If criticism comes from a qualified source, who looks you in the face and challenges you to be all you were created to be, then honor it with determined change but if it’s the kind that snickers at you behind your back, reach over, flip the determination switch in your brain, and drown the petty little thing in a massive wake of unrelenting talent. Either way, move forward!
My grandfather was a carpenter all of his life. He had all of the latest pneumatic nail guns but he could also drive a nail just about as fast, with either hand, using the hammer he had grown to know and trust. I never saw him field strip that thing to clear a jamb either.
I’ve heard so many photographers boast that their high end gear is so tough they could drive a nail with it.
Yeah?
Really?
With either hand?
That’s when the magic happens you know.
I stumbled on this Abraham Lincoln quote this morning on the Marketing Essentials International blog and it’s speaking to me:
“Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality. It is the words that speak boldly of your intentions. And the actions which speak louder than the words. It is making the time when there is none. Coming through time after time after time, year after year after year. Commitment is the stuff character is made of; the power to change the face of things. It is the daily triumph of integrity over skepticism.”
We live in a society that jumps on quick fixes and wants long term credit for short term gains. Too many relationships amount to shaking hands, tossing a couple of shovels full of dirt over the fence together, patting each other on the back and moving on to the next “commitment.” I see it in every industry, including this one.
Sure, everything starts there, and it’s fine that a lot of things end there, but it’s a problem when everything starts to end there. Sometimes a couple of shovels full of dirt is all that’s needed, but that’s not commitment. Commitment digs in. Commitment stays. Commitment moves things. The world needs more commitment.
Everything is moving like crazy. The miracle workers are moving them where they want them. Everywhere I turn people are trying to figure out how to make that work. Rapid solutions need to fall from the trees. We need to touch things and turn them to gold with a word. That power is available but it isn’t free. In fact, it’s probably more expensive now than it’s ever been. It’s more valuable too. Commitment is still the only key that unlocks it all. Some things never change.
I love miracles as much as anyone? I count on them in fact and miracles do happen. They happen often. They happen to me. I’ve never seen a miracle happen outside of the realm of commitment though. Never.
Without exception, in those moments where I’ve witnessed transformation happen so fast that it was unexplainable (miraculous), it happened because someone had the faith to pick up a shovel, dig in and stay with their convictions until the barriers moved. Faith, like earthquakes, can move huge barriers in an instant, but the underlying pressure that causes the shift usually takes years to build. Years of commitment. The digital revolution isn’t going to change that.
Everything I’m building, I’m building on faith, but I think I’ve defined faith a little differently than most. The kind of faith I’m talking about, the kind that moves mountains, sticks around for a while and gets a little more invested than a couple of shovels full of dirt over the fence. Lincoln understood that, and because of it, he didn’t just move mountains; He carved his face in them. It cost him his life, but man, what a life! “… The power to change the face of things…” yea, I like that Lincoln; I like that a lot.
That’s the husband, father, friend, creator and all around man I want to be. That’s the company I want to build. That’s the company I want to keep. The kind of company where the logos are worn off of most of the gear but the smiles of long term friendships, and jobs well done, never fade.
Commitment.
Am I speaking to you? Is Lincoln speaking to you? If so, please speak back. What are you building? Is it exciting enough to warrant a commitment from you? Is it exciting enough to warrant a commitment from others? What would that look like for both of you?
Think about it. All of those amazing moments frozen forever in your mind. They are all relationship moments encased in a solid state of unyielding commitment aren’t they? We spend a lot of our lives on the job. Why aren’t more of those memories tied to our careers? Could they be?
Take a moment to check out my guest post on Jason D. Moore Photography’s blog today outlining one of the most essential skill a photographer must posses. While you are there be sure and bookmark Jason’s blog and invest some time in its rich contents.
Thank you for sharing your photographic pulpit Jason. Your ongoing investment in other photographers is truly appreciated.
HAPPY NEW YEARS RESOLUTION TIME!
Ok, I’ll play. My single biggest imaging related resolution this year is to grow my skill set in 2010 at least as much as I did in 2009. This has been a huge year of personal development for me, carefully but ambitiously laying the foundation for things to come.
I invested far more in training than gear this year and I believe it was a sound investment. I can see a marked improvement in my lighting, composition, story telling and most importantly, subject interaction that showed up big time in my portfolio. That’s good but it will be compounded this year with a similar strategy.
I resolve that by the end of 2010 my book will be full of new images that put my current work behind me. That’s why Santa brought me more training this year instead of a new lens, strobe or camera body. I can always use more toys (tools) but I figure the training is more likely to lead to assignments that pay for the gear than the gear is to lead to assignments that pay for the training.
Much to the chagrin of my very patient family, I decided to have a little fun taking down the Christmas tree this year. The dog dropped in for a single frame while I had my back turned. See if you can spot his cameo appearance. Thank you to all of the friends, family, clients, associates and faithful pets that have made 2009 such a great year for us. God bless you – HAPPY NEW YEAR!
May your life be bright, colorful and full of joy this year…
Merry Christmas from our family to yours.
There are those who believe that any image manipulation is something new and evil, and that anything that isn’t created in the camera should be shunned as something less than pure. I’ve got a few subjects in my portfolio who are probably glad I don’t take that self imposed limitation too seriously. A quick study will reveal that few of the old school masters of the darkroom did either.
I like mustard. I like sweet potatoes. This is a big deal.
One of my 2009 new years resolutions was to learn to like the taste of mustard and sweet potatoes before the end of the year (not together mind you) . That may sound like a silly exercise but I’ve hated them both all my life so much that I literally had a hard time swallowing a bite of anything that had a hint of either one in it. I use to jokingly tell my waiter not to prepare my food in the same kitchen where mustard had been used.
Today I enjoy the taste of both of them enough to eat them fairly often. It turns out my own brain had been lying to me all my life about the taste of mustard and sweet potatoes. They are actually quite delicious.
What does that have to do with photography or creativity?
Simple – Confront your brain. It’s lying to you. It’s been lying to you most of your life.
Your brain is forcing you to see things the way you have always seen them. It wants you to go with what it tells you at first glance. It wants you to reject the unfamiliar and accept only what it hands you after it has applied all of the filters that help to keep you sane.
Children move those filters out of the way all the time and discover new truths and new skills at an amazing rate but in time the brain builds enough experience based evidence that it gets harder to push around. It eventually becomes a mountain that is very difficult to move and even harder to see around. Everything starts to get… predictable.
It takes a little faith to move that mountain, faith that there is more there than meets the eye. Faith is not the absence of doubt, it is the cultivation of the doubt that what you are seeing is all there is to see. Crazy hu, the idea that the seed of faith is doubt? It develops into something more, and one of the side effects is creativity, but faith sprouts from the seed of looking your brain square in the face, doubting what it’s been telling you, then calling its bluff.
It’s not a mustard seed, it’s a creative seed, but they are about the same size, small enough to be easy to miss. You get one every time you remind yourself that your brain is lying to you. Plant one and see what grows. It may not be what you expect but it will certainly be more interesting than sitting around looking at the same mountain of predictable misinformation all day.
