Four years ago, I taught my first personal workshop. It was a day full of nerves, but I encountered some of the most amazing people in the process. Since then, I've met hundreds of photographers through these workshops and I've been blown away by their progress.
So many people have gone on to do amazing things and I'll be highlighting a few of them in the upcoming months. At my June 2012 Workshop, I met Mark Potter. Just over a year ago, he decided to become a wedding photographer and has since grown by leaps and bounds. He and his wife Allison are shaking things up in North Carolina…and he offered to share what he learned from The Workshop.
About a year ago, the thought of creating a successful wedding photography business was merely a distant daydream. After all, I shot in auto, knew little about weddings, and had no idea what it took to start or run a business. But, I wanted it more than anything and in my search for knowledge I stumbled across the Jasmine Star Blog. Like many of you, I related to j*'s story as if it was written for me and she sparked an inspiration within that started my journey. Now, at the end of my first year in business, I find myself reflecting on the top three factors that helped me to grow as a photographer.
Attitude:
I discovered early that attitude is everything. Like most things in life, I tend to learn the hard way. There were times I was harshly unfair and critical of myself. There were moments that I viewed my work and ability so negatively that I felt like giving up. But I wanted photography bad enough that I soon realized I needed a healthy outlook. One that was free from self-criticism and centered on perseverance and tenacity. I began to celebrate the small wins, and I chose to keep the big picture in mind – developing over time into the photographer I wanted to be. I'm a work in progress, but I now understand the importance of attitude to growth. Immerse Yourself:
I've always been the type of guy to dive in the deep end, especially when I'm passionate about something. So, I completely immersed myself in everything photography related. I read books, scoured hundreds of blogs, analyzed photos and developed an eye for detail, photographed my wife, my dog, friends, visited photography forums, and reached out to others for help. I taught myself to shoot in manual and began to understand my camera and the settings that worked for me. A little over twelve months ago, I didn't know what ISO was and as a result I shot a friends engagement session at ISO 1000, in broad daylight. I knew my photos didn't look the way I wanted them to, but I also knew that if I continued to push myself and take every opportunity to learn, that I would see progress.
Finding You:
Knowing your camera is vital, but it's the beginning. I reached the point where I was happy with my photos from a technical perspective, but they lacked the ‘feeling' I wanted to evoke. Simply put, I was shooting without a sense of style or brand. I began to understand that I lacked a vision for my work and sought to define how I wanted my work to look. This wasn't an easy process and it took time to develop. But by shooting as much as possible, then reflecting on the results, I began to slowly piece together what my style was – and when my results didn't reflect what I was going for, this was just as powerful, and in hindsight it probably taught me more. It's mind blowing to come full circle and have the opportunity to write a guest post on Jasmine's blog. I feel incredibly thankful to have this chance to share with others. It's my hope that maybe I've helped just one person to take a step closer to beginning their journey.
