Just do it

I decided that waiting until Saturday morning to start my new project was just silly. Why put off what I can start now? I've been putting it off for years, and if I wait until Saturday I'll just chicken out again and create some excuse to put it off some more.

It's like when the pool feels a little chilly...it's best to just jump in altogether rather than inching in starting with your big toe. Or pulling off a band-aid. Just do it and get it over with. I'm a huge proponent of that.

So that's what I did. Last night I made images of the new project from afar, and this morning I busted my butt to get away from the house a little early so I could go back and actually dive right in.

And it was fantastic.

I'm so excited now that I can hardly keep from squirming in my seat.

I'm not ready yet to disclose it, but I will say that I think it will be even better than I had imagined. Don't you just love it when that happens?

I feel like, finally, I'm growing again in my photography. I like my old work, don't get me wrong, but I don't feel like I have a cohesive body of work. They are grab shots, and while they are lovely, they aren't exactly consistent. I love consistency, so it's always bothered me. I mean, yeah, you could take a set of images and call them "Montreal," simply because they were all made in Montreal, but some are flowers and some are architecture and some are abstract. Yes, they're all mine, but you can't hang them as a body of work, stand back and say, "You really captured it." I don't think so, anyway.

This has bothered me for quite some time. The feeling that I don't have a portfolio, so to speak. I can't say, "Here, this body of work is me." I've had what I would call mini-projects, such as making images of Grandma's house and Grandpa's boat, but I haven't had something I could lose myself in for an extended period of time, where I could go to different places and find new subject material.

I guess I could pull all my fire hydrant pictures and call them a portfolio, but I'm pretty sure fire hydrants, while fun and quirky to me, aren't what I'd like my work to be known for. "Damn, she sure shoots a good hydrant." Not so much.

So, I've jumped now, and am thrilled with doing it (finally). What's out there that you'd love to do but have either been too scared or just haven't gotten around to? I can now say from experience that you should just do it, because the feeling, once you finally do start, is really great.