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.
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.
To most people the two words are synonymous but to an artist, the two terms are very different. I know we hear photographers and artists talk about visualizing a work. A photographic artist can see a subject or scene and visualize a final piece of work. New photographers often struggle with this concept especially those who were not trained in art. Experienced photographers who can visualize a piece from a subject or scene often have difficulty explaining how to achieve the ability to visualize. I get it. Being able to teach someone how to use their mind and eyes to create a view of a work of art is at best a fuzzy concept. My photography school wasn’t particularly good at teaching this concept either.
One way I was able to teach myself how to visualize was through experimentation in post-processing and in using my camera and photography tools in manual mode. In the beginning, there were some horrible results. I won’t call them failures because it was a matter of learning. Another technique I used was watching movies, particularly old black and white classics. Many of the old directors of photography and gaffers were masters of lighting. Lighting effects had to be created at the time and not through the use of special effects. Today, we see many movies made that employ the use of color grading, one of my favorite techniques.
The entire point of this post is to get us to consider experimentation with our gear and software. Even if the experiment results in a horrible failure, it isn’t a failure. When we work with our digital assets we can work with copies and we can always start again. Don’t look at a horrible experiment as a failure but as part of a learning process. Take it further than you normally do you just may surprise yourself with your art.
I heard this question posed in a podcast I listen to a week or so ago and I have been thinking about it ever since. The question that was posed was, “If I could grant you anything you wanted for your photography what would it be? Would you want a new camera? A new lens? To travel more?” The podcaster went on to say nothing was out of the question. But, this was a three-part question. The next question was, “why did you choose that?” and the third was, “what have you done to achieve that?” I’ve thought about those three questions since I have heard this podcast and decided it was time to talk about it.
While I began writing this I was able to answer those questions. My answer to the first question is, I want more artistic motivation. I let my motivation falter in the winter of 2020. The world camera came under attack by a global virus. One that, at the time, there was no cure for, no known treatment, or vaccination. It became easy to sit inside and watch the world go by. Just like an exercise program the more you skip the workout the easier it becomes to skip. Motivation, once lost, is difficult to bring back as I am finding out. I still see fantastic scenes, subjects, and light. I still have creative ideas I want to work on. It’s just getting it flowing again. I suspect many of you have had a similar experience. I can even answer the third question today. I started writing this blog about my thoughts and ramblings. I recently started taking a camera with me wherever I go. The artistic motivation is coming back, slowly but it is getting there.
Spend some time to think of what it is that you want to further your photography. Then, answer the final two questions, why did you choose that thing and what have you done to accomplish it. Let’s further our artistic journey together!
Photographer Clay 