Author: The Photographer Clay

Today, I started to think about what to write and I did what I normally do in the morning before I write which was to browse through my Facebook page to see what was discussed while I was “away”. One of the first posts I saw was one in a group run by a friend. The post was about a photographer reaching out to a friend to get a media pass to one of these local “fashion” shows. The photographer said her friend sent her a link where she could buy a media pass to be in the media area. The subsequent discussion was about how these so-called fashion shows are really only money makers for the promoters. Everyone else either pays or donates their time. I know I have mentioned this topic before but I believe it is worth mentioning again. Don’t work for free. All working for free will get you is more work for free. I know someone will say something about making connections but those connections are made, more often than not, with people who will want you to continue to work for free. Know your value.

Random thought two, is it overthinking or planning? There are times I decide on a photo idea. I may spend a couple of hours getting things set up. Positioning lights, objects, etcetera. Take dozens of photographs and when I sit down to look through them I don’t like any of them. Was it that I overthought the concept or was it a lack of planning to get it done properly? I know not every concept will be a success but when is it too much or when is it not enough?

Random thought three. I write this blog as notes to me. I rarely plan ahead of the article and write them each day. I don’t have scheduled posts set up and write a day or two ahead. As such, I often say what is on my mind. Some may agree with my thoughts, others may not but I suspect most of you have had similar thoughts. I love hearing from you and your thoughts about what I write, good or bad, agree or disagree. These articles are meant get me, and hopefully you to think about your photography.

Recently, I was listening to a photography podcast where the host discussed credentials, specifically, he was talking about photographers who list their certification initials behind their names much like PhD. His take and mine are so what. I’ll make a play on a quote from Jerry Maquire, “show me the work”.

Education and demonstration of knowledge are important, but does it matter where or how? I know I have blasted the University of YouTube in the past and probably will continue. Not that YouTube isn’t a valuable tool when used properly. It can be as much and at times more valuable than books but it can also be a disaster waiting to happen.

I got a photography education from an online school. It was a self-paced course that took me about 2 years to complete a bit shorter than average for the school. Does it matter that I got a certificate on the wall? Maybe. It made a difference to me and my work. In reviewing images I took prior to the course to work towards the end of the course and since, it has made a huge difference. For me, had it not been for the school I would likely have not learned much about flash and studio lighting or light modifiers. I would have probably not become begun to work with models or portraits.

I recently posted about the bar having been set too low for professional photographers and I believe it has and that always raises the question of having some sort of certification process to go through before being able to call yourself a professional photographer. Even if such a process were required it wouldn’t stop the GWAC (guys/gals with a camera) from charging people for portraits nor would we want it to stop them, at least I wouldn’t want it to stop them.

I have been a member of a professional photographers organization. There are some great benefits to joining one but there are also some things that aren’t so great. One of those “not so great” things, to me, was the mindset that the membership and organization was better than everyone else. Granted, there are some people who were members who were fantastic photographers, but those people would have been fantastic without the organization. It all comes down to show me the work.

“There’s nothing interesting to photograph around this part of the country.” I once had a person say this to me. They continued, “there are no mountains or oceans” as if those were the only types of landscapes that were interesting. While mountains and oceans can certainly be interesting it doesn’t mean they are the only worthy subjects of landscape photography.

About 10 years ago, while visiting a city on the east coast, I talked to the bartender at my hotel and mentioned we were going to drive out to the ocean which was about a 5 to 10-minute drive. The bartender’s response was, “I haven’t been there in years.” A couple of years later my wife went to a training seminar near the Rocky Mountains. The room that was being used for the seminar had large windows where you could see the mountains. One of the locals said, “Yeah they’re there every day.”

I work around little children virtually every day and have younger grandchildren. The children continue to see the wonder and interesting things every day, even though they saw them yesterday. At some point, the children lose their sense of wonder of ordinary things just like us. Maybe, we should be more like the little children to see the wonder in the world around us. We don’t have to stop traveling to exotic places but think how many more wonderful things we could see even in those exotic places if we can still see the wonder and interest in ordinary things.

I’ll start today’s post with a quote.

I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving: To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it – but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Not only does this apply to everyday life but also to our photography and our growth as an artist. The key to achieving our goal of arriving at the port of becoming a great photographic artist is to keep sailing. Moving towards the direction of the port. There may be times we get lost at sea or encounter a storm but sail on we must. As an example, yesterday I broke out the light meter. My light meter has many options available other than just reading incident light, reflected light, and flash output. I set correction values based on the use of filters. It can display exposure values and give readings in a variety of measurements. I had forgotten how these things worked. I’d become lost at sea. So, my solution was to break out the map, the manual and to relearn the things I had forgotten. The next thing I realized I had not done in a long time and had nearly forgotten was how to use my cable releases and the bulb setting on a camera. All this got me thinking about what else I had forgotten and become lost or off course to the port.

Not only do we need to break out our manuals and refresh our memories about some things periodically but we need to also look at our charts (previous work), and maps (concepts and ideas for future work). I then realized I have charts but haven’t any maps. I come up with ideas, but I rarely write them down and if I do write them down, I file them away and don’t revisit them.

Now, I have broken out my charts, maps, and put up the sails. How about you?

