Many professional photographers are said to have "the gift." An eye for aesthetics and being able to see a potential photo in the world around you. Every day, they pass by a fountain that would be good for a portrait photo or a landscape that would be perfect behind the lens of their Canon or Nikon.

But what if I told you everyone has "the gift"?

What if everyone is a photographer?

I know everyone, even myself, gets a bit annoyed when they see someone on their Instagram post a picture of a flower with the caption "omg I should be a photographer". Maybe people believe that posting a filtered photo on Instagram doesn't qualify someone to be a photographer. Even I think that sometimes, and I've been paid for my work. It's even harder to see social media from professional photographers who have worked with celebrities or just have marvelous work, and wonder "will I ever be that good?"

But the truth is, even a flower on Instagram makes you a photographer. Everyone has the ability to find just the right angle and make their "best picture yet." Everyone has the ability to take a great photograph. I mean, have you seen some of the photos on Instagram? What may be a simple candid photo from the beach is a product of photo genius.

Now, you may think that if everyone can be a photographer, nobody is special. If everyone has a quality, it's just a regular trait. That's the beauty of it: everyone can do it. It's like singing: everyone can do it. The part where photography is specialized, like singing, is when people are good at it. If you're a good singer, you can become famous for it. If you're a good photographer, you can become famous for it.

But whether or not you're good at it, if you love it, do it. Don't let the haters tell you that your flower on Instagram isn't the best photo you've taken. If you let them stop you, you can stop yourself from flourishing. What starts out as a simple Instagram photo can turn into so much more if you let yourself go and quit worrying about other people's opinions.

I found my love for photography by taking low-quality pictures on my little iPod Touch in seventh grade, which turned into a photography position on my college newspaper with my fancy Canon camera. I still stop in the middle of going to class to snap a picture of flowers on my phone, and I make my friends take ten pictures of me before I accept it, because I love it. Anytime I can pull out my phone, or even better, my camera, to take a picture makes me a happier person that day.

After all, even a selfie is a photograph.