Success? Maybe You’re Looking too Hard

I’m usually so cynical over just about everything Facebook does. From making me fight to prove my name really is “Skip” to their belief that every question can be answered in their Q&A, they manage to redefine “frustration” almost every day.

However…drum roll please…today I actually enjoyed one of their features. I opened FB to an anniversary notice sharing what I posted three years ago today.

The “we care about you” is stretching it a whole lot, but I do love the post they pulled, and it’s so relevant.

So many of you are still chasing success as if it was a competitor at a cross-country track meet, running just ahead of you. Then there are those of you who are just sitting and waiting. You’re shooting the same way every day and doing very little to expand your skills. You wake up every morning and run to the door looking to see if the Success Fairy left you a package overnight.

Here are a couple points to consider: 

• First, most of you haven’t taken the time to define what success means. In the beginning of my career it was all about money, but as I got older it morphed into being happy. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that your bank account isn’t part of the mix, just that it’s only an ingredient. The core of how I define success today is waking up every morning totally pumped, and loving what my “job” had evolved into.
• Second, success is a never-ending transformation of you, your work and how both are perceived. The foundation of success is in your skill set, and requires you to never slow down your education, building your skills and making your work the best it can be. It’s like cooking and requires relationship building, quality, diversity and never-ending patience as the main ingredients. It’s not something you look for, but something you work towards, and it’ll show up when you least expect it.

What I wrote and shared three years ago is just as relevant this morning as it was then.  

​After all these years in the photographic industry I’ve got an amazing collection of signed prints and posters.  One of my favorites is Steve McCurry’s Afghan Girl.  It’s an amazing image and long before I met Steve, I always thought of it as one of the most incredible portraits ever captured. 

If you know Steve or have heard him speak, nobody could be more down to earth.  His passion for photography is only topped by his humility.  The best part of the image is that we all know he wasn’t trying to create one of the most recognizable portraits in the history of photography.  It just happened – and, it happened on film, without any manipulation, major retouch work – nothing but a photographer who knew his craft.

So, as you photograph your next job, think about the traits that produced Afghan Girl.   Steve wasn’t trying to do anything except tell a story.  He understands photography cold, so his understanding of  lighting, exposure and composition were completely second nature.  He didn’t have hours in a studio to ponder how he would create one of the greatest portraits of all time.  

And that’s my biggest point – when you look for something too hard, it will continue to elude you.   Relax your vision and learn everything you can about photography, hang on to every dream and just keep shooting – your own version of Afghan Girl will be in your portfolio sooner or later!

“The starting point of great success and achievement has always been the same. It is for you to dream big dreams. There is nothing more important, and nothing that works faster than for you to cast off your own limitations than for you to begin dreaming and fantasizing about the wonderful things that you can become, have, and do. ”
Brian Tracy, Motivational Coach and Author

So,  relax! As good buddy Matthew Jordan Smith says, “Always Dream BIG” and don’t compromise!