06/19/2026
Do the things that scare you.
I'm not talking about playing out in traffic and weaving in between cars or anything like that. I'm talking about taking risks, taking chances.
What I did recently is I entered the International Pet Photography awards. It's not so much of a ranking, it's more of a grading. I've only gotten bronze in the past, and I'm really, really hoping and aiming for gold, because I wanna be ✨GOLDEN✨, ya know?
🎶 Gonna gonna be golden🎶
(Still stuck in everyone else's head? This came out a year ago, to the day. Crazy, huh? Anyway...)
And it's really intimidating, because I know I'm not going to place first or anything like that, but it's good for me to know where I'm at and to get that feedback from professional, internationally recognized pet photographers, specifically, so that I can improve myself and improve my craft. So I can create that for my clients, especially, and that feeling of being able to produce something that I'm proud of and that I can get behind completely.
However, my worth as a professional photographer is not dependent on my score. Regardless of my score, I know that this is a dream and passion that I will continue to follow. No matter what. What I do impacts people, the dogs I meet and it matters.
So take the risk, do the thing that scares you and intimidates you, and hopefully something good will come of it, and if it doesn't, hey, you took your shot. Personally, I'd rather know than not know.