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Eleanor Roosevelt incited us toward discovery with her now famous axiom “do one thing everyday that scares you.”  The thought of doing something scary everyday is probably more than my old nerves could handle, but doing things that are out of my comfort zone has proven very effective to my business, professional and personal growth.  As a relative newcomer to professional photography, and at such advanced years, it is more likely I would choose to stick with what I know and to wrap myself in the warm comfort of certainty.  But if I succumbed to what was certain my business and my career in photography would stagnate and likely my willingness to dare to be different would atrophy.

What I have found in my short professional career is that taking risks has proven to be short term pain for long term gain’.  I was contracted by an Ontario Ministry last year to shoot an event in Philadelphia.  Hmmm…..what if I make a muddle of it – and such a long way from home?  Well, then they won’t hire me again.  So they flew me to Philly, and as it turns out, I didn’t muddle it and was hired the following month to cover a summit meeting for the same organization. That led to a contract with another Ontario Ministry and from that engagement, an executive portrait sitting with a high ranking Ministry official who has significant influence throughout that Ministry.  You see where this is going.  Had I not signed on for that first scary shoot I would have missed several other lucrative business contracts and the promise of future work.  And my success in that first scary shoot made successive, similar projects less scary.

In late 2006, I was invited to join a group art exhibition whereby three female artists – a sculptor, a painter and a photographer (me) – were sent into a vast salvage yard to inspire a body of work for this exhibit.  I had never done an art show before.  What business did I even have thinking my work belonged in a gallery?  How would I deal with putting my work out there for all the art going public to look down their long noses at?  Well…nothing ventured, nothing gained. 

 

 

 

With very little concept of what was expected of me, I hung twelve pieces and sold several.  I have been invited back to exhibit again this year in a new show. 

I still enter into weddings and commercial assignments with great trepidation.  There is such an element of unknown and uncontrolled environments and my skills are not yet second nature.  Maybe that adrenaline is what motivates me to succeed.  But I wouldn’t think of turning down the job unless I was absolutely certain it was far and away beyond my skill potential.  Often the jobs are well out of my comfort zone and possibly beyond my skill level, but not my skill potential.  Perhaps this is the job that raises the bar on my skill level.  My risk taking has given me the confidence to go in and do – and to learn in the process.

There is another expression – “what won’t kill you will make you stronger”.  It has been my experience that the more I try; the more I’m compelled to try. Taking risks makes it easier to take more risks.  Even moderate success in this endeavour builds skill and confidence.  I believe it is crucial to personal and professional growth to continue to learn, practice, push, do and grow around the objects of our passion.  In our case the passion is photography.

 

 

 

The imperative is to do things we think we cannot do and through this experience be motivated to move along this continuum toward creative, personal and professional freedom.  And it keeps me young!