I was reading up on how to put transparent images into Autocad today (CAD is my day job) and there was an amazing quote on one page that I did not expect to read – which completely inspired this post – it said:
“If you truly don’t know yourself, don’t let others tell you it’s impossible.”
In an article for CAD - about transparency and images! I love the universe.
The fact is – there isn't really anything that you can’t figure out yourself with photography (or CAD… if you’re so inclined). Sure it might take you a while and a lot of practice – but if you apply yourself, do your research and learn with every photo, every film - you can do it. I've done it, I'm still doing it and I started with no knowledge at all – I just wanted to get pretty photos using a plastic toy camera.
If you’re dedicated then a journey usually happens around you without you realising… what was once challenging is now easy and you want more – more stimulation, more of a challenge, more variety and more results. And before you know it, you’re trying out new films, braving new cameras, travelling to new locations to broaden your horizon and get more and more photos.
Think about where you started with photography for a second – and now think about where you are now – how far have you come? Have you changed cameras perhaps? Have you learnt new skills you didn't know before? Maybe you've been taking photos for years or maybe for just a little while, but there will be progression, you will have learnt from some mistakes and gained confidence from your successes. Nothing is static about live – especially when you’re living a creative one. Sometimes it’s one step forward and two steps back – but you’re never standing still and as long as you keep learning, you will always keep moving forward.
If photography isn't your only hobby – then replace the relevant words above with your other hobby (my other hobbies are crochet and yoga) and take a moment to think about how far you've come with that as well – about what you've learnt and overcome. And you’ll start to realise that there isn't much that you can’t do, that you can’t learn with just a little dedication and persistence.
p.s. This post is dedicated to the 8 people who ticked the "More wordy posts about random things that take my fancy... cos why not?!" option on my survey because you all made me smile :)
p.p.s. If you want to tick this option too (cos why not?) - you can find the survey here!