One in a Million Intro take Deux.

[James Shadle]

Tweaked intro.
My attempt to grap readers attention.
If you think this works, I will then transition into the meat of the article with some very specfic and hopeful unique suggestions.


One in a Million



As I begin each of my workshops, I like to ask four simple, but important questions of my participants. These four simple questions, are questions that should be considered by all aspiring photographers.



To begin the questioning I ask, who among you would like to be a competent photographer? To no surprise, almost everyone has their hand up to reply in the affirmative. I then ask the group, who among you would like to be a very good photographer? Again, almost everyone has their hand up to reply in the affirmative. My third question is who would like to be a great photographer? Of course, most if not all of my workshop participants, want to be great photographers.



My final question is, do you want to be “One in a Million?



No surprise, the vast majority of those who are asked my final question reply; yes I want to be “One in a Million”.



Saying you want to be an elite photographer who is capable of creating beautiful images, a photographer who has skills that are “One in a Million” is easy. Achieving that goal is anything but easy.



I consider myself to be “One in a Million”. Whether my photography is or not is subjective. If nothing else , my passion, dedication and vision is.



Hard work and constant effort to improve my skill set has enabled me to win numerous international photography contests, sell images and articles to magazines like Outdoor Photographer, Audubon, National Geographic Adventure, Pop Photography to name just a few. Winning contests (I no longer enter contests, I won’t compete against my clients) and being published is undoubtedly rewarding. Creating images I find pleasing and helping others create images they find pleasing is by far the most rewarding.



The question now is how do you become “One in a Million”?



Of course there are some prerequisites to achieving this lofty goal. You must be prepared to work hard. As a matter of fact, harder than you may be able to imagine. Staying positive while being frustrated by possible early disappointments is vital to staying on goal.



Passion, Dedication and Vision

You have a positive attitude, your sure you can work hard, you can practice, practice, practice and you're no stranger to disappointment. At this point your probably thinking, "so far so good, I've heard this of all before, I can do it!" Well - that's the easy stuff.

If you truly desire to reach the lofty goal of being considered "One in a Million" (or any lofty goal for that matter), you must have passion, dedication and vision.

Do you have the passion necessary to dedicate yourself, no matter the cost, to your vision of being "One in a Million"?

Passion is "the fire". It's the fire that forges your thoughts and desires. It is the fire that consumes you. If the mere thought of not accomplishing your goal causes your passion to burn hotter, you may very well be able to dedicate yourself to your goal.

Dedication is more than just commitment. Dedication will drive you to devour any and all information that will help you achieve you goal. Dedication will motivate you to work well past the point of exhaustion. If you forget your insect repellent, no worries, dedication will keep you in the field long after the mosquitoes have started feasting on you. Beware, unchecked dedication to your goal will cause relationship problems.

Vision is inspiration, aspiration and ambition. It's this vision from your mind's eye that provides direction and keeps you on target. "Vision" is a proactive far-sightedness that allows you to foresee your accomplishments. It is this same vision that compels you to see through with accomplishing your goal.

To be continued?

[Lance Warley]

I'm overloaded this morning. I'll get on this later today.

[Lance Warley]

I'm going to give it to you straight, James, which is the way I know you want it. It's a cliche. It's original work by you, but it's been done before by many other coaches and leaders. John Wooden's Pyramid of Success in 1948, Vince Lombardi's speeches, Jack Welch's books...There are dozens or hundreds of others. They all give basically the same message, like different spokes that connect to the hub of a single wheel.

They're all correct, just like you're correct. The generic principles for success are the same. The only variables are the people - the teacher and the student.

For people who haven't been through "Striving for Excellence" education in any arena of life, your words may be attention-grabbing, mind-expanding and life-changing. There may be millions of these people who would benefit from reading your completed article or book.

For those who have heard it before, not so much.

However, if you keep the generic part short, like it is now, and quickly dive deep into the meat on photography technique, you'll be working from your sweet spot. That's the part I want to read, so that I can apply it to my own work.

To be continued? I hope so. I want my images to leap off the page like the 4 beauties you posted here.

