October 27, 2011
Don’t Wait for Inspiration
Inspiration is likely one of the most discussed ideas amongst photographers, and artists in general. It is something that we say alludes us when we fail to create work we are proud of. It is something that we wait for to get us out of the creative ruts we all fall into. And its absence is something that we use too often as an excuse not to go out and explore our creativity.
The problem with this way of thinking is that inspiration becomes a crutch, rather than something uplifting. It becomes this mythical concept that we assume only the masters know how to find. It becomes a reason not to aspire to the level of the photographers we admire. The truth, however, is that inspiration can be found all around us. It can be found in those that we care for. It can be found at the park around the corner. And it can be found at the local museum or bookstore a short drive away.
The secret to inspiration is that there really is no secret. It comes from observing life around us, from seeing the work of others, and (most importantly) from creating work. It’s true that often times the work we create is not as good as we’d like. But that’s natural when we’re working to bridge the gap. The fact that our work is not as good as we’d like should be motivation to make more, and better, work.
So the next time you’re feeling un-inspired, go out and make some images. Don’t sit around the house waiting for inspiration to strike, go out and find it, chase after it with your camera and make the images we both know you are capable of.
October 25, 2011
Confessions of a Non-Purist
There are those in photography, often referred to as purists, that believe images should be pre-conceived and pre-visualized before one ever presses the shutter. Some purists go as far to say images should be presented as captured and frown upon the use of the digital darkroom. I sometimes see mention of Ansel Adams and his use of pre-visualization to create images exactly as his mind’s eye envisioned them.
Well, as you may have guessed from my images, I am very much a non-purist. I see nothing wrong with using the post-processing tools available to test out different looks for an image and to refine my vision. While I deeply admire Ansel Adams’ work and agree we should have an idea of the image we want to create in mind, I totally disagree with those that suggest we should not use the tools available to explore our creativity. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting everyone take a bunch of crappy pictures with the intention of fixing them later in Photoshop. What I am suggesting is that trying the B&W preset in Lightroom or the Tilt & Shift filter in SnapSeed should not be seen as a way to save bad images; these tools are a way to help us express our creativity and vision.
Since I’m not a photojournalist, I believe using the editing tools at my disposal to mold my images is perfectly fine. I also believe that doing so does not make me any less of a photographer than the purists that choose to forgo the digital darkroom. Photography for me, and many like me, is about expressing one’s creative vision. And if that vision can be presented without any post-processing, that’s great. But that’s no reason to assume anyone that chooses to edit their images is somehow cheating or a less talented photographer.
I suppose the whole purists vs. non-purists debate is more about photographic philosophy than anything else. I know there’s really no right or wrong answer for what one can or cannot do to an image. So I guess the purists and I will have to agree to disagree on how little or much editing is okay and whether images should only be presented as intended. Since I can’t seem to find a good way to end this post, I’ll simply leave you with a quote from the master himself.
Dodging and burning are steps to take care of mistakes God made in establishing tonal relationships.
Ansel Adams
October 12, 2011
Bridging the Gap
I came across this video of Ira Glass talking about Storytelling sometime last year. It resonated with me quite a bit at that time because I had just put my creative pursuits on hold. I thought about what he was saying for a couple days and filed it away as something to revisit later. I had all but forgotten about the video until I came across the following quote taken from it not once, but twice last week on Google+.
Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.
Sitting there reading the quote and then re-watching the video left me with a really great feeling. It makes me feel good about picking up a camera again and diving back into my creative pursuits. While I originally put all this on hold because life got too busy, I always had those feelings of my work not being any good while I was knee deep in photography. I would shoot and shoot and shoot and come home disappointed because the images I brought back didn’t live up to my expectations. They weren’t as good as all the awesome work I saw online and that left me feeling discouraged. Now that I think about it, this discouragement likely made it easier for me to put my creative work on hold. I could focus on real life and forget about the fact that I wasn’t any good at photography, at least in my own eyes.
