Creating Extraordinary Visions Part 3 - Find a Purpose for Your Photography

Great Photography demands the photographer to find a purpose for his photography. What I mean by this is, if you approach photography by always relying on random chance to capture great images, you will seriously handicap your ability to capture extraordinary images. By focusing on a purposeful direction you will greatly enhance your chances of discovering extraordinary opportunities.

Purposeful photography eliminates much of the guess work. It provides a reason for your efforts. These efforts can be pointed in multiple directions at the same time. I start and complete projects all the time. sometimes I will have several projects going at the same time. Projects can run for just about any length of time, from a single day, weekend, a month or longer. My longest running project was a year long effort to photograph one of my favorite locations, Shanty Hollow Lake. It was a difficult challenge but at the same time provided me with some spectacular opportunities and it ran concurrently with other shorter duration projects. All of these provided a measure of focus for what I wanted to accomplish both artisitically and personally.

One of the elements I was able to employ was the concept of always photographing to inspire. Random shooting rarely helps you create or find inspiration. However, random shooting does have its merits in that it might help you discover a purpose. I've actually done this by simply heading out with no real agenda to run across an opportunity that jump started an idea. Once I defined the project purpose, I was able to focus in on specific elements I wanted to accomplish. By doing so, instead of capturing simple snap shots of things I began to look for those moments that creatively defined the intent of the project.

Creating a purpose for your photography will in time stimulate your creative instincts and elevate your photography to higher level.

Creating Extraordinary Visions Pt2 - Change The Way You See the World

In part two of our series of Creating Extraordinary Visions let's take a look at some of the concepts of how we turn what we see visually into the vision we want to create.

Believe you Can Create Extraordinary Visions is an absolute necessity because before you can consistently create visions with extraordinary quality, you must first believe you can. Approaching photography from the perspective of I hope I can...or Let's see what happens...or How does he do that...will erode your confidence. The most successful photographers are the ones who approach their craft with an air of confidence. Without it, you are simply crossing your fingers hoping the conditions will provide an amazing opportunity. With confidence, you can create a vision no matter what the conditions and confidense comes with practice and application of knowledge. Simple knowledge of how to do something does not always equate quality...you must put it to practice and develope it. Sometimes it means you must ask yourself another question; What must I do to change the way I see the world?

Changing the way we visually see the world means letting go of some preconceived notions. One of the biggest is to let go of one thing; You do not have to capture a scene exactly the way you see it. Many beginner and even advanced photographers cling to the idea they have to capture what they see exactly the way they see it when in reality, your camera gives you a tremendous advantage in capturing what you see the way you emotionally visualize it. In other words, concentrate less on defining your image the way you see it and concentrate more on defining a feeling or mood.

Capturing a mood or feeling requires that you understand how light changes the dynamics of a photo opportunity. Many novice photographers tend to believe that the object in and of itself is what creates that great image. When we change how we perceive the world and base that perception on light the whole dynamics of what we do and how we do it changes. No longer do we simply see a pretty flower and photograph it. We begin to look at that flower from the perspective of how light can transform it. We begin to visualize how we want our finished image to look and take steps to capture that visualized perception. Every photo opportunity is different and each one requires a slightly different approach, but one trait all great photographers have is they begin with the end product in mind before they ever snap the shutter.

This requires the photographer to look at the elements of quality light...direction, quantity, and visual impact. Simply changing your position can have a profound impact on the quality of the light. Time of day and the direction of the light can turn the ordinary into something extraordinary.

Always remember, Composition becomes the building blocks of your image, but it is the light that gives it drama. Ordinary light creates ordinary images. Dramatic light can turn transform your composition into a work of art. Your in camera settings combined with a few limited post processing tweaks can drastically alter what you see visually into a compelling story filled with drama.

Creating Extraordinary Visions

Recently I was asked to give a condensed version of a photography workshop (How to See Photographically) I presented several times a few years ago. The new version turned out to be  a new presentation reworked from the original and was called Creating Extraordinary Visions. Its focus was to simply touch on the concept of what it takes to consistently create extraordinary photographs. It was more inspirational than instructional in nature although a few ideas did find their way into the program. Over the next several blog posts in a multi-part presentation I want to share bits and pieces about Creating Extraordinary Visions with you the readers. Hopefully, you will find some inspiration along the way.

It All Begins With Light

Creating extraordinary visions begins with light, for you see Light in all of its moods is what transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary. As photographers, that is what we do...We Transform Light! We also see what others do not see. We develop an uncanny ability to look beyond what is visually in front of us and see into the potential of the moment, because photography is indeed 90% seeing and 10% photographing. 

The 10% is important no doubt. It is the instinctive part of photography where we grasp the difference between what makes a great exposure and simply capturing a visual xerox image of what we see. It is where we understand all of the mechanics of photography; shutter speed, aperture, ISO, White Balance, depth of field, composition, and so on...and the relationships between all of those components. It is where we understand how the camera is going to react to a given lighting condition and then have the ability to use that understanding to capture a scene the way we want it to look as opposed to always simply capturing what we see. But, photography is 90% seeing and this is one of the most difficult aspects of the art for most to fully grasp.

The art of seeing begins with light. Some years ago I read a statement by a world class photographer, Jack Dykinga, that altered my understanding of who I was as a photographer. What he said was, "Cameras and lenses are simply tools we use to capture our unique vision....Concentrate on equipment, and you will take technically good photographs. But, concentrate on seeing lights magic colors and your images will stir the soul."

Think about those words for a moment. Lights magic colors....Images that stir the soul....Unique vision. After reading Jacks statement all those years ago, I for the first time began to realize what photography was all about. It isn't about the object or the equipment...It is about creating a vision based on light. What you photograph is less important than how you photograph it. When you look at the potential photographic solution from the context of light, your whole perspective of what you do is changed. Light then becomes the driving force behind all of your images. From the dynamic grandeur of the Grand Canyon to the simple beauty of a single blade of grass...light is what defines how the image is received visually and the way you approach taking the image is dictated by the quality of the light.

There will come a point in time if you continue to pursue photography toward a high level of accomplishment, you will need to ask yourself two questions.

1.  Am I a picture taker of things?

2.  Do I consider myself to be an artist?

You see, the Picture Taker captures images believing it is the camera and/or the object itself being photographed that creates the great image. Rarely does the picture taker take into consideration the quality of the light and is usually satisfied with a photo as long as it is technically good. His motto is; I have a good camera therefore I take good pictures.

On the other hand, The Artist uses Light to bring his images to life and approaches his craft from the context

of light from the very beginning. He can take the most simple of objects using basic equipment and turn it into a work of art that will indeed stir the soul. He spends less time trying to define the object as he visually sees it, and instead attempts to create a feeling or mood. He begins the process by visualizing what the end result will be before he ever points the camera.

Creating Extraordinary Visions begins with understanding this basic concept about photography.