Lately, I’ ve noticed the trend of stories popping up in regards to a lucky break from a friend, a family member, a previous connection, and those fortunate breaks launching a career. There’ t absolutely nothing wrong with that (I are kind of jealous! ), but Also i notice how people keep requesting a story of how work and determination paid off instead. As a shy introvert with cheap gear, I thought our story might be something worth discussing with other Photography Life readers – I’ ve relied entirely upon my work to get where We are today.

I consider myself successful. I’ m a concert photographer that’ s shot my favorite musicians, many times, all with my own outlet We created back in high school (I’ meters a college sophomore now). In case you consider cash to be how you calculate success, I’ m a failure. Capturing for my own outlet doesn’ capital t pay for … anything. But in conditions of being able to do what I enjoy, I’ m successful. As a previous musician, and someone that lives plus breaths music, this is success. I actually get to see rock stars up close, taking the moments that makes them famous. It’ s awesome.

I actually started with no connections and no concept of how to approach this venture. Being in a higher school band in a small mountain city opened zero doors. So I depended heavily on Social Media and excellent pictures; social media to contact bands, plus great pictures to prove personally and get contacts. As I mentioned, I’ m a shy introvert, therefore i preferred to shoot and deliver over the images. That’ s terrible networking, I know, but I just believed if I was good enough, it wouldn’ t matter in the end. And it worked well.

After my first display, I knew I wanted to go after this. I had a Canon T2i and a nifty fifty lens, yet I didn’ t care. I actually started my own outlet, Bluestribute. internet, to give me an excuse to take local bands. And I did all this using online networking and sufficient pictures (“ good enough” in comparison to what I know I can take now). I did this for a while, always capturing a band 2-3 times prior to actually approaching them, telling all of them I was the guy taking all those “ cool, sick” photos. I used to be content hiding behind a computer: it had been easy and I still got to move take pictures.

Doing any sort of networking in this way makes it a slow process, and am knew that. But it was a comfy way for me to do my company, and that’ s what counted. It did take a while associated with shooting local bands, multiple times, till I got local connections, but it had been worth it. I got lots of practice within very harsh conditions, and I obtained lots of confidence in my abilities.

Now, I personally use my website to shoot plus interview some of the biggest bands within rock and metal, from Papa Roach to Rob Zombie. I actually used only my portfolio in order to land a spot shooting concerts pertaining to my local radio stations, from Trip to Skrillex to Cage The particular Elephant. My website, and picture taking, didn’ t grow because We shared it; in fact , it increased because other people shared it; others impressed with the product it was providing. As someone that prefers to do factors quickly, cleanly, and anonymously, I actually knew my strength had to be within quality photos. At 19, I’ ve been shooting for around per year or two, always using our trusty Canon T2i. I can’ t boost my ISO to pay for low lighting, my greatest lens is a worn Sigma 17-70, yet use this gear to catch all my work. And I love it.

If somebody using an outdated camera and a 100 dollar lens could become successful centered solely on their work, there’ t no excuse to not try. As being a photographer that’ s always ready to learn and improve will come with achievement eventually, one way or another.

P. S. Sharif previously wrote a great piece known as “ Which in order to Upgrade? Gear or Skill? “, which I highly recommend to read. This touches on the same topic and illustrates the importance of developing your skill being a photographer, rather than concentrating on buying a lot more gear.

This guest post has been led by Curt Dennis. Been granted the prestigious E-Days Scholarship, Curt currently studies mechanical engineering in the Colorado School of Mines. Curt began his journey by endeavoring to make it as a musician, but right after realizing that being on stage actively playing wasn’ t going to work, this individual went towards being on stage recording instead. Using his passion to get cinema and photography to catch perfect moments, he eventually utilized his learned skills to move directly into other fields of photography, which includes portrait photography, action sports, marketing and more. You can find more of his am employed at his website and his Facebook page .