love is bigger

“I know how things happen. What I really liked was your response, no excuses, you messed up. People (including me ) mess up, but most want to rattle off excuses… your response was refreshing.  So, no worries, clean slate.”

Screwing up sucks. I don’t like to do it, and I try not to make a habit of it. That said, crap happens and sometimes I fail and fail hard. One of the things I’ve learned the last few years is to man up and take responsibility. I got this response from an email where I offered zero excuses and owned up to a mistake I made. Turns out, this really is the better way. I don’t share this to say “I’ve got it figured out!” but rather, I’m saying that even morons like me can grow when we let proper influence in.

I have a few rules swear by in life…

• Always claim a fart.
• To be better than everyone else, you have to work harder than everyone else.
• 90% of the time you get what you pay for.
• Never trust anyone selling a “10 steps to make you better at whatever” book
• There is no easy way to be excellent.

This last week, unbeknownst to me a fairly prominent former photographer (currently salesman and marketer) released a… thing… he refers to as The System. Essentially, it’s a 10-Step Guide to being a professional photographer… and it’s not a joke. Really, today was the first I heard of it, and I honestly thought it was a joke. To try and boil down the photography business to ten steps, first of all, is just lunacy. Especially when it’s from a guy who hasn’t picked up a camera in years.

Listen, I’m not going to write a big huge post here… but the thing that offended me most was that he actually advocated shooting in auto, or program modes. This is commonly referred to as “Spray and Pray,” as it refers to rapid firing off a bunch of shots and hoping for the best. People… this is stupid. There is no other way to say it.

I am so thankful that while I didn’t necessarily start off on the right foot, I was corrected very quickly when it comes to my approach to photography. I am so thankful that people came into my life that set me straight and told me that photography isn’t easy, and anything or anyone that claims it is should never be trusted. You have to work. You have to know your camera like the back of your hand. You have to invest time and money into your craft if you want to be the best.

The idea of not knowing your camera well enough to shoot in manual, or trusting a camera to nail the exposure rather than a human, is so foreign to me that the mere fact that someone would suggest this is a good way to go for new photographers makes me want to vomit. It’s vile. Everyone starts somewhere, I understand that, but you had better be taking the time to learn what you’re doing if you want to legitimately make money off your work.

Bottom line… potential clients: don’t hire photographers that don’t shoot manual. Ask to see their camera in the middle of a shoot, and if it’s not on M, fire them immediately and ask for your money back (or ask for an explanation, admittedly there are very few and far between times when I am in a program mode, but I always have a reason for it that never includes “spray and pray”). Photographers: learn your gear, there is no quick way to success… you have to work, you have to be open to critique, and you have to work. If you’re new in the business, seek advice from people who don’t give you shortcuts or easy ways out. Seek the truth, not the cream-pie version of how glamorous the job is.

I’m turning 31 this year.

And, I’m having the time of my life.

It’s possible I’m a late bloomer and many, many people younger than me have already figured out life to the point where I am now, but for me, I am LOVING the process of getting older, and yes… wiser. I’ve said it a million times, and I’ll say it again… the me I am today could not be farther apart than the me I was ten, even just five years ago. The amount of LIFE I’ve fit in that time is staggering.

Why enjoy aging so much? Well, the desire to please everyone around me, be at every social function, have more “friends” than I can count, stay up ridiculously late, sleep for way too long, and take everything for granted is fading. These days I look at each hour of the day as a gift, and I for one don’t want to spend one single minute more than what my body needs on sleep. These days I’d rather identify a small group of people who I want to allow to influence my life and build into those relationships, rather than countless acquaintances that in the end don’t matter much to my every day life.

Gaining discipline in one aspect of my life (healthy eating, exercise) has carried over to others. Well, to be honest it started with gaining any semblance of a work ethic. The day I realized that hard work is a virtue, everything started to change. That carried over to my health, and now it’s carrying over to everything

Long story short, while I appreciate everyone everywhere goes through life in phases, I for one am glad my twenties and the phase I was in during them is long gone. That’s not to say I think younger people need to grow up… far from it. Enjoy that time of your life, but be ready for the evolving process to strike, because hopefully it will =).

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about hustle.

Hustle of course, being work ethic, the desire to work harder than anyone else to be better than everyone else. Hustle meaning providing for my family in the most diverse and best ways that I can handle, without sacrificing my responsibilities as a husband and father. Hustle meaning the willingness to learn, practice, and continually get better at your craft, or just in general as a human being.

I’ve arrived at one, glaring fact that I just can’t seem to escape.

…I sure do wish I would have figured this out years ago.