Ouch, ouch and ouch! Ever been your own worst critic? I have...and sometimes continue to be my own worst critic. When I got serious about getting my business re-started, I invested in Olympus cameras and lenses (which are excellent quality) because at the time, I could not afford Canon. I would shoot and look at my work and think "If I had a Canon this would be a much better photograph". Okay, fellow photographers, I know you know that it is not all about the camera equipment, but about your eye and vision for what you want to create. My clients raved about the photographs I shot for them, but in my mind, I was constantly critiquing my work and thinking....I could have done better. My other bad habit was thinking that if I was in a room and another photographer was there, I immediately felt unnecessary. Why do I do that to myself? I have 4 doctors, none of which is unnecessary, but each has a different area of expertise. It is the same with photographers. One may be an architectural photographer, or a portrait photographer, and one may only photograph concerts but all have different skill sets.
That reminds me of the body of Christ. We are all members of His body, but we don't all function in the same way.
Romans 12: 4-8:
4 For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function,5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if prophecy, [f]according to the proportion of his faith; 7 if service, in his serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; 8 or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
Even if I am in a room of 1,000 wedding photographers, I am unique. No one else has my style. No one else does what I do the way I do it. Do you remember the quote the Lord gave me that I shared with you? "Creation is most majestic when it is simply what God created it to be, that includes us."
So my promise to you is that I pledge to be the best me I can be...and if I am not being that, you have permission to call me on it.
A time came when I was able to purchase my Canon equipment, but I have to admit that as I go through my digital files from over the years, I see some pretty amazing stuff I shot with my Olympus cameras. Of course, I continue to learn and improve my skills, but I have to admit that I have taken some really great photographs that totally blessed my clients. So while I continue to grow as a photographer, I have also grow in the grace toward myself that I extend to others.
One day, I was visiting a close girlfriend and was admiring a family portrait she had hung on her dining room wall. "What a great family photo", I said. She replied "It should be....you took it!" It all came back to me! I had taken family portraits for her in her living room...with my OLYMPUS camera. I had to ask myself why I was so super critical of my own work?
Lord, help me to be all You have called me to be. I cannot be anyone but me. YOUR Word tells me that I am fearfully and wonderfully made! Your creation amazes and inspires me. Help me, Lord, to capture what You want me to see that is different from what anyone else does. Help me to appreciate the gift with which you have blessed me.
I love you, Lord
Pamela
No comments:
Post a Comment