Do you have the drive to succeed?

This is Hyams beach.

Commonly thought of as one of Australias best beaches, which I agree with…

I first heard of Hyams beach about 6 or 7 years ago when I was asking a work friend recommendations for cool places to take some mates who were visiting for the first time from the UK.

He said Hyams beach was worth checking out and can be done in a day-trip as it’s only 2 hours drive from home.

So we kinda went there blind, not knowing what to expect. I definitely wasn’t prepared for paradise on earth lol.

We pulled up and from the car we could already see the turquoise waters and white sandy beach. That would have been cool enough.

But when we got out of the car and walked down the steps to the beach we saw a couple of people looking out to sea and following their gaze we saw what they were looking at…

A humpback whale and her calf just chilling out about 100 meters from the shore!

My two mates from England were awestruck and ended up having the impression this kind of awesome sight happens all the time here in Oz – but honestly, I was just as impressed! (I might have played it down a little though, just to appear cool ha!)

One of my favourite memories of my time in Australia so far is playing football on this very beach (pictured above) with my mates from home, on a baking hot day with the backdrop of a couple of humpbacks resting in the calm shallow waters of the bay.

One of my other favourite memories is renting a house here for the weekend a couple of years later with some oz-side friends, spending our time shooting sunrises and sunsets at either end of the day and cooking barbecues and relaxing in between.

This latter trip is when I took the shot attached above.

The image doesn’t come with a technical “lesson” today.

Instead, what I want to talk about is passion and the drive to succeed.

Why does this image remind me of this?

Because sometimes, you just have to think only for yourself and in the politest possible way, screw everything else.

That’s what I didn’t do shortly before taking this photo.

Here’s what happened…

I’d set up a nice composition (elsewhere) just before dawn and I could see a gap in the clouds on the horizon through which I knew the sun would peek for a few short moments before sailing higher and behind the thick(er) clouds.

So I was just standing there waiting for the right moment to click the shutter.

During that time, a lovely lady (who wasn’t with our group) saw me standing there not doing much and came to introduce herself and have a bit of a chat.

So we talked for a bit and got on well.

Then the critical moment came, the sun started to peek over the horizon. I had to get back to my camera and click the shutter!

But the lady was right in the middle of a story – and for some reason, I don’t know why, I just couldn’t bring myself to interrupt her and say “I really have to go take this shot”.

Maybe it’s cos I’m British and too polite?! I don’t know. lol.

After a minute or two, I found the “right” moment to cut the conversation short and went to get a couple of shots (past the ideal time). And we each went on our merry way.

A few minutes after that as the light changed, I moved and took this shot at the top of the email.

Now, this might seem like a silly example of having the drive to succeed at the expense of all else (or not in my case). But at the end of the day, it’s me that missed the shot I wanted because I just didn’t want to seem rude.

And life is made up of lots of these “silly” little moments.

Like when you’re on vacation and you have the chance to take a beautiful photo, but it’s a little bit inconvenient or takes a little bit too much effort and you decide to “get it later”. How many times have you actually gone back to get it later?

Or you plan to get up early the next day to photograph a sunrise, but in that moment just as the alarm goes off you decide to avoid the momentary pain of leaving your comfortable bed and you’ll “get up tomorrow instead”.

Or, you have the chance to take a photo which might inconvenience someone else and they may end up thinking you’re an ass, so you leave it.

When I think about the number of photos I’ve missed for reasons like these, it’s sad because it would have only taken a little bit more “drive” and I’d probably have twice the portfolio I have now.

It’s something I’m constantly working on, and to be honest I do a better job of it when it comes to running my business compared to simply taking photos for myself.

To have put myself in a position where people are learning and improving their own photography and photoshop skills from stuff that I’m sharing and the fact that I’ve found a way to make a living at it, it really gives me the drive to keep going and keep producing videos, emails and courses etc, even when it might be difficult or inconvenient at times.

And when I look at people who have “made it” with their photography (in whatever way “made it” means to them), including some close friends too, the biggest thing that sets them apart from everyone else is that they just had the drive to go out there and do it.

But with all this said, while I’m talking about having drive, this doesn’t necessarily mean the drive to become a professional photographer, or to be this label or that label.

Whatever the reason you picked up a camera in the first place, whether it’s to simply capture memories, or make beautiful looking landscape images for your own pleasure, to sell your work in one form or another, whatever it is…

With just a handful of little kicks up the butt from yourself at the right time, I bet you could be doing and creating even more of the things you enjoy than you are now.

And who really wants LESS of the things they enjoy?

Now, this was quite a long one today – thank you for sticking with me this far 🙂

Hopefully you find even just a little bit of inspiration to give yourself that little butt-kick next time you need it.

If that butt-kick happens to be learning something new in Photoshop to improve your craft…

Then I recommend you check this out (click here).

Talk soon
Steve