"Look with intention and make pictures with purpose. Lots of your work is going to be terrible, but I promise you that one day you’ll be looking through your Lightroom catalog or your Capture One library or your pages of negatives and one or two photos will stand out."
This is the point that Brooks Jensen makes: Do the work. Without, you won't progress.
Excellent post. Thanks for the pointer to 'Build'.
Wonderful post! I second that. Once I intentionally focused on process, I found myself relaxed and get into a flow more often. It’s a beautiful think to rediscover creativity like a child again.
Another great piece of thinking that resonates so much. When I saw the the news about the Sony A9III launch my first reaction was 'so what?'. However, 'global shutter' wasn't something I was aware of , so I continued reading. Interesting I thought, but it's not for me. I'm still mainly shooting with 14-year-old Canon 6D's which do everything I need. 'Influencers' need to sell to stay relevant, some of us are happy in the process.
Thanks, Dereck. I totally agree about the gear. I'm still VERY happy with my now ancient Fuji X-Pro 1. It's slow and quirky and is still my favorite digital camera.
Yes. I try hard to always remember that and not to complain (except, occasionally, on Substack :) One of my favorite books of poetry is Joseph Brodsky's Roman Elegies. The last stanza reads:
Lean over. I’ll whisper something to you: I am
grateful for everything: for the chicken cartilage
and for the chirr of scissors already cutting
out the void for me—for it is your hem.
Doesn’t matter if it’s pitch-black, doesn’t matter if
it holds nothing: no ovals, no limbs to count.
The more invisible something is,
the more certain it’s been around,
and the more obviously it’s everywhere. You
were the first to whom all this happened, were you?
For a nail holding something one would divide by two—
were it not for remainders—there is no gentler quarry.
"Look with intention and make pictures with purpose. Lots of your work is going to be terrible, but I promise you that one day you’ll be looking through your Lightroom catalog or your Capture One library or your pages of negatives and one or two photos will stand out."
This is the point that Brooks Jensen makes: Do the work. Without, you won't progress.
Excellent post. Thanks for the pointer to 'Build'.
My pleasure. I'm glad you got something out of it. Let me know what you think of Build if you get it. I thought it was terrific.
Wonderful post! I second that. Once I intentionally focused on process, I found myself relaxed and get into a flow more often. It’s a beautiful think to rediscover creativity like a child again.
Thank you so much. I completely agree about rediscovery—it's something that I'm actively trying to recapture in my process.
Another great piece of thinking that resonates so much. When I saw the the news about the Sony A9III launch my first reaction was 'so what?'. However, 'global shutter' wasn't something I was aware of , so I continued reading. Interesting I thought, but it's not for me. I'm still mainly shooting with 14-year-old Canon 6D's which do everything I need. 'Influencers' need to sell to stay relevant, some of us are happy in the process.
Thanks, Dereck. I totally agree about the gear. I'm still VERY happy with my now ancient Fuji X-Pro 1. It's slow and quirky and is still my favorite digital camera.
Been loving the process for the past forty years. But Destiny seems to hate me :)
Maybe Destiny is showing you love by keeping you IN the process for the past forty years. ;)
Yes. I try hard to always remember that and not to complain (except, occasionally, on Substack :) One of my favorite books of poetry is Joseph Brodsky's Roman Elegies. The last stanza reads:
Lean over. I’ll whisper something to you: I am
grateful for everything: for the chicken cartilage
and for the chirr of scissors already cutting
out the void for me—for it is your hem.
Doesn’t matter if it’s pitch-black, doesn’t matter if
it holds nothing: no ovals, no limbs to count.
The more invisible something is,
the more certain it’s been around,
and the more obviously it’s everywhere. You
were the first to whom all this happened, were you?
For a nail holding something one would divide by two—
were it not for remainders—there is no gentler quarry.
I was in Rome. I was flooded by light. The way
a splinter can only dream about.
Golden coins on the retina are to stay—
enough to last one through the whole blackout.
Thank you for the recommendation of Build. Currently 99p on Kindle at Amazon UK (13 Nov 23), so an absolute no brainer purchase.
That's a steal and well worth it! Let me know what you think of it.
Excellent episode! So much wisdom and great advice!
Thank you, Susanne. I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)
Thanks man, this was a great essay!