I like to keep it light on Sundays…No, I don’t – I just like to keep it short and to the point. So, here it is for this beautiful Sunday morning.

I’m back down in Florida again dealing with some family health challenges with my folks. My Dad keeps telling me how he’s never seen me so happy. This isn’t earth-shaking, but I’m finally starting to understand how important it is for you to really love what you’re doing. That doesn’t mean every job has to make you smile all the time, but all of us do share the passion for the craft, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading my blog.

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Mom and Dad photographed by Bambi Cantrell

 So, regardless of where you are in your career it’s important to have a plan. You don’t have to spend hours writing it all out, just take some time and day dream. Think about what it is you love to work on most and then set some goals on how to get there and do more of it. 

For me, when I launched the new company just over a year ago, I knew I loved to write and loved the marketing side of photography. I also knew I loved working with photographers.  I wanted to help develop some tools to help more photographers realize their true potential.

While I still have a long way to go, that’s what I’m doing now and yeah, it does make me happy.   But not until my folks started talking about how happy I am did I realize the significance of how important it all is. And, believe it or not, it’s really NOT about money – I don’t care how much money you’re making. It’ll never be enough if you’re losing yourself in the process. If you can’t take time to be with friends, because you’ve got to work, that sports car in the garage won’t mean a thing!

I said it in a post the other day. Photography is all about your heart. Whatever you’re feeling comes out in your images and even the expressions on your subjects. If you haven’t looked at them already, take a look at Kirk Voclain’s videos from last week. Kirk loves what he does and he’s one of the best in the country. Jasmine Star loves what she’s doing and it comes out in her narrative and video. Now look at the expressions on Kirk’s and Jasmine’s subjects. You don’t get natural fun expressions like those if you’re screaming “1-2-3 Smile” and then thinking “Thank God that’s over!”

Photography is from the heart, about the heart and your images need to grab the hearts of the people who look at them!

“A great photograph is a full expression of what one feels about what is being photographed in the deepest sense, and is, thereby, a true expression of what one feels about life in its entirety.”   Ansel Adams