embraced. Those same experiences which make us who we are, the person behind the camera; the heart and soul in our images. I’ve honestly learnt right alongside my own pupils at every single workshop/mentoring, the boundaries to what we do are endless and being that we all carry such different energies, the environment created at each one is unique, moulded to those present.
Technique, lighting, safety and all the aspects that go into photography are so very important, but if I could suggest just one to spend a little more time on, that might just help you see the light or open that door, it’s intention. The intention behind why you click that shutter.
Thank you to all those who have in the last few years trusted me to be a part of their journey, helping me on my own…here’s a little of what I and the girls from the Sunny Coast workshop got up to.
