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Often our greatest challenge is ourselves. Self-doubt can be worse than over-confidence. Over-confidence may lead us to fail but self-doubt can lead us to not even attempt to try something.

Years ago as a part of a job assignment I had, we were required to learn to repel off the side of a building. I have a fear of heights that have, at times, been nearly disabling so this was going to be a real challenge for me. On the day designated to meet for the training we show up at the training facility, an 80 foot repel tower. There were several levels of the tower but we were to ascend the stairs all the way to the top of the tower. I climbed slowly, staying on the inside portion of the open stairway. Ah, we made it to the top. After a brief bit of instruction, we put on our repel harness, who wants to go first asked the repel master? Well, it wasn’t going to be me. The first guy up goes over the side with another repel master and they start to descend when suddenly the first guy’s feet go up and he is hanging upside down about 75 feet off the ground, now I’m really not sure about this. Long story short, I made it down that side of the tower several times that day and this training and exercise became a yearly certification. I still don’t like heights but I can do them.

What does all this have to do with our photography and artwork? Don’t let fear and self-doubt keep you from growing. It is okay to get outside your comfort zone with your art. It is okay to push the limits of your skill and knowledge. Sometimes self-doubt comes from the fear of never having attempted something, sometimes it comes from failing at the first attempts, but over time, training, and experience it can soon begin to fade.

I sometimes feel bad for people who are just starting out in photography. At times, it must be awfully confusing and frustrating. While it is often easy to find information the information can vary wildly, especially in social media forums and that is not even mentioning the so-called trolls who are just out there to cause trouble. You also have the snobs who love to talk down to new photographers. Most of the problem comes from social media but social media forums are often a first attempt to find information especially for new photographers and often for seemingly good reasons. A quick internet search for photography exposure tips leads to 12 million results but if I join a social media forum I can ask a question and get answers from people who have learned but. A question I saw in a Nikon photography group goes something like this, “I have a d800 I’ve been using for several years now. I’m having a hard time getting crisp photos out of it. I’ve recalibrated my lenses, and I still feel I’m not getting the pictures I should be getting. I’m wondering if having them professionally calibrated and the camera serviced would help.” There were a number of responses that were all over the place but no one asked what appears to me to be some crucial information.

1. How did you have the lenses re-calibrated?
2. Can you show us/me some examples of photographs with the following information, shutter speed, aperture, lens focal length.

To me, this is important. If you re-calibrated your lenses yourself and don’t know what you’re doing you can really mess things up and it can be a user error. I have asked these types of questions before on similar posts and in many instances which are far too frequently met with little to no response from the person asking the question or the equivalent of hate mail from others, but that doesn’t stop me from trying to help others.

I sometimes think about who is/was the greatest influence in my photography. Many times I’m stuck in my effort to identify a single person. One of the first people to really influence my photography was a guy named Neville Elder. How did Neville Elder influence my photography? He was an instructor I had during my photography course. If you’re curious you can find Neville’s work here. Neville Elder was always supportive of the images I submitted to my projects and trust me not all were great or even good. Neville always provided honest feedback and offered suggestions for the next time, but he was also able to say something was good and leave it at that.

While Neville Elder was one of the greatest influencers of my photography he is surely not alone. So many influencers are just everyday photographers I have met along the way. Some I still interact with and others have long ago moved on. I am constantly inspired by the members of a Facebook group I administer. None of the people who I believe have had the greatest influence on my photography are household names.

The point I am wanting to make is that we can all be an influence in someone’s life without being famous. Create your work, share your photography with the world, don’t be a jerk, don’t be afraid to get out there you may just be the one that keeps someone else going.

As a new year begins I have resolved to stay on course to the goals I set late last year when I began this blog site. The goal I set when I began this blog on September 25, 2021, my goal was to share my daily thoughts about art and photography and sometimes life. So far, I have missed one day due to an illness. I did move to a different provider so you don’t see all my posts here. For older posts go to this site.

Sometimes you may find that I will repeat a message and may even appear to contradict myself. I write what is on my mind at the time. Most of these posts are written first thing in the morning when I get up, which most mornings I’m up at about 4 AM.

If I do repeat a topic it may be that a topic is important to me. It may be I have considered additional information. It may be something I saw, read, or heard somewhere which caused me to think about that topic again.

Today my thoughts are about photographers and gear. I often have to chuckle not because it is truly funny but funny in a pitiable way when I see photographers talk about “upgrading gear”. Photographers so often say, “it’s not the gear but the photographer who makes great photographs” and yet these same photographers will also say something like, “A Nikon Z7ii or D850? Will be used for landscape and portraits. Have D5 for sports.” Note: Yes this was taken as a direct from a post I saw on social media. Now for those that don’t know, a Nikon Z7ii is a mirrorless camera with 45.7 megapixels and a Nikon D850 is a digital SLR with 45.7 megapixels. A Nikon D5 is a professional-level digital SLR with 20.8 megapixels. I know there are valid reasons to need 45 megapixels but. I often believe it is a matter of ego more than a need.

