Starving artist #7 - What the hell are you waiting for?
This is a post about opportunities, and about waiting for the right ones to come along...
In short, my response: Don't wait for things to be just right, don't wait for opportunities to come along, go and make your own opportunities now. Let me explain...
I have spent years waiting to have the 'right' equipment, or to be 'good enough', or to wait for the right conditions etc. etc. And I slowly came to realise that these are all just excuses, or limitations, we put on ourselves. Why? Sometimes its just fear of the unknown, sometimes its procrastination...uncertainty...doubt...or a dozen other demons whispering quietly over your shoulder, convincing you that the time isn't quite right yet...you're not ready yet.
But it's okay to have doubts and trepidations. That's normal...but doing nothing will not remove them. Don't wait for the right set of circumstances, so that it 'feels right'. Those circumstances will not come.
In January of 2017, not long after I started taking my first steps on this particular path, I had the option of going to Buttermere (Lake District, Cumbria, UK) with a friend. I wanted to get some sketches down but the weather forecast was awful, storms and rain throughout the day, poor light, mud, cold. My camera was not up to the task either. I almost didn't go...
The storm reaches over Highstile
Crossing the 'swamps'
A stream emptying rainwater into Buttermere
Wet, soggy Buttermere valley in January
Rainwater gushing down the hills in a myriad of tiny waterfalls
In the woods, sheltered from the worst of the rain
Waterfall coming off High Crag...
...and flowing into Buttermere
My friend and I ended up like cold, drowned rats. We were soaked to the skin but, as I sat in the Buttermere cafe with a steaming hot cup of coffee, looking through the photos I had taken, I realised one important thing: I might have missed all this if I'd waited for 'better conditions'. Sure, I'd have got some good photos, but not these. This is the camera I took...
My battered old Fujifilm Finepix, the lens shutters
stick and the shutter button was pretty sticky too
This 5 hour trip taught me not to wait. Nothing will ever be 'just right' if you only wait for it. This trip gave me confidence in my photography, even with imperfect equipment. It gave me countless sketch ideas for landscape paintings. In a way, it gave me back my life too. In a small way. I don't 'go with the flow' anymore, I try to make it.
The colours of January
So don't wait for things to be prefect. The world has been waiting for you for too long already. Go and make it yours...what the hell are you waiting for?
Very good post, well said! I can write myslef under Your words! Very atmospheric shots, love the mood of rainy, foggy outdoors. Bad weather very often means good photos! We have to remember that :)
Thank you @photovisions! I have learned that in photography, and art in general, there is no such thing as the wrong kind of weather, just the wrong kind of attitude.
Very true. Sometimes we get not what we expect but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. We can still try to find something positive even in seemingly dark, grim places.
Normally I want to show myself at my best but recently I made some quite imperfect shots and I enjoyed them as well.
So true my friend! I have spoken to some people who ended up liking the photos and paintings i would have discarded more than the ones i would have sold them. beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all!
All your art is absolutely amazing. I'm in love.
Thank you! Kind words indeed @mariandreapf - I'm glad you like my artwork so much :) I will continue to try and make it better!
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amazing shots you made
Great post with amazing pictures.. upvoted and followed ;)
Thanks for your support my friend! Much appreciated :)