Recently, while speaking with one of our business partners, he told me his mentor “never turned the camera on unless he was being paid”. WOW! This statement made me really stop and think. How was this photographer supposed to grow in the art and skill of photography if he never turns his camera on unless he was being paid.
Take a minute and think about the above statement.
How many of you shoot just to shoot? Or have you become stuck in a rut and are only turning your camera on when you are paid to? It’s any easy rut to fall into.
Think back to when you first found your love for photography. You loved it so much that you would photograph for free! In doing so, you honed your skills, developed a style, created a following and attracted clients! How exciting!
So now, you are photographing for dollars and running a business but you may feel you have lost your love for photography. This is one of the many reasons shooting for yourself is important.
Making time to go out and shoot for yourself keeps you refreshed, rejuvenated, and inspired. It provides you a time to try new things. Experiment. Grow. Be more creative. It allows your heart to sing.
Look at your calendar. Schedule 30 minutes a week to step away from the computer, grab your camera, and go. See what you can capture, bring to life, and create. You will be surprised at how much you will grow in your photography.
In regards to the second portion of this post, sharing your images, is important too. Don’t just let the images you created on your ‘me shoot’ sit on the card or on your hard drive. Share them with the world!
Post them on Facebook. Add a Fine Art section to your website. Blog about your ‘me shoot’. Talk about what inspired you to photograph that image. Tell your audience why you love the image. Let them tell you why they love your image.
Sharing your ‘me shoot images’ or your fine art images with the world lends credibility to your photography. People will begin to see you as an artist and not just a photographer, which is a positive! ‘Artists’ appear to have more respect and they are able to charge a little more for their visions. Sharing your fine art images will also help to distinguish you from the crowd!
So grab your calendar for the next 12 months. Schedule yourself “off time” every week to shoot for yourself! You will love it!
Thank you to Elise Ellis of Elise Ellis Photography for allowing us to use her images in this post.
