Just think about the sheer number of photographers there are today compared to 50 years ago. And the number of good to great photographers has also increased dramatically in 50 years. Can we rise above the crowd? If so, how can we rise above? To rise above the crowd we have to photograph things in a way few photographic artists photograph them. Take a look at the multitude of photographs out there. The greatest number all look similar to one another. We don’t even have to invent new techniques. We can blaze a new trail or we can go back and study what was done before and find the style that preceded that is used little. A perfect example is clothing styles. An older style is revitalized with a slightly new twist.
Much of our problem today is there are many more copycats than trailblazers. I’ve got my gear ready to blaze a new trail through the jungle of photography. This is a time to let our vision run wild and look for new ways to do what may have been done before. We have the tools, we have the knowledge, we have the passion.
What is the best [ insert name of a piece of gear ] for [ insert photographic activity ]? I see these questions asked every single day. Do you know what I rarely see? I rarely see the question asked what is the best way for me to learn. When you do see that question asked the vast majority of answers are based on watching YouTube videos. I have nothing against YouTube or video learning. There are some great videos on photographic subjects but is it the best way to learn? I don’t think so and I’ll explain why.
Watching a video to teach photography my lighting conditions may be entirely different than those of the video. To me, it is like knowing the shutter speed, aperture, ISO, focal length used to take a photo. It only tells part of the equation. Knowing these things doesn’t tell me anything about lighting conditions. If it was cloudy, how cloudy, if it were sunny how sunny.
Another issue is there is no interaction between the student and the instructor. What if I have a question? I could leave a comment, or send an email but will it be seen and replied to? If it is seen and replied to when, how long? Then what if I have a follow-up question?
In my way of thinking, the why is just as important as the how. I’ve watched hundreds, if not thousands, of videos on photography and photography techniques and I rarely see the instructor talk about the why. The videos are primarily focused on the how.
We all learn differently, but human interaction is a very important part of learning. The interaction of the teacher and student or mentor and mentee. I finished my photography classes years ago and was fortunate to have a very helpful instructor. I have also been fortunate to be surrounded by photography friends that are very good. The knowledge of good photography is more important than the gear. The best knowledge comes from a variety of sources which includes working side by side with a good or even better a great photographer.
The more I read posts and comments in social media photography groups the more I wonder if many of these people are truly photographers or tech geeks. To a certain extent, technology has made photography easier but it is still the person who is the photographer, not the camera. There is so much gear bashing and gear obsession in the media and especially in photography groups. People even argue over what programs and computers people use to post-process their photographs. Does it really matter what you use or do the results matter? I think the results matter more than what stuff I use which is why I don’t get involved in those debates, I just see them.
Gear can be important but what is more important are the results. Don’t let your gear define you let your results define you.
The creativity challenge for my had become a struggle for me. I felt like I wasn’t able to come up with creative ideas. I started writing a blog several months ago with my daily thoughts. The blog entries as typically short and to the point. Since I have started on this site, this is my 89th post. Some days were difficult in getting something written but as time went along it became easier to get started. As you may tell from the image above, I am starting to do just as I have written about. I”m trying out some bizarre and different techniques. I also noticed last night as I was sitting watching a movie with my grandsons I came up with a photographic project to work on. I feel like I’m getting back in the creative groove. My inner muse is starting to awaken after a long rest.
Awaken your inner muse. It may take some time and some effort but it can pay off. I’m no longer afraid of blazing a trail on the wild side of my photographic art.
Do all your photographs have to look like photographs? I don’t believe so. I believe in creative vision. I may decide to take a photograph to an extreme and apply all sorts of techniques to it. Will everyone like it? Most likely not. Do I care if everyone likes it? No. I create art and photographs for myself. If others enjoy it that is a bonus. There are those who don’t believe in any post-processing and use images straight from that camera. Some are fantastic and some are not. It’s their vision. Likewise, I may choose to do a massive amount of work on a piece of art, even so far as combining elements from several images. That is my vision.
My mind is a fascinating place and can change visions at a moment’s notice. And my mind may notify me of the change without conscious thought. I like to explore many creative styles, I don’t like to lock myself into a pigeonhole of one style. This mindset may be attributed to being nearly forced into conformity in the past by photography groups and clubs that defined a good photograph as one that looked like everyone else’s photograph. Often the only thing we lacked was a uniform we had to wear to participate. Explore your creativity, try way out techniques, try bizarre styles. It will free your creative soul.
Photography records my world and my view of it so I can show others what I see and how I see it. Just like any other art form I decide what to show and how to show it. This is especially true with digital photography and programs like Photoshop. We can transform ourselves into superheroes or other worlds. Digital photography has become more of an art form than ever if we just open our minds and hone our skills. Go forth and create some magical art.
