5 tips I received that rocked my world.

Needless to say that you need to learn how to make a difference between good and bad advice A good advice can be gold and can follow you like a shadow in your career. To start 2015 in a great way, here are the 5 best tips I received. Even if they are some advice I am still trying to apply to myself every day, sharing is caring, so enjoy!

When you shoot, always tell a story.

This was my first advice when I started as an intern in event photography. When you deliver your work, keep it in order. It is really disturbing to start with a wedding ceremony when you actually started with the bride getting ready. You are taking pictures of an event? Do it chronologically. Remember: the art of photography series is not only showing quality work, it is making one's imagination working.

Set up a good archive system.

I learnt this one when I was an intern (I did quite a few internships) in London. The photographer I was working for had several backups and an amazing way to classify his photo shoots. I myself use the following folders: year / category of the photo shoot (wedding, portrait, fashion) / shoots with dates and description / RAW folder / PSD / JPG HD / JPG low res.  It becomes handy when a client loses the pictures I sent them, or when I am going through my work. It takes only a few seconds to find it.

Don't get cocky

After getting lots of good reviews of your work, some people can have a tendency to get a little ''I can do whatever, and I am always doing it perfectly because I am so good''. I did it. I am not proud of it. In every career but especially in every digital, you always learn. Technologies are changing fast, you need to stay up to date if you want to pursue the way you intend to. If you get cocky or proud, you will end up doing always the same thing because it is safe. You will do projects that will suck, but it is okay, because the only failure is never to try.

Ask for reviews, to the good people

Your family and closed friends love you (hopefully) and will always tell you that everything you do is great. Sometimes, it is time to do something hard: ask a total (skilled) stranger what they think about your work. It is hard, because it can be negative and your ego might get bruised big time. But what are the options then: staying in a mediocre quality because you didn't dare asking, or getting better because you got help on where to go to? 

Don't be scared to say you are a photographer

A lot of people don't consider photography as a proper career. There are many people at the door and we lost credibility with faux-tographers. How many times have I told strangers that I am a photographer and then got the famous silent with the look that says "so, what do you do for real?".
Surprisingly, you get more recognition in Canada than in France when you say that you are an artist. It is true that Canadians are less judgemental than French people (and that's coming from a Frenchie), but that is another story.

I hope these tips will help you grow in your artistic career. Nothing is easy and I am still struggling to force myself to learn all of this. This is one way to get better in whatever you do, and it feels good when you start walking to the top of the mountain. Happy New Year. May it be full of amazing projects you will lead.