So little for so long. . .

The wonder of photography continues to amaze me even decades after I first began to delve into it. And no, I speak not of the magic one experiences the first time they are in the darkroom with a variety of toxic chemicals, a seemingly blank strip of film and a small lonely red light to illuminate everything within.

Nor for that matter do I raise this point after continually being blown away by the astounding advances in digital capture and post-processing over the years, all of which enable us as photographers to do so much more with our images than we ever thought possible.

No, what truly amazes me is the simple fact that something that can take so little time to make can last so long! Think about it! In 1/125th of a second, maybe even 1/250 or 1/1000 (as in one one thousandth of a second!), you capture something that will be viewed and admired for all eternity! It will live on forever. It can be viewed for seconds or minutes or hours or days, if not longer. And what was the investment of your time? A fraction of a second. That's it!

Okay, so maybe you take longer than that to hone your craft or develop your photographic eye but think about it in the big picture (no pun intended). What other medium of expression takes such a short period of time (measured in mere fractions of seconds) to produce and yet lasts so long (a period of time that remains immeasurable)?

Do you see what I see?

So, do you see what I see? Really now, you should see it as it's right there in front of you. Oh wait, of course you see "it", the proverbial "it" being that which your eyes and brain are wired to see in this image as well as all others you happen upon, be it by choice or intention.

The point here being that anything and everything you see in the world around you is up for interpretation, thus is the beauty of the visual arts. And for this very same reason you will find I don't title my images, other than the date of capture. After all, were this called "Bored one afternoon and I decided to hold a colander up to the light and photograph it with my iPhone to see what I could do with it creatively", would it mean any more or less to you?!

So, do you see what I see? Or does it really matter anyway?

But EVERYONE is a photographer. . .

Really? Is everyone a photographer because he/she carries a camera and can inexpensively and with little if any training take a photo?

I bring this up because of the multiple times as of late that others have said to me "I wish I was a photographer", or worse yet hearing from fellow photographers that they are tired of the business because "everyone has a camera", to which I can only reply that everyone may have a camera but a camera does not but make a photographer.

Think about it! Is everyone a race car driver because he/she has a car? Is your neighbor who gardens on the occasional weekend with a top rate hoe, the nicest shovel and a package of Burpee seeds a landscape architect?

I challenge you to be who you want to be, with nary a concern for the potential label associated with it. Just do it and let your effort speak for itself. Who knows? You may end up being hired to design your neighbor's garden while you are out there arranging your plants in such a way as to capture them with your high end Hasselblad gear and associated Phase One digital back, because after all. . .you are "a photographer"!

Find your style, in photography as in life!

Like a fingerprint, you have a unique style that is all yours, distinctly and consistently you! I speak here not merely of photography but of everything in life upon which you put your personal stamp, be it knowingly or unknowingly.

So, what is the unifying factor here between your photography and living life at large? Simple! You are you and there is no other you! YOU are perfect because you are perfectly you! You barbecue a certain way, wash your car the way you wish, you work and love and live in a manner that is distinctly yours! Now, armed with this very elementary reminder I say you venture out and capture images that speak to who you are, to how you uniquely see the world and then share your vision freely and confidently.

Your goal should not be to please everyone in every manner in every moment. I suggest you let go of the opposition you project into your photography and like everything else you do, let it speak for itself, for your photographic style will be yours and yours alone, just like your barbecue!

Follow your passion!

Wondering what level of commitment to your craft you adopt. Do you shoot to support your life and all its trappings? Are you "needing" to shoot to feed the sustenance machine that you and those in your immediate world depend on staying well greased?

Or are you shooting because it's what you feel you must do, because it's your passion and your joy and your most innate desire?

I dare say you strive for the latter and trust your instinct, your gut and your heart that your passion can and will successfully not only support the machinations of life but instead will provide for it in supreme abundance. And then, only then will you find yourself quickly realizing that shooting for a client provides a paycheck, shooting for your passion provides a lifestyle!

Your personality as exemplified by your imagery

What does your photographic take on the world around you say about what's going on within you? Are you capturing what you are feeling and sharing that through the photos you take?

Chances are the times you decide to stop and shoot, be it with your smartphone or your Canon DSLR, there is something resonating within you that compels you to do so. What may seem like a simple photographic grab may just be the result of a deeper manifestation of a feeling or mood you may not even be conscious of at the time you shot it.

Knowing this, might you venture back and look at your photos with a different eye? Perhaps they might now take on a new life? Perhaps. . .

What other medium happens so quickly and lasts an eternity?

There, but for a fleeting moment in time, sits the scene before you. The mood, the time of day, the weather, the sunlight or moonlight or lack thereof, the person or place or thing within, your placement relative to what you see, the activity around it, the amalgam of the scene is there for but a moment. And what do you do? Capture it with your camera for all eternity!

The irony of this glorious medium of photography is that it and it alone takes so little to capture something that lasts so long (forever in fact, if we continue to upgrade our storage). And what does it take you to make that image? All of a fraction of a second? Maybe 1/500th of a second in the grand and infinite time line of life, death and eternity?

Think about it. I would even suggest you look at life itself as an endless stream of fractions of seconds and covet every moment before you, not just capturing them with your camera but with your eyes, heart, and soul, for those moments too will be fleeting. . .