I was thinking . . .

[Canon Fan]

How exactly do you get to the point of general self confidence (ie- to compete in a dog eat dog world of pro-photo) without arrogance or big-headedness?

Maybe it's just a character flaw on my part but I am constantly battleing the devil on my shoulder saying "you're better than they are" and the sheep on the other saying "you just aren't there yet".

How do you deal with it?

 

[ferny]

Well, it's down to your personality I guess. Some people are arrogant wankers who think their own **** doesn't smell. They pop out of the womb that way and are like it all their life, regardless of what they do. They could be a professional photographer thinking they're the best, a postman thinking they're so good that they deliver more letters faster than anyone else, or a taxi driver who thinks they're the safest, fastest and generally the bestest best driver around.

We're all arrogant in some ways, we all think we may be a little bit better at something than someone else. But, I think it depends on what the situation is and what we're like normally.

If you're conscious that you're not the worlds best photographer but can see that you're good you're not arrogant. If you thought you knew it all, couldn't get much better and were automatically on a higher plane than people with cheaper equipment or less experience than you, then you'd be arrogant. So what if you have to remind yourself that you're not the worlds best? If you didn't or didn't think you had to, well, then you'd be arrogant wouldn't you?

 

[Artemis]

Confidence I think is where your sure of yourself, its not saying your better, but saying you can do it.
Its like someone says "Can you take pictures of my dog"

Not confident
"I dont know...my friend is better at animal photos"

Confident
"Sure thing, ill get those done in a jiffy!"
"A what?"
"Nevermind!"

Arrogant
"Sure, im the best damn dog photogrpaher in the whole world!...EVER!!"

There we go!

 

[Canon Fan]

Confidence I think is where your sure of yourself, its not saying your better, but saying you can do it.
Its like someone says "Can you take pictures of my dog"

Not confident
"I dont know...my friend is better at animal photos"

Confident
"Sure thing, ill get those done in a jiffy!"
"A what?"
"Nevermind!"

Arrogant
"Sure, im the best damn dog photogrpaher in the whole world!...EVER!!"

There we go!

Hmmm, ironic, I was actually asked that EXACT question last week! I told them I would be happy to do it.

Then I secretely questioned myself as to whether or not I could produce acceptable results for her !

 

[LilCujo]

Hmmm, ironic, I was actually asked that EXACT question last week! I told them I would be happy to do it.

Then I secretely questioned myself as to whether or not I could produce acceptable results for her !

I would say that is totally normal. We all question our abilities; we just don't want others to know we do.



I think because it’s so competitive out there with anything, that we want others to think we are great. It's not that YOU are not confident in yourself its that you want others to be confident in you and your work, and with that we tend to question anything and everything we do.

 

[Alison]

I would say that is totally normal. We all question our abilities; we just don't want others to know we do.

I completely agree! When I'm on a shoot I feel confident and hope that I convey that to my clients. However, when I get home and start sorting through the images I always feel like I could have done better, should have tried something different, etc. I think it's a very normal feeling and probably one that helps us grow in our photography.