bob@bcphotography.com 928-300-0535 coatesart.net
This month’s chat includes…
Arizona PPA convention awards. (I made Arizona PPA Top Ten for the 16th time in 17 years) Pushing the envelope of creativity. Infrared imagery. Basics of photography exposure. How image judging works. Bob Coates Photography new web site. Lumix luminary & some new camera gear features.
Tech Talk with Mike Tabbac
Doubt.
Fear of failure.
Fear of success.
Fear of being a success at being a failure.
It’s 1:48AM and I’m having trouble sleeping. I spent the day putting finishing touches on images for the Southwest District Photographic Competition put on by Professional Photographers of America. What’s my problem? I have had success in the past. I’ve already earned my degrees and received awards for my imagery. Last year one of my images even made it to help represent Team USA at the World Photographic Cup!
My problem is I might not measure up this time…
So rather than tossing and turning and knowing my love of searching for inspirational quotes involving art I got up to scour the Internet and found this gem.
“The greater the artist, the greater the doubt. Perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize.” Robert Hughes (Art Critic and author)
Not that I think I’m a great artist, but I do have aspirations.
And, it’s nice to know I’m not alone.
Now back to the desktop computer to check on my work and put a couple finishing flourishes on some of my photographic entries before I upload them tomorrow, unh make that later today… and maybe then I can get back to sleep.
Do these things keep you up too???
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – In my search of the subject I came found a lot of quote about artists feeling a bit insecure about their work. Here’s a couple more…
“Doubt is part of the creative process.”
“We work in the dark – we do what we can – we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art.” Henry James
“Talent and determination are no warrant against confusion, nor are they a guaranty to produce great art.” Leon Krier
Last Saturday night The Jeff Dayton Band played their Salute to Glen Campbell at Sound Bites Grill in Sedona, Arizona. Jeff and the band share stories of backing up Glen Campbell on the road and in the studio. It’s a fun show that’s an emotional roller-coaster with lots of laughter.
Stories and music led to Steve and Michele to add Jeff and the band to the Sound Bites Grill ‘Wall of Fame’. Here’s the band.
Jeff Dayton Band – Salute to Glen Campbell
Jeff Dayton
Images were captured with the Lumix GH4 with the 35 to 100mm f2.8 Vario lens. Then the individual musician images are selected and cut out using Adobe Photoshop then layering the images together then using textures and blend modes to create the artistic look.
I really enjoy photographing and creating art for musicians. And sharing ideas with you.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
Like the cobbler that left his family without repaired shoes because he could always get to it eventually my commercial photography web site was in need of a serious overhaul…
So I finally got off my butt and went to work on getting a new, more current look. My wife was never happy with my old site even though it did pretty well for me. When she overheard me chatting with a potential client & I said, “Glad you liked what you saw on my web site, but it does need a bit of an update.” She jumped on my case and motivated me to fix it up. Here’s the result you can see it here.
Screen capture of my newly refurbished Bob Coates Photography web site
Don’t be like me and wait to long to stay on top of your marketing! Put your best foot forward. You only have one chance to make a first impression. Make it a good one!
Your in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – My wife is happy about my new look. How about you? Any suggestions for improvement? It’s still a work in progress. I’ve still got a few more pages to add…
Usually the Sunday Photo/Art Quote is devoted to creative arts and how to get better as an artist. Today it’s kind of a two-pronged thrust tied in with business. We are artists. But if we don’t get paid enough and often enough we’ll be out of business and not able to stay in this creative field.
Today’s quote comes from a man who is all business, yet appreciates and collects art. He is the founder of the Wizard Academy (an out-of-the-box-place-of-learning) and writes a weekly piece you can subscribe to called the Monday Morning Memo. (I know I look forward to the Memo and the subsequent foray through the Rabbit Hole that touches on art, science, business, the weird, music, art – well you gotta go there to understand)
But I digress. Here’s today’s quote…
“Every door of opportunity begins as a window in the mind.” Roy H. Williams
The reason this quote came forward this morning was because I gave a talk to the professional photographers of Michigan on ‘Personal Projects – Why to do them, how to do them and how to make money doing them’. The talk ties creating art for it’s own sake and finding a way to monetize it. I realized that every project I assigned myself I ALWAYS learned something new and found it led to at least one, if not more, of these five things…
• Service to my community. • Press releases. • Photographic competition images. • Food. • Money.
And, not necessarily was that list in order of importance. Most of the time I wanted to learn a new skill and then found a way to tie it to the list for extra benefit.
Think about his quote. Sit with yourself and quiet your mind. (I know it can be hard to do with the circus running ’round in there!) But do your best. Relax. Clear. Be in this moment for a little while. Can you see the window? What is just outside that you would like to do? Dwell there for a bit. Expand the idea.
Go do it…
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – have some thoughts you’ like to share? I appreciate comments and moving this into a dialog. Agree? Disagree? Let me know….
For infrared conversion of my cameras I use LifePixel. Infrared allows you to put an older camera to use and opens up a new time time of day for productive image creation.
Learn Photoshop in a fun environment. Aaron Nace applies the right amount of fun with easy to understand and follow tutorials. Actions and brushes are included with lessons!
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Platypod has become a great resource for being creative in getting your camera gear easily into unusual places. As an Platypod Pro I get to work/play with the gear even before it comes out. Head over to Platypod, subscribe to the newsletter and you will get special discounts reserved only for subscribers.