Looking Back on Your Photography: Why It's Better Now Than It Was Before

As a new writer on here, sometimes, it is hard to come up with new content to write about. I really have to put my brain to use. Sometimes, I randomly come up with ideas and topics to write about, and that is definitely one reason I'm glad I switched back to the iPhone. Whenever I come up with a thought or idea to write about, I hop into my Notes app and start writing some ideas down. Now, when I go home, it’s on my iPad, computer, phone, etc., and I can sit down and start to write more about it.

So, the other day, I was leaving the gym early in the morning and walking back to the locker room like I always do, only this morning was different. An idea popped into my head, and I took myself four years back. Now, that's quite some time (for me at least). Where was I four years ago? I just got into college: undecided major, careless attitude, no thoughts on what I wanted to do with my life. A year later, I'm a sophomore. Where did the time go? I change my major to photography, start to actually learn how to use my camera, learned about Lightroom, Photoshop, the entire Adobe suite. I began to like it, but I didn’t take it seriously; I pushed all my projects off until the last minute, didn’t try hard enough, and I didn’t think my gear mattered. Fast-forward one year: I'm a junior now. I'm still photography major, but what the hell am I going to do with it? I’m not going to find work. Maybe I majored in the wrong thing.

Now, it’s time to find an internship, to see what the real world is like, to see what I can actually do with photography. I emailed several companies; none got back to me. I was hopeless at this point. I then reached out to a wedding photographer I really liked; his name was Tom Harmon. Tom was able to push me to that next step as a photographer; he introduced me to Nikon, got me more into weddings, portraits, drones, and even interior photography. My life was changing, and I had a more positive attitude. This is where I realized I was ready to move onto my senior year.

I started working with Airbnb as a photographer, and people started asking how much I charged for work. It was all just a matter of time getting offered money for work, which I didn't think it would ever happen. Four years back, I thought I was good, but I didn’t know anything. I didn’t have good gear, I didn’t know what I was doing or how to do it. I didn’t care enough to try and be what I wanted to.

Jump forward to now, and it’s almost all figured out. I look at my work from back then and like very little of it. It was basic, on a beginner's level. Now, when I walk around thinking about myself and where I am today, I look back and see that in those short four years, I made a huge improvement. I think about my next four years and how much bigger that improvement can be. It's all up to me. Am I willing to work for it and better myself? Better my work? Prove my younger self wrong?

Over my college years, I've changed a lot, learned a lot, and gotten experience I couldn't have anywhere else. When I think back to freshman year, when my roommate was someone I just met, I didn't think: "Maybe I'll run a business with this guy someday doing something we both love." In those years, I've matured and realized that I can do what I want to. It's just a matter of going out there and doing it. Now, Vin and I will be graduating and running our own business, finding new clients, making new connections, and most importantly, enjoying what we do.

If you ever need that little bit of inspiration, think back. Take yourself back to when you first started. Think about what you thought was good back then and think about how it relates to your work now. Look at the improvements you have made, and smile, because you've come a long way. Keep up the hard work, and in a few years, you can do the same thing; only this time, maybe you'll feel even better about it.