Photography, especially digital photography, has become the greatest art form ever! There I said it. Why do I believe this? I’m glad you asked. Photography, and specifically digital photography, is available to the masses. We have access to not only programs like photoshop but we have things like Instagram and cellphone applications that we can use to edit and create our artistic vision. Digital photography is available to nearly everyone. There are currently 6.37 billion smartphones worldwide capable of digital photography. There are roughly 1.05 billion digital cameras in the world. Together that makes 7.38 billion devices capable of digital photography and the world’s population is 7.9 billion people.

I’ll grant you the quality of much of the photographs generated could be debatable but nonetheless, this makes photography the greatest art form ever just because of its availability to the masses.

Something I hear very often from new photographers is how they are passionate about photography. I love to hear them talk about their goals, dreams, and excitement. What is sad is that many in a couple of years go from passion to apathy. Many give up photography completely. I have mentored and taught a number of photographers who just put the camera on a shelf or sell all their equipment. I often wonder what happened. What caused them to lose their passion? Many had a dream of becoming professionals and making photography their job. I often wonder, was that what led to their loss of passion for photography. Did the drive to become an instant fortune discourage them and crush their dream?

The movies and television portrayals of photographers make it appear like a glamorous job. Always behind the camera at exotic locations or working with beautiful models shooting photographs and collecting big paydays. The real-life of a professional photographer is much different. I’m sure it is a wonderful job, but like all jobs, there is much work as well.

I’ve been involved in photography for 40 years. The passion cools from time to time but I never let it go away. Just like any relationship it sometimes requires a bit of work. While photography isn’t like a relationship with people it is a relationship. You give yourself to photography and photography gives to you. I do a bit of something every day that involves photography. I don’t necessarily take photographs every day. I may read about photography, I may study photographs, I may talk to others about photography, or even as little as think about photography.

Do something to keep your passion alive and well. Don’t let it go.

One of the greatest challenges for me is not deciding on a project or photographic concept but getting it started. I often have many great ideas and projects in mind but the actual act of getting the gear ready, setting out, and starting the project often gets pushed aside. To me, it is similar to starting an exercise program or diet. Ah, I’ll start tomorrow, then tomorrow comes and it becomes, ah, I’ll start this weekend. The one exception has been writing this blog. My intent in starting my writing was to motivate me and maybe help others who have fallen into the same type of abyss. Yes, it sometimes feels like an abyss more than a mere hole.

I have a mini-vacation coming up over the next few days and I want to publically proclaim this is my notice to you that I will no longer put off starting my projects and artistic concepts as I have over the past year or so.

If you are in this same photographic, artistic, or personal void I am challenging you to join me. Let’s stop putting off until tomorrow to get our projects going or make that change. Like the well-known sneaker company says, “Just do it”.

I hear many photographers, most are fairly new, talking about doing a 365 project this time of year. Many of these same photographers talk about photography being their passion. I’ve been there. A 365 project, one that takes a photo every single day for a year, is a massive project. What I have discovered from my experience at such a project, it wasn’t worth the effort and I’ll tell you why I believe this.

From my experience, I became so consumed with taking a photograph to put in my project that I resorted to just taking a photograph. The photograph became more important than quality. I’m sure there are a handful of photographers who could take a high quality photograph every single day. For most of us, it is setting us up for failure. There may be a day that you don’t feel well or you’re tired or it is busy with other aspects of life. Once you miss a day, your 365 is no longer a 365.

I’m not saying it isn’t possible. I’m saying that for many of us it is nearly an all or nothing project that from both my personal experience and the experience I have seen of others that sets us up for failing and burn out. Some of these same photographers who I have watched attempt such a project and talk about passion for photography have also disappeared from the photography world. Now, I don’t know if the 365 project lead towards the ultimate demise of their passion but it does make we wonder if the project may have contributed towards the cooling of their passion.

In my Facebook group, The Digitial Photography Forum, we run a challenge. The challenge started out as a weekly challenge but is now it runs every two weeks. I must admit even in my own group I miss fulfilling the challenges on a weekly basis, and have missed on bi-weekly basis. We can be passionate about photography and our artwork without going in all or nothing. Challenge yourself to grow but don’t set yourself up for failure. If you want a good project for the coming new year, join a group challenge, meet the challenges. By participating in group challenges, or a weekly project you can still take photos every day, but you are not compelled to committing to a using work that does not meet your standards or doing something every day all year long.

As we move towards the end of the year we look at the past and reflect on what has happened during the past year, and sometimes the years before. We always find things we wish we could do over and things we would never change. I do believe it is important to reflect on the past but not to dwell in the past. Photography gives us a visual of the past. We photograph friends, family, events, and adventures. We can then, as we remember the past, actually see images and moments from the past year and years before that.

I find this time of year a good time to set goals for the coming year. Not resolutions but rather goals, not only in life but in my photography and my art. As you look back on the past year take time to review your photographic and artistic goals. Set the destination to grow as a person and an artist.