This Week’s LIDLIPS

28. You can seldom pay your mentors back.

29. Beautiful light happens… sometimes.

30. You can’t create and edit at the same time.

31. The news can be as addicting as pornography… and just as distracting.

Lessons I Didn’t Learn In Photo School 28–31

28. You can seldom pay your mentors back.
Instead, pay their wisdom and help forward. Blog. Teach. Mentor. Do anything you can to enrich the lives of children. Be a lighthouse for others. I continue to marvel at the fact that the more I give, the more I’m helped across the chasms.

29. Beautiful light happens… sometimes.
More often it’s up to the photographer to make the light beautiful. Don’t hesitate to mix up the light as you need it to be. A kitchen may have water, flour and yeast. It’s the kneading of the baker that turns them into a loaf of bread. Think of light as another ingredient that needs to be shaped, bent, filtered, focused, softened… Be the baker.

30. You can’t create and edit at the same time.
Creating and editing are two completely separate tasks. And actually, few of us are good a both. Among pros, there are shooters and there are picture editors. Trying to edit while creating is like trying to drive by pushing on the gas and brake pedals at the same time. Create. Do something else. Then edit. Better yet, have someone else edit.

31. The news can be as addicting as pornography… and just as distracting.
The world has more distractions than ever before. Achieving your goals – personally and professionally – requires that you stay focused on what is most important to you. I’m surprised that for many, staying on top of the latest news is an obsession. I’m surprised because there is so little in the news that we can actually do anything about. I’ve come to realize that if I focus on matters that I can’t change, then I’m not focusing on the issues that I can change.

Previous Lessons I Didn’t Learn In Photo School

LIDLIPS 22 – 27

LIDLIPS 18 – 21

LIDLIPS 13 – 17

LIDLIPS 1–12