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Sensationalist title! Oh yes. But I fancy your clicks so you'll have to forgive me just this once.
Anyway, Derrel pointed to me a recent write-up by Thom Hogan:
What?s Your Biggest Problem? | byThom | Thom Hogan
I like the territory he's exploring in this article. I sipped my coffee and read through the article. Smiling on the inside, because I knew the payoff was coming. The payoff was supposed to be big bold letters at the bottom Your biggest problem is You!
But nay, that payoff never came. Was Thom not brave enough to actually say it? Do we have a new superhero on our hands, "Captain Implyer"?
Here are some extracts and some thought points. I'm only going to write about what I know, so if nature photography isn't your thing, just substitute in your photography and the logic should still apply:
Some good points here. Copycats are certainly rampant in the landscape photography community. You can go and type a search in 500px and yield 100 identical compositions.
How do you stand out from the crowd?
It starts with separating yourself from what everybody else is doing. It starts by not trying to put your tripod in the same tripod holes as a million photographers before you. Being brave enough to fail, and fail again; to pioneer, and go the extra distance. To see the world through your own eyes. To preserve your own vision.
I had dinner with renowned nature photographer Marc Adamus a number of months ago and this topic came up. He said, "if you go and take pictures of what everyone else is taking pictures of, you'll burn out very quickly". Not only will you burn out quickly, but what's the point? How are you making what you see your own?
Before the internet, the "copy-cat" paradigm was not nearly as prevalent. Beautiful images can be made time and again of the same thing. But the whole process loses it's innocence, when you walk into a landscape you've never seen with your own eyes and you are seeing it through another person's eyes.
u·biq·ui·tous
yo͞oˈbikwətəs
adjective
adjective: ubiquitous
1.
present, appearing, or found everywhere.
Great digital cameras are ubiquitous. Everyone has one. So if you're taking the same picture as everyone else, what are you DOING? Adding to the catalog? Now instead of 100,000,000 pictures of Horseshoe Bend, we have 100,000,001! Thank you John Doe photographer.
Enjoy the article, and discuss!
Anyway, Derrel pointed to me a recent write-up by Thom Hogan:
What?s Your Biggest Problem? | byThom | Thom Hogan
I like the territory he's exploring in this article. I sipped my coffee and read through the article. Smiling on the inside, because I knew the payoff was coming. The payoff was supposed to be big bold letters at the bottom Your biggest problem is You!
But nay, that payoff never came. Was Thom not brave enough to actually say it? Do we have a new superhero on our hands, "Captain Implyer"?
Here are some extracts and some thought points. I'm only going to write about what I know, so if nature photography isn't your thing, just substitute in your photography and the logic should still apply:
Problem 1: standing out amongst all the good imagery that exists, much of it near “free”. Problem 2: marketing yourself so that people know your work. Unfortunately, solving #2 means that you have to be highly visible, which makes more people attempt to copy you, which eventually increases problem #1. Pros have to keep moving, keep reinventing themselves, and above all be great marketers and salespeople.
Some good points here. Copycats are certainly rampant in the landscape photography community. You can go and type a search in 500px and yield 100 identical compositions.
How do you stand out from the crowd?
It starts with separating yourself from what everybody else is doing. It starts by not trying to put your tripod in the same tripod holes as a million photographers before you. Being brave enough to fail, and fail again; to pioneer, and go the extra distance. To see the world through your own eyes. To preserve your own vision.
I had dinner with renowned nature photographer Marc Adamus a number of months ago and this topic came up. He said, "if you go and take pictures of what everyone else is taking pictures of, you'll burn out very quickly". Not only will you burn out quickly, but what's the point? How are you making what you see your own?
Before the internet, the "copy-cat" paradigm was not nearly as prevalent. Beautiful images can be made time and again of the same thing. But the whole process loses it's innocence, when you walk into a landscape you've never seen with your own eyes and you are seeing it through another person's eyes.
I’d say that the biggest problem I find that most photographers have is a really fundamental one: what is it they’re taking a photo of? And why?
u·biq·ui·tous
yo͞oˈbikwətəs
adjective
adjective: ubiquitous
1.
present, appearing, or found everywhere.
Great digital cameras are ubiquitous. Everyone has one. So if you're taking the same picture as everyone else, what are you DOING? Adding to the catalog? Now instead of 100,000,000 pictures of Horseshoe Bend, we have 100,000,001! Thank you John Doe photographer.
Enjoy the article, and discuss!