You know that thing that terrifies you? That one thing you long to do? That step over the edge you're afraid to take coz it might mean plummeting to your death? Take it! Go ahead, I promise it'll be okay.
The first person I approached for what would be the start of "Dudes with Beards" and second dude I photographed.
A little over a year and a half ago I approached a dude about a photo; - Jason above was that dude. This was to be the start of what is now "Dudes with Beards". It was a little scary & uncomfortable, but I am currently 52 portraits in - and thus far no one has said no - and I have 48 more to go to finish it. I did this primarily to get over the crippling fear of approaching people. It's still there, but it's a little more manageable. I do however still make the mistake of not approaching people and I pretty much always regret it.
Then 8 months after "DWB" I wrote a letter to Zack Arias about interning for him. You can catch up on that, here, here AND on Zack's site; Meet the Intern. Even before I knew if he'd say yes, I quit my then day job to pursue photography as a career. It's probably the scariest thing I have ever done - next to getting on a plane and flying halfway across the world to work with Zack - and you know what? It's been exhilarating!
I've stepped over the edge and miraculously I have not yet fallen. It's as if there is this fog and I couldn't see the rest of the path and I wouldn't know it was there unless I took that one step further. The rest of it is still covered in fog, but the further I move along it, the more I realize that I can still keep going. I'm sure I'm going to reach a point where there will be another leap of faith needed and I'll hesitate, but ultimately I will take that step.
A thing I did recently was; I emailed the press contact for a band I absolutely love and whom I'll get to see on Halloween in New York and now I have a pass to photograph them. It was a shot in the dark, but you know what? It worked. And for a second I wasn't going to hit send, but I did and look what happened.
My journey in America is speeding to an end, so if you haven't yet checked it out you can do so by clicking on the above image. There has been no slow crawl, except for maybe the first week when everything was still new and unfamiliar.
Even the fact that I extended my stay by 2 months has not made it feel any longer. In a couple days I'll be headed to Seattle again to help Zack with some stuff he is doing for DEDPXL. Then October is pretty much pedal to the metal. I've got projects I need to finish and people I need to photograph and I have less than a month to do so. Here's to my last few weeks.
Thanks for reading