I stumbled upon Jasmine Star sometime in 2011, I believe. I fell in love with her photography, but mostly her personality. She’s vivacious, passionate, and a little bit like me. How are we alike?
- We both started from nothing and are both self taught.
- We’re both wallflowers, though she’s better at hiding it than I am. Hosting workshops and speaking in front of large groups of people on a regular basis? Not for me {yet}! I’d rather stay home and knit a sweater, and I don’t even know how to knit!
- Our husbands are our second shooters and biggest support systems.
Actually, there’s a whole bunch of things we have in common, but I’m not going to drag that one out.
My husband surprised me with an early Christmas present, something that I’ve been wanting since she wrote it: “Exposed”, Jasmine Star’s magazine. It’s basically her soul in a 160 page magazine. I’m already half way through, but she has definitely lit a fire under me and has gotten me to redefine what I want and how I’m going to get there. My last 2 years as a photographer have been slow, to say the least. Yes, I have photographed weddings and multiple portrait sessions, and I am forever grateful to my wonderful clients and friends that have supported me, but it isn’t where I want to be. In “Exposed”, Jasmine writes,
“Do the work. You can find every reason to envision how lucky someone else is, but the simple truth is that person is working hard. Maybe even harder than you. Because nobody successful gets that way by sitting on his booty. The most admired photographers and businessmen and entrepreneurs and doctors and scientists and lawyers are often the hardest working, so please know there is no such thing as luck. You know that quote? ‘Luck is when preparation meets opportunity’? I couldn’t agree more.”
Thank you so much for that, Jasmine. That is so incredibly true, and I’m tired of sitting around and waiting for my time to shine. 2014 is right around the corner, and I’m going to take it and OWN IT. I’m not going to sit behind a screen and lust over what other photographers in my area have. I’m going to do what they’re doing, maybe even better, and I am going to have the best year of my life! Life is too short to be worried what other people think, or to sit around and say “What if?”. I’m going to work my tail off and it is going to be amazing. Photography is my passion and I haven’t been doing it justice.
So this is what I plan on doing: pour myself into forums to learn more and more, not be afraid to ask questions, put as much as I can into my business, put my pricing to what I think I am worth, but mostly: grow a pair! I don’t need to be afraid of what people with think of me, I don’t need to be afraid to raise my prices to what I think I’m worth. I need to do what I think is best for my business, and I need to do it NOW.
So, 2014, I know you’re only 2 weeks away, but get ready for me!
xoxo, Beth!