by Scott Bourne

I found this little gem in the archives of Photofocus.com. It's the perfect dose of advice many of you need to help get you through this first quarter as you fine tune your skill set.  At one of the best programs I've ever heard Scott Bourne do, or anybody for that matter, last summer, he talked about the responsibility we all have as "High Priests of Memory Protection". Every client deserves the the best images you can capture. The only way you can get to that level is to never stop learning, never stop experimenting and keep taking those "photographic leaps" Scott refers to. Skip Cohen

The great and prolific photographer Garry Winogrand used to say that you should be risking failure every time you raise your camera to your eye. By that he meant if the scene looks familiar to you, you’ve probably already taken a similar photograph, so try something new. It may not work, but when it does it can take you to the next level. I find that I have to push myself all the time because I lapse into familiar habits: shooting from eye level, same lens to subject distance or comfort zone, don’t move around enough or shoot enough variety.

We have no excuse for not taking photographic chances with digital, it doesn’t cost extra and there’s nothing to lose and extraordinary pictures to gain. So take a look at your stuff, if you’re seeing a lack of variety and similar photographs, grab your camera and take a photographic leap….