We were lucky to catch up with Daniel Forster recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Daniel, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
In a world of creatives vying for everyone’s attention, it is ironic that a lot of my early attention was because of my bad work. I didn’t start out taking photos for attention, but when I learned some people were enjoying my work, I started sharing it with a broader audience. That is when the negative attention also appeared.
I could have let the negative words get me down, but I remember that I made some very distinct decisions at that point. I wasn’t going to stop taking and sharing photos, but I also wasn’t going to let the haters get to me.
First, I tried to evaluate if the person had a valid point or critique that I could use to make my work better. Like maybe the photo wasn’t as sharp as it could be, and people were saying it’s blurry. That is feedback I could use for improvement in the future. However, many times people would just be rude and toxic with their words online. At that point, I realized that some people are upset for reasons outside of my control and I just ignored them.
I feel that by powering through these kinds of situations I was able to keep learning and growing in my craft. I was also able to continue to share my work and get good feedback that helped me build confidence that I was doing something that I appreciated and that many others did as well.
As my career progressed and my body of work grew, I also connected with other photographers and built audiences of people who follow my work. Having a network of friends and colleagues is very helpful. They spurred me on to get better in many ways. It was really nice when someone knew my work and then out of the blue said, “Hey, I really like that Milky Way shot you shared yesterday.”
One of the biggest pieces of advice I learned when I first started was that artists need to find their audience. My work is not for everyone. So, I needed to find the people that it does connect with. Having a supportive audience of people that follow my work and actually purchase my work is very encouraging. There were times in the beginning that I felt like I was just creating more photos that no one would ever see. But then people started to ask me if they could buy my photos. That is a confidence booster every time.
The lesson for me was that to find my audience I needed to share my work. Then the more I shared my work, the more my audience grew, and the more prints I sold. This, in turn, built my confidence that what I was creating was positively impacting people.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I’m a fine art landscape and nature photographer, focusing on creating, selling, and teaching photography. At my core, I’m a creative person who has found his passion in capturing the beauty of our natural world.
What excites me most about landscape photography is the opportunity to showcase nature’s beauty in ways that inspire and move people. There’s something truly special about freezing a moment of natural beauty – whether it’s a dramatic sunset, a serene wilderness scene, or an intimate detail of nature – and sharing that with others.
The fact that people want to display my photos in their homes and offices is incredibly gratifying. It’s a constant reminder that my work resonates with others and allows them to bring a piece of nature’s beauty into their daily lives.
Moreover, teaching photography has become an unexpected joy in my journey. Sharing my skills and knowledge with other aspiring photographers, watching them grow and develop their own unique vision, is deeply rewarding. It’s a way of paying forward the mentorship and guidance I’ve received throughout my career.
This path has created amazing opportunities for me to continually grow as an artist, problem-solve creatively, travel to breathtaking locations, and adventure in nature. Every shoot is a new challenge, every location a new canvas, and every student a new perspective.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Early on in my journey, I knew that if I was going to continue doing what I love and not have to return to the corporate world, I would need to ‘monetize my fun’. Having been in a corporate job for so long, I understood the value and importance of cash flow very well. People were asking if they could buy prints of my work, so selling prints seemed like the most obvious avenue towards capitalizing on my craft. I realized that without my business acumen, I wouldn’t have known how much I needed to focus my time and energy on all the details required to create a successful business.
That drive to sell prints and calendars, and later my services as a photography trainer, also motivated me to learn and build my skills as much as possible. In the beginning, I was focused on learning and growing as much as I could. I believe that this strong emphasis on skill refinement and improvement of my craft was crucial for my journey.
Lastly, I believe my faith has been a significant part of my journey. I didn’t create the stars, but I know Who did. While I don’t think God created a beautiful sunset at the exact right moment just for me, I do believe He has prompted me to go out at the right times or orchestrated certain events in ways that I could never have planned or imagined. This has resulted in a long, unbelievable list of experiences that can only be attributed to Him.
My best advice for people early in their journey is to work on balancing their passion with practicality. If you can’t monetize your creative passions, you’ll just be doing them for your own pleasure. That’s fine, of course, if it’s what you want. However, if you aim to create a business from your passion, I recommend figuring out how to build multiple revenue streams. To develop these revenue streams, it’s also important to learn some business fundamentals and conduct market research about what your potential customers want.
Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?
Developing and growing your strengths is crucial. However, there aren’t many long-term careers or businesses that can be sustained by focusing on one strength alone. Even an Olympic athlete can only be at the top of their game for a limited time. I believe that in any creative pursuit, honing your craft and improving your core strength is very important. Yet, no matter what field you’re in, we still need to build a solid base of diverse skills to sustain our long-term journey.
I watched a video a while back that really drove this point home for me. As a photographer running a business by myself, I realized I needed to be proficient in many more skills than just photography. The video highlighted that to actually run a business, we need to be competent in all the tasks required to make it function. For a long time, I was focusing on becoming a better photographer, improving as an instructor, and enhancing my social media presence. After watching that video, I realized I needed to shift my focus and learn some new skills. So, this past year, I’ve been working on marketing and online sales.
I feel this kind of self-analysis will be a lifelong process. However, it has been helpful to look at each skillset addition and plan for a specific timeframe. If you’re in a similar period of analysis, my advice is to lean into what’s working for a while and get comfortable there. Then, once you’re comfortable, recognize that it’s time to get uncomfortable again by focusing on new skill acquisition.
For instance, if you have a sustainable income source for a bit, maybe it’s time to focus on technical, creative, or networking skills for a while. If you’re getting good responses there, then it might be time to work on your marketing or sales skills. From a business perspective, it could also mean figuring out which skills are best outsourced to other partners.
An example of outsourcing skills is I have seen other creatives learn that the best approach for keeping track of finances is to hire an accountant. Or many photographers forgo managing their own website and online sales, and just license their work to other businesses that sell their prints.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.danielforsterphotography.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danielscottphoto
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/danielforsterphotos
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-forster
Image Credits
Daniel Forster Photography
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