Writing About Workflow on The Read & Trust Network Newsletter »
Every Tuesday I look forward to reading an article from one of the many talented writers who are part of the Read & Trust Network. Somehow I’m very fortunate to be part of this group and this week’s edition is written by me where I talk about my photography workflow but with a twist.
It may seem a photographer’s workflow is all revolves around how on manages their photographs but “for me it’s mostly everything that has nothing to do with the camera or the software. The workflow I’m mostly interested in is the one that begins way before the gear has been packed or a shot taken.”
If you haven’t subscribed yet, for $5 each month, I suggest you do and you’ll receive a long-form article every week that’s published exclusively by a Read & Trust members viewed exclusively to those subscribers.
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“It pays to be a good writer if you want people to be drawn to your blog and your work. Great writing gives life to the photographs it accompanies. To young aspiring photographers, don’t skip out on English and writing classes just because you think you want to take pictures. Nowadays, much more is required to break through.”
Photographer John Mireles talks on what he learned about wedding photographer Jasmine Star and explores the Why on her popularity in the industry. Aside from her work, her greatest strength also lies in her writing ability.
A lot of the photographers I admire are not just brilliant photographers but they also happen to be gifted writers. Then again, there’s also photographer’s work who I’m not particularly fond of but I’m still intrigued by what they write.
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Photographers Should Write More »
Bryan Formhals’ call to photographers:
Most photographers have a blog. And many photographers have blogs where they just post photographs…but the thing to keep in mind is that it’s incredibly easy to post photographs. It doesn’t take much, and tons of people are doing it.
Photographers should write more, and I don’t just mean about photography. I want to read about their daily lives, their motivations, the funny stories, the challenges, the frustrations, the big breaks, the heartaches, the new ideas, the failed projects, their weird new obsessions, etc.
I think the reason why we photographers sometimes don’t write as much is because we see it as a skill that we rather leave to the kind of people who can march their words like wooden soldiers. We all commit so much to the act of wanting to write so well that the actual thought of it strains us so we just let our camera do all the communicating.
There’s very few photoblogs I subscribe to and ironically enough, I’m not sure if you would classify sites like Adam Marelli, Fiftyfootshadows, David DuChemin, Eric Kim or Alex Garcia’s Assignment Chicago as a photoblog because they do more than just “post photographs”. They write. I may not know them personally but I have a much further understanding of the type of people they are through their ideas and opinions.
I consider the opportunity of publishing anything as an invitation to share something other than just a photo. For me there’s something too casual, too normal about just uploading photos without the occasional commentary.
As a photographer, I want to admire your work as much as everything else that drives you to do it and the only way for us to know anything about it is for you to write more.
I’m far from being a decent writer but I don’t let that stop me from spending a few hours believing I’m typing something great. If you’re like me and you’re thinking your writing may not be good enough, take Bryan’s advice and opinion to heart.
Photographers shouldn’t lose sleep over their prose. Instead, they should focus on communicating their ideas and telling their stories. That’s what I want to read from photographers.
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Write. Read. Inspired
I wouldn’t say not photographing affects me entirely. Yet, there’s certainly guilt in seeing your camera set on a tripod next to your desk the way I have it and realizing the period from which you last interacted with it seems to have elongated more than you would like.
It’s not collecting dust either but if it were up to us, we’d want to occupy at least half our day exploring the type of photo journeys we day dream about but because life is so rushed and we have other obligations to a bear in mind, the question of how do you keep yourself inspired when you don’t have a camera with you comes to mind.
Typically if we’re deprived of the tools we need to develop our art, there’s a logic to not obsess with the inability to accomplish anything since as photographers, we ultimately need a camera to tell our side of how we perceive things.
The easy part to photographing the stuff you like is uploading and sharing it. The flip side to that would be not having anything to share for days yet striving to keep that same level of participation lets say on your blog as if you had just completed the best self-assignment ever.
Self-assignments keep me occupied when traveling plans are on hold but what can you occupy yourself with in times when you can’t do both? How do you keep yourself creatively inspired?
