Personally, I always prefer to go it alone. For a number of reasons, though I’m not sure how to rank them, I just feel best when I’ve done something I’ve set out to do on my own steam. Afterwards… I tend to think that’s just stupid. I go back and I review my decisions to tough things out alone and I ask myself “What were you thinking, why didn’t you just get help??”. Doing things on your own is great but there are times when stepping up to the plate means knowing what you’re capable of and making the right choices at the right times.

I’m not sure if I feel like asking for help is cheating, or I’m just less proud of myself, but for whatever reason I’m quite stubborn when it comes to it. I end up putting a lot of pressure on myself and yeah I get the job done but afterwards I feel silly thinking there may have been a better way. I guess I also want to avoid taking advantage of the people around me. But that’s just silly in its own, right? Well either way – I’m going to try to put my ego aside a bit more often from now on and ask for help when a little aid can go a long way.

The reason this is on my mind is that we’re working on a project that I simply need help with. So I’ve had to ask for what help I can get and the truth is, help came. Some of it might not be the answer to all my ‘prayers’ but it doesn’t matter. Help arrives if you simply let it know it’s needed. I’m quite thankful to those that have helped and everyone seems to shrug it off, saying it’s “no big deal”. People say that, but I’m also starting to think it’s true because after some thought I realize… I say that, too! And I usually mean it.

I guess the point is if you’re as stubborn as I am about this sort of thing.. forget about it.  You’re not taking advantage of people that would like to help you.  In a way, you can’t.  You may even be surprised or honoured or simply glad at the outcome of asking for help.  So do what ever it takes to make yourself comfortable with it and ask for help.  The measure of a man is not only his capacity for doing but also his capacity for knowing what he cannot do… at least without help ;).

Thanks for reading,

David Dvir

We (creatives) all take in knowledge as much as we can.  At least in my opinion those of us that are truly passionate are mostly likely (not 100%) doing so.  We’re hungry for it.  We are like zombies and information (ironically stored in our brains) is brains.  Many of us are schooled in our fields while others (myself included) do our best to better our own base of understanding in various ways.  The question is: how?

Personally, I have two major methods of taking in delicious new brains knowledge.

1.) Fail Like a Pro!

I make mistakes.  More accurately, I make a LOT of mistakes.  The trick is make them well.  Know why you made them, and learn from them.  You can error and be upset with yourself and try to focus on getting whatever you’re doing done right, or you can fail and focus on the fail itself.  I prefer the latter.  When I understand precisely why I botched I always learn something important.  To add to that the fact that I never make that same mistake again, I kind of become photo-Doomsday (sorry to those that don’t know the reference).  It turns the fail into a win and what’s more is that this method of learning seems to stick with me best.  There’s nothing like slicing your hand open while being an idiot with sheet metal to sear that message into your head: “Don’t be an idiot with sheet metal”.

Method 2.) The Procurement of Information O’Gratis

There’s this ridonculous amount of knowledge out there waiting to be absorbed.  Between blogs and videos and forums and all sorts of other things, a person could spend years taking in helpful, useful and most importantly, relevant information.  While there is certainly a wealth of awful knowledge out there, someone taking the time to filter through it will surely benefit greatly from all the great material online.

If you’re serious about your creative endeavour then you should double check and make sure you’re doing some of the above.  The main reason being: if you’re not… then you’re falling behind.. because everyone else is!  Learning is one thing I can’t image I could ever stop doing.

I’ll end this post with a link to one of my favourite sources of knowledge regarding photography.  Photo.net.  This is a great forum with all ranges of expertise waiting to help you with any problem or just chat about whatever.  I’ll do my best to continue to share some of the gems I stumble across and would LOVE to find out what some of yours are.

Thanks for reading,

David Dvir

As photographers, we spend a lot of cash on various pieces of equipment and other paraphernalia. Sometimes we may wonder if it’s worth it or if this purchase is really all that practical. I tend to always believe “yes” it’s always worthwhile and we shouldn’t hesitate so long as we’re actually able to afford these items. I feel as though a lot of amateurs are indecisive about making purchases because they make these purchases based on an immediate need for the items. That’s completely the wrong reason to buy anything in my opinion. And if you’re an amateur, there’s a reason you don’t already have that background setup…. it’s because you’re an amateur and you pretty much have nothing.. ;)

There’s nothing wrong with that, though. I, of course, had nothing at one point as well, and I certainly made poor purchases at times, but by in large, I made good purchases. The trick is to consider yourself a pro. If you’re going to buy something you shouldn’t calculate whether or not you can afford it based on one shoot. That says a lot of negative things about you. That says you’re not committed to this line of photography. It says that you have doubts. Basically.. it says that you don’t expect you’d use this piece of gear again and that on its own is a poor approach. Kind of gives me the impression you don’t have enough confidence in your craft to believe that you’ll continue to be a photographer say, in a year from now. To me.. buying cheap gear is like giving up before you even start. Again there are exceptions, sometimes we need to work our way up to bigger and better gear, and other times people are still unsure how deep their passion for photography lies. But I’m talking to those people who are “committed”. Those people who are calling themselves “Pro Photographers” and telling the world they can handle anything.

