Stop sign #10 – But…but…but… Answer: no excuses, go be who you are suppose to be and create what you are suppose to create. Don’t wimp out, don’t be a lazy baby about it. If you see something on the side of the road that might make a good photo, STOP YOUR CAR and take it! And no, I don’t mean you should do that on the way to your daughter’s wedding with a car full of people. Be smart about it obviously.
Here is a good quote. “It is easier to act yourself into another way of feeling than it is to feel yourself into another way of acting.” What that means in the context of the stop signs is that if you wait until you feel creative to act on it, you might wait a long time. But if you act creative, if you take the photo, walk around the corner, look at a detail, pay attention to the light, even if you don’t feel creative, guess what? You will have a VERY creative day!
So, go take the photo! Then take another and another and another until you can’t stop smiling because you are so proud of yourself, just as we all will be.
Stop sign #8 – It costs too much. Answer: What is it you can’t afford? A point and shoot camera? A computer? Transportation? Membership fees? Be creative, find a camera at a pawn shop, or a resale shop. If you can’t afford a new computer, once again, find a refurbished one. Maybe trade services for what you need. You don’t have to go anywhere to create interesting photos, you have yourself as a subject, and you don’t have to travel to get there do you? You have your home, your yard, your sidewalk, your street signs.
I realized by having children that we are all capable of saying we don’t have the time or the money to do something. But I found out that without exception my children almost always found a way to do the things they REALLY wanted to do. That usually did not include cleaning out the garage with dad, so in that case they had too much homework. But a call from a friend to go to the movies, well, in that case, they realized they could do their homework when they got home, or in the morning. In other words, they WANTED to go to the movies, and found a way.
In other words, don’t say ‘I can’t afford it’. Say instead ‘HOW can I afford it?’ and go out and find the way.
Do you WANT to be a photographer, an artist, a creative person? Then you WILL find a way and you will not use excuses.
Part 3 of a 10 part series on stop signs in your head that keep you from creating art.
Stop sign #3 – My equipment isn’t good enough. Answer: Then you would have to explain why photographer’s work from 75-100 years ago are worth thousands and esteemed the world over as great photographs when their equipment sucked compared to ours now. Even if all you have is a point and shoot, it is YOU that makes the photo great, not the camera.
This photo, by my friend Aikithereska on flickr, was made with a rudimentary pinhole camera. No aperture, no shutter speed, just a hole in a box. You can’t get any more primitive photographic equipment than that. And she got a great photo out of it.
The point is, lack of equipment is an excuse and shows a lack of imagination. Go out and take photos with what you have, quit waiting for a better something.
