Lovelies, you HAVE to be Self-Sufficient.

And here's a kitten picture, just because.

I love to help emerging photographers.  That's part of the reason I created this blog.

When I first branched out beyond snapshots, I certainly sought the wisdom of photographers with more experience -- I read a great many of their blogs, or their books, and a lot of that information helped get me where I am.

But more and more, I receive messages from photographers who ask for things that I cannot possibly give.  They want me to code their website so it looks like mine.  They want me to tell them precisely how I retouch my photographs.  They want me to give them all the steps to success, as if everyone in this business followed some secret formula to get them there.

I can't give those things.  Here's the best advice I can possibly provide:

You HAVE to be self-sufficient.

Don't take this to mean: learn everything yourself.  That isn't what I'm saying.

What many people may not realize: photography is an awfully lonely business.  It takes a great deal of assertiveness to persevere.  A photographer has to be the one to build their business from the ground up, by learning their craft, scouting models, contacting agencies or publications, dealing with clients, planning shoots, putting together teams, ect, ect.

Basically, photographers have to be willing to put themselves out into the world.  They have to be willing to take crappy pictures, learn to take better pictures, be rejected, and keep going.  It's difficult.  It's competitive.

Perhaps most importantly: there is no hand holding.  You have to be willing to do the bulk of your own research.  You have to be willing to self-teach.  You have to be willing to try different styles in order to create your own.

And lastly, you cannot be afraid of failure.  Photographers tend to promote their successes more than they share their failures -- but I guarantee you, all of them have failed at some point.  Every.  Single.  One.  But they were self-sufficient enough to keep going.

So should you be.