I don't mean to get off on a rant, but...
Ok, I'm not going to pull a Dennis Miller on this one. In all seriousness, I've been slowly but surely taking my photography in a different direction. In January, I had pretty much burned myself out of photography. I didn't shoot much for a few months. Then I realized what was going on. I had shot myself into a rut. I was shooting the same stuff. I was being safe. I wasn't getting out of my box. I'm sure there are about a dozen more cliche's I could use here, but I think you get the point. As a result, I've been slowly making some changes over the last few months to the way I approach this art. Some subtle, others less so, but all important. It's been tough fully implementing my plans, due to life's habit of getting in the way, but I'm working on it as much as I can.
1. Getting out of my comfort zone
This is change #1. As I said above, I had been shooting myself into a rut. I was shooting the same things in the same way. I was bored, so I took a break. Once I realized what I had done, the first thing I needed to do was get out of my comfort zone. As a result, I've been looking at things differently. I've been shooting things I would never have considered. I've been trying techniques that I have never done before. It's a bit scary stepping into something you know little about, but it's also exciting, and quite a lot of fun. This is probably the biggest change I've made. I've started becoming less dependent on my gear, and more dependent on my skill. I don't have the greatest gear by any stretch of the imagination, but I no longer care. It's the image that counts, not the equipment used. If you find yourself in a rut, try new things, and don't be afraid to fail! I've failed a lot recently, but I've learned more in the past few months than the past couple years combined.
2. New style of Editing
A month ago, I edited completely with Photoshop Elements 7. I thought this had everything I might want/need to shoot. I was wrong. Although there is a lot I could do with this program, I realized that it really is geared toward the novice, and people who aren't that comfortable editing photos. As a result, a lot of the power of Photoshop is toned down to make for an easier editing experience. Don't get me wrong, I still recommend PSE for novice photographers, but there's a point where you grow out of it. I picked up a copy of CS5, and also a copy of "Photoshop CS5 Restoration and Retouching for Photographers Only" by Mark Fitzgerald. I've learned a lot about CS5, and have drastically changed my workflow. Although I still have a lot to learn, I've gotten a much greater handle on how to edit photos. I used to dread editing, now I actually look forward to it.
3. New way of Organizing my Photos
Although this was probably the most subtle change I made, it was also one that took me the most work to accomplish. I realized the way I currently organize my photos isn't very conducive to editing and browsing my photos. It's something I've wanted to do for a while, but I just didn't have a good way that would work for me. However, by using some tips presented in the book I mentioned above, and adding in my own way of doing things, I've come up with a great way of organizing photos that works for me and makes it much easier to locate photos. Moving my existing photos to this new system, however, took a lot of time and effort. However, that work has paid off. I plan on making another blog post at some point to give pointers on organizing photos, and showing off my method. Hopefully that will help people. The biggest thing I can say is, come up with something that works for YOU and make sure you're consistent in using it. If you follow those rules, you'll be ok.
So that's that. Hopefully these changes will keep my interest in photography up and should improve my own work. Maybe I've provided some inspiration to others to change their methods. Maybe not. Either way, I know I'm in a much better place.
Ok, I'm not going to pull a Dennis Miller on this one. In all seriousness, I've been slowly but surely taking my photography in a different direction. In January, I had pretty much burned myself out of photography. I didn't shoot much for a few months. Then I realized what was going on. I had shot myself into a rut. I was shooting the same stuff. I was being safe. I wasn't getting out of my box. I'm sure there are about a dozen more cliche's I could use here, but I think you get the point. As a result, I've been slowly making some changes over the last few months to the way I approach this art. Some subtle, others less so, but all important. It's been tough fully implementing my plans, due to life's habit of getting in the way, but I'm working on it as much as I can.
1. Getting out of my comfort zone
This is change #1. As I said above, I had been shooting myself into a rut. I was shooting the same things in the same way. I was bored, so I took a break. Once I realized what I had done, the first thing I needed to do was get out of my comfort zone. As a result, I've been looking at things differently. I've been shooting things I would never have considered. I've been trying techniques that I have never done before. It's a bit scary stepping into something you know little about, but it's also exciting, and quite a lot of fun. This is probably the biggest change I've made. I've started becoming less dependent on my gear, and more dependent on my skill. I don't have the greatest gear by any stretch of the imagination, but I no longer care. It's the image that counts, not the equipment used. If you find yourself in a rut, try new things, and don't be afraid to fail! I've failed a lot recently, but I've learned more in the past few months than the past couple years combined.
2. New style of Editing
A month ago, I edited completely with Photoshop Elements 7. I thought this had everything I might want/need to shoot. I was wrong. Although there is a lot I could do with this program, I realized that it really is geared toward the novice, and people who aren't that comfortable editing photos. As a result, a lot of the power of Photoshop is toned down to make for an easier editing experience. Don't get me wrong, I still recommend PSE for novice photographers, but there's a point where you grow out of it. I picked up a copy of CS5, and also a copy of "Photoshop CS5 Restoration and Retouching for Photographers Only" by Mark Fitzgerald. I've learned a lot about CS5, and have drastically changed my workflow. Although I still have a lot to learn, I've gotten a much greater handle on how to edit photos. I used to dread editing, now I actually look forward to it.
3. New way of Organizing my Photos
Although this was probably the most subtle change I made, it was also one that took me the most work to accomplish. I realized the way I currently organize my photos isn't very conducive to editing and browsing my photos. It's something I've wanted to do for a while, but I just didn't have a good way that would work for me. However, by using some tips presented in the book I mentioned above, and adding in my own way of doing things, I've come up with a great way of organizing photos that works for me and makes it much easier to locate photos. Moving my existing photos to this new system, however, took a lot of time and effort. However, that work has paid off. I plan on making another blog post at some point to give pointers on organizing photos, and showing off my method. Hopefully that will help people. The biggest thing I can say is, come up with something that works for YOU and make sure you're consistent in using it. If you follow those rules, you'll be ok.
So that's that. Hopefully these changes will keep my interest in photography up and should improve my own work. Maybe I've provided some inspiration to others to change their methods. Maybe not. Either way, I know I'm in a much better place.
