I have always had eclectic and wide-ranging tastes in the things that I enjoy most in life. In my teens, you would find me listening to the new wave of punk bands one minute, Genesis and Led Zeppelin the next, followed by Joni Mitchell perhaps. Nowadays add to that liberal servings of jazz and classical music!
In literature I enjoy contemporary detective novels, Dickens, Jane Austin. You get the picture.
Most of us that take up photography go through different stages. In the beginning we photograph just about everything, it is all fascinating, every situation is an opportunity to capture it. Eventually, like anything we become passionate about, we eventually reach a plateau stage and become more selective.
However, it is no surprise to me that after two years of photography, I still enjoy shooting everything. I have not yet arrived at one genre that I want to focus on, and certainly I have not developed my own unique “style” of shooting and editing as many do. Is this a problem? I don’t think so. However, I do wonder if this will inhibit my growth as a photographer. I can see how only shooting landscapes for example might really hone your skills in that area and become very proficient in it.
I have noticed that although I still find everything of interest, I am much more discerning about what I shoot, how often, and how I will compose a photograph. I hope this indicates some level of maturing in the craft!
Will being a “Jack of all trades, master of none” mean that I will only be average in all of the genres that interest me? Does that matter?
I think as always it comes back to that central question- why am I so fascinated by photography, what need in me is this wonderful craft meeting?
I will never be a professional photographer and do not want to be at this stage in my life. I do this for the sheer pleasure of exercising my creativity, for the enjoyment of being outdoors, learning about other photographers, and occasionally meeting other photographers. I would never have guessed I would get so much enjoyment from taking images of flowers for example. It has opened up a whole new beautiful path in life.
Feeling the apprehension of asking someone if I can take their photograph on the street, putting myself through that and picking up the courage to approach someone has helped develop more confidence in myself as a street photographer.
I experience taking photographs in woods as a serene, almost spiritual experience at times. Taking in the colors, the stillness, the smells, in addition to seeing the trees as characters in a tableau has transformed being outdoors for me. However, I suspect if this is all I did, it would become stale after a while.
One practice that has been helpful has been to revisit photography sites and look for different compositions.
What has become clear is that whether I concentrate on one genre, or several, there is no substitute for putting the hours in and getting out there!
In writing this piece I am becoming aware of how my approach to photography says a lot about me as a person, a reflection of how I operate in this world. I have always been able to acclimatize quickly to my surroundings. It has always been a source of curiosity to me how I can almost immediately feel “at home” in whatever location I find myself in, whether it be a gritty urban locality, the countryside, a coastal area, and of course in big cities that I love. Once a Londoner, always a Londoner!
practicing photography in a variety of locations have helped me hone the basic skills required to progress , such as the ability to see a scene and react quickly in a street photography, to seeing how light is impacting a woodland scene, or slowing down to really think about the composition and light in landscape.
I read that most photographers have a “go to” lens they have mostly on their camera. In the following 6 months after buying my Sony a6000, I assuaged my craving for gear by buying three lenses. I have used them all equally I think (although my most recent purchase, the Sony 18-135 is rapidly gaining “favorite “status!) I then had the good fortune to be gifted a few vintage lenses. In a typical week I might use three or more different contemporary and vintage lenses. I worry sometimes I am not learning enough about each lens, but if I am happy with my shooting, and I can see progress from the previous year, I am content.
I will therefore continue on this road, going with the flow, one day doing street, the next day out in the forest, the next perhaps shooting flowers in the park. I’ll take what learning I can each time I go out with my camera, and appreciate the different experiences, and the changes I see in myself as a result. I also know that change is always possible, that one day I may become so fascinated by one genre I concentrate on it for a year! And that will be O.K too.
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