One New Idea Worth More Than A Finished Shot

Creativity  Comment
0 Likes






One of the highlights of my recent South American Cruising Through Life workshop came on the first day as we flew into Santiago, Chile. Light reflected off of mountain lakes in bright rays. I’ve been fascinated by and photographed crepuscular rays descending from the sky for years now, but I’ve never seen rays like this, beaming back up into the heavens. The scene moved too fast and the airplane windows made making finished exposures too challenging. So I quickly sketched the idea. That one sketch, is worth more than a single finished exposure. One good idea can generate an entire series of images.
Find out more about Cruising Through Life here.
Find out more about Vincent Versace here.
Find out more about my Atmospheric FX ebooks here and here.
Find out more about my Atmospheric FX DVD here.
Read what one happy viewer though about my DVD Atmospheric FX here.
Find out more about my upcoming workshops here.
Sign up for Insights for advance notice and discounts on upcoming workshops.

Creativity – Commenting On Images

Creativity, Reviewing  Comment
0 Likes


How many times have you been frustrated by the feedback you get and give?
Often it’s too simple.
“I like it.”
“I don’t like it.”
But you want more.
If you knew more you could improve more.
So, go further!
Whenever you’re looking at images ask yourself for more with one simple word. “Why?”
You many be surprised how hard it is to put your thoughts and feelings into words.
Don’t quit.
Try anyway.
You’ll find out some really interesting things.
Later, start asking others, “Why?”
You’ll get some really interesting answers.
Check out 12 books I recommend on critical thinking in photography here.
Get feedback in my workshops.

JPC on thirdeyephotozine.com

Creativity, Interviewed  Comment
0 Likes


Recently Rayhaan Traboulay interviewed me for his online magazine thirdeyephotozine. Here’s an excerpt.
RH I recently had a discussion with a friend about creativity within people. I
find that people either generally “have it” or don’t. I believe that you
can’t really teach it too much. Theres room for improvement and critiques
and so on, but I find it is either innate in someone or it’s not. Would you
agree or no?
JPC I disagree – strongly. To be a successful creative person in any field, it
takes perseverance, intelligence, hard work, skill, talent, and luck – in
that order. Everyone is creative. Different people have different creative
strengths. It helps to find the areas each of us are strongest in and to
develop skills within other areas to become more versatile. Creativity is
not contained to the arts. Some of the most creative people in history and
with us on the planet today work in the fields of science and business. We
all have something to offer. And something to learn from each other.
Do you think you can learn to be more creative? Comment here!
Read the rest of the interview here.
Read more interviews here.
Read and hear my comments on my images here.
Find free PDFs on making artist’s statements here.
Hear my free tips on becoming more creative here.
See my images and get free portable galleries here.

The Art of Arranging

Creativity, Creativity - Storytelling, Magazine  Comment
0 Likes


Proximity and sequencing matter. The first sequence suggests an approaching storm, while the second suggests clearing skies.
How you present your work may be almost as important as what work you present. It’s the art of arranging. And it is an art, which involves specific techniques that can be learned. What are some of the guiding principles involved? Here are a few.
Sequence matters. Start strong. Finish strong. Make getting there interesting. Whether it’s a symphony, a novel, or an exhibit. It’s good advice for arranging any creative product.
To sequence a project, you can use the metaphor of building a fence. The strongest pieces can be thought of as posts. The less strong pieces can be thought of as rails. You want to start and end with very strongest pieces to create a strong structure. You want to periodically reinforce runs of less strong units with one or more stronger units. You don’t want long runs of rails without posts or the structure may fail. A fence made only of posts becomes something else entirely, a wall with no variation or grace. The number of strong pieces you include determines how long a fence will be, though the number of other images you include may modify length somewhat …
What tips do you have for sequencing? How have you used this potential for your work? Comment here!
Check out the rest of this article in my column Illuminating Creativity in this month’s AfterCapture magazine.
Check out AfterCapture.com here.
Find 6 related PDFs here.
Learn these and other techniques in my Fine Digital Print Expert workshop here.

3 Keys for Artistic Growth – Look, Speak, Listen

Creativity, Workshop  Comment
0 Likes

How do you help people make more authentic work? The most important thing to do is to find out where they are now and what they need most. How do you find this out? Look at their work. Listen to them speak. Watch them work. You can do the same for someone else.
You can do all of this for yourself. Look, speak, listen. Look at yourself looking. Listen to yourself speaking. Listen to yourself listening. Make notes. Do this without judgement. Just become more aware of yourself and your process. Simply becoming more aware of your process, both external and internal, helps you make more authentic work. You discover your voice. Make time and space for your voice. It’s extremely rewarding.
Find out more about Focus on Nature here.
Get Priority Status for all 2009 workshops now by emailing einar@focusonnature.is.

You Can Learn To Be More Creative – Creativity

Creativity  Comment
0 Likes


Many people think you can’t learn to be more creative. “You’ve either got it or you don’t.” This attitude does a great disservice to everyone. Everyone is creative. So why are some people more creative than others? There are all kinds of reasons. Two reasons stand out above all the others – attitude and skill. In both cases, practice makes perfect. The creative principles and strategies applied in a wide variety of fields can all help you become more creative. You can learn to be more creative. As Micheal Michalko says, “The artist, after all, is not a special kind of person; every person is a special kind of artist.”
Read to my Creativity Downloads here.
Listen to my Creativity Tips here.
Learn about my workshop Illuminating Creativity here.
Each issue of my free enews Insights offers creativity tips. Get Insights here.