Shoot Something for the First Time

The last few weeks have been crazy but what a ride!

After a fantastic three week break it’s back to work and with new ideas, mixed feelings and a whole lot of inspiration there is no doubt that 2010 is gearing up to be quite an interesting year.  The break away from wildlife and lodges was very necessary and it is good to sometimes step back, put things in perspective and make clear decisions on where everything is going from both a professional and personal point of view.  There is an old cliched Chinese curse which goes something like ‘May you live in interesting times’ which pretty much sums it up.  For now.

Having done a lot of non-wildlife photography the last few weeks, which ranged from portrait and hospitality assignments to pretty much anything you can imagine in Bangkok, I am photographically very ready and keen to get back into the wild.  Photography is a continual learning curve and the more you do it the more you learn.  Shooting something that falls outside, way outside, of your comfort zone is one of the best ways in which you can get a whole fresh feeling and approach to your photography.

Portrait photography teaches you different posing techniques.  Exterior photography helps you to look for patterns, lines and shapes while food photography makes you focus on texture and depth of field.  By shooting different subjects and scenes it is almost inevitable that you will improve as a photographer.  And it’s great fun as well.

Now that I am looking forward to getting back to wildlife photography, and trying some new things, it was great to read through David Lloyd’s guest from yesterday. I find David’s images inspirational and his approach to his wildlife photography is quite refreshing.  A big shout out to David for a great post!  If you haven’t yet, make sure to check out David’s website and image galleries.

Now apart from the great images, the last line of David’s post got me thinking.  It never hurts to have a dream.

So, when was the last time you had a dream?  I am not referring to the kind of dream that you half remember during the first cup of coffee the next morning but a dream you can see and feel.  A goal.  Photographic goal?  Personal?  Professional?

A dream might be a little bit more ‘optimistic’ than a concrete goal but the journey can be just as rewarding.  Photographically you will learn a lot along the way and in between a lot of missed shots you will end up with one or two images that will act as stepping stones to take your work to that next level.  I’m sure professional and personal dreams might be the same – if you are willing to deal with a few hiccups along the way.

So with the weekend coming up, why not try something different. Go out, with someone else if you can, and take photographs of something that you have never photographed before.  Go out and shoot something for the first time, learn from it and then go back to your favorite subject and see what new ways you can think of to create images of it.  Good exercise and, hopefully, even better images!

I’ll be back on Monday.  Have a good one!

Gerry