{Reprint with permission by photographer Penny De Los Santos © 2010}
Penny is so incredibly inspiring! I recently heard an interview with her and she had a lot of really great advice for photographers. Here’s just a few of her most memorable words of wisdom:
“You’re never going to get that great assignment, you’re going to have to give yourself that great assignment.”
On self assigned projects: “It’s defining. It’s how you grow. And It’s how you begin to establish a personal voice, a personal style, and I think it’s how you build confidence.”
“In terms of photography I’ll stay an extra day on a shoot if I don’t feel like I have it. And if I do feel like I have it I’ll stay an extra day anyway because it’s really good.”
thanks for sharing, jen! i’ve been back for two weeks now and am … stuck. i can’t shake off the lethargy to sort through 1500 photos from the trip, or get back to my self-assigned projects. it’s hard getting back into old habits!
sylvia, i definitely know that feeling and i have two techniques for dealing with an overload of images that need to be sorted through:
1. break it down into smaller more manageable chunks so it’s easier to deal with
2. block off a huge chunk of time and just plow through it all. make a fabulous cup of tea or pour yourself a glass of wine, have some snacks within reach, put on some motivational music and get at it. i often spend more time thinking about how much work i have to do and feeling overwhelmed than i do actually sitting down and getting the work done. and once it’s done i always relish in how good it feels!
can’t wait to hear more about your upcoming projects!
Thanks Jen. I’m trying to work through it backwards, grouping by city. I think the first thing I need to do is get my Mac up to my office; I’m getting nothing done in the living room!
i hear that!