Dad – “Can you take a bloody photo, or not?” ( rolls eyes and gives me that look)
Me – “Of course I can…but“
Dad – “No buts,  stop being silly.  You don’t suddenly loose your ability just because your put on the spot. You’ve always been the same.”

He’s got a point and yes I have always been the same…

Lack of confidence has played a big part in the things I should have done,  but didn’t ! To this date I still regret not following up a potential position / interview as a weather girl for the local TV station!

I feel like I’ve been having this  same conversation with dad for the past 40 years.

Confidence… It’s a funny old thing; one I don’t possess a lot of though admittedly I’m a hell of a lot better than I used to be.

I drive my father mad.

So what triggered my panic off this time?

Just a simple little text from the bride to be asking whether I would step in and take some wedding pics. This was received just as I was about to set off for her wedding! No biggy there then; the ‘proper’ photographer had called in sick.

I bundled my numerous second-hand cameras, chargers and leads into my bag, just as mum and dad pulled into my driveway to pick me up and drop me off.

I looked like the ‘bag lady’ of the photography world with everything shoved in a Boss shopping bag.- that didn’t match my outfit. The battery on my Olympus camera ( fondly referred too as my big camera) was being held in with a piece of manky cello-tape, all my lens covers appeared to have disappeared and the wasn’t a camera case in sight…

The saving grace… I was wearing a beautiful lace dress by Ted Baker, and my hair didn’t look like a mushroom.

I sat in the back of the car for the 40 minute journey from mine to Fischers at Baslow letting self-doubt try and move in. 

Yes, I felt nervous but after a quick pet talk from dad, a king size Yorkie and a large coffee, I was feeling decidedly excited.

So what if I only got one decent shot ; it would be one shot more than they would have got had I not said yes. It was an honour that they felt I could do it and as I wasn’t taking any payment there really was no pressure … these days everybody has a mobile and would be taking pics…

Plus I told myself… You can do this! I may not be James Bailey but I can take a decent piccy, even if I say so myself.

The moral of my little tale?

Sometimes we need to be chucked in at the deep-end, otherwise we may never jump…we might doggy paddle for a while before we find our stroke but by golly do we feel fabulous when we do.

I had a ball.

Creating beautiful images is something I love and try to do on a daily basis. 

Capturing a special day, a special moment is extremely precious (especially when it’s one of you best friends) after-all it’s not something you do every day.

Would I do it again?

I’m far from being anywhere near a professional, I need loads more practice, a new camera with several lenses but… you just try and stop me!

My friend is extremely private and therefore they’ll be no pics unfortunately, just some arty farty ones I took.

I’ll ask her nicely when she gets back off her Honeymoon if I can post any pics of the happy couple but until then here’s some cake and champagne.

Let me know what you think to my efforts? Do you suffer from lack of confidence and how do you conquer it? I’d love to hear.

Until next time, Tracey x.