30 Days of Hind Hart | A look into the past | Day 13

As photographers, we often think we’re the best. No seriously, it doesn’t make any sense because one minute we are comparing ourselves to everyone out there and critiquing the crap out of our work. The next minute, we are getting defensive and cocky if someone didn’t pick you as their photographer, then we start critiquing and picking apart that other photographers work . I am speaking on behalf of all photographers not just us, because I know we ALL do it. Maybe not all the time but if you are a fellow photographer we would love for you to look us in the eye and tell us you don’t compare yourself and you don’t think your the shit (pardon my french). If you claim you’ve NEVER done this, I am sorry I just don’t believe you, and now we feel like idiots. But we are being brutally honest, it’s like a mind game we play with ourselves and can sometimes be a never ending cycle. I don’t know why we do this but I do know how to temporarily pause the cycle, are you ready for this?

Take a look back at your old work, then take a fresh look at your new work because it will change the way you compare yourself and it will make you realize you aren’t the best. Sometimes its easy to get caught up in the now and forget how far you’ve come, you also forget how much you “sucked” when you thought you were the bees knees. It’s pretty humbling actually, and not supposed to make you feel bad but make you realize that everyone starts somewhere. It also presents the idea that there is ALWAYS room for improvement, and in another two years you may look back on the work you are doing now and think “Really?”. This is a completely healthy way to be as an artist, because if you really thought you were awesome all the time you would then believe that you don’t need improvement. If you always think you suck, well maybe you do… Just kidding!

We never started this journey intending on being photographers like a lot of people decide to do these days. It really started as a creativity outlet for the both of us. It’s almost been nine years since the first dSLR camera made an appearance in our home and we definitely got our money’s worth out of that Canon Rebel. We had no idea how to use it, we were just pumped to play dress up and pretend we were on “America’s Next Top Model”.  We weren’t trying to be photographers but eventually people just thought we were. Michelle started by taking photos for friends and family and before she knew it she found herself with a full clientele, which then forced her to quit her day job. Brittany was obviously a little young to decide she wanted to run a full blown photography business, but eventually it was the only thing that made sense and the only thing she could imagine herself doing for the rest of her life. So from that, here we are today running a business together, and trying our best to become better photographers and better business people! We have a long road ahead of us and many things we wish to accomplish over the next few years. We hope that through this little blast from the past, you see that our hearts have been in this since day one. 

These are in no particular order but are a very random mix of photos we’ve both taken over the last nine years.