Unless you’re pioneering an entirely new field, odds are there are hundreds—if not thousands—of people out there doing what you do, and maybe even doing it better.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It means that there’s a well-worn foot map that you can follow to get to a destination.
However, if you have loftier dreams for yourself, different goals, or a different destination, then you’ll want to take a detour off that tried and true path and forge your own.
Julius Kahl is in the middle of doing just that. A photographer out of Recklinghausen, Germany, Julius is steadily making a name for himself with his unique take on portraiture and wedding photography.
He credits his success to finding his style and path, and he shares a few tips on how you can do the same.
1. Find Your Vision
You’ll know it when you find it. Julius swears by it.
For the longest time, his dream was to become a magician, but all that was swept aside when he discovered photography and specifically, portraiture.
“I first got into photography when I used my parent’s camera to capture vacation memories. Then a few years ago, I bought my own camera to capture personal moments photographically and through video. More and more, I then realized that people are my favorite subject.”
2. Identify Your Strengths
Play to your strengths.
There’s no sense in walking down paths simply because others did. The bitter truth is that some people are simply better than you at certain things, and you’ll have to work twice as hard and long to even come close to their level of expertise.
Don’t waste your time chasing shadows. Instead, focus on work that you’re good at, work you enjoy doing and you can be proud of.
For Julius, that means editing in post. He takes every opportunity he can to talk about editing software.
“The software programs I use—Adobe Lightroom and Davinci Resolve—simplify the process immensely,” he tells me. “For editing my photos, I mostly use self-made pre-sets for lightroom, but they have to be adapted depending on the project.”
3. Seek Direction
Before you start forging your path, you need someone to point you in the right direction. A mentor can help you avoid pitfalls and fast-track your progress.
Julius knows this better than most.
“Without a doubt, my most important mentor over the past almost three years has been Danny Scähfer of Pretty Moments. He has taught me an incredible amount about the wedding industry and videography for which I am extremely grateful.”
If you can’t find a mentor, you can always learn from celebrity names in your field. You can study their works, listen to their podcast, follow them on Instagram, or even reach out to them for advice. They can be a veritable source of information and inspiration as you navigate towards your destination.
“My inspirations are photographers like Andrè Josselin, Rico Reinhold, Luise Blumstengel and Tony Andreas Rudolph”
Each of them is exceptional in their own right and has contributed in some way to the photographer that Julius is today.
4. Set Your Finish Line
As important as it is to get guidance from those more experienced than you, don’t forget that you’re running your own race and you have to set your own finish line.
You have unique goals, and you will never reach them if you follow someone else’s roadmap. You need to create your own goals and benchmarks by which you measure yourself.
“I think it’s always important to stay true to yourself and always stay on the ball”, Julius tells me. “I also think it’s important to figure out for yourself which creative direction you want to go in.”
5. Learn From Your mistakes
Don’t be afraid to fail.
Julius struggled with this for a bit. In the beginning the fear of failing kept him from making any real efforts with his photography, but over time he realized that “theory does not equal practice in most cases, and the only way to get better is to try things out and just do it.”
When you make mistakes, you have an opportunity to learn, and that’s what counts.
“At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is how many pictures you’ve taken in the real world and whether or not you’re engaged with them so that you can continue to improve in the future.”
6. Choose Joy
The most important thing you’ll need as you build the career of your dreams is joy and passion for the work you do.
“As in probably all other professions, it’s all about joy,” Julius tells me. “When there is an intrinsic interest in the subject matter, engaging with photography is not learning but simply enjoyment.”
Conclusion
Breaking out of the norm can be scary and challenging, but it’s a crucial part of your growth that you’ll have to confront sooner or later. If when that time comes, you keep these 6 tips in mind, you’ll be walking on your own path in no time.
Find Julius on his socials, here:
Instagram
Youtube