I started photography in 2011. My first camera was a Nikon D3000. If you know cameras, you know how that dates me.
Like everyone else starting out, I photographed everything. But one shoot changed the direction of everything that followed.
I was in college, running late for an assignment that required a studio portrait. I booked the school studio last minute, walked to the library, and asked strangers if anyone wanted to be photographed. One person said yes. She had modeled in Mexico. I got lucky twice in one afternoon.
That shoot is where I found portraits. Not as a genre, as a calling. I started dedicating myself to them.
Before photography, I was quiet. I kept to myself. I would not have walked up to a stranger and asked for anything. Photography pulled me out of that. It sounds like a cliche and I know it, but it is just true. Without it I stay shy, I never learn to communicate, and I never care to tell stories or meet people.
Thirteen years later, I understand what the camera actually taught me.
I learned I can talk to people. I became a people person, which I never believed would be me. I learned to direct someone, to help them feel like the best version of themselves in front of a lens. I also saw the dark side. Demanding clients. People who could not see themselves clearly even when the image proved them wrong. Unrealistic expectations. Impatience. But I also watched people leave the studio with tears because they did not know they could look like that. Some of those headshots helped people land TV spots. I got to hear where people came from, what made them who they are, where they wanted to go.
Everyone carries hopes and dreams. Most people just need to get on the road.
Here is how I think about it. Say everyone wants to reach New York. Some people are already in the state, so the drive is short. Some are starting from Alaska. It does not matter. The ones who arrive first are not better. They started from somewhere closer. You have your own drive. The distance is not a reflection of your worth. It is just geography.
That is what photography gave me. The certainty that I can get anywhere I decide to go.
I used to think I was not creative. Then I found something that satisfied my technical brain and my creative brain at the same time. Photography did that. Cinematography does that. I stepped away for a while. The detour had its lessons. But I know my road and I know where I am headed.
Foot on the pedal. Let’s go.