P.J. Fleck, head football coach of the University of Minnesota, shared this quote yesterday talking to a group I was covering.

This made me want to look at more of Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt’s quotes. But before I share those, there is one more thing I try to do when I study someone.

I look at their environment and circumstances. Roosevelt lived from 1858 to 1919. That period was challenging to navigate. He is considered one of the top five presidents of the United States.

His mother was Martha Stewart (Bulloch) “Mittie” Roosevelt. She would marry Theodore Roosevelt senior in Roswell, Georgia, where I live now.

If you are like me and everyone else going through this pandemic, you have had to endure some challenges.

Every time I get a new camera or piece of new gear, I make a lot of mistakes. Just yesterday, I couldn’t get my Nikon Z9 to focus. The problem was I had to have that photo. The keynote speaker and the head of the organization invited him to speak.

I was not just frustrated at the moment but feeling shame. I switched to my Nikon Z6 but had it on the wrong setting and underexposed the photo too much to be usable.

I just kept on pushing myself, and I solved my problem. It was a crisis. What motivated me at the moment was fear. I was so scared about ruining my reputation. I must deliver the photos and the best I can do at that moment.

Over the years, I have discovered that while I have an aptitude for the technical, this alone is not enough to succeed. I have found that people need to feel safe with you. They need to trust you. Clients are putting their lives into my hands when they hire me to photograph or video something for them.

While teaching the art of storytelling, I had a revelation. I even said this before I realized how true it is to tell someone’s story.

“Forget the camera right now. See how we are sitting beside each other?” I said to a few students. Then I would move my chair a few feet from them. “Which feels more intimate?” It would help if you started by talking with the person I said. Then it is much easier to start with your wide-angle lens to capture them up close and intimate.

While talking about this concept with a student, I had the “Ah Ha Moment.”

“Talk your way in and then shoot your way out,” was coming out of my mouth. I wish I had thought of saying it this way many years ago.

I explained the benefits of this process.

First, I watched many students spend time shooting, and when they asked for their names, the people didn’t want to help them. If they started talking first, they would have saved a lot of time.

You introduce yourself and tell them you want to make their photos and would they mind.

Second, by taking some time to listen to the person and explore their story, you could look for opportunities that might work much better visually than text alone.

Not talking to someone and shooting before you get their information can have you treating them as objects and not human if you are not careful. Talking to them helps avoid this problem.

Third, now that you have been talking, it is easier to pull out the widest lens and take some photos up close. You are sitting or standing next to them.

Once you have spent some time getting to know someone, it is much easier to build a shot list in your head or write it down if you need.

Your understanding of your purpose is more important than your gear or ability to connect with people. You need to know your gifts and talents. You need to develop those gifts and use them in the service of others.

In this time of turmoil, spend some time in self-reflection.

Coach P.J. Fleck introduced me to another way to think of family. The way to build a family is through this acronym of Family: Forget About Me, I Love You

After understanding more about yourself and your character, then look for how to bless others with your gifts.

My new camera, the Nikon Z9, requires me to read the manual and test it out to discover what it can do to help others tell their stories.

Pink Floyd’s song “Another Brick in the Wall” is a theme about where significant events in life cause us and many other people to detach themselves mentally from the outside world.

Depression occurs in situations where you are so overwhelmed by your thoughts that you can’t relax to process these events.

Some events like a death of a loved one can get us stuck in grief. Grief is personal and individual, and every person experiences its nuances differently. While most of us learn how to live with this grief, I don’t think it has an expiration date.

The past couple of years has been hard on many of my friends. Some have prospered these past couple of years. However, most of my friends have been experiencing untold amounts of grieving.

The first Brick in the Wall in Pink Floyd’s lyrics is about the father leaving his son to go and fight the war. The father dies and leaves him alone.

The second Brick is one where school teachers don’t get to know him and are more about the boy conforming to their rules rather than trying to understand him and help nurture him.

Pink Floyd’s twist in the lyrics is when those bricks are not just what is happening to you, but you become them.

The power of the song is in the art of storytelling. The listener resonates with the feelings of the storyline. They develop empathy for the story’s hero because the tension of the problem they are dealing with echoes their struggle. They, too, have a brick.

