Just curious

[Roxy]

I have been doing photography for a long time (since high school) but never thought to do it professionally until I felt that I could. I still don't want to do important stuff like events and senior portraits. I modeled for over 2 years to see how it works from that side of the lens, and watch the photographers that would take my photo. Then I did some (very little actually, I'd like to do more) assisting so I could ask questions. Made some photographer friends from modeling. Now I work with a photographer that used to have a studio (and is working on getting one now) and in the past I observed portrait sessions as well. All of this adds up but it still isn't enough to do the "important stuff" and I am working on my confidence as well. I just recently started shooting manually only.

My suggestion is to take baby steps until you are confident enough. Take every oppurtunity to observe and participate with supervision (like a second shooter). I think with the passion you have to do your best and only deliver the best images, you will start feeling more confident when the time is right.