If you believe that this is your career and thereby it’s essentially going to be your life. You should treat it as such. Don’t buy that nasty tiny gross little pathetic 12″ product box! It’s small and ugly and can’t fit things in it! Go ahead, splurge and treat yourself to that 36″ box. You’re going to use it way more and it’s also nicer to look at :P. Now I’m not suggesting we spend frivolously, although I do tend to do that at times myself. What I’m saying is don’t hesitate with your gear. Get what you think would suit you in the long run if you’re able to. If you’re eventually going to buy a 36″ product box, you’re going to be feelin’ kind of dumb having that 12″ one as well. At least I would.

I know from personal experience that there have been a good handful of items that I’ve picked up that have only paid for themselves after a couple of years of shooting with them. But these are things that will last many more years to come and so they’re well worth it in my opinion (btw I’m not talking about cameras since they die a lot faster then most people expect them to..).

The moral of this story is that if you’re confident in yourself, act like it in every regard. Even when it comes to buying things. If you’re being a cheapo on gear, then there’s probably a reason and that reason might just be that you’re not as confident in yourself as you hope/think you are. And we all know that a photographer without confidence is as good as a photographer without a camera.

Thanks for reading,

David Dvir

I understand that when people are in the market and looking for employment, a very reasonable option is to put together a great resume and hand it out nearly as much as they can. I understand that after a while they likely get frustrated that they may not be receiving calls or invitations to interview and decide maybe they should start spammning it out even more. But something that really blows me away is what some people’s expectations are, and why they want a job to being with.

For some, a job in the field they’ve studied would be a dream come true. While for others, any job would be a great situation however they never really desire something in particular. Well, since last week I’ve been looking to hire an assistant. Ads are out there, and people are welcome to apply. Thing is, I’m SHOCKED at some of the emails and resumes I’m receiving. And for the most part, insulted or annoyed.

In my opinion, and strictly my opinion, if you are applying for a job, that should be because it’s the job you really want, not because you need SOME job and this one will do. If you’ve got your resume then it should be specific, and not general. So when someone sends me an email with a resume attached and the email is this bland generic “to whom it may concern” or “dear sir or madam” BS I get really annoyed. In my ad I included a link to this website. In hopes to have those people interested in reading the rest of the ad get a good idea of who and what 2D is, I figured this link should be really easy to find etc, so I put it on the first line of the ad. Now my website has received loads of hits since the ad’s been up. This tells me that people applying are looking at 2dhouse.com… right? Well you’d think so…

Here’s what I’m trying to get at. If you’d like this job, and you want to be interviewed, then take a minute and do some homework. My name is right there, and the company name too (I also don’t like “your company”). There’s plenty of info and videos and stuff to sink your teeth into and impress me by letting me know you’ve actually done some research and that you WANT to work at 2D. Or at least you’d like to. Rather than you WANT some sort of job, or would at least like one….

Social etiquette tells me that I’m not allowed to email some of these people back telling them their emails to me are stupid and thusly so are they. I wish I could do that, even though it would no doubt waste a lot of my time. But what I can do is send out this message. If you’re applying for this position, feel free to in a professional, respectful and true manner. Mention to me that you’ve read this blog post, and don’t be overly shy or forward and you’re about 90% likely to get an interview. That’s it. Just say

“Hey, I’d love to learn more about this position and after reading your post I’d like to submit this resume. Look forward to getting more info and also having an opportunity to tell you more about myself.”

Or something to that affect. That line will get you an interview. I’m really tired of these phonies who think they want a real job and send a generic application to me. Something that I can tell they’ve sent to hundreds of other would be employers who they’ll probably never hear back from.

That being said, I have had a lot of great resumes and emails, too. Thank you to those of you who have done so, so far, you’ll find out who you are when I give you a call tomorrow to ask you to come in for an interview.

Rant Over

David Dvir