Loving Our Selfies - Putting Yourself 'Out There'

Here I am, yet again, scouring through my favorite photos for a contest. This time it’s Seniorologie’s People’s Choice Awards. Here is a little of what my scattered thought process looks like:“What do the judges want to see? Blah, who cares, I want to show them ME and MY style…that didn’t work out so hot with SSG or Denim & Grace though, idiot! Ok, this one or that one? Love the smile in this one, but I think the judges…GAH! I’m hungry. Really a glass of wine sounds awesome…FOCUS, dummy! It would be great to include some of my dudes, what do I have there? Oh, yea, these are good! Back to my gorgeous girls…how the heck do I narrow these down? Maybe I just don’t enter this one…HA, get real, you’re a competitive chick and know you’re going to do it no matter how much you try to talk yourself out of it so once again, FOCUS…where’s that glass of wine……….”Anyone feel me? After the disappointment many of us felt not making it into the SSG Hot 100 and Denim & Grace’s it can be difficult to put your work out there again. But you know what? If you don’t put yourself out there, you can never grow. You will never learn. And you will never know what you can accomplish.This isn’t just about contests, my photog friends; it’s not just about putting your work out there, but yourself as well. I’m excited to have made friends with an amazing and talented woman right here in my own back yard (heeeey Danielle of Danielle Coppersmith Photography!) and I get to go to lunch with another new friend this Thursday (heeeey Lindsay of Lindsay Wilkinson Photography!). Isn’t that amazing, to actually be friends with other photographers in your area instead of enemies? Or strangers even? I’m putting myself out there and so are they. We can be here to support each other instead of trying to undermine one another. It happens too often; I hear horror stories about photogs just being ROTTEN to other photogs. That sucks, dudes. Maybe my Christmas Spirit is shining through here, but let’s just get along, ummmkay? And if you can’t get along, then for goodness sakes, just leave one another alone. No badmouthing, no copycatting, no nutin’ honey.Moral of the stories here, don’t be afraid to put yourself out there, don’t’ be afraid to put your work out there. Even if you don’t want fame and fortune or the title of “Rock Star Photographer” that’s cool. By getting your work out there, you can learn a little about the industry, get some constructive criticism if you want depending on where you post your work and get help with situations maybe you’ve never dealt with. The same thing goes for getting together and friending (not just on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram people, actual face-to-face communication!) other pros in your area. We can all learn from one another, there is ALWAYS more learning to do. You never know what may come of a new friendship, so don’t be afraid to try. And try. And try, try again.