Yesterday I went with a group of photographers to see Minamata. The movie is about photographer W. Eugene Smith who travels to Minamata, Japan, a coastal city ravaged by mercury poisoning in 1971. Ushered by a passionate translator and encouraged by local villagers, Smith’s powerful images expose decades of gross negligence.

“I’ve never made any picture, good or bad, without paying for it in emotional turmoil.”

– W. Eugene Smith

His wife, Aileen Mioko Smith, said, “This kind of communication is essential; rather than just hammering facts, you get to know people, your heart is moved—and that’s what creates core change.”

Aileen Mioko Smith said, “We went there at a time when already lots of media had been there, and if anything, patients were burned by people coming in, intruding and shooting for 30 minutes and then leaving, just using them as an assignment.”

Now the most exciting thing about Eugene Smith that is different from most photojournalists today is his commitment to the subject with his time. He would live with his issues for periods.

National Geographic has always understood this was the key to powerful images and storytelling through the years. It takes time.

Bricks are so helpful in a building. In the story of the three little pigs, we realize the house made of bricks is the one the wolf could not blow down.

I see many of these Brick Events in my life as what brought on depression. In some ways, depression enhances your life and improves your functionality. For example, I find depression to give me insights that help deepen relationships.

Most everyone will have Life Events or, as Pink Floyd describes, Bricks. Those who can help us see these events in perspective are the storytellers. They are the mortar that allows us to construct those events into a foundation, for which more bricks can be added.

Every story has a brick, or as Joseph Campbell, author of the Hero’s Journey, put it, a crisis/tension that people cannot solve alone. The hero departs on a journey that, when completed, will be different.

The best storytellers are the ones that do the best job of introducing the character and the problem that they are dealing with in the story. In the movie I saw of Eugene Smith, he realized he had to spend the time to get to know the people of Minamata. At the turning point in the film, Smith becomes the mentor to the people of Minamata. He does this by asking them to let him photograph very intimate moments in their lives so that the world will understand their plight with mercury poisoning.

Ah Ha Moment!

Not long ago, I realized that my degree in Social Work and my work as a Photojournalist were similar. As a counselor, you spend a lot of time getting to know someone. You use the technique of mirroring.

The skill and art of this seemingly simple strategy of mirroring lies in being fully present to hear what has been said and in being able to take on the perspective of the other so that you can pull out the underlying theme from what is sometimes a long, rambling, almost incoherent speech where fleeting, free-floating ideas are being put into words.

I found that the mirroring process in counseling was me hearing their story and then repeating it, but in a more concise way than they had delivered it to see if I truly understood their plight.

As a journalist, I was doing the same thing and listening to and clarifying their story. The power of the photograph and video I use today is their ability to pull an audience into the story powerfully and authentically.

My joy comes from being able to do like Eugene Smith and help a person or an organization to tell their story more effectively using my visual storytelling skills.

Eugene Smith knew that the audience needed to see the hero of a story dealing with their conflict.

I resonate with Eugene Smith’s words, “The first word I would strike from the annals of journalism is the word objective. I think you need to understand the subjects, not worry about losing your objectivity, and side with them if you get close. It was about understanding their reality and what they were really like.”

I think Eugene Smith was an advocate of using the principles in photojournalism.

“The journalistic photographer can have no other than a personal approach, and he can’t be completely objective. Honest—yes. Objective—no.”

– W. Eugene Smith

So many of my friends in the creative fields have been struggling with COVID wreaking havoc on their dreams over the past couple of years.

Before COVID – 19, I counseled many younger people who were exploring using photography/videography as a career. Many of these were people feeling a call to do work in the nonprofit world.

Dreaming ample means having the mental freedom to think about what you want out of life and forget about all the reasons why you can’t make it a reality. For the first time in my lifetime, many people had mental freedom due to COVID. I think this is why there was “The Great Resignation” in our culture.

“It’s better to have an impossible dream than no dream at all.” 

– Anonymous

Dreamers are not going down a well-worn path that so many have done before them. Developing a growth mindset—or the belief that growth and that learning are more important than success or other people’s opinions—can help you shift your focus to the journey instead of the end goal.

