“Pattern of Individuality”
I’m reading the The Genius in All of Us by David Shenk at the moment. In a Q&A about the book David Shenk was asked:
How do we go about finding the genius in all of us? What steps we can take to unlock latent talent?
Shenk replied:
Find the thing you love to do, and work and work and work at it. Don’t be discouraged by failure; realize that high achievers thrive on failure as a motivating mechanism and as instruction guide on how to get better.
I’m researching the creative process at the moment and the above rationale shows up again and again when you dig a little deeper to find out how people got so good at whatever it is they are so good at (think Mozart, Tiger Woods, Ansel Adams and so on). For the most part it’s always a result of practice, practice and more practice. It’s all about putting in the time – not some amazing natural born talent that just unfolds by itself with little effort.
As regards photography Shenk touches on a very important point in his reply to the above question when he says “don’t be discouraged by failure”. In order to make creative images we have to give ourselves permission to fail, to come back with images that might not be worthy showing anyone. It’s part of the creative process, it’s part of finding out what works and what doesn’t work.
Freeman Patterson’s famous words “36 satisfactory exposures on a roll means a photographer is not trying anything new” are good to keep in mind when you go out there to make creative pictures.
For more ideas and inspiration on how you can be more creative with your digital camera join the new FREE 5-day e-course available from Photography 24/7. You can sign-up to join in the sidebar above right.
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13. June 2010 at 12:07 am
Thomas, you know I’ve been following your project mostly through Twitter and I enjoy every image and comment you post. So far my favorite ones are the floating Chinese letters, the last drink and today’s pattern (absolutely gorgeous!). I would print it in big and frame it. When I see this image I think “fine art photography”. For me that I’m just starting seriously in this art your posts are inspiring and help me see things closer and in a different way. I’m looking forward to joining your 5 days e-class as soon as I finish other studies I’m engaged in at this moment. I’ m interested in developing that inner eye that some photographers excelling in this craft have. I hope to find that in your course.
Keep up with the project. You’re doing a terrific job!
13. June 2010 at 10:37 am
Hi Veronica, and you know I enjoy all the feedback and postive encouragement you have given me so far. It’s much appreciated.
When you embark on any project and decide to share the results, it’s this sort of feedback that one thrives on and it keeps you going when the going gets tough.
As far as the 5-day e-course it’s just as much a resource about creativity in photography as it is an actual course and hopefully it can provide some ideas on how to be more creative with your digital camera, how to challenge your own creativity while including some creative exercises at the same time.
Have you also checked out the New York Institute of Photography? If you click on their ad in the sidebar it will take you to a page where you can request a free brochure for more info.
Cheers,
Thomas
13. June 2010 at 9:37 pm
The NYIP? Man, I actually enrolled in the professional photography course with them! But I have to tell you that with a full time demanding job the challenge has been to move to a faster pace. I’m currently finishing Unit 1! And it has taken me 2 months and a half!
Like many photographers that transitioned from a day job to be professional photographers I’m finding myself working my a** off sometimes from 10 to 12 hours a day in my current position as Sr. Quality Eng (big corporations in automotive industry are places that stretch you mentally to the extreme), taking care of my house and then trying to squezz a photography gig every now and then, working after hours doing the normal post prod… Sometimes is exahusting! But I keep in going because I know this is what I want to do and I count with the support of best photo parner ever: Gus, my husband. We both have the passion for photography and like I say sometimes “we have seen the vision” and we struggle right now due to time constrains from our jobs, not because we don’t know the roadmap.
Anyhow, blogs like yours, excellent people like David DuChemin, Zack Arias, Don Giannetti, the guys behind DPS, NYIP and LightSatalking, that put educational materials available to all either for free or to very reasonable prices are the ones that encourage us to keep going. Is not easy to start, but who said that good things in life didn’t require effort and some struggling?
So keep up with your good work. We enjoy it and are learning lots from it!
14. June 2010 at 2:06 pm
Hi Veronica,
I’m with you. I’m self-employed, working pretty long hours and have not had a public holiday off in many years now (involved in wholesale and retail) and have one 2-year old (read very active) daughter and another one on the way, plus I’m running a couple of blogs and desperately trying to find the time to keep photography an important part of my life one way or another. After having children you realise time is a precious commodity, but it is all good fun! I like keeping busy
It sounds like you’re following your heart and passion and making the transition into photography is not easy, but it can be done with the right determination and it sounds like you have that in spades, so good on you!
Thanks again for your kind words and I wish you all the best in your photographic endeavours.
Cheers,
Thomas