Not just anyone can be a photographer. I’m learning how to use my sweet new camera, the Canon EOS M. It’s my first “real” camera and now that I know how to play with the features (thanks to master shooter and all-around cool guy Alfie Goodrich), I’m having a lot of fun with it. I also bought a tripod so I can start doing some videos on Modeling 101.

This was my first attempt at taking selfies with it, and I’m learning that the same principles for photography apply to writing, and design, and just about any other creative vocation you can think of.

Just because you have Adobe Creative Suite doesn’t make you a graphic designer. You’re a design dabbler.

Just because you have a keyboard doesn’t make you a copywriter. It makes you a writer.

Just because you own All-Clad and can follow a recipe, doesn’t make you a chef. You’re a food enthusiast (I hate the term foodie, I don’t know why…).

Just because you have an iPhone with a photo app, or even a real camera, doesn’t make you a pro-photographer. It makes you a person who likes to take photos.

Most of the folks who fall in the former categories have trained hard and worked for years on their crafts. I know in my case (writing, modeling), it’s taken a a metric ton of bad work, years of school, and a zillion rookie shoots to get to the point where I get paid well for these vocations.

What I learned:

It’s hard posing alone! I’m so used to direction or interaction with the shooter, it was tough to figure out angles and composition without guidance. I was flying blind.

Natural light rocks. I knew this and had heard it from so many shooters, but having pretty, soft natural sunlight blows the doors off lighting rigs. I’m going to try and shoot video in early afternoon, and my thin white curtains created almost a softbox effect, which as any model will tell you, hides a multitude of sins. Wrinkles, dark circles, blemishes… with the right lighting they disappear.

If being a creative was easy, everyone would do it. Here’s my first attempt at selfies, 100% Apple-free. My next challenge will be shooting outdoors. I’m working on it.

Share