On the second day of Inspire Boston we all wearily trudged into our first session of the day at 9 AM. Blam, Eric Laurits hits us right up the head with an inspiring video that made me think about my entire vision as a wedding photographer (He has the video on his FB page).
Then the second BLAM. A slide with seven questions that make us question who we are. I don’t mean who we are as a wedding photographers. I MEAN who we are as a human being.
- How would you define personal vision?
- How do you articulate personal vision?
- Where does personal vision come from? Is it ingrained or acquired?
- How do you go about taking personal vision and putting it into practice?
- How has your personal vision changed over your lifetime?
- Have you ever compromised your personal vision?
- Have you ever questioned the authenticity of your personal vision?
I mean! WOW! Those are questions that rock us to our core. I had scribbled down my answers and then took some time this weekend to reflect and write out my answers in a quite place. It was a gut wrenching experience and I looked at it from the angle of being several things in one person. I’m not just a wedding photographer, I’m a husband, dad, son, brother, uncle, cousin, friend and I needed to write out my statement so it incorporated all these facets. I also wanted to be real and attainable. I didn’t want it to sound like some corporate bullshit mission/vision statement. I won’t share it here, but if you’re an interested friend I’d be glad to e-mail it to you so I can have someone keep me on the path if I get off track. I sent Eric my personal vision today and I know he’ll hold me accountable if I get off the path.
Meet Lola. She was OK with the first ten minutes of being photographed for an impromptu family photography session, but after that she hid behind her hat. The shot with the hat and missing teeth were my favorite. She had lost her teeth the month previous in a sliding accident when went down a hill and fell and knocked them out. I think she could be playing ice hockey from the Maine Black Bears in a few years.
I wanted to do something to force myself out of my comfort zone and research shows that people that have goals written out accomplish significantly more. The one thing I have promised myself is that I will do more personal projects such as my post Katrina work in New Orleans. My B&W portfolio and 
by mark
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