“Don’t be timid with your talents… learn to trust them” – Anonymous

Recently I came upon this quote on Instagram and I immediately liked it as it was so appropriate to a situation I’ve found myself in…

A couple of months ago some friends of mine asked me if I could take pictures on their wedding day… me… I just couldn’t believe it! In an act of bravoury I agreed, but immediately I was overwhelmed with doubts…

Because was I really good enough to do this? Capture these ever so important moments in my friends’ lives?? The getting ready in the morning… the welcoming the family, the toasting on their beautiful day… the family photos, the ‘I do’, the kiss?? The photoshoot at their lovely home, the changing of the rings and the emotional moments when brothers and sisters were reading personal texts during the celebration??

Everybody was confident that I would do a great job… but I had doubts… serious doubts… but there was no turning back. I had consented, I had made a promise and I would just do it.

So there I was on the morning of April 9th… I was ready… I had my camera gear, my new camera bag, my comfortable shoes and a discrete outfit… I smiled, tried to look confident and I just did what I was asked to do… I just did what I really like doing… taking photos…

I didn’t feel nervous at all once I could put my face behind my camera. I clicked and clicked and I tried my best at capturing the most important and intimate moments of their beautiful day.

When I got home I couldn’t wait to upload the photos. When I saw them appear on my screen I panicked at first, but the more I looked at them, the more I was reassured and I started to make a selection, doing some editing here and there and I started making the wedding album.

A couple of weeks later there I was… holding the album in my hands… the album in which I put so many hours of labour but also love… and I was happy… as happy as the people in the photos… and I knew that it was time to start trusting my talents…

Love, Kathleen