Jorge Quinteros

The Curse of Idle Thoughts

One of the difficult parts about being a photographer is that you can’t fake what you do. One can fabricate all these ideas of what they hope to photograph or how far they wish to travel to create the work they feel best illustrates their talent but if all we do is talk and write about it without having photographs to coexist with our statements, then people will surely see through that.

Unlike a writer, there’s only so much we can do as photographers with our laptops sitting pleasantly behind a desk or at the far end table of a local coffee shop. We spend this enormous amount of money on our camera equipment for a reason and it sure as heck shouldn’t be for the purpose of bragging that we own it. There’s no way around the fact that a photographer is identified by the work they produce out in the field and not what they daydream about in the comfort of their mind or their office.

I’ve been victim of falling into this trap in the past and even now with believing that the value of an idea is having purely conceptualized it but there’s more to it. The face value of it lies in the ability to execute it and quite frankly I’m mentally exhausted with having project ideas and thinking I’ve made progress with any of them on the basis of how well written out they may seem on my Moleskine.

Beginning anything is grueling. Saying that you haven’t because you’re absolutely busy is the complete opposite. Writing this makes me realized that it probably represents the complete contrast to what I’ve said so far and so I’ve made the decision to stop writing about what I hope to accomplish as a photographer, to quit grumbling about the lack of time I may have and start adopting the mentality that in order to be considered creative, I have to go through the process of creating something first to subsequently share it.

This is not to say I’m not pleased with anything I’ve photograph thus far but I’ve noticed that the more I read, the more inquisitive I become and the more I discover the type of work I’m drawn to, the more pressure I feel to dedicate time to produce content that’s a direct result of my inspiration as oppose to not doing much of anything.

On Self-Promotion & Being Uncomfortable as a Photographer

A New York photographer by the name of James Maher once wrote a guest post on the popular Digital Photography School website where he shared a few pointers on how to be a successful freelance photographer. The tip that stuck out to me the most was when he said that “The jobs that scare you s***less are the most important ones” and I’ve held on to this true statement.

After reading the article, I was left with the idea that if you want to be different and successful, you have to learn to be uncomfortable. Think about it for a minute. What’s comfortable about marching into your bosses office requesting for a raise or reaching out to a potential client selling your services or asking a person out on a date? Nothing comes easy and the moment you feel comfortable with where you are, that’s when one should look at what the next challenge should be.

I can’t speak for every photographer but I think the majority who are starting off like me, they don’t want to be a sales person selling photography per say. We just wanna own the best gear that we can afford, have an idea and go create some compelling photographs and not have to deliberate with practices on what we must do to promote it. The reality is that thriving in this industry is not solely based on one’s talent and ambition but also in knowing how to conduct yourself as a business which has been my biggest test mostly because I don’t see myself as anyone other than a person who loves his camera.

Friend Erin Gazzo posing with her Nikon D90 at The Metropolitan Museum in Manhattan.

The challenge in photography comes when you start considering it as a job - something to get done rather than something to do. I already have a day job that pays my bills, feeds my family and enables us to live comfortably. At the moment, any opportunity I get to extend what I do as a photographer such as selling prints or writing guest articles on other sites is a window for me to stand out and create avenues for something else.

I’m not the best at self-promotion because I don’t generally like calling attention to myself but I do value developing relationship with people, whether it’s online or in person. That’s been a vital element in attracting the type of exposure I probably wouldn’t have sought out for myself. Instead, the act of being “known” has been the by-product of networking with people who may not be photographers themselves but have an appreciation for the craft and whom I share similar interest with.

Having photographed mostly for myself the last couple of years, at no point did I think that taking photos would lead to a few people potentially wanting to buy them. Whether it’s on Flickr or Twitter, I occasionally receive flattering comments complimenting my work and I often joke by responding that the reason they may think it’s nice or interesting it’s because I never publish the bad ones. Any way to get your name out there is good. The goal for me wasn’t to find the best platform to sell my prints. The real goal was to get traffic and get people to see what I was photographing and read what I was writing in the very busy media space that is the web.

Who Should You Photograph For?

