by successfulbob | photography, photography - art quote
Sunday Photo/Art Quote
Sometime we take ourselves and business a bit too seriously.
Raise your hand if this describes you. (if you could see me my hand would be stretched high!) I know I can be guilty of this sometimes myself. It’s necessary to concentrate and push and practice in order to become better in our craft of photography. But sometimes it’s just time to take a quick break for a laugh.
So in today’s Photo/Art quote I give a nod to that oft quoted person that goes by the name of Anonymous.
“He had a photographic memory which was never developed.” Anonymous
If you know of a humorous photographic quote I’d love to hear about it. Have a great Sunday!
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | inspiration, photography - art quote, photography education
How did it get to be Monday already?
I guess cause I got involved in a photo art project, then watched some football while quaffing some fine IPA beer followed by a cruise through the New York Times Newspaper.
If this kind of Sunday keeps up I may have to change the name of this post to Monday Photo/Art Quote… We’ll see how it goes.
So today we talk about disappointment…
“Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer – and often the supreme disappointment.” Ansel Adams
Ever return from a photo shoot excited to view your images only to have your hopes and dreams dashed upon the rocks of reality that can be the review process? I know I have. Less so these days because I’ve come to learn that not matter how much knowledge I have in the realm of photography I still can’t always see as the camera sees. It takes years and years of study and continual practice to have this happen less often but the heartbreak can still occur. Ansel Adams is known as one of the most iconic nature photographers of his time and yet you probably don’t know that he was extremely happy and excited if he was able to create twelve images in a year that he was happy with.
TWELVE images in a year.
So the next time you get down on yourself for not creating the images exactly the way you thought they were going to be just say to yourself, “Remember Ansel!”
And then get back out there and try again.
Your in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – Don’t put so much pressure on yourself to create “The Image”. Keep shooting and educating yourself and practicing and it will come. I promise.
by successfulbob | inspiration, photography, photography - art quote, photography creativity
Do you see details when you create your images?
I know I’ll sometimes be surprised at what has appeared within the frame of my images knowing that I didn’t see it when making the capture. Occasionally it’s a happy accident but more often than not the element is one I would have left out by repositioning my subject or changing the view within by introducing a different angle.
“So what’s your point Bob?”
The point is we will often create better images when we pare down our compositions making sure that there are no competing elements to distract from the story we are trying to tell. Over the years I’ve had many conversations with my commercial hotel property clients about not trying to show everything in the rooms but to ficus on details that could tell the story with just a glance. That’s why I choose today’s quote from jazz artist Dizzy Gillespie. I continually find parallels as I look across different art modes such as painting, music and writing.
“You spend a lifetime playing music to learn what not to play,” Dizzy Gillespie
What can you leave out from your next image to make it more powerful? I’ll be thinking on that too…
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | photography charity, photography education
It’s the Sunday Photo/Art Quote with a bit of a twist… In support of PPA Charities I turn this space over to Giving Tuesday. But I can’t do that without a chat about a quote so let combine the two!
As photographers we have the unique opportunity to use our photo skills to help out the community. Giving back is a chance, as Winnie says, to help ‘make a life’ rather than just a living. Being able to combine our photography and service to the community is a win-win. And you know how much I like win-win scenarios!
“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” Winston Churchill
All the details are below. I’ll be doing my Periscope at 11AM Eastern time. Hope to see you there!
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PPA CHARITIES ANNOUNCES #GIVING TUESDAY – #PPAGIVES
On Tuesday, December 1st, log in to Periscope, Twitter’s live broadcast partner, to join Professional Photographers of America Charities in the first ever #GivingTuesday fundraiser. From 8:00am until midnight, eastern time, we will be broadcasting every half hour. Join in as each of our guests does a five minute presentation on a variety of subjects. Everything from photography to marketing, or even some human interest or general information will be shared. Find us at @PPACharities
Scheduled to appear are (in order): Bert Behnke, Gary Hughes, Mary Fisk-Taylor, Melanie Anderson, Jamie Hayes, Trish Gilmore, Susan Michal, Kay Eskridge, Trish Logan, Bob Coates (hey that’s me!) Jeff & Lori Poole, Carl Caylor, Lori Nordstrom, Trey Homan, Beth Marshall, Bry Cox, Roch Eshleman, Beth Forester, Don Dickson, Tina Timmons, Elizabeth Homan, Michael Timmons, Travis Gugelman, Deanna Duncan, Al Behnke, Cindy Behnke, Cris Duncan and more.
At the end of each segment, feel free to hit the Donate Now button on www.ppacharities.com Home Page if you feel inspired. Then change your profile pic on Facebook or Twitter to one of our icons and challenge others to participate in #GivingTuesday for PPA Charities. If you miss the Periscope broadcast, go to our Facebook Facebook/PPACharities and see the recorded versions.
Find us at @PPACharities
Please donate what you can and mention why you are donating if it is to honor one of the presenters or to help PPA Charities meet our end of year goals. Then remember to ask your friends and tag them when asking on Facebook or Twitter. For every dollar you pledge we have matching grants, two for $2500 and one for $1000! So that is $3-$4 earned for every dollar you donate. Thank you Mike Hanline of WHCC and Roch Eshleman of Romaguera Photography for your matching funds, and also to our Anonymous friend!
Let’s have some fun and help PPA Charities support our charitable partners like Operation Smile, Dando Amor, the PPA Affiliate Schools and others in need.
Join in on Periscope for live feeds and Facebook and Twitter for updates on Tuesday, December 1st, #GivingTuesday, #PPAGives. Find at @PPACharities
by successfulbob | photography - art quote, photography education
I went down to authorville today to find a quote for this Sunday. John Steinbeck. You may have heard of him. He wrote over twenty-five books. Some of them pretty well known! He also penned this quote and I think it speaks volumes to something we photographers need to spend time thinking upon.
“In art the subject upon which you concentrate is unimportant; it is only the quality of your concentration that counts.” John Steinbeck
Spend some time with this thought.
OK. Welcome back and here are some ideas from me.
We photographers take a shit-pot (please excuse my french) of images and find ourselves disappointed that we don’t have a really strong body of work. I feel it has to do with the ease of being able to make a picture these days and the ease of being able to share them, And, the lack of time and energy we spend on creating any single image. I see many photos posted receiving comments like ‘Fantastic!’ ‘Beautiful!’ And one of my favorites, ‘Amazing!!’
When in reality the image is nothing more than an OK snapshot.
I feel the best images I have been able to create are the ones that have involved planning, thinking, and yes, some serious concentration. I hadn’t realized it quite so clearly before. Thanks Mr Steinbeck for bringing a little clarity to my thinking and my art!
What do you think? How’s your concentration??
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
