The Mediocre Photographer - A Question of Good Enough

Whether professional or amateur, the tasks are the same. Gather together the equipment, produce a shoot list, get the images, transfer the files to a computer with backup and edit. Each step in the process requires thought and effort. Each step demands your full attention and awareness of details.

It's quite easy, at times, to be so focused on one element that you lose site of what's necessary on the others. That, in itself, is not the problem; the mistake is in completing each step with an internal statement, "That's good enough."

What is good enough? Perspective would show a completed task that, in one's view, is done and ready to start the next. Good enough is a relative term meaning less than a better way to do the same thing. You know, when you say, "that's good enough," to yourself, there is "better" way, but you aren't willing to go there. This is the key to unlocking the habit of doing good enough. If you can train your mind to respond to good enough and see it for what it is, then you can do better.

How, then, does this manifest in the photographer? Let's go back to the beginning. Storing your cameras, lenses and accessories is a big part of the equation. If stored haphazardly, you may be spending more time than necessary putting together a kit for an assignment, but worse, your equipment is ill maintained and sometimes left where it can be damaged. The extra effort necessary to put everything away, after the last shoot, requires a little extra time and effort.

Good enough, when packing your equipment for a shoot, is in grabbing the bag used for the last shoot, without checking to see if the batteries are recharged, the memory cards emptied and ready, lenses and camera cleaned and so forth.

However, the most important manifestation of "good enough" is in getting the images. You can recognize it when you take an image you know is not what you want and tell yourself you can fix it in editing, The little effort or time it takes to get a better image is lost and the result is mediocre.

The true value in good enough is in producing mediocre results. When you do not accept good enough, only then can you achieve spectacular images. The effort required is surprisingly little more than good enough, but you have to be willing.

Settling for good enough is easy; it’s the quick way out; it’s being lazy. Going for better requires some effort on your part; requires some work and that is the difference between a mediocre photographer and a great one.

Read some blogs by Scott Bourne, Chase Jarvis, Zack Arias, Jim M. Goldstein and David Ziser. Read between the lines of what they are saying and you'll see they don't settle for mediocrity in anything they do. Instead, they strive for greatness by not accepting good enough.

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The Handicapped (Not Disabled) Photographer - A Question of Power

Many times while watching sporting events you will see a contestant seemingly perform beyond the possible. You see performances like this in every field of endeavor, including the arts and business. Why does a young photographer achieve so much in so short a time? But that's not the real question.

The real question you should be asking is, why aren't I? What are you doing to hold yourself back? Can you recognize whatever it is and do something about it?

Most all the time, it's not physical ability or lack of the best equipment, holding you back, it's how you frame yourself. This is the real handicap and, if you look deep within yourself, honestly, you will realize you are what is holding you back.

First of all, you will have to understand, if you think you can perform at a higher level or you think you can't, you are right. That's important. It's too easy to create excuses and all too common and it's the easy way out. If you believe your lack of professional quality equipment is holding you back, then you will forever be in a loop of saving to buy the "next" camera, lens or accessory. If you believe you don't have the talent; you are correct; you don't. And you won't until you get up off your butt and try.

No photographer was born with a camera in hand. No photographer grew up with client contacts or photographic abilities. These are all accumulated by hard work, effort and will.

Making excuses is cheating; cheating yourself out of furthering your creativity and ability. No one feels more sorry for you than you and, as long as you perceive yourself as not being able, you never will.

Another excuse you may have is in thinking about possible outcomes. By seeing the end result, before you ever attempt anything, is a sure way to hold yourself in place. After all, if you already know how the client negotiation is going to turn out, why try and get a meeting in the first place?

Think of a food you can't eat under any circumstances; maybe it's raw tomatoes. If offered a tomato, you would naturally refuse. In fact, there is no circumstance where you can see yourself eating a tomato. So, when offered, you would say, "I don't eat tomatoes." Likewise, don't do outcomes. When you hear yourself playing possible negotiation scenarios (all of which fail), tell yourself, "I don't do outcomes."