[Julie Kenward]

I totally agree with Lance's comments. I want to add one other thing...

I am, I believe, a good representation of your average photographer. I have to work a "real" job to pay the bills and to cover my health insurance needs but I have a passion for photography. My annual salary is adequate but every extra dollar I spend on photography is one less dollar that goes to the car or the house or new clothes. My budget is a balancing act and a trade-off for how much I love what I do when I get off work.

That said...every dollar I spend on equipment, software, books, travel and learning experiences is vitally important to me. There is only so much to go around and if I spend it listening to someone teach me about photography I want to really get my money's worth because each of those dollars represents a lens I didn't get to buy or a software upgrade I didn't get to make. I want you to keep that in mind as you write this - don't let it freak you out or bog you down but keep it in the back of your mind as you decide what is worth my hard-earned money to hear. Are you teaching me something only YOU can teach me? Are you showing me how YOU got to be one in a million? Will I walk away truly richer for the experience of having heard you speak? If the answer is yes then I'm all in and I will no doubt want to come back and hear you speak over and over and over again. If you tell me five minutes of what everyone else has to say and then give me the James Shadle version of Photography I'll be back again for sure. If you tell me what I could read in any book...then next time I'll read it in a book and spend the rest of the money on that new flash unit I've been wanting.

My first thought is to bang them with these beautiful images, one right after the other. Take their breath away with what you do and then jump right in to how they can find it in their heart (and their equipment) to do this too - only with their one-in-a-million viewpoint. Spread the intro out into little pieces at the beginning of each incredible chapter and then sock it to them with the how's and why's.

There's my very long two cents worth. And believe me...when you're saving for that next piece of big glass on a secretary's salary, every two cents matters...;)

[Gus Hallgren]

Very well said, Jules.

Uncle Gus

[Mike Tracy]

Nice read and some interesting thoughts to ponder.

[Jay Gould]

James, I stumbled upon and then had the pleasure to read your "One in a Million Intro take Deux."

My answer to the four questions: Yes, Yes, Yes, probably not.

In my career as an attorney I would/could have easily said "Yes" to the "One in a Million" question. And, yes, my relationships definitely paid the price as a result of my dedication.

Today, understanding and agreeing with your description of what it takes to become a One in a Million photographer, I know that I am not willing to allocate that amount of time and energy to the exclusion of everything else Jackie and I do.

I am willing to work to become a very good, perhaps great in someone's eyes, photographer.

To that extent I have the passion and dedication, and the vision to understand what is required to achieve my goal.

Thank you for sharing that with me.

Lance, I certainly understand where you are coming from, in part, having lived in Los Angeles through the incredible Wooden basketball UCLA years, and having listened to Johnny on more than one occasion.

I perceive that you are almost suggesting that James' description is overdone and unnecessary to be said on BPN. I understand your background - enjoyed your website and reading the sticky - and I respectfully disagree.

I believe that "context" is what makes what James wrote important to have been said on BPN. I, like you, have read it many times before in different contexts.

I am on a chosen immersion photographic education journey for the next six month to learn everything I can absorb prior to going on an around the world trip.

In the context of this new undertaking for me in my retirement, to read what James wrote, discuss it with my wife, and reach my own conclusions as to my level of dedication and what I hope to achieve is not only important for me, it is important for all the newbies on BPN to decide what price they are willing to pay to achieve their photographic goals.

In that regard, I have evaluated the "time and economic price" I am willing to pay; I have discussed openly on BPN my equipment requirements, and I will be taking workshops from James, Jim Neiger, and John Shaw in October.

I also agree with you that what was said is sufficient, no need to further expand the concepts, and now move from words to actions.

Julie, your comments, while understandably being very personal to you, and thank you for sharing the context of your comments (a secretary's salary) apply to all of us - regardless of economic realities.

You have, in my perception, evaluated photographic education, in terms of dollar costs. Let me respectfully suggest that another basis for the same evaluation is "time expended."

I agree with everything you said; the difference is I really want to get my "time's worth."

I am glad I found this thread; it is fun to share. Cheers, Jay