Explore What Really Matters To You

Don’t get stuck in dreaming small. The one thing that is core to dreaming big is wanting to have a purpose in life. I want a sense of meaningful direction in life. I want to use my gifts to help others, and the bottom line is to be appreciated and feel like people need me in their lives.

I felt like I had achieved one of my dreams while on the Georgia Tech staff. My dream was not to work at Georgia Tech. My goal was to use photography to help tell stories that engaged people in learning more about their world and how to improve it.

It just so happened to do this would require my science & technology geek side to make these photos. I had to use my lighting, photojournalism, and storytelling skills to create strong images that helped tell these stories.

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

— Henry Stanley Haskins

Big dreams rarely have an instruction manual; you figure it out as you go. What will drive you is this sense of curiosity to figure things out.

Without action, big dreams are simply dreams.

When I started, my uncle told me to go and talk to his mentor and former boss, Don Rutledge. Find someone who you admire and respect. Go and take them to lunch. Ask them how they got to where they are today and if they have any tips to give someone starting.

Be Vulnerable

Ask people not if you are good enough to make it. Ask those who are experts what you can do to get better. Assume your work could use improvement. Watching the Olympics is an excellent insight into why you always need to look for ways to improve. Shaun White five-time Olympian and a three-time Olympic gold medalist in half-pipe snowboarding, have to develop new tricks for each unique Olympics. His competition is already copied what he did last time.

Ask lots of questions about different things in life. Why are things the way they are?

Why So Many Fail

There are so many reasons. Here are some things I have observed by colleagues that went away over time.

• Gave Up Too Early – Persistence and drive are needed to make it
• Not Asking For Help – Too many think they can do it alone. No one can.
• Think About Failure, Rather Than Success – Giving in to naysayers and negative self-talk
• Desire For Instant Gratification – Most marketing campaigns take 6 to 18 months before seeing any returns
• Afraid To Make Mistakes – Dreaming is about taking risks
• Not Wanting To Leave Your Comfort Zone

Find a Mentor & Coach

A mentor is someone you don’t necessarily pay for, and a coach is someone you do pay for. Both, I think, are needed. Sometimes one person could serve both roles for you. However, mentors tend to be those who have achieved what you seek, and coaches are those who know how to motivate you and ask questions to help you focus.

Comfort Zone

We have it well documented that many abused wives find it hard to leave their situation. These battered women’s paradoxical responses to their abusers have perplexed professionals and laypersons alike. They know that this survival mechanism and their ability to see beyond their situation is complex.

Too many creatives have this same problem. However, just like those battered women, there is help. ASMP [American Society for Media Photographers] helped me navigate this profession with education, coaching, mentoring, and peer support. The one thing they realized that other photo groups don’t always acknowledge is that while we know how to take pictures, we don’t know how to run a business.

Battered women have organizations to help them; creatives need to realize dreams are realized when they seek out help.

Meeting A Need Is Key To Success

Donald Miller is the CEO of Business Made Simple. He teaches how businesses need to make their customer the story’s hero. The first step a company has is to identify the problem that their customers have that they can solve. Then they must find a clear and concise way to communicate this to their market.

Miller tells those companies to add something that distinguishes them from all their competition. What is funny is that there isn’t anything they do that other companies don’t do, but Don Miller says to communicate it, which will separate you from your competition that isn’t sharing it.

Miller has identified the key to success as you must meet the need of the customer and communicate how you know their problems and can solve them in all of your marketing.

Next Steps

I hope this helps to motivate you and clarify your dreams. Part of achieving your big goals involves working through others. A single person is rarely able to accomplish a big plan on their own.

I think your first step is to find someone to talk to about your dreams. When you say them out loud, they become real.

You would also need to show the connection/connect the dots between other people’s input and the achievement of your dream to enable others to see the big picture and enthusiastically support you.

To keep your fire burning and your dream alive, read inspirational material such as books, blogs, articles, and magazines; listen to motivational audio CDs and podcasts; watch motivating videos and talks; attend workshops, webinars, and courses to inspirational, uplifting and inspiring music.

A sound support system of like-minded people helps in preserving big dreams.

This past week I was covering the Chick-fil-A annual meeting. Andrew Cathy, CEO of Chick-fil-A, shared a quote I think we all need to hear now.

