It's rare to find photographers who are willing to break things down for you and share details about life and photography in equal amounts. So the opportunity to converse with a fun and informative fellow shooter this morning was a treat. I learned a few tricks of the trade, heard a few funny stories and felt a great deal of relief.
It's easy to get caught up in the seriousness of photography and the pressure to get a great shot that everyone will think is amazing. I'm sure it's a lot to have hanging over your head when you're a seasoned photojournalist, but as a young photographer, it's downright terrifying.
Concerns about what your editor and every other photographer viewing your work thinks of it can cloud your other purposes. Obsessing over exposure, content and speed takes so much out of you there's little time to enjoy the experience of doing this awesome job.
Underneath all the pressure, self-imposed and otherwise, is the distant memory of magazines and newspapers strewn about, allowing me to soak up the images featured on the pages. Sunday mornings used to find my father and me flipping through a National Geographic while I stared, wide-eyed and wondering if I could ever create something so beautiful. Photography was a passion of mine before I could say the word passion.
I’m now trying to get to where I can live my dream of making my passion my livelihood. I appreciate any smiling face or bent ear I meet along this journey. It's so much easier to forge onward when you know you have allies. After this morning, I feel a little less nervous, a little less alone and a lot more excited. Here's to allies.
--Tara-Lynne S. Pixley, Spring Scholar, The Greenville (S.C.) News
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