Photographing for a market is a always good discipline but I always suggest photographing for yourself first, that way your photos will have a genuine passion without trying to work out how to sell it. The question I often ask myself before venturing out to shoot is “how can I begin to justify the time and effort I am going to put into this and feel that I’m bringing something new into the world with it?” Bearing in mind that almost every place I can think of has already been photographed, there’s a need to focus on how one can cover familiar places in fresh ways. Photography is about freshness and going out to explore the unknown and make it notable.

Don’t just have ideas about places or people you want to photograph because that simply wastes energy you could be putting into doing it. I’m not generally sitting back in pensive mood analyzing on how else I can make money but more on what else I can photograph. Photography is often classified as a lonely profession and it’s your passion that will very often sustain and reward you. I have friends who’ve asked for advice on how to get started with this whole photoblogging and selling prints gig and I always tell them not to worry about camera, blogging platforms or how much to charge for anything, until they have truly made their work as good as possible. The enjoyment and adventure will all come through in the photographs.

I always found the process of self-promotion and networking to be uncomfortable and ironically enough, doing it is what has contributed to my growth as a photographer.

11 Random Thoughts From an Amateur Photographer

1. You can’t be oversensitive about your work, especially if you’re just starting out. It’s ok to embrace the memories and feelings you felt when you took the photographs but along with that should come the confidence to share them regardless if they’re praised or criticized.
2. Stop glorifying every single new camera that’s released. That can only lead you to think less of your current setup and potentially hinder you from producing something valuable with it.
3. You don’t have to know every single aspect of photography to be good at it but you at least need to know how to manipulate your camera to get the results you want.
4. Just because you’re a photographer doesn’t mean every conversation has to revolve around the subject. Photography might be what you pursue but having a life outside of it is what ultimately serves as an inspiration for what you do with the camera. Ever heard the saying “if you want to produce interesting photos, you have to first become an interesting person?
5. Don’t take offense to people attributing your photographic talent based on the camera you own because it will happen at one point. Let them spend as much as you did on all the gear you own and they’ll eventually come back asking “how come my photos don’t look like yours?”
6. If you don’t feel that strong tug inside of you when days go by without photographing, it might be an indication that you’re not as obsessed with the craft as you thought were. Being a photographer is like being a smoker. They can’t go a day without that high, let alone think about how much they miss it when they haven’t touch either the camera or a cigarette.
7. As with anything else, practice makes perfect but opting to read a photography book rather than going out to shoot is nothing to feel guilty about. Ultimately what gets you to take intriguing photographs is the manner in which you think and approach situations and not necessarily the tool you use to capture them. Reading gets your mind thinking differently.
8. If you’re “friends” with local photographers online, why continue to admire them from afar? I’ve reached out to several photographers in the past, some of which have been more the willing to meet up in one of the many quaint coffee shops we have in Brooklyn. There’s no such thing as strangers, just people who we haven’t met yet and how much easier could the encounter be knowing that you both already share a passion.
9. Being a good writer is not a prerequisite for being a decent photographer but it certainly helps tremendously if you have a equal enthusiasm for both. I don’t consider myself a terrific writer but writing for this site has certainly enabled me to better articulate my thoughts both on paper, when socializing and to a certain extent, while photographing.
10. Realize that not everyone is going to feel strongly about the fundamentals of photography as you do but the most you can hope is for people to start evaluating their own work after having seen yours.
11. If you can’t produce work that you’re proud of at home, what makes you think you’ll be able to do it abroad?

Photography, Thoughts & New Year

What started as a vague idea over a quick breakfast at our kitchen table in 2010 has somehow evolved into what you see today.

I’ve tried blogging in the past but the thrill continually dwindled as time went by. You can say the process was somehow similar to that typical nameless photograph that comes tucked inside a newly purchased wallet. The wallet may already be yours but the appreciation for it doesn’t sink in until you’ve extract that generic content and begin occupying it with stuff that really matters to you. So the challenge of the site wasn’t necessarily on whether I should keep it but more on figuring out what I wanted for it to be if it continued to exist.