Somewhere along the line, you have to be willing to work for success. How bad do you want to be successful?

Once there was a photographer who asked his best friend, a top salesperson, how he, too, could learn to be successful. The friend told the photographer to go way out of town, past the Jones farm and take the next left. There he would come to a nice single-family home. Knock on the door and ask for Walter.

The photographer drove out of town, past the Jones farm and took the next left, as he had been told. There, he found the house his friend had mentioned and knocked on the door. There was no answer. He knocked three more times, but still no one answered.

As he started to walk back to his car, he noticed a pond a few hundred feet away and an old man sitting next to it with a fishing pole. The photographer walked over to the pond and said he was looking for Walter.  "I'm Walter,” the old man said. “What can I do for you?"

"My friend said you could tell me how I could become successful."

"Kneel down by the edge of the pond," Walter said.

"What for?" the photographer asked.

"Just do as I say, if you want me to tell you how to be successful," the old man said.

The young photographer kneeled by the edge of the pond and immediately, Walter pushed him, face down, into the water and held his head. The more the photographer struggled, the more force Walter used to keep the photographer under. When he felt he could no longer hold his breath and drowning was imminent, the old man grabbed the photographer and threw him out of the pond.

After a few minutes of gasping for air, the photographer said, "What did you do that for? I only asked you a question."

"When you want success as much as you wanted the next breath of air, you'll have it."

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The Part-Time Photographer – A Question of Balance

Let’s face it, working part-time as a photographer has many benefits and darned few disadvantages. You can work when you want and not be afraid to turn down photo shoots, if they aren’t what you want to do.

Financial income notwithstanding, the motivation is to have photography has a hobby (albeit, frequently an expensive hobby) and not the primary source of income. May you have a full-time "day" job that provides physical sustenance or you are retired. Photography, then, can be enjoyed as a creative outlet.

Without the pressure to produce, to provide an income, your mind can entertain self-imposed assignments and create the kind of images you want, rather than what a client wants.

Unless you are financing your habit with funds from  your day job, acquiring cameras, lenses and accessories can be problematic. Heck, using your primary job’s salary is not without its difficulties, especially if you are married. Large expenditure must be negotiated and you may have to compromise.

However, with enough photographic experience in your background, you may be able to finance equipment purchases through your part-time photographic endeavor. Of course, getting the occasional assignment from a relative or friend does help to defray the costs, but you could also make some contacts in your community, which, in time, could pay off.

The current economic situation may drive you towards obtaining a second income asn there is no better way than to make your hobby an income source. To start, you can offer your services, with pay, of course, as a stringer to the local newspapers. You can also go to middle and high school sports and events and you’ll probably be asked by quite a few parents where they can get the picures.

While there is a short list of part-time photographers that have stepped into full time, but the majority do not. Enjoying photography as a hobby and picking up occasional assignments can be an enjoyable way to practice your craft. You can never tell where it may lead.

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The Renaissance Photographer – A Question of Place

In the early part of the twentieth century, Ehrich Weiss studied locks and locksmithing. As his knowledge grew, he decided on a course of action and became Harry Houdini, the escape artist. During his life, the technology of locks was such that one man, Houdini, was able to assimilate almost the entire human knowledge about the arcane art of lock construction and dared anyone to be able to lock him, such that escape was not possible. They failed. 

What form of photography do you practice? Yes, practice is the operative word as no matter what you do, hopefully you strive to learn more. It's easy in the beginning to be enchanted by your capabilities to produce images and so, like a man with a new hammer, you take pictures of everything.

Later, when you decide to earn some money with photography, you probably offered (or were asked) to do weddings, events and most anything else. And that started your career.

As you have been "available" to shoot pictures of most anything, it's quite easy to hang out your shingle and let everyone know. The only problem with practicing almost all forms of photography is you never get to know any one of them thoroughly and have a smattering of knowledge, across the board.

You will quickly reach your earnings peak as you have nothing special to show potential clients--you are like most other photographers showing their book. If you are content with what you are doing and your income, good for you, you've found a niche as a generalist.

