Do you consider yourself a successful photographer? Is that what you want to be? How do you even measure that? There are certain things that all top photographers have, whether amateur or professional. Canon R5 is not one of them.
While that’s something I’m stepping back from, I still shoot weddings from time to time. That’s because much of my work is training other photographers, which I’m more interested in. A few years ago, I had a stranger contact me, telling me I should let them be the second shooter for the wedding. They said I had to teach them how to be a wedding photographer. It is not a request but a need. I politely declined. Then they started making sarcastic comments about wedding photographers not helping them start their own photography business. I’m not sure if they understood the irony of their approach, they expected that I would teach them for free to compete with me. It’s perhaps no surprise that they never became a wedding photographer.
Around the same time, I had a young person taking a photography course I run, who told me their ambition was to start working in the photography industry. They worked hard during the seminars. Then I got a great email from them saying how much they appreciated everything they had learned. Therefore, I did my best to help them achieve their dreams, which they did and became very successful. Now they send work my way, and me theirs.
Sadly, some photographers think that success should be given to them on a plate, somehow they deserve it. They couldn’t be more wrong.
Success in photography can mean a lot to many people. For some, it can win prizes or awards. For others, it might be a simple pat on the back. It could also be making a living from their image. Or maybe it’s something that motivates them to get out of bed and not fall into despair. Maybe photography success for some is nothing more than creating something beautiful or captivating.
Something that has become a cliché in the world of small businesses is the phrase “I’m passionate about…” It’s been used so much that when I read it, it made me out of business. They rarely back it up with evidence that illustrates that passion. It shows that they lack authenticity, that they are not doing what they were put on this planet to do. However, true passion is something all successful photographers have. They believe in what they do, set themselves goals and then work hard and go the extra mile to achieve them.
That passion manifests in an optimism that endures failure. All successful people have in common that is in any field and not just photography. It is their ability to bounce back from failures and at the same time learn from mistakes that make them successful. They do not give up but persevere, despite the obstacles that stand in their way. That persistence is important because we all fail time and time again.
When Henri Cartier-Bresson said that your first ten thousand pictures were your worst pictures, despite implying that when we started our pictures wouldn’t be as good, he also expressed Be optimistic that your image will improve and get better. However, it takes commitment – 10,000 photos – to improve. Remember, he’s talking about the film days, where images were carefully crafted at a time, when significant work was done to create each image. In today’s rapidly evolving digital world, he would probably increase that number by an order of magnitude. Continuous improvement is common to all successful photographers. They do not rest on their laurels and stagnate. Their diverse methods, styles and themes are constantly evolving and evolving.
If you read the comment sections here on Fstoppers or photography Facebook groups, you’ll find that a small minority are consistently posting negative comments that try to undermine other writers and photographers. Some are quite prolific and even frequent groups for camera systems they don’t own. They will gather behind them a few equally pessimists who feed on that negativity. I have had the good fortune to know many successful photographers, and they never make such negative claims, either online or in person. Instead, they treat other photographers and photography businesses with respect. They give nothing but encouragement, helping others improve their creativity. One can only conclude that trolls are failures.
For many people, creativity can seem like a big hurdle, and there’s plenty of information in books, videos, and here on Fstoppers that will guide you through those obstacles. Most importantly, it’s that our ability to overcome our shortcomings is a skill that can be learned. One thing you will discover is that the more you learn, the more you will realize that there are many things that you do not know.
Learning comes from tapping into the right sources. Determining how to approach knowledge work is key. It never ceases to amaze me that articles with interviews with successful photographers have fewer readers than information about the latest camera releases. We all crave a shiny new kit, but as I suggested in the title, that the new Canon won’t magically turn you into a top photographer. Learn new twists and turns that if you spend the best part of $4,000 won’t make you the next Rankin. However, Read how to succeed Rankin more likely to get you there.
It’s never too late to learn. I know many successful photographers who only discovered and succeeded in photography after retirement.
Successful photographers are very good at adapting to changing situations. Any wedding photographer can adapt to a shoot when it’s pouring rain. Wildlife photographers on safari looking to capture the elusive leopards will find the artistic stripes of zebras equally fascinating. Going out for sunrise photography when there is no sun, the landscape photographer makes the most of the moody skies.
In modern thinking, there seems to be an opinion that success is measured by popularity – mainly in the form of Instagram likes – and fortune. Are they both impostors?
I’ll let you draw your conclusions about Instagram. Do thousands of followers and likes mean success? I have my opinion on that, but I’ll let you comment with what you think.
However, if someone’s idea of success is to make money and that is their main motivation, then they are planting the wrong tree. It’s great to have an income from what we love to do. After all, that’s how I make a living. But money is nothing more than a pleasant by-product of running a successful business. It comes from all the time and hard work that goes into it. It can be a measure of success, but the pursuit of money doesn’t work.
If buying that high-end camera doesn’t make you successful, then why do successful photographers seem to have them? That’s because they’re successful, just like the money bought them, those cameras are a byproduct of that success.
Success is not accidental. It’s hard work, perseverance, learning, research, sacrifice, and most of all, love for what you’re doing or learning to do – Pele