Judging by the large portion of writing they may see on it, when asked by friends to describe my site, I like to say it’s not just about photography but more importantly, it revolves around what I’ve managed to teach myself about photography which is way different. It’s funny that I don’t recall half of what I sat through in Photography 101 in college and that the majority of what still lingers fresh in my mind is a direct result of sheer curiosity that stemmed after graduation. There was that difference between being forced to learn something and taking it upon yourself to absorb it so that it means something to you.

Because of this site, I’ve had the privilege of finding a community of wonderful talented and supportive people who I haven’t personally met and yet there’s a strong association among us on the basis that we’re all learning about this passion as we go along and we’re open to share our experiences and knowledge.

This post was never planned or much less thought out and it sort wrote itself in my head as the sun began to set depressingly early during the 40 minute commute home from work on the I-95.

It is rare but there are those occasional people that know exactly what they want but you have to admit there’s a level of excitement for those that haven’t figured it out yet. I know what I love doing on my spare time, I’m well aware of the tools that I love using and I certainly love being able to communicate stories in a language that you can pretty much say everyone speaks which of course I’m referring to photography.

I’m really not big on resolutions because I don’t believe in waiting for the year to reset in order to commit to anything but I am a fan of setting goals so as to develop yourself in something that’s meaningful to you.

Is anything changing on the site for the New Year?

Not really. As much as I relish the opportunity to use photography as an excuse to venture out anywhere around New York, for the New Year, I really want to start working more on personal projects, one of which is currently underway but has taken some time to execute which is good because nothing worth pursuing comes easy.

The Photographer Spotlight Series has been great because I’ve exchanged correspondence with photographers who’s work I really admire and who I was even fortunate enough to receive a response back from despite how busy they may have been. Needless to say that the series will continue.

Any else going on? At the moment, just a few vague ideas that have been typed into Simplenote which I hope to materialize very soon. What I can say now is for you not to be surprised if you notice a fresh coat of paint around here sometime this month or the next.

On The Topic of Talent

I generally have very mixed feelings about being told “you’re talented”, largely because I don’t feel talented. Talent is the natural ability to do something for which people may think there’s not much effort put into accomplishing something and that’s simply a result of people not always being previewed to what you go through to do what you do.

I probably shouldn’t mentioned this because it’ll influence you to sift back through the first 2 year of photos I shared on Flickr but truth be told that I’m slightly ashamed of it at least from an artistic standpoint. I took those photos because I had a camera and not because I felt there was anything more to the craft.

There was no talent lingering anywhere in those photographs and not to say that there’s much now but it was obvious I have no god-given talent for what I do now. Do I have a much better understanding for what it means to be a photographer? Of course but not because it’s an appreciation that you’re instilled with for just owning a camera.

What I will tell you is that my photography is something I’ve been fully working on for the past 2 years. I say 2 years because that’s how long I’ve felt I’ve been taking this expensive hobby seriously. Prior to that, I guess you can say I was just a guy with a camera and little direction. Who chooses to own close to $2,000 in camera equipment without at least knowing that you’re really interested in taking this “hobby” further than any other typical camera owner would. I wouldn’t. Buying camera gear is one thing but overcoming the frustration of learning how to use it is another and there were numerous time where I was fully fed up with the inability to produce the type of photos I assumed would automatically result from just owning a dSLR.

Friends who have just purchased their first dSLR are asking me the questions I asked myself when I first bought mine. “What the f*ck are all these buttons for?” Pressing them all is not gonna get you anywhere. It’s the interest that I assume you have that will get you all the technical answers to your questions.

The only time I never felt guilty for having spent 3 hours of web surfing was when it involved not so much scrutinizing other people’s work but more on reading how they described their experience and reason for photographing what they did.

I read photography essays as much as travel ones. I hound friends for the opportunity to prove to them that they’re indeed photogenic. I submit photographs to contest. I constantly searched for local events in Brooklyn that give me the excuse to venture out and capture the essence of being there. I tried all different settings. I watch Youtube video pertaining to an areas of photography that I seek to improve on. I read magazines. I often Google “Brooklyn Photographers” with the intent to establish some sort of relation with people that share my passion and hopefully have the opportunity to meet up with them for at least coffee.

