I think it's important for every photographer to challenge themselves. I've been doing a lot of the photography equivalent of soul searching lately; by lately I mean it was a 2 1/2 month journey and still going. I've made a computer file filled with my favorite photography shots and wrote down what catches my eye whether it be the colors, angles and overall composition.
During the past couple of months that I haven't blogged, I busied myself with observing the shots other photographers are accomplishing. I've noticed that some photographers are settling for a shot. They get comfortable doing it, but in their head they never seem to ask, "How can I make this shot better next time for the next shoot?" I pride myself in always striving to learn something new every day. It's not always photography related, but I try to use it to move my skills to a higher level than it was a few minutes ago. For example, my children (ages 2 1/2 and 1 1/2 years old) are constantly getting into mischief. The other day, they pulled out ALL of their clothes from their drawers. Instead of having a mental freak-out that my chores just doubled for the day I thought, "what would a photographer see?" I knelt down and made a frame out of my thumbs and fore-fingers. I saw lots of colors from the clothes and two very excited kids that were having fun slinging clothes around. With the dresser in the background, I had the perfect "plain frame", the clothing added wonderful colors and textures, the children added joy and energy to the shot. As both a mother that will miss these days as well as an aspiring photographer, I took a mental snapshot of that moment!
The quote I'd like to end today's post with is one that I have written down:
"The camera is an instrument that teaches you to see without the camera." -Dorothea Lange
