This might be unpopular advice.
But…
You should say yes more often.
Not to filling your calendar to look more successful. Or to getting a fifth dog. Or to putting cottage cheese in everything.
(well, you can if you want. It’s your life.)
I’m not here to talk about those kinds of yeses. What I mean is:
you should say yes more often to creative opportunity.
Improving as a photographer isn’t all about getting a better camera.
Or learning better techniques.
Or spending 10 hours a day practicing.
Improving your photography is due in large part to saying yes to opportunity.
Opportunity is free. It’s a given. It’s not a special privilege, it’s accessible to all. Opportunity is the magic that floats right in front of you every day. It’s unique to only you.
But it’s almost invisible.
You can make it appear by saying yes to it.
Grabbing hold of your unique-to-you opportunities is your open door.
And on the other side it’s gold.
If all this sounds a little too abstract, let me break it down in concrete terms.
It’s about being awake to the little things.
“To be an artist means never to avert one’s eyes.” – Seth Godin
It’s believing that everything has a story to tell, another side to be seen, a new dimension to appreciate.
Here’s how:
➡️ Instead of looking for a good photo, look for the truth in things.
Don’t photograph what impresses you, but photograph what is honest.
➡️ Find the divine in the most mundane things.
Treat every ordinary moment like if it really matters. Like if it represents something weightier in life… more than just its literal meaning.
➡️ Follow the feeling.
If what you see stirs something in you, respond. Don’t overthink. Just capture it. Chances are, it will also stir something in others when they see it. If not, at the very least it’ll be a visual documentation of who you really are and how you see the world. That is interesting.
➡️ Tell small stories.
Don’t wait for big, exciting events to take a photo. Start with small moments and look for the meaning in those experiences. It might not feel like much in the moment, but in 10-20 years those little stories will become significant history. (trust me)
And you might be the only one that was there in that moment to document it.
That is saying yes to opportunity.
- Saying yes to capturing honesty.
- Saying yes to capturing mundane subjects.
- Saying yes to responding to what stirs in your heart.
- Saying yes to honouring small, overlooked moments.
“Art is a personal act of courage, something one human does that creates change in another.” -Seth Godin