But above everything else, I’m reminded that the reason I’m embarrassed with my early photos on Flickr is because I had not yet nearly gone through all the endless amount of work that encompassed reading everything from camera manuals to philosophical articles on photography, to doing general research and mostly importantly, simply trying to get over the hurdle of gear addiction.

So do I think I’m talented. Not really. Do I feel that I’m developing because of everything that I do? I like to think so. I think I would be more approving if someone told me that I’m “developing as a photographer” as oppose to stating that I’m talented because that would at least take into account the fact that I’m “developing” as a result of all the work that I do on my end but that you rarely see or hear about.

The Value of Time for the Holidays

It’s likely you’ve managed to gradually put together a list of photography related items throughout the year with ambitions to be surprised with receiving a few of them for the holidays.

I do it every year, although the chances of my wife surprising me with any of it is small because it’s possible I’ve purchased it way before she’s considered entering a mall or navigating Amazon.

There’s a tradition during the holidays for us where Vanessa and I crumple up 5 piece of paper each, dumped them into our own red holiday stocking and randomly pick out 3 papers from each others bag. Written on them are gifts that we would love to receive from one another but the spin is that out of the 5 that we wrote down, we’re unaware of which one we would get. The problem this year is that I actually don’t want anything.

Ever since I accepted photography as something that represents more than a typical hobby, I’ve managed to amass a respectable collection of gear on my own to a point where I no longer feel there’s a void to be filled in my Kata bag. I’m never against sporting the classic grin that comes with screwing on new glass onto my camera but I ultimately believe that having the right tools at your disposal is the best way to improve at whatever you’re trying to do, so gear-wise I feel content with what I have without yearning for anything more.

It would be easy creating a Photoshop document followed by copying & pasting photos of gear I would want for Christmas but that’s the type of “ultimate photographer gift guide” you’re likely to see throughout the whole month of December being published elsewhere so I have no intention of doing the same.

So as a photographer what do I hope to be handed over that’s neatly wrapped and pulled out from underneath the Christmas tree? Well, it’s not anything tangible. In fact, it’s probably something odd to request but the only thing I want is time.

Improving in anything takes time and effort. The more you put into it, the more you’re likely to see results from any endeavor. If I were to write down all of the sections of “free time” I have outside of my day job and father/husband responsibilities, I would be left with close to little. My wife is extremely supportive and continuously encouraging me to do something more with my photography but regardless of which route I choose to pursue this passion of mine, it’s going to ultimately require time for me to materialize any idea into something substantial.

Needless to say that time is valuable and very often much of one’s energy is spent conjuring up incredible projects in our minds but that’s as far as they go. This “gotta have more” mentality that permeates during the holidays is what I’ve come to characterize as an artistic disease because the momentum and motivation to potentially do something valuable with your camera and talent is stumped by the thought that you can’t perform because you seem to be missing yet another piece of gear in your bag and to brag about.

I’ve made it easy for my wife and her pocket this year. We’re in the process of buying a house so it’s an added incentive for not having to spend on trivial stuff that won’t help me improve as a photographer. The basics, the fundamentals and in the end the stuff that will allow me to get more work done and potentially attract clients is having the time to venture out and shoot. I no longer see the purpose of spending a dime on anything that won’t hustle for me.

The easiest way I’ve managed to attract a decent amount of traffic to this site has been by sharing photographs along with writing about the process that went into capturing them but again, none of it would be possible without having had the time to navigate through a crowded city like New York dedicating myself to capturing people, places or things that are of interest to me.

How exactly can my wife gift me time? Easy. I’m off from work on weekends and occasionally she might be as well and so the simple act of taking care of our son lets say on a Saturday is enough for me to dedicate to an entire day to tackling a project, assuming I’m methodical during the planning so as to make more of my time.

You don’t need for me to speak to you about what steps you need to take to grow more as a photographer because regardless of whether you’ve figured it out or not already, it’s pointless if you don’t have time to develop that third eye, that sixth sense that very often gets you compliments on your work.