Following up from my last post The First Steps Are the Hardest.
I made it. Â I arrived, finally, after not sleeping, headache, and getting lost. Â Iâm here, and Iâm FREAKING OUT. Â Â Of course, I look cool, calm, and collected, but in reality, inside, I feel like I am falling apart and I canât breathe. Â All I can think is, âWhat if Iâm not good enough?â Â and âWhat if they donât like my photos, my style?â
Now, I am not sure when or how this happened to me. Â I mean, I worked as am EMT on a Fire Department for a while when I was younger. Â Who knows, a lot has changed since then, and I am not going to over-analyze it.
I pull into the gate, finding my parking, and head to the front booth to get my media I.D. The volunteers there were so nice and helpful, even though I was the first one there, and of course, the equipment was not cooperating with them to get my photo for my I.D. done. Â The story of the day so far, nothing is going right, and I am starting to panic even more. Â After some time, they got it working, and directed me to the entrance where I needed to go, and it was so easy to find my way around once I got in.
I headed into the main event tent, and being early everyone was still getting there and setting up. Â This was a good thing as it allowed me to get my setting fixed and walk around to see what all there was and start a plan in my mind on how and what the day was going to hold for shooting.
As I was walking around scouting what was there, and how I was going to go about getting some shots in, I remained silent (I kind of felt a little creepy actually) as I didnât want to bother anyone who was setting up their booths for their businesses. Â By now, Iâm starting to feel more comfortable now that I know what I am working with, whatâs there, and how to go about the day.
The first event was great, being able to capture all the kids, and adults enjoying themselves, I settled right in and was back to feeling confident behind the camera.  I knew what I was doing, and went with it.  Between events, I tried to capture everyone coming and going, tasting, having fun.  My next hurdle was to actually introduce myself to the businesses there as I go to grab shots of each one.  This almost seemed impossible to me.  How could âIâ just walk up and start talking to someone I donât know, and then take photos?!  I got over that real fast when the first booth I walked up to felt so inviting.  I introduced myself and let him know what and why I was there and asked if I could take some photos for the event.  He was so nice, it made the conversation a breeze.  I let him tell me all bout his company, their chocolate, and offered me a sample, which I graciously accepted.  We chatted a bit, but mainly I listened.  After our conversation, I took one of their business cards, thanked him again, and moved onto the next booth.
It really wasnât as bad as my mind was trying to make believe it was. Â Each booth I went to, everyone was extremely kind, inviting, and thankful for taking photos of their products. Â Every time I Â introduced myself to someone, it got just a little bit easier.
If there is one thing I learned from the day is that you have to overcome self-doubt. Â Once you start to put yourself in the situation, everything gets a little easier and starts to become more natural.
 Next post to come, the day goes on and my oops on the way back home.
 Overcoming Anxiety Following up from my last post The First Steps Are the Hardest. I made it.  I arrived, finally, after not sleeping, headache, and getting lost. Â
