I’ve decided to limit myself to one or two photos at a time from now on. I’ve been excited and eager to learn and experiment but wary of overwhelming people. I want the flowers to be special for me and unique for others.
I got caught up in the love of it. Two at a time is plenty. People generously compare my photos to Georgia Okeeffe’s paintings. Too generous but flattering, and I don’t believe it.
She did one at a time and showed it one at a time. I’m not selling my photos or thinking of it, but lessons can be learned.
I want more time to think about my pictures and prepare for them and less time to download them and post them on the blog.
Two is enough. I’m not Georgia Okeeffe.
Maria is helping me choose the one or two a day that is worth sharing.
This way, I can take more time with them; I want to be confident of them and careful and experiment. That’s how to learn to be a photographer.
Try everything and try it again. I take photos every day, sometimes more than once. And ignore the people who tell you you are doing it wrong.
. I want to take it a bit slower without giving it up. I only want to put up unique flower pictures.
It’s so important to photograph with intent. It’s easy to forget that with digital photography. A great exercise is to go out with your camera and pretend it’s film, you only have 16 shots. It makes you really think hard before you click the shutter. The spray and pray method of photography is a product of the digital age, and it doesn’t help anyone increase their skills. It definitely increases the number of lucky success shots, but at least for me, that’s not the type of photographer that I want to be, and It sounds like you don’t either.
Dana, I love this message, so wise and thoughtful. We do think the same way, it is so easier to take a ton of photos with a digital camera, we can’t always treasure the picture it’s so easy and free to get rid of it. I love the Leica cameras because they do echo film in softness and depth of field and character. I agree, I get better only when I take more time to experiment and feel what I am doing. I don’t want my readers to get bored by waves of colorful images. I want the right image to really stand out. It’s an emotional thing for you. Thanks so much for writing this message, it is both affirming and inspiring. Stay in touch, J
dana…I love the term photography of intent..
If you don’t believe that you’re Georgia O’Keeffe, why do you incessantly mention it? Are you familiar with the concept of “humble brag”? It’s very unbecoming!
Julie…Duh…because it feels great, silly, I’d love to mention it every day and put it on the journal header…hmmm… I have heard of Humble Brag; I think I had it at the Savoy Hotel In London during tea…Best to you.
Photographing with intent is a term I learned, and something we discuss often in my local photography group. I’m glad it resonated with you, because it’s so important. Personally, I am also a strong believer in carefully editing what I share on social media. I very rarely post more than one photo at a time. Believe me, when you post too many photos, viewers scroll through quickly and barely see or look at them. I was taught early on to only show my best work, and choose carefully. I get quite a bit of engagement on both my social media platforms, and I think its because I choose what I post carefully.