“When your memories exceed your dreams, the end is near.
When your dreams exceed your memories, you pioneer”

– Andrew T. Cathy

The “Great Resignation” is when Americans quit jobs at a record pace during the second half of 2021, and more plan to resign in the new year.

If you have been paying attention, you will also know that this is complicated and not just a simple complaint. Experts continue to say the lack of adequate childcare and health concerns about Covid, exacerbated by Omicron, is one major issue.

The widening gap between labor demand and supply appears to be most significant in low-paying industries like the service industry.

Mothers with college degrees and telework-compatible jobs were more likely to exit the labor force and be on leave than women without children. Again, this seems to be directly related to the childcare issue.

What seems to be the issue is they cannot afford to keep the jobs they have for various reasons.

Shane Benson did an excellent job with a video of a burning forest fire behind him on stage. It painted the perfect picture of all the stress of running a business today.

Ruben Gonzalez was terrified every time he did the luge event until a coach told him to concentrate 30 yards in front of him. Ruben was no longer afraid, and his times got better with this advice.

“If you want the rainbow, you have to put up with the rain.”  

– Dolly Parton

The Vision must be communicated to be successful!

Your job as a leader is to generate a commitment to your organization’s vision. To do this, you must communicate the idea in a way that matters to people.

When you tell a good story, you give life to a vision. A good storyteller creates trust, captures hearts and minds, and serves as a reminder of the image. Plus, people find it easier to repeat a story than to talk about a vision statement.

Use visual aids as Shane Benson did above. Create updates to keep everyone aware of your progress toward your vision. 

In 2022 – Companies will be measured by the way they treat their workers

Employers have shifted from asking what they can get from employees to ask what they can do to support employees and their families.

One of the most significant gaps for the best companies is from what they do to employees to what they communicate.

There is a communication gap at the root of all company’s failures. If you are having trouble recruiting people, have you asked if people outside the company know what you offer to work for you?

Large companies that employ people all over the country and globe cannot have a one size fits. They must let the local leaders have the flexibility to cater to the local culture.

Internal Communications BEFORE External Communications

Before the team took the field, the coach handed out a playbook for each person to memorize. They also ran the play over and over in practice. It wasn’t new to them when they ran the space for the world to see. If they executed it flawlessly, most likely, it was successful.

Effective communication builds a positive atmosphere where teams can flourish, when positive and encouraging communication, team members become more muscular and work better together. 

Good communicators are vital to a business’s profit margin and reputation. Employees who communicate well and understand the company’s vision help make the company successful. Using practical communication skills can benefit a business and its employees.

I believe the best way to communicate today is to be sure you engage in many ways people learn from your messaging. Therefore, writing alone misses how most people know.

Research has found that 65 percent of the general population are visual learners, meaning they need to see information to retain it. Visuals add a component to communication that written and verbal methods do not: speed. Studies have shown that the brain can process images and videos 60,000 times faster than text, making image-based communication remarkably valuable.

Call to Action

Call a professional communicator known for using visual communications and not just writing skills. Bring them in early. Tell them your vision and dreams for where you want to go this year and communicate this to all the stakeholders to make it happen.

Georgia Bulldog’s Freshman Running Back #35 Brian Herrien Scored his first collegiate touchdown. At the same time, UNC’s Safety #15 Donnie Miles could not stop him during tonight’s Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, September 3, 2016, at the Georgia Dome. [NIKON D5, 120.0-300.0 mm f/2.8, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 45600, 1/4000, ƒ/5.6, (35mm = 240)]

I just got this question today and thought it would make a great blog post.

“How do you get credentials to be able to shoot at some of the college football games? Huge UGA fan and would love to be able to shoot at a game if possible.”

Instagram Follower

I would first send a link to my photos and ask for feedback on my work before I presumed I would be good enough to shoot the game. Always be sure people can see what you can do when asking permission to shoot for a sports team.

I highly recommend getting your domain name and a website. Your website will be your online portfolio.

You must first establish you can shoot good action photos and the best place to start is in your community shooting the recreational leagues. Once you have 10 to 20 great shots, please put them in an online gallery that you will use to ask for access to the next-up venue.

