It’s an African proverb that I Tweeted the other day, but the more I see it, the more I’m in awe of how much these seven words really say.    They sure seem to fit with everything we learned in 2008 and 2009. 

Think about it.  The economy was horrible and you worked harder than you’ve probably ever worked in your life.  If you didn’t make some serious changes in the last year, you at least are giving them serious thought.  Changes in marketing, business, workflow and even your shooting style – nothing is sacred when you’re worried about survival.

What’s most exciting to me is the new energy focused on marketing.  Years ago we used to laugh, because Don Blair would get a thousand people in a posing and lighting program with a few cute models and I’d get ten people in a marketing workshop.  Okay, I’ll admit his topic was more exciting, but my jokes were better!    Today, every marketing, business and workflow program is packed and people are taking notes.    

In spite of the challenges and the number of photographers who may have stepped away from their businesses this past year, we’re a stronger industry than we were a few years ago.  As the economy starts to improve we’ll see some of the friends we lost come back into the business, but with a stronger focus on diversity, creativity and marketing.

Scuba diving is a major passion of mine and I remember an early dive in horrible water.  We had 6-8 foot swells and we were in a 20 foot boat – the captain looked at us and said, “If you guys can dive in this you can dive in anything!”  I came off the boat green and my buddy left breakfast a half mile off the Florida coast, but it really did make us better divers.

Well, we’ve survived a couple of tough years, bombarded with a bad economy and trying to keep up with technology, but the key word is survived.  The proverb says so much that to keep talking about it becomes trite…the point is we’ve all learned to sail in rough water and as a result we’re better sailors!

Give yourself a pat on the back – your passion for photography is alive and well and now you’ve got the tools to make this an amazing year! 

“Land ho!’