Facing Reality

The things that give us hope.

The people who encourage us.

All wonderful. And necessary I suppose, if we are to succeed.

One of the hardest things for me to face, and I have been faced with it a lot recently.

We aren't the best.

We can't compete on the world stage.

That is for the very few to ever know. The best of the best.

But while most of us (myself included) can never even tie their shoes, we need to believe in order to keep going forward.

For me that has been the delusion that I have that keeps me going.

That I see and capture things with my cameras that are unique, compelling and world class.

And then I do a Google search or a Flickr search and realize that while my work is good, it doesn't hold a candle to so many others.

That no matter how hard I try, I will never be world class.

I will never be the best, at anything.

Very humbling. Very much a reality check.

I won't give up what I love to do, but I have to realize, I am not THAT great.

I am just your ordinary guy who tries really hard, and has a love of nature and the birds. And I get some really nice shots.

But there are dozens of photographers out there who clean my clock. And I will never be that good, no matter what I do.

So, I will write. And I will combine that with my love of nature, and my photography.

Because while I may never be a world-class nature photographer.

I will touch your heart.