I admit the title is very corny, but a year ago I booked my very first professional photoshoot. Though I've taken pictures for family and i've been that random guy who had a camera so friends would just say "Hey Rj, bring your camera!", I was never really entrusted to actually capture serious moments ... enter Briana(Bri).
Briana is someone that I've known for more the better part of a decade so when she contacted me for pictures I thought it would just be another friend who needs a few, nothing major, pictures. Then she started to explain how the pictures were for her website/blog ... and she needed a lot ... and they needed to be GREAT! Though I kept my composure and told her "Of Course I Can" in the back of my mind all I could think was "What the HECK did I just get myself into?" except I didn't use the word heck.
I didn't want to let her down but at the same time I didn't want to give her terrible pictures. We went out to Miami Beach and the whole way there I didn't know what I was going to do. Back then, I knew nothing about shooting RAW, what can be fixed with photoshop, and everything else other photographers know. I just knew that I wanted these pictures to look good. As soon as we got started things were looking GREAT!
I honestly couldn't believe it. The lighting was good, the focus was looking good, and we were just smooth sailing. I never once had to tell her to pose this way or that way. We just had casual conversation through out the whole shoot, which made things very relaxed. Yes, some of the pictures may have been to exposed, the focus could have been a little better, and many other things could have been tweaked but the fact that she loved the pictures made me love them even more.
At that point put a little bit of my fear away and took up the mantle as a photographer. I decided that I should let fear stop me from doing something that I am good at and with practice will become great at doing. We should apply this to things in everyday life. Believe in yourself, take a leap of faith and you will do extraordinary things.