Room for Everyone: Take Up the Damn Space

I recently saw someone announce that she was stepping away from her photography business, and it genuinely made me sad 😞

Not because I think she “gave up.” Not because I think everyone who picks up a camera needs to turn it into a business. But because part of her reasoning was that she didn’t feel like she was at a place where she should be charging people for her time…And whew. That one sat with me. Because when exactly do we become “good enough” to take up space?

Is there a ceremony? Do the professionals gather around, knight us with a 70-200mm lens and say, “Congratulations. You may now accept $150 without feeling like a fraud.” 😂

Because I must have missed mine.

The truth is, everyone who is incredible at something was once absolutely clueless at it. Every photographer you admire once took a picture that was too dark, too bright, out of focus, crooked, awkwardly posed, or edited within an inch of its life. Every baker has probably made a cake that looked like it survived a small house fire. Every hairstylist has a haircut somewhere in their past that we simply do not discuss.

Every writer has written something they read five years later and thought, Who allowed me access to a keyboard?

We become professionals through practice.

And practice requires actually doing the thing.

I started thinking about my own photography business. I’ve made mistakes. I’ve undercharged. I’ve probably overestimated myself a time or two. I’ve delivered galleries I look back at now and immediately start mentally re-editing. I’ve tried things that didn’t work. I’ve had sessions where I walked away feeling like Annie freaking Leibovitz and others where Lightroom opened and humbled me immediately.

That’s growth.

And I’m sure my name has been mentioned in circles.

I’m sure there are photographers further along than me who have looked at my work and thought, “Bless her heart.” 😂 And you know what? That’s okay.

Because I’m not competing with the photographer who has been doing this for 15 years.

I’m competing with the photographer I was six months ago.

There is room for her. There is room for me.

There is room for the girl who just bought her first camera yesterday and is currently Googling what the hell aperture means. There is room for the photographer charging $75. There is room for the photographer charging $750. There is room for the woman who has mastered her craft, and there is room for the woman who is still figuring hers out.

Someone else’s talent doesn’t cancel yours.

Someone else’s experience doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to begin.

And someone being better than you at something doesn’t mean you have to disappear until you’ve magically reached their level. Because spoiler alert: there will always be someone better.

There will always be someone with nicer equipment, a bigger studio, more followers, prettier presets, more experience, more bookings, more money, more connections, and apparently a magical ability to get toddlers to look directly at the camera. I would personally like to speak with those people because WHAT KIND OF WITCHCRAFT IS THAT?

But their success doesn’t take anything away from yours.

Wildflowers don’t stand around analyzing whether the flower beside them deserves sunlight more.They just grow. Some are taller. Some bloom earlier. Some take a little longer. Some are a little wonky. Some grow in places nobody expected anything beautiful to grow at all.

But there is room in the field for every single one of them. So start the business. Charge for your time.

Learn.

Practice.

Mess up.

Own it when you mess up.

Get better.

Change your prices.

Change your style.

Outgrow your old work.

Cringe at an edit from two years ago…that’s practically a rite of passage. But please don’t make yourself smaller because someone else is further along. You do not have to wait until you’re the best in the room to take up space in it.

There is room for everyone.

And if somebody doesn’t think you belong in the field?

Bloom anyway 🌼