Guest Post: Fear is a Lame Excuse by Heidi Uhl

It’s a Heidi Uhl lesson that even the most seasoned photographers tend to forget – never let fear hold you back from trying something new.   I remember hearing a motivational speaker once talk about how you can’t appreciate winning unless you’ve lost a few.   We all learn from our mistakes, make new ones and learn from them as well.

But one thing I thought about when I was looking at the two final images Heidi included with her guest post.  Cropped differently I’m not sure her “flop” really was a flop.  The two images are completely different and it brought back my favorite Dean Collins’ saying, “Beauty is in the eye of the checkbook holder!”  So, while you may not always love an image, it’s your client who really matters.  That also means you need the skills to give you the ability to meet your client’s mindset, even if you’re not shooting the way you love to photograph the most!

It’s a great post Ms Heidi – thanks for being here this morning!

I decided in the last year “Fear is a lame excuse” would be my new mantra. We let fear stop us from doing so many things in our life, whether it be sky-diving or becoming successful. Failure is scary and we let it too often stop us from even trying. If we let it, failure can be a springboard to success, so why not embrace it, instead of fear it? You can learn just as much or more from failure as you can from success.

I spent so much time thinking I didn’t know enough about photography to go out and make the kind of pictures I wanted to. I was afraid of falling on my face and looking stupid. Finally with a little friendly pressure and lots of support from my  husband and best friend, Tim, I decided to give it a try.  I came up with a concept, gathered my gear and headed out to shoot. 

I had this grand idea in my head that I had sketched out on paper and perfected in my mind. We got to the location and went to work. After completing what I thought I came for, Tim suggested trying one more set-up before we left. He had explored a little and found an interesting area.  It was freezing and a lot of work moving generators, lights, etc. in the end, absolutely worth it.

The outcome of my grand idea? A total flop. The outcome of the other shots taken that day? Success. I learned so much from one shoot.   I know what I needed to change to make the flop a success and amidst one flop another success emerged. Most importantly, I learned not to be afraid to try.  Have I failed since then? Absolutely. Will I fail again in the future? Absolutely, but as long as I embrace it, I can learn from it.

Since then I have shot the kind of work I want to shoot.   Because of letting go of that fear I was able to grow technically and artistically. I really began to grow my personal style, and with that have been hired to shoot a few ad campaigns for bridal boutiques and stylists, and even had my first editorial piece published. Free advertising….

Here is the set-up for the picture that I considered a success.

I am going to show you the outcome of my flop as well  in hopes that someone else’s blunder might inspire you to get out there and make some mistakes yourself.  I had envisioned a dramatic “moonlit” scene that was very cinematic. I knew I would need to take multiple frames and merge them in post to get the look I hoped for. In the end, it just wasn’t anything like what I was going for.

The final image had the look and drama I wanted to have in the first place.  It has a completely different feel, but is far closer to what I had envisioned.