Ready for round two….

It’s always nice when a student really goes ‘all-in’ to take on board the topics we’re working on and follows up on my advice really pro-actively. From a teaching point of view that’s the best reward..

Phil’s just completed my ‘Masterclass’ programme, and has become an outstanding photographer over the past 12 months. He’s just achieved a distinction from the RPS and just told me he’s ‘ready for round two’.. i.e. he wants to be the first person to re-enrol for another year of mentoring and I’ve had an invitation to ‘pull no punches’ this time round…

Crikey, there’s a challenge then!

Creative Inspiration

The post below isn’t mine, it was posted by a friend on Facebook so I take no credit for the text but I wanted to share it as I felt that what Stephen had to say is spot on..

 

I teach photography and I can help guide a client to produce work suitable for them if they are asking for creative inspiration. Creative inspiration comes from within each and every photographer and when photographers look for inspiration – it can come from the most obscure places. It’s important to develop a style, an attitude and a character all of your own IF you want to be taken seriously as a creative. End of. Copying someone else’s work is like dropping a golf ball down your trousers and pretending you found your ball, or running a marathon and catching a bus for most of the journey and claiming you came 20th out of 20000.

I have a huge respect for those who fight for creativity, who develop their style over time, who get it wrong, who discover who they are through their photography, who learn about themselves by creating FOR themselves. It’s not a crime to be inspired. It’s necessary. I am inspired by other creatives all the time from all kinds of media. A direct copy will always be second rate … it’s not the original. Ever thought you can sing Bohemian Rhapsody? No one can do it like Freddy.

So, for 2016 – if you have a camera, pick it up, walk about, take a picture of something that you like the look of…get the passion for the art. Use a camera, or a phone….but a camera will make you FEEL more creative. Really look around. You will take a picture that is unique to you. No one else will have taken that particular shot you will take. Just don’t forget the most important thing you will ever learn about taking pictures – it’s all about the light. There are many other aspects that make a picture interesting but without light, it’s just noise.

Full credit for the original post to Stephen Perry

 

‘Available Light’

More Than Human (Tim Flach)

I’m rather looking forward to the first Royal Photographic Society meeting of the year tomorrow as we have a guest speaker who’s work I really admire.

Tim Flach is a great wildlife photographer with a rather unique style

The one thing I will say, is that his website is rather out of date, relying rather heavily on outdated technology such as Flash, and the news hasn’t actually been updated since 2012, but don’t let that put you off. I Highly recommend his latest book ‘More Than Human’ (The image on the right is a link to buy it from Amazon)

Nobody tells this to people who are beginners

“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.”

― Ira Glass