However, to reach higher plateaus, you'll have to work harder and specialize. You can't take images across a wide swath to develop a unique style. Finding your niche as a photographer others want to hire, requires taking thousands of images, making mistakes (learn how you made the mistakes and how to repeat them, if necessary) and find yourself.

The unique styles of the top photographers are what sells them and you don't get to be a photographer with a unique style unless you are constantly practicing your craft.

To cross a river, it sometimes requires letting go of the tree branches on one side before you can latch onto those on the other side. You have to be willing to let go of what you are doing to make room for something else. While you may think being a generalist photographer is good, as you can rely on most any type of work to make a living, the reality is you'll make more money by doing less.

Harry Houdini could have been a regular stage magician, but it was specializing in escape art that brought him fame and fortune.

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Accommodation: Less Is More

A recent blog posting by Gary Crabbe, an Outdoor, Location, and Travel photographer, stimulated my thinking about common courtesy, politeness and accommodating clients, subjects and those around us.

When working in a studio, we are used to “turning it on” when we have someone in front of the camera. Turning it on doesn’t necessarily mean creating a fairy-land mood of smiles and contentment. Sometimes, you need to be direct to get the image. For instance, the famous portrait of Winston Churchill by Yousuf Karsh, was not acquired by accommodating Churchill. Karsh removed Churchill’s cigar, thereby getting the strong image he wanted, a portrait, Karsh said, is one of the most widely reproduced images in photographic history.

Working with clients can be difficult, but that depends on you. Going into a client meeting thinking this is going to be adversarial will not necessarily bring the results you desire. It’s important to know what you want and where you will draw the line.

Many times, clients will use any excuse to let you know why they can’t pay you the amount you estimated. “I have to work with a small budget”, “I can get another photographer for much less,” “My sister’s friend has a nephew…”; we’ve all heard these many times.
There are times, especially during this economic recession, where it may be necessary to “sharpen your pencil” and take less money for a shoot, but you should never accommodate to an uncomfortable degree. Doing so will affect your ability to concentrate on getting the images and that feeling may be around for a lot longer than you may think.

The client-photographer negotiation should be a win for both. The relationship you develop going in to an assignment benefits all parties. Accommodating a client in the field can be daunting, but you should always remain in control. Ultimately, it’s the results which put dinner on the table and provide the client’s satisfaction.
Churchill later said about Karsh’s portrait, “You can even make a roaring lion stand still to be photographed."

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Pre-Shoot: Physical and Mental Check List

If you are a professional photographer with a studio and staff, perhaps you leave the packing to the employees… after, of course, you have trained them properly and have full faith in their abilities. But what if you are on your own?

Niche photographers, wedding, event, portrait and so forth, usually have no problems packing their kit; the choices remain pretty much the same from one booking to another. Commercial and stock photography can be quite different. Each job is a one-off and requires a variety of setups.

Prior to the assignment date, it may be best to sit down and construct a checklist of cameras, lenses, accessories and props you’ll need. Preparing days in advance can eliminate stress and panic—we’ve all been there, on a shoot and realizing we’ve forgot something important.

As you write the checklist, one advantage, besides creating a list of equipment, is in visualizing the shoot. Like athletes see themselves performing prior to an event, you can see images you want to capture and note the equipment needed. Visualization, besides helping you create a checklist, can also be practice. As an athlete sees themselves taking each step and positioning their bodies, you can see each shot, where you stand, the lighting and, if you want, the exposure settings.

Later, when at the set, you have these mental cues, created during the visualization, which act as a mental checklist during the shoot. There is a phenomenal advantage to preparing in this manner. Besides a lower stress level, you can easily concentrate on your subject, being present--in the moment—and see your shots happening. You are not reacting, as much as acting in concert with what’s taking place in front of you.

Both the physical and mental checklist work the same. They clear the need to put your attention somewhere else besides the shoot, leading to less anxiety and better images.

