Jasmine Star, one of the best wedding photographers, once wrote on her blog, "Why am I such a chicken? I swear, I should just lay an egg to complete this metamorphosis." All I could hear in my head when I read this was BabOk baBOK. This is soooo me. I mean, I hide from pregnant women at the coffee shop... as if they know that I am a newborn photographer!! If I am walking home...I will take another route or at least make no eye contact when passing a mom pushing her toddler in a stroller. I am not kidding; it is that bad. I start breaking out into a sweat before I ask friends if I can photograph their children.
I was doing some email at a coffee shop one day when I overheard two women planning their friend's baby shower just a table away. I thought to myself, " they should gift the mom to be with a newborn session! What a great idea!" Then my palms began to sweat. It took me at least a half hour to build up the courage to offer them my card and idea! I clumsily stood up, gathered my gear and approached them. With a shaky voice I said, " Umm excuse me...."
As I left the shop, I was out of breath and beet red, probably because I had been holding my breath for the last half hour, but I felt so accomplished. I mean it's not like I was conquering world hunger, but it did feel like a big step forward
This is obviously not good for business and it needs to stop! Is it just that I am shy? Scared of their response? Afraid of being intrusive or annoying? I know it is not the fear of being intimidating. I mean with blue eyes, baby cheeks, and the face of a teen...I don't think I have a chance at being intimidating. Whatever it is that is causing it..I am waging a war to fight it.
You just need to pull out that "Gusto" that I know you have deep inside of you. Maybe its because you have been a Plummer so long that you are forgetting your Thomas roots. Either way, I know you are a talented photographer and encourage you to be courageous with your business.
ReplyDeleteI understand the feeling, from a different perspective...obviously not photography...but putting yourself "out there" for anything (in my case sometimes it's music) is hard!!
ReplyDeleteCassie - I haven't seen you since our days together at South Branch but through my friendship with your mom and dad on Facebook I have found you .... the amazing woman, wife and photographer that you are. Always remember that people LOVE, LOVE, LOVE good pictures of themselves, their children, their family, and their friends. Your work speaks for itself. Seek out opportunities to feature your work ... art festivals, galleries, baby stores, day care centers. Your clients will become your best advertisement. They'll post your pictures on their social networking sites of choice and their friends will ask them .... "who did those pictures for you?" There is a pureness and innocence about who you are and what you do that will resonate with your target audience. Just keep being yourself and God will richly bless you!
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