“I have to admit, I didn’t exactly like your class in the beginning,’ one of my students said as the group lingered at the door. It was the last night of our last class the last week and we were exchanging final pleasantries at our little semester wrap party. Wait, wasn’t this supposed to be pleasant?
Other students chimed in and explained how how much I pushed them, how much work it was, how they understood nothing at first and felt lost but now feel like they have a good base to move forward as they continue with photography. Ahhh good, moving forward, continue shooting. That’s what I like to hear. I also appreciated the gripes though. My class wasn’t easy. Life isn’t. But the greatest triumphs come after you are stretched and challenged, do they not?
And I couldn’t help but think about photography and how it relates to life…there are negatives that make positives, you develop, you are in the dark when things transform, you learn to look for the good light, get set, compose, work to capture and create with moments in time that would otherwise be forever gone…man, I love my job.
This semester, we laughed a lot. We worked hard. We had a lot of fun. And that’s how you should do it all, right? Show up. Do the work and try your best to do it well. Stretch yourself, and smile the whole damn time. Cause even though there’s going to be lack of sleep, lots of frustration and maybe even some tears, you have got to keep smiling. Keep working at it. Keep pushing yourself. We’re all going to be better photographers, better people because of it.
Cheers to you, sweet students of mine. Thanks for working hard, learning well and teaching me a few things too.
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