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'Write with fire, cut with ice' - determining image keepers

Whether you shoot thousands of images per week, or just a few, the same workflow applies. After getting back to home base, you will need to save the images from a memory card to your computer and back up device--CD, DVD, hard drive or cloud-based backup (Internet storage).

Then, only after backing up (you do back up your images first, don't you?) can you start on the tasks of culling the new collection and editing the remaining images.

In the title above, "Write with fire, cut with ice," is a sentence I use to teach writers how to hone their craft. However, we can also also use it for photography. Changing it to say, "Shoot with fire, edit with ice," has more meaning to photographers.

When on an assignment, whether your own or on behalf of a client, it's important you be in the moment. Being present is the only way to be aware of your subject and what’s happening around you. Your attention to the details makes all the difference in what you capture and your passion for photography keeps you focused (pun intended).

Now, back at the computer, culling through your new collection is a different matter and here is where the “Shoot with fire, edit with ice” comes into play. You’ve been passionate about your shooting and know there are some great images. Now, you start to examine them.

It’s important, at this point, to be dispassionate, the opposite of what you were when shooting. In other words, when culling and editing, you must have the cold heart of a surgeon. A surgeon cannot effectively do a proper job if there is strong emotions towards the patient; only by staying at a distance can the surgeon perform at the best. Don’t get married to your images, but evaluate them as you would images from someone else. It’s only in this manner, can you discern the quality and efficacy of your images for their purpose (personal collection or for a client).

It doesn’t really matter whether you are culling the collection for keepers or editing the images for content, clarity, contrast (a diamond in the rough?), you still need to step away, from time to time, to properly evaluate what you have and what you want.

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What is image quality?

Image quality encompasses a myriad of physical and esoteric qualities; in fact, a merging of both the arts and sciences. We can readily understand the science, such as shutter speed, aperture, focal length and so forth, but how do you explain the feelings when observing a painting or photograph?

Initially, you may be confused about determining whether an image is good. Learning what makes a quality image takes time and experience. Once gained, however, the ability to put your discerning nature to the test is both a curse and a boon; a curse because of being overly critical about your work and a boon as a tool to categorize your image collection.

There are many tools to help you and most work like a light-box where you can see a number of images all at once. Adobe's Bridge and Lightroom, ACDSee's Photo Manager, and Apple's Aperture programs are all capable applications allowing you to catalog your images. With any of these, you compare one image with another and mark them with colors, numbers or icons to determine their value to you. But, what do you look for?

The most obvious mistakes are the first to go--too far over/under exposed, out of focus, subject movement, and so forth. Remove these from your view. Now comes the difficult part, judging the differences between the keepers.

Look for slight exposure differences, composition, color, contrast and any other physical attribute which would make one image better than another. Okay, that's all well and good, but there is an unidentifiable property, a qualitative difference which can make an image jump to the top of your list.

This can be capturing a model or portrait where the subject shows their personality; a sparkle, a smile coming from within, a connection. The connection is what we're looking for and it's this quality which unites the subject and the viewer.

While initially the connection may be between the photographer and subject, it's often transferred to the viewer. With a portrait, this connection can be more pronounced than with a landscape image, but without a connection, it becomes just another photograph.

In non-animate subjects, it's usually composition, color, a different point of view, lighting or combination of factors which connect with the viewer. After a while, with experience and after looking at hundreds, if not thousands of images, you'll be able to recognize which images have this quality of connection without thinking about it.

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The Shotgun Approach to Getting Images

During some workshops, there are always photographers rapidly firing their shutter for each picture; kind of like a machine gun. I’m certain, in their mind, the reason is to make certain they don’t miss the shot. But, I have to ask, isn’t this a replacement for confidence?

The “old-school” photographers, during the dark days of film (see yesterday’s post for more on this subject), didn’t have the luxury of firing multiple shots for each image, unless they were at a sporting or action event and had a motor drive on their camera. There, with the subject moving so rapidly, multiple images were a necessity, not the norm.

Film was finite; only a fixed number of exposures were possible before the film needed changing. And don’t forget the cost. Compared with digital, film was (and still is) expensive. You couldn’t just fill up a memory card with hundreds, if not thousands, of images, or delete unwanted images before the end of an event.

