Five Years | Megan Noll Photography

Five years ago this month, a friend and I decided we were going to pursue being wedding photographers. I was 21, and about to get married myself. I had never been in a wedding, and definitely never photographed one. I had a crappy camera, and very limited knowledge of how to actually get the thing to produce the pictures I wanted. And despite all of that, I dreamed.

I dreamed about finally nailing the shot I had a vision for in my head. I dreamed about the types of weddings I wanted to shoot, and about the freedom this career could give me. What I didn’t know was this half baked idea when I was 21 was The Universe’s way of dropping my future career into my lap.

Five years ago, I was in school for my undergraduate degree, thinking I would go on to be a physical therapist. This wedding photography thing was never meant to be my career. It was going to be a creative outlet, and a way to work through my doctorate.

It makes me smile now, when I think back to times when people would ask 10 year-old me what I wanted to be when I grew up and I would tell them a photographer.

When I think about it, the people I went to high school with probably aren’t surprised. I was always the obnoxious one with a camera in everyone’s face, and the pictures were uploaded like an hour later!

According to Malcolm Gladwell, celebrating five years of work means I would have just tipped my 10,000 hours. The excitement I have today is the same feeling I had when this all started back in 2012, I am just much more likely to be able to nail the shot than I was five years ago. 😉 Thank god!

I still have that giddy feeling when I get an inquiry. I still get nervous before weddings, and most of the time have my own version of the wedding nightmare that you hear of brides having. Do I still want to jump up and down when I see something I envisioned come to life? Heck yeah.

In our world social media is king. It’s a place where comparing your every day to everyone else’s highlight reel is a daily ritual. I think it’s good to celebrate some of the messy. So with that, I give you: Things I Shot in 2012 verses Things I Shot in 2017. Everyone starts somewhere, and we have to remember there is beauty in the hustle. If you aren’t where you want to be, PRACTICE. Practice on your kids, your dog. Hell, I learned how to use a flash by taking pictures of an apple.

If it’s something you love, chase after it. Chase it with intensity, and passion. Before you know it, five years will have passed, and you’ll be writing a blog. You’ll be wondering where the time went, but feeling so grateful to have a career you love.