Where are we as photographers?
Where are we as photographers? Are we complacent with what we produce? Have we become stagnant or are we moving forward in a positive manner? Have the “Atta boys” and “good job” comments gotten us complacent in our work? How do we find out where we are and then determine how to get where we want to be?
Life is full of questions. As a photographer going about what we love to do, shooting images, from time to time we need to pause and question ourselves to see where we are in our work and where we are going. By doing so, perhaps we can further our growth and improve our craft. But, what questions should we be asking ourselves? That took a bit of thought.
As I sat here contemplating that, five key questions came to me: Who, What, When, Where and How. With those five key questions in mind, I wrote this “think piece”, for finding ourselves and growing as photographers in hopes to open up a dialog and discussion among us; giving you food for thought so to speak. You will have to fill in the blanks or answer these questions for yourself. Yes, it is up to each of us to ask ourselves these questions to help understand and find the answers and then progress.
Who are we as a photographer? That in itself is a huge part of the equation. Have we become who we really want to be yet? After all we’re not someone who woke up one day suddenly with the urge to be a photographer, bought a camera, a few lenses and some other stuff and just decided, “I like to take glamour pictures.” Gosh, I hope not. Most of us spent a lot of time and money learning our craft and continue to do so, with educational opportunities like STC’s events or others to participate in to gain knowledge and find inspiration. But before that, someone or something else inspired us initially into taking that path to photography. If so, it’s also important to revisit that occasionally to remember where we came from. So, my second “Who” is, who inspired you? Was it a photographer, model, publication, or an artist? Perhaps that has changed too. Inspiration can determine who we are as photographers and help guide us to the path to whom we wish to be. Inspiration feeds our creativity!
Do you want to just shoot pretty women? There has to be more to it than that to succeed. What do you want to do or achieve as a photographer? Do you want to just shoot pretty women or do you shoot other things as well? Is it for money, for fame or just a passion? Is there a path you’re following with a goal in mind or just going with the flow, so to speak? In order to succeed, there has to be more to it than that. We need to figure that out to grow and move in a positive direction toward that goal.
When you shoot, what is it that you think of? Is it getting the best image you can? Do the thoughts of, is the light right, is the model posed correctly, is her hair and makeup good for what I am shooting go though your mind? Are you thinking about what corrective issues you may need to do in Lightroom or Photoshop to improve the image? Or are you thinking, “Oh, wow, I’ve got a beautiful girl in front of me.” Hopefully, it is the former and not the latter. Another big “When” is, when do we determine we are sufficient enough in our skills and confident enough to charge for what we do? It sure is good to get paid adequately for what we do! When are we worth that or more?
Next up is “Where.” Of all the where questions I guess I could ask, “Where do you shoot? Is it a studio or do you shoot on location, more or less?” But wait, location is not the most important “Where” there is. The most important “Where” is, where are you in your career and development as a photographer and where do you want to be a year, two years, or perhaps five years from now? That’s the real question we need to be asking ourselves!
Lastly comes the question “How.” After considering all the other four keys and their appropriate answers as a whole, then my question would be “How” do you expect to get to where you want to be? How, is equally or perhaps even more important to answer as the others. But without answering the other key questions first, we cannot arrive at a real answer to the last question of How. We all have a different path to follow to get that how accomplished and where we wish to be.
I hope you think about each of those key words, Who, What, When, Where and How. They should relate to you on a personal and professional level. Each are important to Who you are, What you hope to be, When it should happen, Where you want to take it and How you can make it there. Think on these things carefully and, in doing so, I hope some good old-fashioned dialog/discussion comes of this post. Oh, and just for additional thought, I will leave you with four other important words to remember; Passion, Planning, Patience and Perseverance.
~ Paul Hamer
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