Happy new year my friends! I thought I would dedicate the first blog of 2022 to all the new food photographers joining this community. If you’re a brand new photographer kick starting your food photography journey, hello and welcome! You’re in for a one heck of a creative, beautiful, and fulfilling ride!
I do feel obligated to let you know one thing though. Finding you way and your style as a creative is not going to be easy, especially during the first year. You’re going to be frustrated, you’re going to make mistakes, you might feel like your work is not good enough and you might not see the results you were hoping for. And, that’s totally okay. That’s just the way every entrepreneurial journey goes.
What’s going to keep you going is a healthy mindset. So, in this blog I’m sharing 4 mindset shifts that can hopefully ease your journey as a beginner food photographer.
Jump to:
Expensive gear is not the answer
The amount of times I’ve felt like my work is not good enough is countless. When I first began photography, I was convinced that if my photos turned out bad, it’s because I don’t have an expensive camera or a branded backdrop or nicer props. So, I thought the answer was to spend more money, buy more gear and hoard more props.
But the more money I put in, the more frustrated I got. Why? Because my photos didn’t improve at all.
Because the truth is, expensive gear does not make you a great photographer. Skills do.
Read that again.
It’s not the camera that will take great photos. It’s the photographer behind the camera that will take great photos. It’s not expensive backdrops and props that create drool worthy shots. It’s the techniques the photographer choose to apply that creates a drool worthy shot.
So, if and when you hit this stage, remember that shopping for more or shopping for bigger is NOT the answer. The answer is to invest your time in education. The answer is to learn how to use the gear that you already have or can afford. The answer is to master techniques. The answer is to study your own work. The answer is to experiment. The answer is to practice, practice and practice some more.
If you don’t know what you’re doing behind the camera, no expensive gear is going to help you. Buy that second hand camera. Use a table top at home as a backdrop. Grab some dishes and cutlery around the kitchen. Cook something real simple. And instead of spending MONEY, spend TIME learning and practicing.
Progress is greater than perfection
We’ve all heard the saying “perfect doesn’t exist” at some point in our lives in different contexts, right?! It’s a tough one to come into terms with in general but, it’s especially tough in creative industries like food photography. Because in creative industries, there is no one way of doing things which makes it super easy to get sucked into a perfectionism sinkhole.
Here’s what the first 7 months as photographer looked like for me: I would style a scene, shoot it, analyze the image, notice imperfections, make tweaks and re-shoot it. Then, I would re-analyze the new image, find more things to tweak and re-shoot again. And I would repeat this for hours and hours (or sometimes days). Why? Because the more I looked at an image I’ve shot, the more imperfections I would see. All the things I could have and should have done differently start to creep in. So, I would keep going back and forth tweaking what I think are imperfections and reshooting the same scene.
And it’s a never ending cycle. Even when I took 100 photographs of the same thing, I would still see multiple imperfections and was never satisfied.
Because perfection is a moving target our brains will never reach.
So, instead of trying to take the perfect shot that doesn’t exist, focus on progress. When you focus on progress, your goal simply becomes to create a better photograph or be a better photographer than yesterday. And there will never be a point in your journey where you can’t get better at your work than yesterday. Think of every photoshoot as an opportunity for you to improve as a photographer. Aim for progress, not perfection.
Comparing your beginning to someone’s middle is not fair
Comparing ourselves to others is one of the most toxic habits one can start engaging in, especially creatives. But, we all do it anyways. When you see someone doing it better than you and at a stage that you one day dream of being in, It’s hard not to compare.
But, here’s the thing — the other great photographers or business woman you’re comparing yourself to have already passed the stage that you’re in and have come a long way ahead. They’re in the middle of their journey and you are just at the beginning. So, comparing yourself to them is like comparing apples and oranges.
It’s just not fair to you.
What you could and should do instead is take inspiration and guidance from them. If you love their work, study them. If you admire how business savvy they are, reach out and ask if they have resources that could help you. If you constantly wish you could be as successful as them, book them for a coaching call. That’s what will help YOU with YOUR goals. Don’t get caught up in someone else’s journey. Focus on yours.
Taking a quick break to promote one of my all time favorite brands and chocolates; Mid Day Squares. They come in 3 delicious flavors and are vegan, gluten free, diary free, soy free and non GMO! Order today at middaysquares.com and use code DULANJI15 to get 15% off.
Please note that this is an affiliate link. This means that if you make a purchase using my code, I will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.
Our killer taste is why our work disappoints us
The final mindset shift I’m going to talk about is the one that helped me the most. It’s something the brilliant Ira Glass said about why our work disappoints us in the beginning. I read this quote daily. It’s motivating. It’s comforting. It keeps me going. And I have no doubt it’s going to have a major impact on you as well.
Here’s what he said:
“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit.
Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story.
It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.” – Ira Glass.
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