You know. You want to try something new or exciting of different and the little voices start the Yam Yam Yammering away inside your brain with all the reasons something may not be a good idea. People won’t like it. It won’t turn out the way you think. It’s a waste of time. Yam, Yam and more Yam!
Turn the circus off. (more on How to do that in a moment!)
Right now lets turn to the quote of the day that inspired this post…
“If you don’t do it, you don’t know what might happen.” Harry Callahan
Harry Callahan was a photographer inspired to pursue his career by a talk given by Ansel Adams. He was first and foremost an educator only producing about a half dozen finished images a year…
How to Quiet the Yam Yam Yam
Slow down.
Meditate.
Take time to practice meditation. The brain’s job, in addition to maintaining our living functions like breathing and heartbeat, is to create thoughts. Lots of thoughts. A real, lot, whole bunch of thoughts that can crowd our mind and create noise. (that was the circus I was referring to earlier) When the noise is on and you can’t concentrate then any thought that comes through, usually negative thoughts, can keep us from trying new things.
Meditation allows us to practice allowing those thoughts to move through without grabbing our full attention allowing us to concentrate on the things that can actually be of help. Whenever I suggest this there’s an almost immediate plethora of excuses , “But Bob, I can’t meditate, I don’t have time.” “I can never get my mind to calm down!” “I just can’t get the hang of it..” And all of those excuses are true until you begin the practice of meditation.
Have you ever learned to do anything without some training? And practice? And failure along the way? Of course not. Meditation is the same. Learn. Study. Practice and meditation will help you also. One book I found to be helpful is “Wherever You Go, There You Are” by Jon Kabot-Zin Easy read. Easy practice from someone who has been studying the mental and physical health benefits of meditation for many years.
Don’t let the naysayer of your brain keep you from pushing boundaries.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – This meditation stuff can help make you healthier too! Let me know how it works for you…
Check out the book by clicking above. If you buy anything using the link Amazon will give me a small affiliate fee that costs you nothing and helps support this web site.
Wall of Fame in Sedona, Arizona – Sound Bites Grill
Putting in some new imagery at Sound Bites Grill in Sedona, Arizona.
And it’s me…
My image for the Wall of Fame
As you may or may not know I create art for Sound Bites Grill based on the live performances. Steve asked me to design some signage to introduce the Artist of the images (hey that’s me!) in the hall of the ‘Wall of Fame’. So I needed to come up with something similar to the art that is in the halls.
And as long as I was working on something a little different I thought I’d show you some of the inner workings from my thinking (that’s scary!) and how I utilize Adobe Photoshop to create the art using Textures in Layers with Masks and Blend Modes.
The Layers Palette tells a lot of the story but not all…
You get an idea of the workflow but a major part of the story is how the Layers are Blended using the Blend Modes. Almost all of these Layers are in a different Blend Mode with opacity changes and of course Layer Masks to further refine hoe the layers will interact. Hope this peek into the process will give you some ideas. If you have any questions give me a shout.
Most of the images were made with the Lumix GH4. (which is $200 off for a bit right now at $1300) The head shot was made easier in studio because of the free Panasonic APP I use on my phone & IPad which allows me to change settings and focus as well as trigger the shutter from subject position. In the past I would have had to pre-focus and hope I was in the right spot and if I moved I ended up out-of focus which used to drive me crazy!
It was fun putting this together… Let me know what you think!
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.
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
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.
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…
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.
Fotopro tripods are well worth checking out. You can learn about the ones I use and recommend by clicking on the Fotopro Tripods link at the top of this page. If you want to see what other tripods might fit your needs check out the Fotopro.com website. Check back with me before you buy as a Fotopro Ambassador I’m able to get you discounted pricing including complementary continental USA shipping for my followers that you won’t find through retail outlets.
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!
Lightning, waterdroplets, sound, time-lapse, HDR sequences, smiles and much more control for your camera!
Cameras Get Smarter -
A High Speed Smart Camera Remote
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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.
