Staying ahead of the game...

I don't need training..... You would be surprised how many photographers I hear this from as if they have hit the top of their game and don't need to push the boundaries any more.

The last 3 months for me have been about reconnecting with myself (sounds a bit deeper than it really is), I needed to take time to find the person I was before I got taken over by the studio,sounds crazy but those 4 walls were never me, just took a long time for me to realise.

During these 3 months I have taken up running and got back into dance which I love and had left behind (the studio meant I could never commit to a set class - which was all in my head as I could have made the decision to not take on work that day - its safe to have you time).

Andi my dance instructor and I got chatting during my one to one about training, and that to move forward you need to train a minimum of 2 hours per week... whether you are a beginner or an instructor.  For her that is 2 hours over the classes she teaches (her every day work), to really keep moving forward.

This has really gotten me thinking about our industry and what we do about training, I know when I had the studio I was obsessed with business training, how can I bring in more money, how can I increase the averages.... I needed more money to grow the business and survive.  

I lost the importance of training in photography, after all I was shooting every day in the studio with clients... but is that really stretching you to the next level... its not the place to be testing out new equipment you haven't already practised with.

We become the same as the next photographer, learning to a certain level and just trying to photograph what we think will sell, being sheep following what other studio's are doing... not adding ourselves into the images.

If your a family photographer.... why not see what you can learn from a street photographer or a pet photographer... what could you take from them to bring into your own work and make it unique.

For me a minimum of 2 hours dance training, is now also a minimum of 2 hour photography training, be it booking a model, playing with my lights, watching video's on The Photography Academy, and booking workshops.

Its time to grow as a photographer.... take your images to the next level and challenge yourself to train/play at least 2 hours a week!