“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more”.
By William Shakespeare. (from Henry V, spoken by King Henry).
While not quite up to Henry V trying to rally his troops against the French, following up an unexpected success that was JÖKULSÁRLÓN thanks to some major post editing is daunting just the same.
The sudden awareness that lots of people are actually looking at your images is challenging. The fifteen minutes of internet fame stretched out for a couple of days but then came the ultimate question – What next?
I’m not sure all creative people feel the same but putting your work, and it is work, out there in public, for me, is a challenge in confidence every single time.
Every word. Every image. Each comes with the weight of expectations and fraught with the chance of rejection. Sudden success, of the internet kind, magnifies both.
I rejected several images before settling on this one from my fall trip – the Ocean Trail in Acadia National Park. It’s a good image, not a fantastic one but it captures the feeling of the trail that day I think. A chilly, grey day that consistently threatened rain.
Overcoming oneself is the ultimate achievement, it is what holds us back from attaining many things in life.
As Henry said – once more my friends, once more.