In this business whether you are a model or a photographer there are great days and not so great days.
A few weeks ago I had a string of great days. Had some exciting new cover features get published, signed a few great contracts for future projects and had a full slate of shoots on the calendar.
This morning was a “not so great” day. I woke up to check two e-mails. One from a commercial client who has been dancing around signing a contract to move forward on a project which has been raising a lot of red flags. They were continuing their dance and an avoidance of questions on the project. The second from a larger publication that shelved three big potential features we were going for.
Days like this are defeating and deflating. But the important thing to remember about days like this is two things.
1. They will certainly happen. You will not win every project, you will not get every job, you will not make everyone happy. Get comfortable with the reality that you will have things not go the way you hoped.
2. They don’t happen all the time. In fact, they don’t happen most of the time.
In our business you have to love the roller coaster of it all. If you thrive only in the times you are going up then the downs take a greater toll on you. You must utilize the downs to motivate you and make you push just as much as the ups do. That is how you sustain long term in the business.
James Patrick
IG @jpatrickphoto
