So you want to be a professional?
Photographer. Director. Golfer. Belly dancer. Designer. Waiter. Model.
If you’re wondering if you’ve got what it takes to go pro, try it. Seriously. Quit what you’re doing now and go there. You’ll know soon after you’ve tried to go there whether or not you’re in the right spot. If you don’t have what it takes, it will be obvious – going pro will be too hard, other things will seem more interesting, more pleasurable, more fun.
On the other hand, if you do have what it takes, you will be reborn. All setbacks will seem small, all goals achievable, all hurdles put there only to keep out the others. You will know you’re on the right path.
One thing for certain is that both paths–trying to go pro and steering clear of going pro–will be full of fear. In one case the fear is that you’ll fail and not be good enough. In the other case the fear is that you’ll never have lived your dream…
When you think of those two, which one is worse?
Posts like this make me really want to ditch my paced route at possibly going pro and jump into the fast lane. I have a career burn out and photography is the only thing I can possibly think of doing that I would enjoy and not just do it for the cash.
Not trying at all due to fear is the worst mistake you can make. No matter what you do, strive to master it, even when you don’t know what you are doing. Learning from others and trying to do better everyday. But don’t call yourself a professional. If you are one, others will call you one. Being able to diversify and do things out of your skill set is also vital to survival. I learned to be a writer, I am not the best writer, but I try.
My last day at the day job is April 29th! We’re doin’ it!
I think you just said the words I needed to give it a shot myself. I have always been planning on trying out being a professional photographer after I graduate from university, but this has turned me from “I’m gonna give it a shot” straight to “yes, we’re going for it, let’s start planning”
In little time, you will be able to say full concepts with few or no words in this blog. As soon as one takes these leaps, the question rises “was all of this really this big/bad/heavy/impossible?”.
There is no price to answer that question for yourself.