#TravelTuesday is happening, people! Right here at ScottKelby.com it’s me, Dave Williams, and this week I want to dispel a myth about the pros!
I’ve just returned from a trip to Norway and Finnish Lapland, and the weather was disgusting! That’s what prompted this post. I didn’t get nearly as many photos as I usually do because there was a lot of thick, sideways snow and I didn’t fancy the risk-to-life to get some of the shots I wanted. One of my plans was to climb a mountain overlooking a small cove in the Lofoten Islands, but that never came to fruition owing to the severe weather and deep snow, for example. This led to me not returning with nearly as many photos as usual, which in turn led me to think this: –
When I was starting out I spent a lot of time thinking I had a lot of shots that were no good, and that there was no way the likes Scott Kelby or David Yarrow would have such a collection of out-of-focus, over and underexposed shots that I had. I figured that these guys are the pros and they must have a whole collection of keepers and nothing else.
To take this up a step, when I go somewhere there’s usually that “one shot” I’m going for, and if I get it I’m happy. For this last trip, it was a very simple shot, and one not often seen of the Reine region of the Lofoten Islands. It’s not a tricky shot (aside from the 40MPH gusts that were seriously pushing the limits of my tripod), but it’s a shot I wanted. It’s this one: –
So, one shot. One. There are a handful of other shots from the mission that will end up on blogs and stock, but it is just a handful. When I was starting out, I wish I’d known that the photographers who make a living from this and travel the world and are known for their advice and tutorials are also knocking out far less keepers than I thought, and that it wasn’t just me! I mean, it’s a good thing to have that little burning thought as motivation to work harder, but it’s just as important to know that having a whole reel of keepers isn’t realistic. Bottom line is this: – they aren’t all keepers!
Don’t judge yourself by your bad shots, we all have them! Sometimes I can come back from a trip and have no special shots. Sometimes there’s a bunch of “standard” shots, not particularly creative, not particularly special, not good enough for the portfolio, just good enough for stock.
That’s the purpose of this post summed up. Sometime’s there’s a pile of rejects, and often there’s just that one shot. It’s not just you, it’s all of us.
Much love
Dave