Yesterday, I wrote about photography as a metaphor. Not only do I believe photography is a metaphor but it is also a reflection of my perspective, my mood, my personality, and in fact me. I don’t believe any of us can be so dissociated from our art. This is why I believe it is important to accept both concepts of photography as a metaphor and a reflection of ourselves. Once we accept these concepts free expression of our intent in a photograph becomes easier. These are good things. It can be a bit frightening to knowingly let others see into our minds but doing so allows us to create fantastic art and isn’t that really what many of us want to do? Think about it, freedom to do your art as you want. Express our reality, our vision, our dreams, our hopes.
It’s time for some introspection and set your creativity free. I’ve done it and it has given me an entire new view of the world, my art, and my life.
A podcaster I listen to on a regular basis talked about a book by Minor White, Mirrors, Messages, Manifestations. His discussion led into photography may be a metaphor. Since listening to that podcast yesterdy, I have thought about this a bit. Merriam-Webster defines a metaphor as; an object, activity, or idea that is used as a symbol of something else. To me, that is essentially what photograph is, a symbol of something else. It isn’t the object represented. If that is the case then in most photography, realism doesn’t matter. The photograph is merely a symbol. Reality, or as close to it as we can get is only critical in documentary photography. Everything else becomes open to artistic creativity.
Having now come to this realization I finally have my arguement for creative expression of nearly all the photographs I will take. My work is a metaphor for this object represented in the image. I feel like I have been set free. Think about it. I believe it is hard to argue against photography as being a metaphor for the people, scenes, and objects we photograph.
Never work for free. Never work for cheap. Yes, I’ve done both and I’ve had some good and some bad experiences but I can tell you the negative experience has far outweighed the good. Here is an example of what I mean
There’s a lady who’s been wanting me to do a FREE newborn shoot (I’m new at it) for her daughter but my kids have been terribly sick and we’ve had to reschedule a few times and now my son got into a massive accident and she sent this really mean message tonight and I sent her a picture of the car just stating that you know I’ve been having a tough time and she’s being really rough on me about it and rescheduling on her a few times.. Just not sure what to do.. I told her I’d do it Wednesday but I’m in no condition to do it.. I know my work won’t be good and I’m just depressed and don’t know what to say to her.
From a recent Facebook post I read
I see these posts or their sister posts about doing a cheap photography session virtually every day and they are all very similar.
I know there are concepts of “trade for” where the photographer and the “client” work together with neither charging because they are exchanging services. I don’t consider that work for free. I also understand that some would consider the example above could be a trade for because the photographer may be able to use this as practice blah, blah, blah. But, you get into the problem of cheap customers will always be cheap customers, free customers will always be free customers. I tried the business of photography once in a half-assed way, but I wasn’t ready to be in business. I was horrible at collecting the money even though I always requested half upfront I rarely collected it and then had the experience of slow payers. The customers never got the product until the bill was paid but most of those I allowed to not pay upfront went months without an order of the finished product or payment.
The other concept I hear about where you work for free is to provide photography for a charity. Here is what I have learned about that. Charities, even those that are 501C3 charities have budgets to pay for some services such as printing, mailing, telephones, electricity, etc. I’ve researched some of the biggest name charities and all the big names pay huge sums of money to public relations and advertising agencies. To me, if I want to support a charity with photography I will donate money to the charity and request that to be used to pay a photographer.
I realize this post may irritate a few, it may even make some angry with me but think about the potential problems you can get before you work for free. For me, I’m not doing it anymore and I warn others to not work for free or for cheap.
Most days, I am in a photographic motivation lull, well I guess it’s more of a barren wasteland. Oh, I do things related to photography. I read articles, I browse the work of others, I talk about photography, I write about photography, and I even work with honing my editing skills but to actually get motivated to take new photographs I’m stuck. Part of it is its winter. I have grown to really not enjoy winter, hint I don’t like being cold. Some of the rest of it is somewhat due to an attempt to escape day-to-day reality through video games and mindless television.
There are 220 million Google hits on motivation and countless books exist on the topic. All of these have very similar tips and techniques of which I have found that few actually work at least with me. I suspect I’m not alone. So, how do we motivate ourselves? Maybe it is just to get camera gear out and tinker with it. Dust it off, wipe down your gear. Maybe it is just set aside a couple of hours a week. Maybe it is just writing down your ideas. Maybe it is a bit of all those. Whatever it is, let’s find a way to reenergize our creativity and do photography. Let me know your thoughts.
Photographer Clay 