Atlanta Journal & Constitution photographer Johnny Crawford talks with a younger photographer about how he likes to work from the end zone.

“Look to your left, look to your right–when you graduate, only one of you will be there” was what incoming freshmen used to hear at Georgia Tech. The numbers showed that was true.

If everyone who was to be a photographer was required to have a college degree, the speaker on that first day might have said, “In this incoming first-year class of 100, only 10 of you will graduate.”

Looking at other photographers’ work, I am blown away by their talent. What is scary is seeing new faces with little experience who are also talented.

“déjà vu all over again!”

— Yogi Berra

I will be on the sidelines of two Chick-fil-A Kickoff games this weekend. Nearly a hundred photographers will also be there. You can hear the clicks of many around you, shooting as if they are all in sync.

While you might say I am having a midlife crisis at fifty, I have lived with this fear for most of my career. After tonight’s game, many photographers will pick up newspapers and magazines and surf the web to look at their competition.

We will all grade our work alongside the other photographers. At a certain point in your career, you start to see that almost everyone has the “big play” of the game. This is when you realize that it was a certain amount of luck that some people were in the right place at the right time.

The funny thing is that some of my friends are always lucky. Over time, I realized they were not lucky; they understood the game better than I did and knew how to position themselves to get the best angle on the play.

You can quickly become depressed in this profession. It’s tough to rise above the competition. The day you arrive at the top is followed the next day by another photographer finding something new and better to help make their photo stand out from the rest.

We desire something genuinely revolutionary, but that never happens.

What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 1:9

This Bible verse inspired Ernest Hemingway to write The Sun Also Rises in 1926. Life can be boring if we let it be. With almost unlimited TV and radio stations, many of us will flip through the channels and say there is nothing we want to hear or see. If we are not careful, we can be doomed to a life of dullness.   Can you ever get enough? We want more. In American culture, materialism consumes many of us. 

Whatever seems new “has been already in the ages before us.” So how do we handle this?

I have two suggestions:

• Shoot for yourself

Years ago, my photographer friend Ken Touchton was talking about a story he wanted to tell. Ano, her friend, looked at him and said it had been done before, to which Ken said, “But I haven’t done it.”

One of the best reasons to push forward is for yourself. You need to have these experiences and live life to the fullest. I’ll enjoy myself tonight because I am trying to get the photos and do my best.

After the game, the world will most likely benefit from all the photographers on the sidelines. It will also benefit from the different sports writers because each has a slightly different perspective, which is what the audience looks for.

• Turn to God

Now, all has been heard;
    here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
    for this is the duty of all humanity.
Ecclesiastes 12:13

My faith helps me endure this world, which has been weary and dull since man was kicked out of the Garden of Eden. However, living in a relationship with God can have new meaning.