September 17, 2009

Thank you Mr McNally

I've never met the guy but in some ways he's like my photographic Messiah... yeah a little sacreligious I guess.

Was having one of those "HOLY COW I CAN"T TAKE A PICTURE TO SAVE MY LIFE!" moments today and it was if Joe knew it.

Read through his blog post today and came across this gem (which for anyone who follows Joe's weird, wonderful and wild photographic ramblings knows...he's got a lot of em):

"There are times I am so completely bereft of inspiration and ideas I say to myself, “I wonder what a really good photographer would do right now?” I’m not kidding, or being self effacing. There are some jobs I just feel like I’m standing there, the last human in a horror movie, and the zombies are closing in.

So you have to be confident, to be sure. (Or project confidence even while inside your head the insecurity meter has gone to DefCon Five.) But a healthy dose of anxiety and self doubt (”I’m using a 200–maybe I should go wide?”) are also important tools in your bag. Causes you to double check yourself and remember how fragile photographic success is, and while your last frame was Fat City the next one might be a ticket to Pismo Beach. The fact that you rarely have THE answer is a good one to remember. No need to focus on it to the point of paralysis. Just remember it. You are only as good as your last job. The next one may just eat your lunch and your soul."

It helps to know that a successful photographer who's been shooting for 30+ years still gets the same feeling that I have today.

So.

Ready, Set, Confidence, Shoot!

More soon...

2 comments:

  1. Kat I read the same article ...there have been times I have felt the rushing pull of the abyss and any creative thought that I may have had vanishes leaving me wondering if I every had any. I asked one fashion photographer that I know if he ever had the Muses just up and leave for Buffalo. He kind of looked at me with a glimpse of quiet condescension before say "Hell Ya". So I asked him what he did to get over it. He said just keep shooting until you think it is time to take a break and then go grab something in the studio and look at it very intensely and ask yourself if you can work it into the shot, if that object doesn't work try something else until it sparks an idea...." I hope to have a very cluttered studio one day :-)

    He said too that it is important to never let the rest of the people in the studio feel your sudden laspe of creativity.

    Jim

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