How photographing changed my life.

People who know me from school might know me as a shy boy. I've always been an introvert (and I still am), but now I finally see the positive qualities about being an introvert instead of being insecure about this all the time. A topic that I would like to share you more about.

I started shooting ../images at a young age, I think I was 13 years old and my intirest for webdesign and making digital magazines in Word and Paint Shop Pro became my hobbies. That is also the reason why I'm currently dealing with RSI (pain in my right hand and arm thanks to the computer mouse..). For my self made websites I wanted to shoot ../images and I loved to capture photos of our cute puppy and our famely walks in the nature. This is how I learned about my camera settings and how I developed my love for photography. Luckily my parents supported my creativity.

It really helped me to gain confidence to be myself through my work and meanwhile it was an escape from the real world. I could create everything I want and I noticed I was getting better by reading books and magazines about photography. People started talking positively about my photos and gave me compliments, something I really appreciate during my years as a shy teenager. I didn't felt secure about my self, but I did feel very good about my photography because I enjoyed it so much.

Soon I noticed that if I wanted to become a fashion and portrait photographer, I should have a lot more self confidence because as a photographer you are the one that makes the big decisions during the shoot and you have to control a whole team. It was absolutely not possible to be shy or quiet during a shoot, so in the next years I learned how to take control of the shoot by organising a lot of shoots. Actually, I already felt a 100% different with a camera in my hand. I became another person, I know it might sound crazy, but I still feel this. For example: when I'm at a birthday party with a lot of people I don't know I feel not very comfortable, but when I'm at a shoot with a lot of people I don't know, I actually feel pretty good about myself.

I noticed my photos became better during the shoots where I tried to step out of my comfort zone. This motivated me to organise more shoots and keep practicing the social skills of being a fashion photographer!

Fun fact, I asked clients and team members how they experienced working with me, and what they all said is that I'm very relaxed on the set and that I am a good listener, things that are very important if you work with clients.