Just Because I'm Good, Doesn't Make Me Good Enough

I still get anxious before a shoot. The palpitations kick in and I'm second guessing everything.

For a while I let that nervousness convince me it was a flaw. Something to iron out. Something a "professional" shouldn't feel. But recently I was slapped in the face by my own naivety — the idea that I could just make do.

One shoot went sideways. I misplaced the quick release plate that attaches my camera to the tripod, and I didn't check that my mics were on the right settings. Two monumental mistakes, both mine, and I could salvage very little from either. There's no editing your way out of that.

Here's the uncomfortable part. I think I got complacent because of the very tools that are meant to help me. With the powerful editing and AI tools we have at our disposal now, I'd started carrying this quiet, dangerous attitude — that it can be fixed afterwards.

It can't. Not always.

So as much as I hated being nervous, as much as I questioned it, I've come to realise that nervousness was never the enemy. It was the thing keeping me sharp. It was the reason I was on it. The day I stopped feeling it was the day I stopped double checking.

I need to be more nervous, not less. More prepared, not more relaxed.

Now, even for a simple one hour shoot, my bag is crammed. Extra batteries. Extra memory cards. An extra camera. And yes, an extra plate for the tripod. Because I would much rather over prepare than under deliver.

Being good at what I do was never the question. Being good enough — reliable, ready, someone who shows up with the plate in the bag — that's the part I get to earn every single time.