The Fear of Irrelevance

“Trends burn fast. But timeless work lasts.”

There’s a fear most photographers carry around but rarely say out loud. It’s not just fear of competition or a slow season. It’s deeper and sneakier than that. It’s the fear of irrelevance. That whisper at midnight when you’re scrolling Instagram wondering if your best days are already behind you.

In this episode, I’m getting honest about all the ways this fear shows up. The new photographer in town who’s suddenly booked solid. The longtime client who books someone else’s minis. The trend cycle that makes you question whether your style is outdated before you’ve even had your morning coffee. And I’m redefining what relevance actually means, because it has nothing to do with likes, presets, or algorithms.

This episode will leave you remembering why the work you do matters and why no new trend, no cheaper photographer, and no viral reel can take that away from you.

What’s in this episode:

[00:00:30] The fear of irrelevance and why we rarely name it
[00:01:00] When a new photographer in town triggers the spiral
[00:01:30] Longtime clients, trend cycles, and the midnight scroll
[00:02:30] Why the fear of irrelevance is really about belonging
[00:03:30] Why chasing trends puts your voice at risk
[00:04:30] Redefining relevance as impact, not popularity
[00:06:00] A little humor break because sometimes we need to laugh at ourselves
[00:07:00] What you need to remember the next time the fear creeps in

If you’ve ever declared yourself irrelevant because a reel flopped or a new photographer got all the hype, this one is going to feel like a deep exhale.

Did you enjoy this episode? Check out this past solo episode Embracing Failure and Failing Forward

Transcript

[00:00:00]

Hello my friend. Welcome back. [00:00:30] Today we’re gonna be talking about something that probably has been on my mind for a while, so let’s be really honest for a second. There is a fear that most photographers carry around, but rarely say out loud. It’s not just fear of competition. It’s not just fear of a slow season.

It’s deeper, it’s heavier, and it’s sneakier than that. It is the fear of irrelevance. It’s that whisper that creeps in when you’re scrolling. Instagram at midnight. What if my best [00:01:00] days are behind me? What if people don’t care about my work anymore? What if I’ve been replaced and don’t even realize it yet?

If you’ve ever felt that you are not alone. I have felt it many times too. Sometimes it hits when you see the new photographer in town, cheaper, shinier, booked solid, and suddenly everyone’s tagging her and hyping her up, treating her like the new queen bee.

And there you are sitting wondering, what about me? [00:01:30] What about all the years I’ve been pouring into this? Sometimes it hits you when you see your own longtime clients commenting on someone else’s posts or worse booking their minis. You smile politely, but inside it feels like betrayal, and sometimes it’s subtler, it’s trends.

Everyone’s shooting on a 35 millimeter for those wide storytelling images, and here I am happily working with my 1 35 or 200 because I adore those soft painterly backgrounds. But the doubt [00:02:00] creeps in. Am I? Outdated, should I change or editing? Editing. A new preset pack is out and suddenly every feed looks the same, light and airy.

One year orange people in the next moody, Matt tones the next filmy, but vibes. After that, everyone seems to be buying the new action set and you start questioning yourself. Do I need to overhaul my style just to keep up? And that’s the fear of irrelevance. It’s not just about [00:02:30] money or bookings, it’s about belonging.

It’s about the fear of being forgotten. And when that fear shows up, our brains don’t hold back. One small slow month feels like your career’s over when ghosted inquiry feels like you’re just not worth booking anymore. One reel that flops. Well, that’s the algorithm and apparently The algorithm has officially declared me irrelevant. One new photographer getting hype. I’m just [00:03:00] some yesterday’s news. dramatic, maybe, but tell me you haven’t had at least one of those spirals because here’s the thing.

I, relevance isn’t about numbers. It’s about how we feel. And when we see a tension shifting to someone else, we equate that with losing our place. It’s brutal, it’s lonely, and it’s human. Let’s sit in this trend piece for a minute because it’s such a sneaky part. Remember when selective color was all the rage?

That was when I was [00:03:30] first started, or when Watermark placement was the biggest drama in photography groups. We laugh about it now, but at the time it felt like those things mattered. And fast forward to today, and it’s the same cycle, presets and actions and gear and styles, and a trend hits.

And suddenly you feel like if you don’t adapt, you’ll be left behind. But here’s the danger. when you start chasing trends, you risk losing your voice. And clients don’t hire you for being trendy. They [00:04:00] hire you because something in your way of seeing resonates with them. So let’s peel back those layers.

The fear of relevance isn’t just about bookings or likes, it is about replaceability. It’s that gut punch thought, if I don’t keep up, someone else is gonna take my place. I’m gonna be forgotten. if I don’t adapt, no one will care. And under that is the deepest fear of all. Maybe I was never special to begin with at all.

And that’s the voice that [00:04:30] hurts. That’s the one that makes you question everything. but here’s the truth, your relevance isn’t up for debate. Let’s define relevance differently. Relevance isn’t likes in a post. It isn’t keeping up with presets, it isn’t booking every client in your town.

Relevance is impact. It’s a family who treasures the photos you took five years ago and still looks at them every single day. So it’s a newborn mom who cried happy tears when she saw her gallery. [00:05:00] It’s the wall your images hang woven into someone’s daily life that doesn’t fade because someone else is trending.

Relevance isn’t popularity. It’s a legacy. I once had a family come back to me years after their first session. Their kids were practically grown by then, and they told me, we still look at those photos every single day. They’re hanging in our living room and they’re part of our story.

Did they care if my editing was trending? Mm-hmm. Did they ask if I switched from a [00:05:30] 35 millimeter to a 1 35? Nope. Did they mention presets or actions or algorithms? Nope. They cared that I captured their family in a way that felt timeless to them. And in that moment I realized trends burn fast, But timeless work lasts. Okay, quick humor break because if we don’t laugh at ourself, we’ll just cry. the number of times I’ve declared myself irrelevant because one post didn’t perform. Too many times to count the number of times I’ve convinced [00:06:00] myself my career was over because a new photographer booked out a mini session.

It’s embarrassing the number of times I’ve been tempted to buy a trendy preset pack just to see if it would magically fix my self-esteem. Let’s just say my hard drive could use a detox. We’re dramatic creatures and sometimes we need to step back and realize how ridiculous it is that we’re basing our worth on things like algorithms and action sets.

And here’s what actually matters. The families who [00:06:30] trust you year after year, the moments you freeze in time that outlive us all the images that hang on walls tucked into albums, pulled it at weddings and anniversaries and funerals that’s relevance. That’s irreplaceable and no new trend, no cheaper photographer, no viral real can erase that.

So here’s what I want you to take with you. You don’t have to shoot on a 35 milli meter. If you love your 1 35. You don’t need to buy the new preset pack just because everyone else did. You don’t need to [00:07:00] chase trends to matter because your relevance isn’t built on popularity, it’s built on impact.

And the truth is you are not replaceable. No one sees the world the way you see. No one else connects the way you connect. no one else tells the stories the way you tell them, and that’s what makes you relevant. So the next time you feel the fear creeping in that fear of irrelevance, I want you to stop and remind yourself.

Relevance isn’t given by an [00:07:30] algorithm or a client or a trend. It’s built in the quiet, consistent ways you keep showing up. You keep creating and you keep serving. Yes, there’s always gonna be someone new, someone cheaper, someone shinier, but that doesn’t erase you because you’re still here. You’re still creating, you’re still leaving. Images that matter, and that my friend is relevance. That can’t be taken away. I hope you’ve enjoyed this pep talk, my friend. [00:08:00] I’m sending you so much of my light and my love today and every day. I’ll see you next time.