We see an abundance of ways to sell photographic art, but does anyone really buy photographic art? I’ve been to fairs and community art shows where photographic art has been offered for sale by the artist. Some of the work is absolutely great, some eh, it is okay. What I don’t really ever remember seeing at these events is anyone actually buying a piece. The artist must sell something as the cost of the prints, framing, the booth, etcetera could get expensive. There are also a number of websites and online stores where an artist can put their work for sale. Who buys this stuff? I’m sure there are buyers out there. Do you create art hoping to sell? Do you create art for yourself? Do you create art for yourself and other art to sell? Do we research our audience? Do we care?

I’ve been to many houses of people who don’t have photographic art or paintings on the walls. They have wall art but not what would be classified as photographic art or paintings. Some have portraits of family members in their houses. In my house, I have nearly a dozen pieces of photographic art on the walls and I don’t mean portraits of family members. We also have a couple of paintings on the walls created by others. Is it a generational thing? Is the practice of putting photographic art and paintings dead or dying? Do we, the artists, have to follow the trend of what is popular to maintain interest in art? So many questions to ponder this weekend.

Artifact, blown out, bracketing, chimping, fast aperture, glass. The list goes on and on, many photographers know the terms, but some, especially new photographers do not. As one who has taught beginners, the terms are sometimes confusing and cryptic.

Some of the terminologies are valid, some not so much. Some of the lingo, to me, is rubbish and often meant to an attempt to separate those “in the know” from newbies. Social media and texting haven’t made it easier and have amplified the problem. There are times I have to look up acronym because I have no clue what it means.

Why do we do this? Is it an attempt to make us appear to be smarter? I can understand certain acronyms and terminology when talking amongst peers. It’s easier to say NASA rather than National Aeronautics and Space Administration, but is it really that much easier to say ACR rather than Adobe Camera RAW?

I often wonder about the future of photography. In the past, the advances were often film-based, maybe rendering colors better, lower ISO, higher ISO, less grain, etc. Today, we have megapixels, gigapixels, artificial intelligence, digital sensors with light sensitivity that was previously unimagined (upwards to 102,400). We have software that can automatically detect faces, people, subjects, skies, and objects. Our cameras can do focus tracking, and if we so choose they can even set their own shutter speed, aperture, “film speed”.

To some, we have made photography too easy. To people like me, I’m somewhat a geek and nerd who loves technology, it is exciting. It may be true that some tasks may have become easier the artist utilizing this modern technology needs to continue to master their tools and create photography and art that rivals the advancement of the tools we use.

I don’t make a significant amount of my income from photography or photography-related ventures but I sometimes wonder if we, the photography-consuming world, have set the bar too low in our expectations of the “professionals”.

I put professionals in quotes because I believe the term professional photographer has become a very loosely defined title. We have loads of “professional” photographers who are weekend warriors. Please don’t get me wrong, there are lots of very good part-time professional photographers who work their photography business as a sideline. Where I believe we set the bar too low is when it comes to people who are charing money or items of value who, often admittingly, have no clue what they are doing.

While I may no longer be working as a professional photographer I still belong to a number of groups and organizations that cater towards the working professional. I see posts and questions on a daily basis regarding situations or issues that are very basic. We all have questions from time to time. It may be something we’ve never encountered before. As an example a few weeks ago a “professional photographer” posted some examples of photographs taken during a family portrait session and they couldn’t figure out why everyone was so dark. The photographs were taken outdoors, on location, during daylight hours. A quick look at the photographs it became apparent that the camera had likely been set on a matrix metering as the background, which was likely very bright at the time, was well exposed with no blown highlights or overexposed areas but the people in the foreground were much darker, near silhouettes. Several other members pointed that out to the person posing the question. It isn’t that the photographs were the issue, the issue, to me, was the photographer didn’t know what “went wrong”.

I don’t mean to come across as an elitist, I certainly don’t intend to sound as such. I just believe that before one begins to call themselves a professional there is a particular level one should reach beforehand.

The photographic artist and the student and I don’t mean the photographic artist is teaching a student, rather the photographic artist as a student. For me, when I took up photography and even more so when I began to designate myself as a photographic artist I became a continouse student.

I read articles, blogs, and books on photography virtually every day. I listen to photography podcasts. I study photographs, techniques, and light. I can’t even watch a movie or television show without wondering about the lighting techniques and color grading that was used to give us the final version of the movie or show. Some may believe this mindset is obsessive, execssive, or extravagant. Others may just understand it.

I wasn’t always this way. I don’t know what the turning point was nor do I remember when this came about. I’m not sure it really matters as it doesn’t interfer with my daily life other than I often see things many others ignore. I see how light and shadows vary, I see how some lighting conditions enhance subjects or give a different mood or emotions. As an example, I often hear people say, “what a gloomy day” when it is slightly overcast, light rain, and perhaps a bit on the cool side. To me, colors and reflections are enhanced, soft shadows, and perhaps a great time for dramatic street or on location portraits. In other words, I see those so-called “gloomy days” as something that is photographicly wonderful.

If you want to take your photography, or more appropriatly (in my head) your photographic artistry to the next level, expand your vision by studying all the photography you can and pay especial attention to light and how it plays in the world around you.