The three questions professional photographers ask

Follow me on Instagram @paul.indigo

As photographers, we walk around seeing the world in a different way to other people. Something catches our eye and triggers our interest. We decide to lift our cameras and take a shot. A photographer with a professional approach will ask themselves several questions before lifting their camera.

Three key questions I always ask myself are:

What specifically in the scene caught my eye?
Is it really worth photographing?
How can I make a stronger image to communicate what’s important to me?

There are, of course, many other questions you ask as you make a series of decisions which lead to the final image. You work the scene. You think about how the light will change, different angles and perspectives and you keep going until you’ve revealed the essence of what you want to communicate. Once you have the first shot, you look for ways to make an even better image. You keep going through this process until you’re sure you’ve got it.

Curiosity and self-critical dissatisfaction are vital drivers in the creative process. Complacency is the enemy of great photography. Keep asking questions, keep working for better answers, hold a passion for seeking perfection, and you’ll take better images.
Till soon,
Paul

Follow me on Instagram @paul.indigo

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

Search This Blog