Season's greetings

Christmas is upon us and 2007 is waiting in the wings. I'd like to wish all of my readers peace, happiness and good health. Hope you have a wonderful festive season and a Merry Christmas to my Christian readers.

Thank you to everyone for your comments, sharing ideas, all the emails and the support, which has kept me writing. It's very much appreciated. We truly have a world-wide audience here from New Zealand, Iceland, India, the USA, South Africa, Russia, Dubai, the UK ...everywhere.

If there's one wish I've got it is that there should be more kindness in the world. Wherever I've seen it, whether it is in conflict zones, relationships, businesses, families, on the street, during a natural disaster, in sports competitions - a touch of human kindness does so much to enhance people's lives. It can make all the difference and it's a great gift and as important as food and water.

I am off on a photographic commission and a bit of holiday but I'll be back in the New Year with lots more. In the meantime please browse the archive of articles if you get withdrawal symptoms.

All of the best,

Paul

Comments

Overcoming creative block and self doubt

Every photographer, for that matter every creative, I've ever met comes to a point when they're not happy with the work they're producing. The pendulum between creative highs and dry spells swings continuously. For some the cycle is long and the bouts are quite mild for others the feeling of doubt about their work can be a crushing experience which returns all to frequently. It's actually quite healthy to have these periods of doubt because it can often be the beginning of something new and interesting which takes you further than you thought possible. Creatives in the commercial world have to always perform and although they may agree looking back that they've had a few patches where their work was less good, they always seem to bounce back. A very few creative geniuses deliver such high quality work that their poorest attempts still surpass the rest of us. But I have never heard of anyone, from tortured soul of Van Gogh to the supreme showman and genius, Salvador ...

What You Photograph Reveals How You Think

Photography is often described as a way of seeing. Less often do we talk about it as a way of thinking. What you choose to photograph, and just as importantly what you ignore, quietly mirrors how your mind works. Some photographers are drawn to faces, micro-expressions, emotional spikes. Others chase atmosphere, light, mood. Then there are those who gravitate towards structure, systems, order, the invisible logic holding a scene together. None of this is accidental. The camera becomes a sorting tool. It reveals what your brain prioritises. Where others see chaos, you might see alignment. Where some look for drama, you look for balance. Geometry, repetition, flow, layers, these aren’t just visual preferences, they’re cognitive ones. Strong graphic images tend to come from people who think spatially. Who notice how things relate before they notice what they mean. Lines before labels. Structure before story. And yet, the best images rarely stop there. They gain depth when human pres...

Is professional photography still a viable career?

I am not against amateurs and semi-professionals selling their photography. It's a great way to earn some extra cash. However I am concerned about the level of high quality published work and the standards that clients and the public accept these days. It seems that just about everyone is a photographer. The line between amateur enthusiast and professional is fuzzy to say the least. Photography enthusiasts are selling their images through stock libraries and microstock websites, directly to magazines or through their own and third party sites. They're accepting commissions to shoot weddings, being hired to shoot for magazines and selling fine art prints from their websites. They're teaching photography on the weekend and guiding photographic holidays and safaris. Photography became accessible to the masses with the first non-expert cameras and the famous Kodak slogan"You press the button, we do the rest." The digital camera age has taken the whole thing to a ne...

Beyond the obvious

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