On opportunity

A man named Wyatt Gallery has always been one of my favorite photographers, and if you haven't checked out his website you should do it right now. Okay, if any of you have heard the name, it's probably because he was involved in a stupid scandal a few years back where he got caught on tape getting it on with not one but two miss universe contestants. But that's not the reason I like the guy. Honest. He's also a great photographer. Honest. Really.

Anyway, I was thrilled recently during my web browsing to come across an interview with Wyatt by a fellow by the name of Jeff Bartlett. To be honest, I was a little nervous to first read the piece, and that's a bit of an understatement. It shot fear right down into the pit of my stomach. I've read interviews with people I really admired, and remember feeling incredibly let down, when they came across as nothing but those with nothing to say, or worse they come across as pompous jackasses drunk on their own importance. I will never read the Life of Pi the same way again after watching a particular interview with Jann Martel where he presented himself as very possibly the most important man in the world. Disappointing.

So it was with great trepidation that I started reading Wyatt's advice to other young photographers. "Come on man," I was thinking "Don't let me down." I mean, here is a fellow whose photos I look at pretty much every day, and has lived what is for me is the dream life (once again, no connection to the miss universe 'scandal'. Honest) . Extensive travel, documenting of historical events, commercial success before 25 without selling out, and seems an all around decent guy to boot. To have him provide pointless or pompous advice would have been close to soul crushing.

So I'm reading along, skimming through the general blah blah blah that comes at the start of interviews in general. And then, all of sudden, here's the quote that really floors me.

"We must take the first step to living the way our heart intends us to live. When we choose to follow our intuition from our heart, things will just happen and seem like miracles, coincidence, fate, and blessings. Once we take that first step, the universe will create opportunities to assist us. "

So true man. So true. Preach it brother.

Isn't it funny how the universe works? This is something I'd been thinking over myself these past weeks. I've recently taken my 'day job' down to an absolute minimum and I've been spending my time focusing on the things that I think are the most important in my life. It's a great feeling, but it's also scary as hell. I'm making less money than I'm in any way used to, and after scaling back on a job shooting sports my cash flow is extremely scattered. But yet somehow I'm getting by. Opportunities to make cash are seeming to materialize out of nowhere. Small things for now, but enough.

What's really odd is that my room mate and good friend is experiencing the exact same thing. He left his job scrubbing boats behind and is concentrating on his talents as a musician and audio engineer. He doesn't have any plan, and I'm sure a lot of people expected him to be broke in a week. But he's not. I'm not either. Opportunities are presenting themselves to us that we never would have seen, anticipated or been ready for if we hadn't taken that first step to opening our eyes to see them. And that's something special.

Right now, it's all small things. But recently, two opportunities came up for me that could be big. They have that potential. Like Wyatt said, the universe is working in it's own way. Now, like my mother would probably say, it's up to me. Which I guess leads me around to the point of this whole thing. Opportunities are just that. Opportunities. They don't appear if you aren't ready and looking for them, but you still have to do the grunt work to turn them into reality. Which is why, on this beautiful sunny day, I'm inside pitching ideas for photo stories to airline magazines and reading through page after page of a website on a charitable organization in Guatemala who I'm interested in working with. The universe gave me a door. I'd be letting it down if I didn't at least try to walk through it.

Besides, I'm living in Vancouver and it's the middle of summer. It's going to be light out until 10. I got all the time in the world. Maybe I'll go for an evening hike.

You see? Another opportunity.

By the way, the interview with Wyatt Gallery turned out to be one of the most inspiring things I've read. And for that, I'm thankful. I'll leave you with another amazing quote.

"I listen to my heart and just do it. Don’t think, don’t ask how or why, just feel that you are being called to shoot something or interested in something and just go do it."

Check out Gallery's website at www.wyattgallery.com

Inspirational words

Okay. I lifted this from David Duchemin (a very talented photographer and seemingly great human being)'s blog. I love it.

“Let’s start with passion. There are way too many people in this room right now, that are doing stuff they hate. PLEASE STOP DOING THAT. There is no reason in 2011 to do shit you hate. None. Promise me you won’t. Because you can lose just as much money being happy as hell.”
-Garry Vaynerchuk

On responsibility

My first post. I'll try to make it a good one. Just bear in mind it has nothing to do with photography.



I took this picture last year while I was in Thailand. I was sitting in a temple with my camera in my lap, watching as this ageless monk put together some sort of rosary in front of me. He seemed completely at peace. I was completely at peace. I lifted my camera and without looking through the viewfinder, I took the picture. I don't think he ever noticed, but if he did he would have never let on. It was as close to a perfect moment as I've had in my young life.

It didn't make me any money. It wasn't a thrill of victory or a moment of gloating over my fallen opponent. It wasn't a conquest or a high or even the sort of life changing epiphanies that you are supposed to get in Buddhist temples in Thailand. Hell, the picture didn't even make me any money. It was just a little moment where life nudges you in the ribs and says, "Wow. Appreciate this. This is the most amazing thing that can possibly happen to you."

Thats exactly what it said. It wasn't a shout, it was a whisper. Like a friend offering a compliment that you know is genuine. It was amazing. It was just that one little whisper that inspired a massive change in my life, and took me down a completely different path, spiritually and professionally.

Why mention this? Why in my first blog post? I've been thinking a lot today about responsibility. My natural state is, unfortunately enough, off in the clouds. I don't say this with any kind of malice to myself, it's just a statement of fact. If you know me, you'd probably agree. This isn't to say that I can't work, and work hard, when the time comes, but a whole lot gets lost in the day to day shuffle. So if you wonder why I left my keys lying around again for the 100th time, that probably why. Sorry to everyone I've worked with at day jobs over the years. My family as well. Consider this a blanket apology.

Is this kind of world view a particularly responsible one? Probably not. Does it make more work for other people, who don't deserve it? A lot of the time, yes. Is it something that I probably have to fight on a day-to-day basis. Again, I'd say that it probably is. I'd like to think I'm getting better at it. Sometimes I think I want to change it altogether. Be the kind of person who would sit in that temple in front of that monk and know exactly where my motorcycle keys were, what time it was, and how I was going to use this photo to make myself a buck when I got home.

Probably more responsible. Probably less work for everyone else. Probably less work for myself. Less paying attention to the moment a little more to the future. How will I start my motorbike? How will I get home? Do I need to pick anything up? Remember not to get distracted. Focus.

It's a lot of voices to listen too. I probably would have been better to listen to them, to be honest. I lost my motorcycle keys and had to hunt over the temples grounds to find them. By the time I got back to the city, I had missed my chance to rendezvous with a friend, because I had stayed too late. The rest of the day was a write-off. I ended up with a photo that didn't at all fit into what I was trying to shoot (Buddhist architecture). I really would have been better to pay more attention to these things and let them drown out that simple moment.

Actually, I just looked at the photo again. I take it all back. It was all worth it. The photo is one of my all time favorites. I wouldn't change anything that had happened for all the world. Hearing that little voice from the universe was the best thing that possibly could have happened to me

I sincerely hope from the bottom of my heart that you can find a time in your life when life speaks to you in the same way. I hope you are taking the time to listen, even if it is irresponsible.

"Wow. Appreciate this. This is the most amazing thing that can possibly happen to you."