Go Create

One of the things on my list of goals to accomplish in the first few months of this year was to get around to all of my family members and create good portraits of them.  I was sitting at my kitchen table one day with some guests at the house and they asked about the black and white photos I had hanging in our kitchen.  They wanted to know the story behind them.  I felt crummy because there wasn’t a story.  About ten years ago I shot some artsy black and white photos for the fun of it.  I found them when we moved here so I decided to hang them up.  No story…nothing.  I decided then that I should fill my walls with pictures that actually mean something.  I want to decorate our walls with pictures that actually have a story.  So the next time someone asks I hope to be ready with something better.

On Monday of this week I spent part of the day with my parents and shot portraits of them.  The photo above is from that session.  It is a hat that belonged to my granddad.  It was really fun and I have several others that I will share here on the blog later this week.  When I was editing through them it hit me…if I wouldn’t have made the effort those wonderful portraits wouldn’t exist.  I know it sounds simple but I am guilty of getting wrapped up in photography as a business.  I am commissioned by my clients to create portraits of them and I do…and I love that.  But it’s all the other pictures that are falling through the cracks.  I hear and read from other photographers all the time who stress how important it is to shoot for yourself.  I have always agreed but rarely acted.

The awesome thing about being in a creative field is that I can get off the couch, go out for a few hours with my camera, and actually create something out of nothing.  So here is my challenge for all of you especially those of you who are creatives.  Quit talking about it….quit thinking about it….quit planning for it…just go do it.  Go create.