Last week I had the pleasure of hauling my butt to Silver Spring to attend the WPPI Road Trip. With notebook in hand, I was one eager beaver - nervous, but eager:). It was so great to be able to immerse myself, even if only for a day, with fellow photographers that are on the same track as me. It was kind of like the first day of school for me. Where will I sit? Who can I sit next to? As I was standing there scanning the room I had to remind myself that I wasn't in school, and just sit my booty down. Don't worry about it....introduce yourself:). For those of you that don't know me, I have a tendency to be pretty shy. It sucks. So this for me was my way to step into the kiddie pool - just 8 hours. Eight hours to soak in all I could. Greg Gibson and Lindsay Adler shared their knowledge on work flow, and taught me quite a few tricks. Clay Blackmore gave us timeless tips for posing, Jasmine Star talked about how she has used the internet to grow her business.
Ok, I have to admit, and I'll probably get flogged for it. I wanted to go for two reasons....free ticket to WPPI Las Vegas and Jasmine Star:). There I said it. I enjoy Jasmine Star. I think she does lovely work, although there are other photographers that their work blows me away more than Jasmine. BUT I admire her communication skills and how she puts herself out there, and for me that puts her head and shoulders above the rest. Jasmine issued a challenge for us....blog about something personal at least once a week. As you can probably tell I haven't exactly kept up with the blog:). So here is my attempt!
I'll end this post with a little story of my encounter with Jasmine. At the end of her presentation she did a little meet and greet. You got a few moment to chat and get a picture with her. I was in no rush to jump into the beltway traffic, so I thought I'd hop in line to rub elbows with Ms.Star. As I inched closer and closer I started to become nervous and sweaty and nervous and sweaty LOL. I almost got out of line a couple of times, but I was enjoying talking to the other ladies standing in line with me too much. So, I get my turn and what do I say? Well, I thanked her for doing a web seminar a few weeks earlier, and told her how much I enjoyed watching. We chit-chatted about it for a minute. I mentioned how I could tell she was, for the most part, done. We laugh and smile. Then, (sweaty, shy, nervous Angel) turns to the crowd of photographers waiting to meet their idol and yells "Hey guys, Jasmine is human just like us!"......crickets. I swear they looked at me like I had just sprouted another head and was speaking in tongue. Oh.my.god. What did I just do? LOL She took it in stride....thank god. I tried to slink off, but she brought up the whole picture thing. I got my picture.
Crazy eyes and all. I look like I'm a giant! And someone remind me to stop trying to straighten my hair - I suck at it!
Great blog Angel! Keep everyone updated with your progress. We love to hear it. Serves two purposes -- we get to see what you are up to and you can look back and see how far you have grown. I've always told you to believe in yourself. You have grown your photography talents and are showing everyone, everyday that you are the photographer for the job. Remember me giving you the advice, "Fake it 'til you make it" and you said "I don't want to lie to people". I said it wasn't about lying to people, it was about wanting to do something so bad that you would go out and learn how to do it in order to get the experience (or job). I did that way back when I was learning how to sew. I didn't know everything but I was at a point in my life where I needed it to supplement my income. By word of mouth, my abilities were getting around and folks were asking if I could do this? (whatever they needed). I wanted to learn everything so much I was always saying "YES" and then going back to learn how to do it if I didn't already know. What one can do with photography is broad just like sewing. There are so many different and unusual things one can do with it. Everyday you can go in any direction and learn whatever it is you want. Amazing isn't it? Don't stop anything you are doing for yourself when it comes to photography (ok, or anything else for that matter). Most of all believe in your talents, believe in yourself and never, ever let anyone tell you that you can't. You are a role model yourself. Yes, you are! Continue to learn and absorb everything you can. Share what you have learned with others who are where you were at. Keep pushing yourself to be out of your comfort zone and the shyness does lessen. It might never go away, but never let that keep your hands sweaty or away from learning more mad skills. You have many folks who have enjoyed your photography and support you. There are many who have yet to get the chance to enjoy (and purchase) your photography. It's in your future. God places us at the exact place we are supposed to be at the time we are supposed to be there. Continue your journey and keep sharing it with everyone so we can enjoy it with you. Help teach us that a photograph is a beautiful time stamp of our lives and not just another click on our cell phones. Keep up the great photography!! Love from your #1 fan in Texas!!
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