Know What You Don't Know

There are many classes that I will remember from college, but one class, particularly one teacher, will always stand out as one of the most influential people in my college career. Sandra Frank taught Professional Practices and drilled into us the idea of "knowing what you don't know." She is one of the most hilarious, motivational and talented teachers I have ever met. This phrase has been bombarding my mind this last week as I start to move my photography work to the next level.

After inquiring with a few photographers for work, I realized that there would be more opportunities for me if I knew and was more familiar with certain aspects of wedding photography. For example, I'm not that familiar with album design. Photoshop is something I normally avoid working with in an attempt to maintain a "true" image, and there are a ton of other programs that I have no knowledge of whatsoever. Instead of getting discouraged, I began to focus on the concept of "knowing what you don't know." Maybe I'm not familiar with album design yet, but what’s stopping me from learning it? Nothing!

It is so easy for people to talk themselves out of trying new things simply because they may not be good at it, or because they don't know how to do something. What's stopping them from learning?

This week I want to learn more about how to do album design. That is my goal. I am going to "Know what I don't know."