There was something important about each image, knowing the restrictions of film. A photographer was always careful about setting the proper ISO (ex-ASA), choosing the aperture and shutter speed and carefully focusing for the proper hyperfocal distance. If you were using a medium format or large format camera, this was a given—especially with large format. 4x5 and 8x10 view cameras used sheet film which needed to be loaded prior to the event, in holders, for later manual insertion, one-by-one, into the camera.

The act of pressing the shutter was a deliberate act done only after considering all of the variables—including, at times, wetting your finger and holding it up to measure wind direction and speed (slow shutter for maximum depth of field).

Today, with most cameras able to take multiple images, as long as the shutter remains depressed, is a substitution for careful consideration of the act of photography, hence the shotgun approach, where one hopes that by acquiring multiple, rapid shots of the subject, one will be a keeper.

Relying on the machine-gunning approach to photography can deprive one of the training necessary to capture the decisive moment. There is a feeling, sometimes more than an intellectual determination, of the decisive moment and, it seems, for the trained photographer, the shutter is automatic. This feeling can only be acquired by practice. Ask yourself, the next time you shoot, what is it I’m capturing and does the image through the viewfinder match the image in my mind. If so, that’s the decisive moment. Rapid fire shooting does not develop this skill, only delays the development of the true photographer.

Technorati Tags: Decisive Moment,Large Format,Motor Drive,Confidence

Photo negatives have greater historical value than digital images

A few years back, after coming home from one of the PhotoPlus Expo shows in New York, I started thinking about film. These thoughts came after visiting with some software vendors showing off their latest stand-alone program or plugin emulating film grain. This surely was the harbinger, I thought, of the death of film. After all, why shoot with film if you can get the same look with digital images and these software products?

I’ve had discussions regarding film with two eminent photographers, Brian Griffin and Douglas Kirkland. They shoot both digital and film, albeit, they digitize the film for retouching and archiving (yes, the film is safely sequestered, as well). Both gentlemen said film has a certain quality they cannot capture digitally. Whether this is actual or perceived is immaterial; it’s the photographer’s eye that’s important, both objectively and subjectively.

My discussions with Kodak over the past few years have been about film in today’s digital world. Scott DiSabato has kept me in the loop regarding Kodak’s film production and direction. While Kodak film is somewhat relegated to the professional realm, amateurs can always acquire some.

During one of my meetings with Kodak, I met John Sexton, a brilliant photographer, mentored under Ansel Adams, we discussed his use of Kodak B&W film. If I remember correctly, John said he gets a quality from Kodak T-MAX he can’t capture digitally. On Kodak’s A Thousand Words blog, he says, “T-Max gives me the smoothness, the fine grain and a sort of milky quality that I find desirable. I've made thousands and thousands of negatives on T-Max 100 and 400.”

Quite recently, I spoke with Daile Kaplan, Vice President and Director of Photographs at Swann Auction Galleries in New York. Our discussion, while ranging over a few areas of the industry, centered on Swann’s auctions of photographs and photographic literature. I believe it was my mention of Kodak’s ongoing monitoring of the marketplace to determine additions to the new burgeoning film market.

Daile and I both agreed on the importance of this in relation to how we photographers will be noted in the future—how will the curators of the future perceive us? While we’ve seen recent auctions offering important works to collectors, can our digital images produce the same provenance? How will future collectors determine the value of digital properties, if they can be replicated readily. Yes, I know you can watermark a digital file, but with our workflow producing redundant backups, is there historic value, such as in the work of Ansel Adams, Richard Avedon, and Helmut Newton, where there is but a single negative? I think Daile and I agreed that as the use of film increases for use by digital photographers, seeking additional creative outlets and film students, who have never made a silver halide image, can be a boon to our history as photographers.

I see a market for film, alongside of digital. After all, it’s just a different method of our creativity. However, I don’t visualize film returning to the amateur, point-and-shoot market, but relegated to a firm niche with hobbyists and professionals seeking to further their craft.