The Next Step
Nov 26th, 2007 by John Setzler
Canon EOS 30D / Canon 50mm f/1.4 @ f/2.0 / 36mm Extension Tube / 1/100″ / ISO 200 / Incandescent Light
We’re finally getting some more rain around here, so playing outside today is out of the question. I wandered around the yard for a few minutes, camera in hand, before the rain started coming hard enough to push me back inside. I was just in the mood to photograph something, and I didn’t really care what it was. I haven’t been spending a lot of time lately on my personal endeavors in photography, and I’m in a little withdrawal at the moment.
Daisies, and flowers in general, seem to be the brunt of many snide remarks within my personal community of photographers. My associations with other photographers seem to be at a beginner and amateur level, and those people love to spew words such as cliche and overdone and stereotypical. “How many times am I going to have to look at photos of flowers? If I’ve seen one, I’ve seen them all…” I don’t know the answer to these questions. If I had to venture a guess, I would probably say that those who make these comments are in a stage of trying to produce their first masterpiece or something. They know it won’t come from a flower, a pet, or a child… or at least they think it won’t. Their objectives are fairly narrow though. They try to impress those within their community. When you find yourself in a group of photographers that is learning various processes and techniques, you quickly realize that what’s important in any given photograph whatever topic, process, or technique is on today’s table. The choices of subject don’t seem to be as significant as a technique or a compositional aspect.
I know when I was starting out in photography, I fell into this mode of operation also. Technique was more important to me than anything else. Through this process, I learned technical skills with the camera, and today I’m quite comfortable with technical ideas. I can make my camera perform whatever task is before me. I can make technically great photographs of the most mundane subject with absolutely no problem. When a photographer reaches this point, what’s next?
The next step is the tough one. Everyone can learn how to use a camera. Some may take longer than others, but anyone with the desire to achieve can learn the process. Moving beyond that level is where the real challenge in photography comes. There are no books on this subject, and there is no formula for success.
John,
You definitely know a lot about photography. I think when you get to a certain point you have to push yourself in areas you don’t have as much experience in. For myself there is a lot of areas I am not familiar with. This includes astrophotography, micro, underwater, and using multimedia applications such as sound bites and video. I still find myself learning more about Photoshop and studio lighting constantly.
Saying this I get students at times who think they already know everything but in truth they will never know everything. They might be advanced in the class but they don’t want to push themselves or know their own limitations.
I would also recommend teaching your talents to others. I find this very rewarding and you really know how much you know when you try to explain it to someone else. Workshops for children or adults might be a good avenue for you.
Hi Joe, and thanks for stopping by :) “The Next Step” isn’t really meant to be learning new techniques. I purposely stopped this article where I did, without going into the actual ‘next step’ because I want to write that separately. “The Next Step” isn’t something that you can read from a book or learn in a classroom, or really be taught. You have to dig inside to find it. I’ll be collecting my thoughts on this over the next few days and writing more about it later.
Teaching photography is something I would love to do at some point, but my plate is full right now. I don’t want to teach technique either. I would rather become a student AND teach the philosophy of photography, which may allude to what the ‘next step’ actually is…
The next step includes working on a subject that you are not comfortable with. Find a story, flowers are nice but you have moved beyond flowers. Joe makes a good point, you should teach photography your tech background would be golden for young (and old) photographers. Pass the torch :)
Hope all is well! Drop me a line some time. Denver’s jamming!
Peace.
Nathan
I couldn’t help but notice that you used the Canon50mm f/1.4 lense for this shot. I recently bought a Canon 50mm f/1.8 and I LOVE IT. It adds the blur like nothing else can. If you don’t have one of these lenses, get one! The f/1.8 is cheap, about $100.
Glad we got reaquainted in the CV Camer Club. Looking forward to participating!