At the beginning of my journey as a wedding photographer, I was searching for a formula. A repeatable pattern that I could rely on every weekend to make the best work. I was trying to turn all of my beginner’s uncertainty into certainty. And, although my knowledge of photography grew extensively in those first few years, it hasn’t grown at all in recent years. And yet, I still feel that I am improving — at least some of the time.
In searching for a repeatable process (which I never found, except for family formals), I realized something more important than a repeatable process is a repeatable attitude. An attitude that accepts uncertainty as part of the job. An attitude that takes the work seriously, but not personally.
This switch has shown me that what we do isn’t about repeatable camera techniques, it’s about building on the open-heartedness of the headspace we approach the work. That supersedes the predictability of fancy formulas and repetitive laundry lists and gives way for the work itself to continually improve and build off of that openness in ways we couldn’t have fathomed. It’s also the cure for boredom within our profession, but that’s another newsletter (and probably the entire point of all of these newsletters, if I am being real) for another Tuesday.
Love Erika
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