The question you will get from the Athletic Director or Coaches is what you plan on doing with the photos. For example, you may say I want to offer these to the parents and players. However, if you sell them, you may compete with someone who has a deal with the school, and they will turn you down.

You ask around until someone wants you there to shoot photos. Then you build a better portfolio.

For college football, the Sports Information office for the Athletic Department is who gives out credentials. Here is a list of the type of photographers credentialed at Division 1 games.

• Sports Illustrated
• Associated Press
• Reuters
• USA Today
• Local Newspapers
• Wire Services other than AP
  • Zuma Press
  • Icon Sports
  • Athletic Image
• School Newspaper/Yearbook
• Shooters for Athletic Department

I suggest not going straight to the major Division 1 schools but finding those smaller ones. They don’t have everyone and their brother or sister asking to shoot the games. They are more likely to let you on their field. However, they may want you to make some of your photos available to them for purchase. When first starting, you may want to give them some to get your first access, but once you have a portfolio of good images at that level, start charging for your pictures.

There is a level of shooters above most of the editorial shooters. Those are the ones hired to shoot for advertising purposes. So, brands like Nike, Under Armor, Addidas, Coca-Cola, Gatorade, and brands around the sport, will employ the very best to get them those “unique” images.

Now along the way, you may find that you have an opportunity to help another photographer cover a significant event as a photo assistant. They help by carrying extra gear or are helping by editing images. So if you ever get that opportunity–TAKE IT!! Assisting is about learning from the best. You will learn about the expectations before all the pressure on you.

SECRET TIP!!!!!

While a list of people is lining up to ask for credentials for shooting University of Georgia football this year, very few are asking to shoot their Track & Field. Every Sports Information office has trouble getting photographers to shoot some of their other sports. If you want to build a good relationship with them, see if they need coverage of their other sports.

Always ask them for their photo needs. They have to fill out a media guide each year. Believe it or not, they need fewer photos of the seniors than everyone else. Sports Information people are looking for fresh images of the players before next year. The following year, they will need many more pictures of the rising starters. You still shoot the star players but keep the client’s needs in mind.

Study the photographers at the top in the industry. See what they are getting and do everything you can to make your photos as good as theirs. Also, look for unique shots as well. Just be sure always to have safe pictures.

Shooting settings NIKON Z 9, VR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G, Mode = Aperture Priority, ISO 8000, 1/200, ƒ/5.6, (35mm = 170)

While all of my previous Nikon Cameras could have covered this meeting in past years, there are some adorable things that I see as valuable.

EVF vs OVF

An Electrical View Finder with mirrorless is much better for me than the Optical View Finder with the DSLR. You see, in low light, it is brighter in the EVF. You can see what you photograph so much better than natural light.

As I look through the EVF, I see what it will look like when I shoot it. That isn’t the case with the DSLR. You have to stop and check the images with the DSLR.

I have the settings on the Nikon Z9 set to show me what the scenes will give me.

Another thing that is good with seeing what you are getting is White Balance. You can see if you are off. When I was shooting the stage, I set the White Balance to Kelvin setting so that things like all this red didn’t have my camera compensating and adding a lot of cyan, which would make the skin color off.

Now while I am shooting RAW and can fix this in the post, the more you get correct in the image on the camera will save you time editing.

For metering, I set this to Highlight-Weighted.

So which focus mode was I using?

Auto-Area Auto Focus in the AF-C setting.

Now one other thing I love about the camera is not having a shutter and the ability to turn the sound off.

The lenses look sharper since the focusing is off the sensor.

I cannot say anything, but this is a great camera, and as I learn how to maximize all it can do, I hope I also deliver better images that the customer notices.

Northern cardinal in our backyard. [NIKON Z 9, VR 120-300mm f/2.8G, Mode = Manual, ISO 8000, 1/500, ƒ/5.6, (35mm = 600)]

Today we had winter advisory for our area. So, I was having to stay put and decided to use this as opportunity to photograph birds in our backyard.

When there isn’t snow the photos look like this. The snow changes the lighting, background and when the snow is falling creates more depth with snow surrounding the birds.

When the snow started to fall the trees were still not covered.

Slowly through the day the snow steadily came down. Changing the look of the same spots where the birds came to feed.

One of the fun things to do is research and see what is visiting the backyard bird feeders.