Coming across this again now just seems too timely to be a coincidence; it helps reaffirm the confidence I have now which I lacked a year ago. I still see a huge gap between my work and my taste, but I’m okay with that. I’m okay with the fact that the pictures I make don’t get a hundred comments on Flickr or any likes on Facebook. I’m okay with the fact that my work doesn’t stand up to the work of those I admire. I can now honestly say that I like the pictures I make and that’s what matters most. Because at the end of the day, I’m not pursuing anyone else’s vision, only my own. So I plan to keep making pictures and to keep writing because I love it and it makes me happier now then it did a year ago. And I’ll be okay if I never ever manage to completely close the gap between my work and my taste as long as I continue to love what I’m doing.
October 9, 2011
Fleeting Details – Bon Voyage
One of the reasons I love photography is because it allows me to share everyday moments that catch my eye; moments that may otherwise go unnoticed. Fleeting Details is an ongoing project I’ve been working on that includes a series of moments that caught my eye.
October 6, 2011
A Life without Apple
The news of Steve Jobs’ passing and one particular article I read from NPR got me thinking about the role Apple, as a consumer electronics company, and Jobs, as the genius behind many of the products I use daily, played in my life. While I’m not suggesting Apple or Jobs are the reason I am who I am today, I am certain that my life would be much different without Apple the company or Steve Jobs the visionary.
Image by Jonathan Mak
As I sit down to write this post on my MacBook Pro, I am surrounded by Apple products; I use my Mac laptop daily and my iPhone or iPad are almost always within arms reach. I find this to be the case for many Apple users; once an Apple product enters their life, they find it nearly impossible to remember what life was like before that product. This was the case with my first Apple computer, with the original iPhone, and most recently with the iPad. Most people who know me know I’ve been a diehard Mac user for nearly five years now; but I wasn’t always an Apple user or even much of a technology enthusiast.
There was a time when I was someone who simply tolerated computers. I worked on a Windows computer during the day and came home to a Dell laptop that I used begrudgingly to surf the Internet. One day, after growing tired of constant updates for Windows and anti-virus software, I decided to make the switch. Yes, Apple computers were more expensive, but oh so cool looking; and the promise of a virus-free world was simply too hard to ignore. I eventually settled on a white MacBook and haven’t looked back since. Five years later, I am typing this blog post from my second Mac, a 15″ MacBook Pro that is still going strong after 3+ use of near daily use.
Not only am I now a total Mac evangelist, but I’ve also managed to go from working as an environmental engineer to working on the product development team for a software company. Granted I use a Dell laptop begrudgingly during the day, but I’ve been able to go from a career I tolerate to one I truly enjoy.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying switching to a Mac changed my life nor am I suggesting buying Apple products will change yours. But switching to a Mac did change my perspective on technology. Instead of fighting with my computer, I began to actually enjoy using one. I started using iPhoto to manage and edit pictures from my vacations and iTunes to download and listen to music and podcasts. The combination of these two applications (that come free with every Mac) changed the way I interacted with my computer and the activities I enjoyed away from it.
It wasn’t the products themselves that changed my perspective on technology, but the user experience that is central to every Apple product. Without that little detail that Jobs and Apple worked so hard to build into product, I may not have bought into the Apple experience. And without the Apple experience, I may very well be sitting in my living room somewhere not writing this blog post on a Dell laptop and not having found photography or any of the other creative endeavors that are so central to my life today.
October 4, 2011
Museum Sunday
The Bowers Museum in Santa Ana has a free day the first Sunday of each month, so Dawn and I took the opportunity to check out the new Warriors, Tombs, and Temples exhibition. It was a great way to spend a Sunday morning and the terra cotta warriors were amazing to see in person. This Special Exhibition is on display until March 4, 2012 and definitely worth a visit for those in Southern California, especially if you can make the free day.
