It’s worth mentioning something I’ve heard a great deal about & truthfully have long known, at least logically: photography’s tough. Bear in mind, when I refer to photography here I’m referring to all that the term encompasses: organizing, sorting, tagging, captioning, copyrighting, retouching, processing, to say nothing of actually taking the photo.

This may sound like a complaint. It’s not. I like challenges, they get me moving & keep me going. I get bored pretty easily, & having something difficult looming in front of me keeps me engaged. But when you move beyond the joy of simply taking a photograph (& it IS a joy!), it’s worth repeating: photography’s tough.

I recently made the decision to pursue photography as a career. I’m terribly excited & terrified both at once. Excited because, well, it’s an exciting proposition. Few things thrill me more than the moment I know I’ve captured an image that will entice people to want to know more, to want to see more. It’s not about me, not about the glory of being recognized as a talented photographer, it’s about the idea of showing people something that moves them in some way. Something that for whatever reason they rarely, if ever, have the opportunity to see, either because it’s found only on an unforgiving mountain peak or because they just never thought to look at it that way. There are always terribly ugly things present in the world, just as there are always tremendously beautiful things. It often is far too easy to be upset that more people aren’t spending more time taking more action to help make the world a better place. People get called selfish & callous, & more time is spent seeking out who to blame for allowing the bad to become worse. We are told over & over about the terrible consequences, but we don’t often get to see them. At least not in ways that truly move us to act. I’m terribly excited to pursue a life of working to show as many people as I can the indescribable beauty we risk losing if we’re not more careful.

I’m terrified because being a professional photographer is one thing; being a successful professional photographer is another altogether. Not to belabor the point, but photography’s tough. Hard work doesn’t scare me. Failing does, & always has, & in seeking to be a successful professional photographer, it’s easy to fail. It’s a difficult, competitive, & highly saturated market. Not only that, it’s not exactly baby pictures I’m looking to take. (Although it does bear mentioning that I’ve had some wonderfully enjoyable times taking baby pictures, & would take them again should the opportunity arise!) I want to capture images of things & places & events most people never have the opportunity to witness, with understandable reason. Assuming no one is going to give me that opportunity (unless of course some ridiculously wealthy & generous financier would like to give me a call!), I have to make it myself – something else at which failure is more common than success.

There is a certain quality I do have, however, that I feel not everyone does. It’s articulated very well by National Geographic wildlife photographer Michael “Nick” Nichols:

“The lust for capturing the images has got to be what drives you.”

If there are only two things at which I absolutely excel, those two things are lust & obsession. I think I may just have a shot. Pun completely intended.