The photo of this flower contains four business lessons.
1) Wildflowers in Sequoia National Park were especially beautiful this year in July. So, there were many to choose from. I found this flower because I was looking for photogenic images.
Lesson: We must seek opportunities in order to find them. While this may seem trivial, too many people simply wait for solutions to appear instead of actively working to find them.
2) There are thousands of these flowers growing around the Wuksachi Lodge in Sequoia National Park. So, I had to find the one that would make a good photo. I spent almost 20 minutes searching for this one, which was clean, attractive, and oriented toward light. Others were less suitable.
Lesson: We have thousands of opportunities to choose from. Success comes from finding the one that fits our criteria.
3) Taking this photo was only the first step. Since I always take many frames (such as a dozen), I had to select the best representation of what I wanted to capture. Then I cropped the photo to emphasize the flower and applied a few adjustments that sharpened the image.
Lesson: Most opportunities are raw material for something better. Thus, we have to apply extra effort to achieve significant results.
4) This flower is less than a quarter of an inch high. A postcard sized view of this plant appears below.
So, taking this photo requires professional quality equipment such as the Nikon D300 with the Nikon 105 mm Micro lens. Then I used a solid tripod, a cable release, and the mirror up setting. Obtaining the details shown in the first photo would have been impossible without these tools.
Lesson: Real business opportunities require real investments to obtain professional quality results.
Key Point: Finding and cultivating opportunities requires deliberate leadership skills.
Much success,
Steve Kaye
714-528-1300
Author, Speaker, IAF Certified Professional Facilitator
Wish you the best,
Steve Kaye
Professional Speaker and Photographer
Inspiring Leaders Since 1992
See: Steve’s Web Site
(Dozens of articles, more than 600 photos, and 157 blog posts)