The real value of consistency

I'm gonna try to speak from the heart on this one. (How do they say it? "Keep it real")

Go big?
Recently, I have grown to have this desire to impress and inspire and I'm a bit addicted to getting the big collective "wow" (which happens once in a while)
You often think do I post this on Google+ … is it unique to what others or myself have posted? Answer… probably not.
But when I saw this picture it made me happy despite it's "standardness"…

Not to you
I knew it would get no "wow" from the audience.
There was no famous personality in it, no rockstar, no highflying stunt cars, no extravagant production, no breathtaking scenery, I didn't have to hike 2hrs in the desert carrying 40lbs, no emotional story to accompany it, I didn't have to wake up at 4am, heck i didn't have to travel more than 3-4 miles, it wasn't even in a unique location, the models were normal people, there's no dynamic or uniquely-captivating expression… it's just them, 2 random people that are best friends and want to get married… maybe it's a let down from the climax of some thrilling movie/event.
I'll take it though.

Sure… It's not unique… but it's solid… and if I can do this every time why shouldn't I be happy?
Sure I want to throw in the "wow" moments… but I believe I built my career not on wow… but on consistency.

I personally made a career out of photography not because I was doing something brand new or never before seen… but I worked hard to fine tune the details of the craft. To get respected results on a daily basis, to never screw up big and to always perform in the difficult situations (lighting, time allotment, weather, etc) to thrive in the really hard situations, even if success in those situations was simply "good"

Not to them
Even in their own set of images, I'll give to them, I'm willing to bet they'll pick a different picture for their announcement, one with tons more "THEM" in the picture (more personality)… If i were them I'd do the same.
Take a look perhaps you'd choose a different one too…
http://smu.gs/JNxpsZ

To me
But for me I just love the beauty of that light… it makes me happy.
It's not flashy… but I think it's solid.

On the subject of Consistency
I really believe in the strength of consistency.
To me, Consistency is care and concern for the client.

Showmanship and flash will get you the big gigs, the big bucks, the 15 minutes of fame perhaps.
And though consistency is hard to quantify and share on your "about me" it's the unseen hero… it's a heroic mindset that says a lot to you as a customer service provider. That you're a giver and not just a taker.
It tells your client that they're not taking a risk with their money… I guess they're paying for a peace of mind and confidence.

Analogy Time
You don't get into the baseball hall of fame because you hit the longest home run or even because you had one good season but because you were the person that performed consistently for a long long time at a slightly higher capacity than expected and always tried your hardest.
Consistency doesn't mean you are immune from failure… but that you can always bring it together in the end… your "good" is a little bit more "good" and it was that way for a longer time.

Keep going
I know I'm still a long way from my potential and I can certainly do better.
But getting better doesn't mean increasing just the speed of the short sprints but the overall pace of the whole dang marathon.

So maybe there is someone out there discouraged that they haven't out-performed some past success recently. They're sad their "best" today isn't better than their "best" from yesterday
I say perhaps they should just look at the underlying rythm and strength of what they're doing. Is their "good" better today than it was yesterday?

For what it is
I'm just throwing this out there… just saying what I'm thinking. Heck maybe no one cares… but so what… I'm trying.
Maybe you have another theory about consistency or valuing your work. Today… this is mine.

#blogged #weddings

In album Rest of Weddings (1 photo)