I just spent the most enjoyable weekend with 5 emerging photographers. I invited them to be a part of a commercial demo shoot we were doing out of my Cape Cod studio. I met all of them through Twitter.

We didn't eat or sleep much. But we sure got in a lot of picture taking. And fellowship. And discussions about photography.

One thing I immediately noticed upon arrival of this band of brothers was their enthusiasm for all things photography. And I mean enthusiasm! Each had their own religious fervor about some aspect of the photographic process. Cameras, lenses, HDR, social media, post-processing, lighting, composition...and the list goes on. It didn't matter much what the topic was, as long as we were discussing photography.

I thought I'd be center stage. Right. I wasn't. At least not in my mind. They were center stage. I was the side show. And I liked it like that.

For 48 hours we huddled together in photographic gleefulness and jubilation. It didn't necessarily matter about the subject, as long as it had something to do with photography. Canon vs. NIkon. Zooms vs. primes. Speedlights vs. strobes. Handheld vs. tripods. F1.4 vs. F22. Lightroom vs. Aperture.

As I watched this rapturous exchange of information, it painted a very clear picture for me of tomorrow's emerging photographer class. Enthusiasm to the max. Now will enthusiasm be enough? Of course not. But it's a great start!

And these guys are as comfortable and confident at the keyboard as they are behind the camera. They are able to multitask like nobody's business. They were Tweeting. Facebooking. Uploading to Flickr, Twitpic, YouTube. Plus shooting. Plus editing. And even processing on the fly. I've never seen anything like it.

Enthusiasm is just so contagious. Enthusiasm, as an emotional state, is born out of intense and eager enjoyment. If you love photography...it shows. To everyone around you - crew, models, clients. Having an abandoned, almost reckless, sense of on-set enthusiasm is one of the greatest gifts you can bring to your business. Enthusiasm attracts.

I think of enthusiasm as points along a continuum. It starts with keenness and zest. Then moves to passion and devotion. And ends with sheer obsession. Doesn't matter where you are on this enthusiasm continuum. It's all good. Pick a spot. Land. Let it all hang out!

It was such a pleasure seeing, first hand, photographers full of life for photography. Gusto. Verve. Fire. Spirit.

I remember being in this exact same place 30 years ago. Truth is...to some extent, I'm still there. I'm enthusiastic about working as a photographer in the 21st century. I'm enthusiastic about where our photography industry is headed. I'm enthusiastic about the bright future of my 5 new emerging photographer friends. And I'm most definitely enthusiastic about what is going to come of our weekend collaboration. Stay tuned. I am all enthusiastic. :)