So this isn’t a “best of” post, just a favorites of 2016 post.  I have so many photos from the last year, and I’m sure there’s stuff I’ve forgotten about and stuff I didn’t go far enough back in my folders for.  It’s just stuff that I liked.  It’s not perfect, and that’s ok.  I’m quite far from perfect, but I’ve been honing my documentary-style photography skills and always pushing myself to get better.

When they say comparison is the thief of joy, that’s no joke.  I’m constantly comparing myself and my work to others.  Social media is the rose with a thousand thorns.  I live in the flat ole Midwest, where we are void of epic mountaintops, lush forests, and eternal oceans.  As a photographer, it’s easy to get down on yourself and feel like you suck.  Social media puts the entire world in front of you for you to easily compare yourself to.  I try to not care, but it’s difficult.  Especially when you’re a professional photographer, because you KNOW that you only have a few seconds to make an impression on potential clients before they click to the next site.  You have to be different. But sometimes, when you’re trying to be different, you just end up being like everyone else.

The only thing that makes me unique is me.  I’m me whether I’m in boring Missouri or somewhere beautifully and epic.  I can create interesting photographs no matter where I am.  I may not have mountains or oceans or cliffs or beaches, but that’s ok, because it makes me have to work harder to make things interesting.  I’ve actually got to think about things.

So my goal for 2017 is just to be more me; to continue working on capturing that “decisive moment” as Alfred Stieglitz called it; to go back to my roots as a documentary-style photographer.  To stop comparing myself to others and feeling bad when I’m not them.  To just be weird me.

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