Looking forward to doing a self-portrait series a little later in the year....once I get my act together...also working on my photoshop skillz......so much to do, so little time
Read a really good article today on ephotozine - excellent photography resource - and I thought I would share....I think it applies to every aspect of life....
https://www.ephotozine.com/article/Photography-advice-from-Annabel-Williams-11872
"Step 10 - Have confidence - believe in yourself - Annabel Williams' 10 Steps to success and happiness as a creative person!
The biggest single thing that holds creative people back is lack of confidence. I have met so many talented people throughout my career, and this is the thing that most of them have in common. Lack of confidence can be due to all sorts of reasons - but I believe that creative people are born with it! Secretly inside, we can look at our pictures and think they are really good, but then the worry kicks in and we start to think we can't do it.
How may times have you felt like this? On top of the world one minute, and down the next? Many things can knock our confidence; a stray comment from someone, a rainy day, camera failure, being tired and many more.
But you've got to believe in yourself to be successful at what you do, or at least pretend to be confident when it matters! I still have days now after 25 years in photography when I think I'm not good enough! But that's what makes us better. It makes us determined to keep up, learn more, get out there and improve.
If you really think your pictures are not good enough, but you want to be a great photographer - then you need to make them better; you need to get out there and learn from the people you respect and admire. Chances are that your photos are really good, but you may need direction on how to take them further; which style to drop; which style to pursue - have the confidence to ask someone; send them an email - but remember - only ask people you really respect and who you think will understand you and be on your wavelength - otherwise you may not get the answer you want!
If people are constantly telling you that you are good - believe it - and allow your confidence to grow. Determination will fuel your confidence - be determined to be successful and you will be. Confidence and determination will drive you forward. How good did it feel when you sold your first picture? I can remember the first time someone spent a lot of money on my pictures - I couldn't believe it - I'd only pressed the shutter, and someone thought they were good enough to put on their walls! This gave me huge confidence - I thought "if someone wants my pictures, then other people will want them" and this gave me the confidence to develop my business.
Don't worry about what other people think - unless your client's don't like your pictures! Either change what you do, or change your clients! If you think you're onto something, and you enjoy what you do, then have the confidence to take it further.
I remember when I first started doing makeovers, sometimes I didn't get it right, and the client was unhappy, which really upset me. Until a colleague said to me " do Marks & Spencers cry when someone takes a pair of knickers back because they don't like them? No, they just accept that 99% of their clients like what they sell and move on!" He had a point! We always get upset over the one person who makes a negative comment - just remember the other 99% of people who love what you do and focus on them! That's what I do, and these 10 steps are my way of telling you what I've learnt from experience over the last 25 years - that's why I am able to feel happy and successful as a creative person (most days!). "
Nyt nyt!
Happy Sunday.....
Just so you know I do love these pretties 🙂
Ok - still have some technical issues with my South India pics, so there's a lil delay with those...in the meantime, I'm now digging into the archives to give fresh life to some pictures from my year in South Africa, hereby known as SA 🙂
The Garden Route in South Africa is one of the most beautiful stretches of road in the world - if you ever want to feel footloose and fancy-free, the Garden Route is the place to forget about all your troubles and just really appreciate all God's wonders that exist in nature......
I started off with the Snake Sanctuary cz although most ppl don't like these slithering creatures, I think they are incredibly beautiful animals and quite amazing to watch from the way they glide across a surface to the way they eat their prey....so here are a couple of my fav pics.
Nyt nyt...
Ok - this is a quick one - just wanted to say I got the best bday present today (yes I am one year older and of course wiser :-P)
I got an email today from the one and only Photography Monthly and they want to publish one of my pics in their magazine...aaahhhhhhhhh - completely insane and completely ecstatic about the whole thing...will let you know if and when it comes out....watch this space....
Oh and of course it's one of my personal favs....Funny girl! 🙂
Did a South India road trip a couple of years back with friends...had a fantastic time...thought it was time those pics saw the light of day too.
These hold special memories for lots of reasons but these were also the last set of pics I took with film and probably the last time i printed any of my pics - darn the digital revolution!
Anyway, here's a teaser - gotta hit the sack! (i wonder where that phrase comes from, hmm...)
Nyt nyt 🙂
Just so you know, this will probably be my wordiest post and then it'll just be pics (pinky promise)...
So I went on this mini-adventure with my dad and husband and it was really a revealing experience...we got into one of those aforementioned tiny canoes and went to explore the locals' way of life...the sanitary conditions were appalling and the water was a murky black and had all sorts in it and i really do mean ALL sorts....However once I got over the water and the consequences of me or my beloved camera falling in it, it was very interesting to see how these people had carved out a life for themselves on the water - complete with a school, hospital, church (naturally), canoe making workshop, traders on the water and the list goes on....
I've noticed that Nigerians or at least Lagosians as a ppl tend not to be too fond of having their pics taken and I and my poor baby (yes that would be my lowly Canon 350D) have been threatened quite a few times now...but luckily we were in a canoe, so I felt much safer this time....what was most interesting though was that the kids up till about 7/8 years were still naturally curious and a lot of them performed for the camera, however the older ones had clearly learnt to fear it and so were much more hostile or simply ran away...
Anyway, i've published below some of my fav pics and the rest can be found on my flickr page at
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8865663@N06/sets/72157623156469776/detail/
Young girl - now this lil lady was actually the first pic I took and there was something about the way she looked at me...somewhat uninterested yet intently staring at me like she was daring me to lift my camera. i hesitated at first given the intensity of the stare but then figured she was a lil girl and I could prob take her if it came to it (kidding, kinda!) - she did make me nervous at any rate but turned out to be one of my favs of the day...
Funny girl - she was one of my favs, screamed like a banshee everytime I raised my camera to take a picture of her but never actually looked away from the camera - I think she just loved the attention...
