Picture me Confident

I read somewhere once that we often compare our private selves to the public selves of others. Meaning we compare our first-thing-in-the-morning-no-makeup-fat-day-PMS-awkward-moment-selves, to the madeup-showered-best-fitting-outfit-perfumed-clean shaven- life-of-the-party-selves of others. Which is really just not fair. And it leads to shattered self esteem.

Lately I have been having this problem with my photography.

I have a bad habit of comparing my work to that of great photographers that have years and years of experience, training, passion, travels, self-exploration, and practice.
And I sometimes forget that I am only in my second year with a good camera, and also only my second year with bad exposures, failed poses, forgotten flashes, and post editing flops.

But its not fair to me to compare myself in this way. I can look at my photography across the past couple years and already see an amazing improvement, so I try to keep in mind where I will be in 10 years.

And I really started thinking, What is it that keeps me from feeling like I am good as these guys?

I like my style. I know I have an eye for taking good pictures in the right moment. But something just isn't quite making it for me. I am not at the level that I want to be at. There is something that separates me from the best.

So I started really looking at one photographer's work. I chose Doug Loneman. (take a look at his stuff and you will see what I am talking about, about it being one (or a few) steps above mine....I think his studio blog is easier to access than his main site, at least on my computer)

And the reason that I chose him is because he works with people. And that is all I really want to work with, I'm just terrible at shooting non people subjects because they do not excite me as much, and I think that really shows in the finished product.

His photographs are beautiful. Magazine quality, beautiful color pallets, amazing composition. I can picture muself taking the same picture but it not turning out quite as well.
Then I realized where the flaw in my thinking was.
I am comparing my raw, unedited photos, (because I do almost no editing) to his highly edited, polished and finished photos. No wonder I am coming up short.

Upon closer looks, I can now see the edits in every picture. I can spot vignetting, color fades, contrast increases, etc.

And it makes me realize, THIS is my next step in my business. THIS is what is going to make me say proudly, "Yes, this is how much I charge, and I will deliver and not disappoint you." Because I want to make a great living, but I also want to continue to impress my clients and peers. So I have uped the anty.

Because after really thinking on it, I realized it was my lack of knowledge for post editing (like Photoshop) and lack of kowledge when it comes to using my fill flash. So I have decided that the next investment in my business is to take a Photoshop course, and take lessons with my flash.

So try to do this in an area of your life. What do you want to be better at? Why? Then choose someone who excels at what you want to be great at, and really think about why they do.

Identifying flaws. Identifying solutions. Goal setting. It just makes ya feel better:)