As I sit here at work, yes I have a real job, I'm watching Facebook and all its glory. Sometimes I wonder why people do the things they do then I realize its not always worth energy trying to figure it out. 😂 However, one thing that I see over and over again that kind of grinds my gears. So this is the Atomic City Photography's version of "What Really Grinds My Gears" by Peter Griffin from Family Guy.
What really grinds my gears is photographers who forget they are running a business. Face it social media is what gets us noticed and our main means of communicating to the world "HERE I AM LOOK AT MY WORK I AM AWESOME!!!" We all do it and that's how we promote ourselves and our work. Its how we draw inspiration by seeing others and their images. Social media can be a good thing, a great spring board and a great way to inspire others.
What I have been seeing lately is too many folks who are photographers or any other type of business using their platform as a means to get political or combative with others. Wait what?! People do that? Yes they do. I think we as PROFESSIONALS should be mindful of what is going on around us and not derail potential clients by our beliefs, political affiliations or religious practices. Now many of us have clients on our personal pages too and this goes for our personal pages, not only our fan pages, instagram, twitter, etc. I feel that sometimes we can be shooting ourselves in the foot and running away future, past, or present clients that may love our work, but because of our lack of decorum in our beliefs they are turned off.
Now hold on before you get your feathers in a ruffle! I'm not saying not to express yourself, what I am saying is have some tact. Have some class about it and not trash bash or anything else that end in an -ash that there is possible. In business there really is not any room for your personal stuff. I do not take my personal life to work with me, it stays outside those doors until I leave for the day. When I step in that massage room (yup I'm a massage therapist by trade), the world stops when I shut that door. All that is in that room is that client and their needs and the professional side of me. I do the same thing in my photography practice. When I pick up that camera, or when I am on social media doing my thing I remember that people are watching me and that they are not only judging me based of my work, but how I conduct myself. So think of social media as a part of your job when it comes to photography, because it is, its our platform for our art. When you pick up that phone, tablet or sit in front of that computer remember all the world is watching you and all the world is your future clients.
Remember that not everyone believes the way you do and that sometimes its best to just remain neutral in the public eye, but behind closed doors be who you are with friends and family. Yes, I am a very REAL person. I am blunt, I do not believe in sugar coating things, I suffer from PTSD, depression, anxiety, I am Christian, and I have very strong political views. But I do my very best to remain as neutral as possible on certain things so that I have a future in my chosen profession of photography. We do not know where our clients and future clients stand and we need to remember that. Still be you, still be that wonderful person you are but please remember to have respect for those around you. We live in an extremely diverse country, that's why it is called the "Great Melting Pot", and because of that we need to have some compassion for those around us who are not like us.
Lets remember to respect one another and love one another!
XOXO
Christy
What really grinds my gears is photographers who forget they are running a business. Face it social media is what gets us noticed and our main means of communicating to the world "HERE I AM LOOK AT MY WORK I AM AWESOME!!!" We all do it and that's how we promote ourselves and our work. Its how we draw inspiration by seeing others and their images. Social media can be a good thing, a great spring board and a great way to inspire others.
What I have been seeing lately is too many folks who are photographers or any other type of business using their platform as a means to get political or combative with others. Wait what?! People do that? Yes they do. I think we as PROFESSIONALS should be mindful of what is going on around us and not derail potential clients by our beliefs, political affiliations or religious practices. Now many of us have clients on our personal pages too and this goes for our personal pages, not only our fan pages, instagram, twitter, etc. I feel that sometimes we can be shooting ourselves in the foot and running away future, past, or present clients that may love our work, but because of our lack of decorum in our beliefs they are turned off.
Now hold on before you get your feathers in a ruffle! I'm not saying not to express yourself, what I am saying is have some tact. Have some class about it and not trash bash or anything else that end in an -ash that there is possible. In business there really is not any room for your personal stuff. I do not take my personal life to work with me, it stays outside those doors until I leave for the day. When I step in that massage room (yup I'm a massage therapist by trade), the world stops when I shut that door. All that is in that room is that client and their needs and the professional side of me. I do the same thing in my photography practice. When I pick up that camera, or when I am on social media doing my thing I remember that people are watching me and that they are not only judging me based of my work, but how I conduct myself. So think of social media as a part of your job when it comes to photography, because it is, its our platform for our art. When you pick up that phone, tablet or sit in front of that computer remember all the world is watching you and all the world is your future clients. Remember that not everyone believes the way you do and that sometimes its best to just remain neutral in the public eye, but behind closed doors be who you are with friends and family. Yes, I am a very REAL person. I am blunt, I do not believe in sugar coating things, I suffer from PTSD, depression, anxiety, I am Christian, and I have very strong political views. But I do my very best to remain as neutral as possible on certain things so that I have a future in my chosen profession of photography. We do not know where our clients and future clients stand and we need to remember that. Still be you, still be that wonderful person you are but please remember to have respect for those around you. We live in an extremely diverse country, that's why it is called the "Great Melting Pot", and because of that we need to have some compassion for those around us who are not like us.
Lets remember to respect one another and love one another!
XOXO
Christy
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