For me, what you’re reading now is part of it. I resort to writing about what I would rather be doing which is photographing. Whether I’m good at it or not is another topic but like Shawn said, “quality content is not dependent upon its topic. You may write with regard to any subject you choose. It is how you write that matters.”
The starting point for any topic comes from reading as much photography related stuff I feel is as valuable as spending an entire day training your eye to see better with the camera. I like to think world renown chefs gain most of their inspiration for their craft by reading and tasting the works of others and a lot of that happens outside of the realm in which they thrive - the kitchen.
So my point is even though we might not have our cameras with us all the time, that doesn’t necessarily imply we can’t at least absorb ourselves with material that could very well be inspiration for when we eventually get our hands on it.
I thought having a photoblog would absolve me from having to write as much but it’s had the opposite effect on me because I’m enjoying it even more.
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Writing & Curiosity in Photography
It can be a little confusing for any upcoming photographer when they’re told that if they want to create something substantial with their work, they have to learn as much as they can about the craft while being reminded that one’s “success” is not entirely dependent on how much you know about using the right shutter speed or depth of field when shooting.
I read this article about 12 Things Students Need To Know/Study Before Graduation with a photography degree and 2 of the 12 stuck out the most.
1. Learn to Write: In addition to the growing online friendships I’ve developed, I equally have personal close friends who’ve complimented my work and who coincidently have began expressing interest in photography. They have a dSLR, they take relatively engaging photographs and they want to build an online platform to share them but there’s one statement that turns me off about their approach towards it.
“I want to have photoblog like yours but without all the writing.” I think the reason we view writing as such an intimidating process is because we don’t think we’re good at it. I’m far from being great at putting words together but it’s a skill I have deep interest in improving because I enjoy sharing insight on anything I publish by at least giving you a general sense what it was like being there with my camera.
You don’t necessarily have to write about your photographs if you have a photoblog but I like to think I’ve revealed more of myself through it. Photoblogging without writing is like being on stage displaying a slideshow of your life without any commentary to contribute to the overall story. It instills purpose and makes the presentation more meaningful if you ask me.
2. Know Something About the World besides just Photography: Sounds ludicrous but I’ve found that sitting around wondering why things are the way they are or wanting to know what certain people are like has been a huge encouragement for picking up a camera. I’m talking about being curious and having the urge to explore the answers to things people think about but rarely act upon. According to this article, some of the most prevalent advice photojournalist students receive is that “NPR rarely hires just photographers because they only think and talk about photography.”
I have friends who’ve dived head first into some of the most comprehensive photography books on Amazon and so when we’ve been out shooting together, it irks me when all they can talk about is shutter speed, f/stops, exposure and all this technical lingo. Not that I don’t understand it but I talk to myself about that stuff in my head and I pay more attention to the setting and people around me rather than obsessed about what I need to do to my camera to capture a photo. I’ve found the best and most unexpected stories by being observant of my location as oppose to my camera.
As a retail manager, being extroverted comes with the job so I have no problem walking up to people and being curious about life and their everyday doings. Of course, when you have a camera it becomes more intimidating but it’s a skill I’m working on. Talking to people, especially those from different cultures is absolutely fascinating.
From experience, I’ve found that the people who have more difficult in finding what to photograph are the ones who have no interest in anything other than their gear.
Photography and writing are completely different crafts but in a sense they’re not that different in that they both require you to have a general interest of something to make the final product meaningful while not obsessing too much about the craft itself.
As for the photographs in this post, it’s a glimpse of the first major snow storm we were hit with in New York this year and I was more interested in how people were reacting to it as oppose to the actual snow.
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What Photography Teaches You About Writing »
The money quote for me in this article is:
A photograph may be wordless, but it will still speak to the viewer if the photographer knows what he’s looking for. In writing, you may have a 500-page novel but you still need to be able to sum it up in a line or two. If you can’t do that, you don’t know what your story is about.
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