How to Gain Self-Confidence in Photography

Today, I want to talk about self confidence in photography, and how to build yours up, so you can share your work, start your own business, or just feel happier about the work you’re producing!

Anyone who does creative work - like photography - will ALWAYS have days when your self confidence in down in the dumps.

Our inner critic LOVES to imagine what others will think or say, and if we listen to it, we can stifle our creativity and stop ourselves from moving forward.

Since this is something I have (lots of!) personal experience with, I wanted to share a few little mindset tricks that serves me well.

(As a side note, this doesn’t just apply to photography! You can use this for any type of creative work where you want to share your ideas or your work publicly, but your confidence is getting in the way!)

So here you go, some tried and tested (by yours truly) practical steps to help you gain self confidence as a photographer….

Make like Nike and Just. Do. It.

If everyone in the world waited until they felt truly confident before they did something, nothing would ever get done 😉

NONE of us feel confident 100% of the time, and every creator on the planet who shares their work, or tries something different, has felt fear and self doubt, or had that little evil voice in their head telling them they’re not good enough.

Although a lack of confidence can feel especially bad whenever you’re starting something new, the truth is, those feelings just don’t magically go away when you get more time or more experience, which means you might always have to battle your inner critic (although it does get easier)

Adele - you know, that multi award winning singer - got so scared of singing publicly she would throw up before nearly every concert, and once was so nervous about going on stage she escaped out the fire exit!

This woman is an incredible singer and songwriter, worn numerous awards and had many years of performance experience, but she still felt that much anxiety and self doubt.

For me, I felt huge a huge amount of anxiety when I first opened my Auto to Awesome class for enrollment: “why would anyone want to learn from me?”…

…when I first starting charging for photography sessions: “I don’t feel right charging, what if they don’t like the photos?”…

…and every single time I share a photo on Instagram: “people are going to think “why is she posting THAT? She’s obviously not that good”

And you know what?

I STILL have a crisis of self confidence every now and then, but I also know that the best way to overcome any kind of anxiety is to simply to push through the fear and just DO IT.

Whatever it is that requires your confidence, be it taking photos in public, starting charging for your photos, or just sharing your photos with your friends, take a deep breath and go for it.

Because ironically, pushing yourself to do something that you don’t feel confident about IS the way to gain confidence.

I’m an introvert at heart, but as someone who has had no choice but to “put it out there” if I want to feed my family, I can tell you this gets easier with time. It never goes away completely - which is why if you follow me on social you’ll see I have “bouts” where I post nothing at all - but it does get manageable.

Want more? Here’s a little trick that I employ that helps me “just do it”:

Focus Your Attention On The External.

When you don’t feel confident about something, instead of focusing on yourself and how YOU feel, try turning your thoughts to the people you’re working with, or on the work you’re producing.

Because if you concentrate only on thinking about yourself, you will inevitably end up focusing on those negative thoughts. Things like:

“Who am I to be doing this, OMG, I’m going to suck at this, there’s no way they’ll like my photos, they’re going to wonder why I can’t get good photos when I spent all this money on a camera, I’m not good enough yet, I should maybe wait until…..” and so on, and so on 😉

But, if you turn the focus around so it’s not on yourself, but on the thing you are creating, or the person that you’re doing this for, you’ll find you don’t hear that annoying little voice in your head.

I know that sounded a bit weird, so again, here’s a couple of examples from my own life that might be relevant:

I created my Auto to Awesome program because so many people told me I had a gift for teaching, and for breaking down photography in a way that made sense, but I still had that sense of “who am I to do this?” when I first thought about creating it.

But by shifting the focus and thinking more about the people that would actually take the course, all my energy went into making it the best darn photography course out there.

I knew that so many people would benefit from it, and I could save people years of frustration, so I pushed through my lack of confidence, and honestly, created something that I’m incredibly proud of, and most importantly, has now helped thousands of people. By turning the focus to how I was actually helping people made all the difference.

Here’s another example.

When I’m taking photos of other people, and focus on myself, and my thoughts, I can feel like an imposter, and like I want to cancel the whole damn session, go home, and watch The Crown again. (Oooh, actually I do fancy watching The Crown again!)

Again, I mentally turn it around so that instead of focusing on me, and how I feel, I focus on the people I’m photographing, and making THEM feel good about themselves!

It can be a nerve racking experience getting your photo taken, and I know that they are probably uncomfortable and need my direction. By focusing on making the whole thing easy for THEM, it helps my little internal critic recede into the background because I’m not focusing on myself so much.

So next time you find yourself focusing on how YOU feel, turn it around and put your focus on something or someone external.

You’ll silence that nagging voice AND probably create your best work 🙌

Compare old work to new.

Another way to build your self confidence is to see just how much you’ve progressed in photography over the weeks and months - there's nothing like physically seeing that growth to bolster your confidence!

Go back a few months or even up to a year (if you’ve been shooting that long) and work your way forwards. If you’ve been actively learning at the same time, you’ll see an improvement in your photos.

This will give you the confidence to know that you are on the right track, because if you keep going you’ll see even MORE improvement when you check in again in another 6 months!

We’ve had several Auto to Awesome students guest post on the blog to share their photography journey, and every single one of them said they loved doing it, and that it made them feel more confident, because they could clearly see their progress and just what they had achieved.

You can see some examples of just a few of these journeys here with Erica - a great one to read if you’ve an entry level camera and kit lens - and Pam and Whitney!

And if you can’t see a difference in your photos, then maybe it’s time to do something different.

Check out Auto to Awesome here, and you’ll notice the difference in your photos within a few weeks 😉

Photo by Auto to Awesome student Erica Heinrichs

Create an alter-ego

I took a workshop for work once (not on photography, but the same principle applies for any kind of creative work!) and they had us do this exercise.

Think of someone you admire, who has the confidence and determination you wish you had. Then imagine them standing in front of you.

Now, step into their body and see the world through their eyes. How do they hold themselves? What would they do in that situation? How do they feel?

If you can’t think of a “real” person, then make up an alter ego, and use them instead!

In fact, have you heard of Sasha Fierce? She’s Beyonce’s alter ego that she “stepped into” before she did any kind of creative work, or went on stage (yes, that amazing and talented woman needed an alter ego) Beyonce said:

"I have someone else that takes over when it's time for me to work and when I'm onstage, this alter ego that I've created kind of protects me and who I really am."

This “batman effect” allows you to mentally step back from your negative thoughts, and can reduce your anxiety when trying something new.

Beyonce said a few years ago that she “retired” Sasha because she no longer needed her, so this doesn’t need to be a permanent thing, just something to get you over the hump of trying something new that makes you nervous (just in case you’re worried you end up like Moira from Schitts Creek FOREVER)

There you go, some strategies that I personally use to push through my lack of self-confidence so I can put myself out there in the world - even although I’m happiest hiding behind my computer!

And now I’d love to hear from YOU.

When do you find yourself feeling unconfident?

What makes those negative thoughts bubble up in your head?

And what do you do when that happens?

Let me know in the comments below.

If you liked this post, then I’d be so grateful if you shared this with your friends, or just pinned it to your Pinterest boards! (Every share helps MY negative inner critic 😂)

And if you want a ridiculously comprehensive, easy to follow program for that will help you confidently create photos you love (and can’t wait to share) be sure to get on the waitlist for Auto to Awesome. Doors open September 27th - but only for a few days, so you’ll need to be quick!

Thanks so much for being here, and I’ll catch you again next week.

xo

Audrey

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