Above: Image by Gina Milicia
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” –Confucious
A few years ago, I photographed a woman named Karen Gatt, a busy mother of two toddlers. Karen had gained weight with each pregnancy and had grown depressed by the fact that the extra 150 pounds she was carrying made it difficult to walk. She could barely make it to her letterbox without needing to rest and catch her breath.
Karen knew she needed to exercise more, but how could she do this when she could barely walk?
One morning she made a decision that completely changed her life.
Karen decided to walk to her clothesline and back. Just once.
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
The next day Karen walked to the clothesline and back twice.
She continued doing this each day and bit by bit, step by step, Karen moved her body further and further.
Karen lost 150 pounds, gained a ton of energy, and changed her life for good.
“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.“ –Robert Collier
Karen had massive success with one small change to her lifestyle. As she reached each milestone, she raised the bar.
Many of us dream about starting a photography business, learning how to light or edit photos, write a book or climb Mt Everest. The reason we give up before we achieve our goals is that we set the bar too high at the start.
The first time I tried to learn Photoshop, I took a two day advanced Photoshop workshop. I had NO CLUE what the teacher was saying.
I left that class feeling confused and stupid and convinced myself that I’m just not a Photoshop person.
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”
The game-changer in my Photoshop learning came when I met another teacher who explained Photoshop in a language that I understood. She ditched the tech talk, simplified the lessons and encouraged me to start slowly and build my learning, bit by bit.
Each day, we took a stroll around the clothesline, and I built my photoshop fitness and confidence one tool at a time.
Each of us learns at our own pace and in our style.
Start by taking one photo
Start by signing up to a class
Start by watching one tutorial
Start by sharing one photo
Start by shooting in auto mode
Start by shooting with daylight
Start today.
Repeat tomorrow.
