This Week’s LIDLIPS

41. Light is like water – both are boring until you put something in them.

42. There will be times when you should take a long break and other times when you should push on.

43. There is nothing to see in a world filled entirely with light or entirely with darkness.

44. “No” is the most powerful word in photography.

45. Often the highest calling of a photographer is to create memories.

Lessons I Didn’t Learn In Photo School 41–45

41. Light is like water – both are boring until you put something in them.
Pure distilled water is odorless, colorless and tasteless. Pure white light is about as interesting. For water, it’s the minerals and other “impurities” that give it taste. For light it’s the atmosphere – natural or created – that gives it character. We love the light at sunrise and sunset because of the warmth. We shiver at the blue light when snow falls at noon. As a photographer, know that you don’t have to take light as it comes straight from the sun or straight from the flash. Gel it. Scrim it. Filter it. Bounce it. Add the impurities you need to get the flavor you want.

42. There will be times when you should take a long break and other times when you should push on.
As a creative you will frequently get to the brink: the brink of total exhaustion, the brink of losing all confidence in your work, the brink of deciding that you’ve been on the wrong path for a while. There will be times when you just have to put it all down and do something else – for a short bit or a long while. There will be other times when you just have to power through and get the job done. Fatigue, self-doubt and losing the way are recurring parts of the creative journey. Not knowing if you should take a break or push on is also part of the path. Between the two, stopping and continuing, there’s a 50/50 chance that you’ll make the right choice. Those are probably the best odds a creative gets.

43. There is nothing to see in a world filled entirely with light or entirely with darkness.
Can you see anything on a page that is pure white or pure black? Of course not. Understand that it is the intersection of light and dark that creates the images we see. Sometimes this intersection is subtle. Other times it is violent. Contrast – the merging of light into darkness – is what makes light interesting. Shadow is just as important as highlight. Color is several flavors of light and dark dancing together. Learn to see this way.

44. “No” is the most powerful word in photography.
Somewhere in the unsearched part of human DNA there must be two bits of code that say “Photographers are all the same” and “Photographers like to work for free”. Virtually all non-photographers believe one or the other and a vocal minority believe both. Learn to say “No” without hesitation. Learn to say “No” gently and with authority. Practice phrases like, “No, I won’t shoot your wedding. I am a still life photographer.” Or, “No, I don’t see how your diminishing reader base means that I should work for free.”  You don’t have to be rude about it. The sense of confidence behind your “No” tells people volumes about the strength of what you will do.

45. Often the highest calling of a photographer is to create memories.
Many photographers feel that they have to make a statement – that they have to show or tell the world something not known before. Many critics feel that without this statement a photograph has no value. The truth is that, relative to human history, there is little that has not been said or shown before. Yet memory remains one of the most transient bits of human existence. Memories are the only time machine we have to transport us into the past. Often, the power of a photograph is that it stimulates memories. This power may serve an audience of only one: one person, one family or one community. Capturing moments that stimulate memories is one of the greatest gifts a photographer can offer.

Previous Lessons I Didn’t Learn In Photo School

LIDLIPS 36–40, LIDLIPS 32–35, LIDLIPS 28–31, LIDLIPS 22–27, LIDLIPS 18–21, LIDLIPS 13–17, LIDLIPS 1–12