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?