Get Out of Your Own Way
As creatives there are days that someone suggests we do something we just don’t feel like doing. In May of 2020, that’s what happened to me. I was living in Las Vegas at the time and it was the height of the Covid lock down, which meant that the Strip was completely empty. Both my husband and my Friend Elliott (now know as the drag queen Elliott with 2 Ts from rupauls drag race!), suggested that we do a photo shoot on the strip because it was empty.
I kept dragging my feet in the idea because I knew there were lots of other photographers out photographing on the Strip. “Ugh, everyone’s doing it!” I said to my husband.
Then Elliott one night was like, “hey, I have a bunch of outfits, and some cool ideas, let’s go do this!” Which I reluctantly agreed to. It’s just sometimes like that. So I meet Elliott and our friend Jean Lopez at the Las Vegas sign because that was where we were going to start our adventure.
When I tel you that you need to get over yourself because you “don’t want to be like everyone else,” I’m including myself in that statement. To this day, this is still one of my favorite photo shoots I’ve done with Elliott. And some of my favorite photos of all time. Plus we had a shitload of fun. All because I said yes to something I didn’t want to do because “everyone else was doing it.”
Elliott, Jean, and I spent a good 3 hours wandering the strip, taking photos, laughing, and having a great time. There were at least 3 costume changes (I may or may not have been one of those changes). And we basically had the entire Strip to ourselves. And I can proudly say, this was one of Elliott’s final photoshoots before appearing on Rupaul’s Dragrace and shooting into fame.
I think it’s a good reminder to all creatives that we need to get out of our own way. Just because we think we are “above” doing something because everyone else is doing it, doesn’t mean we should do it. It just means we need to get over our own cockiness and get out there and make amazing things!
