Have you ever climbed a mountain?
I have and I can tell you how NOT to climb it.
I was in my mid-20s and living and teaching English in Japan. Many of our friends had taken a tour to climb Mt. Fuji but a couple of us (myself, Keith and our friend Dom) decided to take on the adventure on our own. We got a great deal on rail passes so rather than taking a tour with a direct bus we opted to take a 10-hour journey with 11 trains and bus transfers before we arrived in the village of Lake Kawaguchi beside Mt.Fuji. We arrived after dark and our friend Dom was going to try and get a room while we were in search of the campsite. (Did I forget to mention we forgot to bring a map so we didn't know where it was?) Well Dom couldn't get a room and we couldn't find the campground so we set up camp beside the lake, the 3 of us in our little 2 man tent.
We awoke to a beautiful sunrise and anticipation that we were going to climb Mt.Fuji that night so that we could see the sunrise from the top.
We had a pretty easy day exploring the area and napping, taking pedal boats around the lake. We packed up our tent and put it in a locker, had a great dinner and got on the bus for the base camp. Unbeknownst to us a typhoon was raging up on the mountain. We arrived at the base camp only to be turned back our hopes of climbing Mt.Fuji dashed. We got a hotel room in anticipation that we'd be able to climb in the morning and wanted a good night's sleep.
The next morning we overslept and after a good breakfast found out we could climb. We arrived at base camp just before noon and the last bus to take us back down to the village and our hotel was at 9 pm. 9 hours is plenty of time. Dom and Keith bought walking sticks, we had lots of water and snacks, I had my camera and gear in my backpack, and we were ready to go!
The first stages were pretty easy and the views were beautiful. We followed the people up the path. All was pretty good as we reached the different stages until we reached station 8 3250 meters above sea level. We were told we should be resting here for at least 2 hours to acclimate to the altitude. But we were on a schedule so we waited a bit and then pushed on. Had we done a tour we would have known that this was an actual rest stop where the climbers took a nice leisurely break, had some food, took a nap and waited until 3 hours before sunrise to climb to the summit. We had other plans so after a short rest we decided we were ready. I'm not entirely sure where I left my body on the way to the top but the climb was dizzying and we were climbing on all fours due to the steepness of the trail.
As we crested to the summit we were rewarded with a beautiful view and Keith went into a full-blown altitude sickness attack. We got him into all his layers to warm up and found some hot chocolate in the vending machine. Everything on the summit was closing so we had to be quick. Also with a burst of energy, Keith ran off because he wanted to see the edge (I have to say I was afraid he was going to fall off the mountain). We hung out enjoying the view for only a short period because we had a bus to catch. The climb up had taken us almost 6 hours (it should take 8-10). With the sun starting to go down we headed down the mountain at a decent clip. When I say we were running down the mountain I'm not exaggerating. We made it down to our bus with only a couple of minutes to spare.
So can we say we climbed Mt.Fuji? Yes. Can we say we had the best experience? Probably not, it was an adventure and a once-in-a-lifetime experience, in hindsight we can say we were really lucky but we also know that had a seasoned guide been walking us through and preparing us it would have been smoother and more enjoyable. I will also say we learnt from that experience and when we went hiking in the Andes the guides made our experience awesome and memorable, but that is a story for another day.
I share this story because I see the parallels in the world of brand photography and business in general. Yes, there are lots of people who can take a beautiful photo but they don't have the experience or knowledge in how to help you grow your business when it comes to brand photography. The process and understanding of how to tailor a session to each unique business takes time. Over the years my process has developed with my clients' needs in mind and how I can help them get the most out of this experience and their images. It's why my clients don't have cookie-cutter photos and can grow their online presence and businesses on the know, like and trust factor. This leads them to book their ideal clients faster.
I think we can all relate that owning a business is often like climbing a mountain without a map or a guide but when we meet people along the way that can help us it's how we can truly keep climbing the mountain together.
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