It seems that we live in the age of mediocrity. The web is full of lame, less than average images, videos, and websites. And more and more people seem to be accepting that and just not caring. Go over to YouTube and look around. I am sure that there is some shaky, blurry, fuzzy, crackly audio video there that has been viewed over a million times. Now this is not to say that everything has to be professional quality and perfect, but I think that we have slipped too far down the mediocrity slide with the attitude that ‘anyone can do it’. Well I want to tell you that an untrained monkey can make a video or take a photograph, but that does not make it any good. We should all demand more; more service, more art, more substance. One of the downsides to all of this technology being so available is that it has created this false economy of thought that’ I can do whatever’, ‘I don’t need any training’, ‘I don’t need to practice it’, ‘I am expressing myself’, ‘It’s simple’. This is a bunch of excuses. Anything worth doing is worth doing well. Not to sound like my grandfather, but just because there are a bunch of Formula One race cars in the parking lot it’s not an invitation for anyone to crawl in one and drive it 200 MPH around a track without any training or practice. It would be good to review my posts on ‘Finding Your Own Artistic Style‘, ‘Some Truths About Photography‘, and ‘More Truths About Photography‘ to see the kind of passion and practice that goes into being good at any craft.
Long ago when I began to do photography seriously I promised myself that I would not be ordinary, I would not be mediocre, ever. I pledged that I would do whatever it took to really learn the art and craft of photography and everything else that I did in my life. It was my declaration of the search for excellence. It was my anti-mediocre decree. Why would anyone do something just to do it poorly, just to be average. That is lazy, that is a bunch of excuses. So I want to encourage you not to be mediocre, not to be satisfied just going through the motions to get nowhere. The secret is that mediocre is not acceptable. It never has been and never will be. This idea has been pushed on you by society either to sell products or to try and make everyone feel good about themselves. Totally lame.
Set yourself apart by producing and demanding above average service, goods, art, everything. One of my biggest concerns about being a wedding photographer is that there are a lot of mediocre, untrained, hobbyists, out there. Anyone with a digital camera (hardware) and Photoshop (software) thinks that they are instantly a great artist, worthy of demanding money for their average services. And when it comes to such an important event in someone’s life, like a wedding, people should not be settling for some lame, mediocre photographer who will do a poor job because the client did not know any better, or worse they are just trying to spend as little on photography as they can. I urge people not to hire mediocre photographers. Hire professionals with experience and artistry who know what they are doing and pay them accordingly. Wedding photography is too important to settle for anything less. These are your lifelong memories that you are dealing with. Don’t blow that deal. Don’t let a lame photographer take the job.
So here are some quick thoughts about avoiding mediocrity;
1. take pride in your work
2. don’t get in a race to the bottom
3. be you, contribute your uniqueness
4. invest in your true talents
5. don’t allow yourself to be mediocre
6. just average is just average
7. don’t buy cheap brakes, parachutes, or wedding photography
Gary Miller
Houston Fine Art Wedding Photographer
Eye Candy and Brain Veggies
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