Photography can feel like one of those things that “everyone” is into these days. It can feel like such a struggle to stand out from the crowd and make a name for yourself.
However, if photography is a passion you really want to turn into a career, following these three tips can help you get to where you want to be and help distinguish you from the rest.
Get Serious
No more playing small. Get rid of the “struggling artist” mentality and focus on WHY people should invest in YOU. It’s not about your work, it’s about you and what makes you different from other photographers out there.
And I don’t mean the fact that you use Canon and other photographers use Nikon and that’s what makes you different.
I’m talking about what YOU bring to the table, how you work with and interact with clients and how they end up feeling after they’re done working with you. You are essentially what people are paying for, not your work.
Get a Mentor
Successful people value having a mentor, while unsuccessful people believe that they can do it all on their own.
Getting a mentor is a sure-fire way to up level your work and lead you on the fast-track to success. And when I say fast track, I mean – faster than people who are doing it by themselves.
A mentor who takes you under their wing will help teach you things they wish they knew when they were first starting out and will bring you along for the ride. You will get a chance to see what goes on behind the scenes of someone who is where you want to be eventually in your own career.
You’ll learn from their mistakes so that you don’t have to repeat them on your own journey to success.
Find the right mentor takes time, but once you do find someone you can click with and someone who inspires you to push yourself harder than you can push yourself – it will show up in your work.
Having a mentor is what will separate you from amateur photographers and will help you exponentially.
The key to finding a mentor is to surround yourself with people who are one level or several levels ahead of you in their photography careers. It might take some time and research but it is all worth it in the end.
Get Going
“Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.”
Don’t wait until you have the hottest camera on the market to start your photography career. It doesn’t matter how you start, just get it going.
If there is one fatal flaw creatives suffer from its perfectionism.
Here’s a word of advice: nothing will ever be perfect. Some things will be the complete opposite of what you had envisioned in your mind – and that’s okay. Seriously.
One of my favorite mentors, Dallas Travers, once said: Don’t be attached to the results, be committed to the journey.
Attachment means you are obsessed with it looking a certain way and being a certain way. And when things don’t turn out the way you had plan, it feels like a big blow you can’t recover from.
You don’t want that.
You want to be committed to the journey. How you get from point A to point B doesn’t matter. You’re open to all the possibilities and you’re willing to be creative and recognize all the opportunities that are disguised as setbacks.
And always, always keep in mind why you decided to follow this passion of yours and allow that to fuel your commitment to the journey.
– Shamia