All about comfort zones | Atlanta Child Photographer

Gee, how long has it been now? Are we on week three or week four? I just checked my calendar and this is week three. It is so easy to lose track of time when you don’t have anywhere to be. If I know what day of the week it is, then I’m doing really well. Things haven’t been too bad. I’ve been trying to keep a somewhat regular schedule at my house by preparing for the time that we will be released from this hell. To be honest, I can’t really call this hell because I don’t feel like it’s really affecting me that badly. As far as my schedule goes, when I don’t have any clients, I’m usually working at my desk. As you may have figured, that has been where I’ve been. Basically, I’m doing things that will hopefully propel my business in the right direction and bring in new clients.

In case you’re wondering, I have been spending time with my husband and son. Heck, I’ve even spent more time with the dog and the cat but I’m still working. What I’ve come to realize is that I’ve become complacent. I don’t think I’ve pushed my business or myself as hard as I should have. I haven’t been doing the things that I know I should do. Why, you ask?  Maybe because I’ve been wallowing in my comfort zone. I’m sure some of you all reading this have been there. Nobody likes to leave their comfort zone because it’s extremely comforting and comfortable. Therein lies the trap. Your comfort zone is there to keep you ignorant and happy instead of making you grow into something or someone you’re supposed to be. As they say, nothing grows in your comfort zone and that is so true. Something that I’ve learned is that we often stay in our comfort zones because we are either afraid to grow or afraid to fail. It’s one or the other and experiencing either can cause you discomfort. At this particular point in time, I am guessing that we are all uncomfortable in a way that we can’t control. Or can we? 

Life has taught me that it doesn’t matter what the issue/problem/situation is, it only matters as to how you react to it. If you try something for the first time and you fail what is your response to that failure? Will you give up and decide that’s not what you want or will you try it again for success? How important is it to you? If it’s not that important, perhaps you’ll let it go and move on to something else. What if it is important to you but you’re too afraid of failing to try it again? I think it’s fine to try something once, even if you’re not passionate about it. If you succeed, that’s awesome. If you don’t, then you can say I gave it a try and it didn’t work out so, I’ll just move on to the next thing with no regrets. To me, there is nothing wrong with either of those scenarios but I have a real problem with being passionate about something but either being too afraid to try or too afraid to try after failure. If you give up on something that easily, were you really passionate about it in the first place? What happens now if you don’t move to the next level? 

As I stated before, I have been quite comfy in my comfort zone but I think now is as good a time as any to pivot. Change things up a little. The name of my photography studio is PhoArtgraphy and the tagline is, putting art into photography. Well, I think it’s time for me to get back to that. I’ve hesitated to label my photography fine art because it just didn’t feel that way to me. I do find much of my work artistic but when I think of fine art, I sometimes think of beautiful stuffiness. That’s just one perspective of fine art photography. To be fair though, I really think of myself as a storyteller. Perhaps another moniker could be an elicitor of emotions. I want people to be able to feel something when they see my work.

Continuing on with my transparency, sometimes it is difficult for me to consistently photograph in a particular style. The reason comes down to my inspiration and the amount of creative control I have. My inspiration comes from what I see and the energy I get from the people I work with. I suppose it is on me to make a decision as to what it is that I really want to do. Well, what I really want to do is create beautiful, emotive images. For the most part, I believe that is what I do and I will keep doing that. You may see my work change in the coming months or perhaps what I think I’m changing to has always been there.  Even though I enjoy collaboration, sometimes it’s not the best thing for my art. For instance, I had this newborn client who wanted to institute this spa theme for her newborn. As cute as that sounds, that’s not what I do. She also wanted these furry angel wings on her daughter too. I don’t do that either but I obliged on both counts. Needless to say, those images were not my best work because they were not what I do. Oh, you say you never saw those images? That’s right, you didn’t. I didn’t show them because that’s not what I do nor do I want to do. I don’t build elaborate sets because that’s not my thing. I don’t have lots of props because that’s not my thing. I don’t do wild outfits because that’s not my thing. I am not knocking any of that because I know many photographers who pull them off beautifully but that’s just not me. 

With that being said, I will sail my ship the way I want to sail it. Being the captain of my ship means that I must determine my destination but make sure I observe and enjoy the journey. Those who want to journey with me, hop aboard and take a magical ride. Those who wish to go to other destinations, there are many other ships heading in many other directions. Find the destination that is best for you. To all of you, regardless of your desired destination, I wish you safe and fruitful travels.