 Stop treating various aspects of your business like it was rocket science - have some fun and mix up the formulas!  Image by Gregory Heisler I love Sunday mornings, because it's a time to just kick back a little and think about the week that's just closed and the week ahead. For me, it's a time when I just start thinking about things I'd like to do that are different. This morning I'm thinking about how many photographers out there keep doing the same old thing and don't understand why they're business isn't getting more traffic.
Years ago, an old buddy used to remind everybody who attended his programs to save the last frame "on the roll" and just shoot completely different from everything else they'd done. Take the time to experiment. Even though we're back into the busy season, for many of you there are some pretty slow week days. So, during a momentary lull in business, why not think about mixing up the "formula"? Time Magazine cover photographer, Gregory Heisler did my headshot a few years ago, which I wrote about in a very early blog. It wasn't your average lighting set up for a portrait, but then again, Gregory is anything but average! He photographed wide open with a Hasselblad H1 with the 100mm f2.2 lens. A narrow vertical softbox, with just the modeling light on, was 6 inches from my face and the camera maybe 12-18 inches away. An assistant held in a black piece of card stock just to keep the flair off the lens. For the most part, everyone has some down time here and there. It's the perfect time to experiment, but not just in the capture of your images. How about looking at doing things differently in manipulation and workflow? Maybe it's time to test a new design on a direct mail piece? How's your website - is it time to update the images with a stronger look? Whatever changes you make, keep focused on the fun of it! If you let it become a chore, then you've lost perspective on what makes imaging so much fun! Remember, you're an artist, NOT a photographer. That gives you license to break the rules, just make sure you've learned them all before you break them! From Scott Adams on Quoteland.com: "If you’re going to create, create a lot. Creativity is not like playing the slot machines, where failure to win means you go home broke. With creativity, if you don’t win, you’re usually no worse off than if you hadn’t played." Photo Credit: © shotsstudio - Fotolia.com
1 Comment
|
Your walk is just a click away
Our Partners
"Why?"Check out "Why?" one of the most popular features on the SCU Blog. It's a very simple concept - one image, one artist and one short sound bite. Each artist shares what makes the image one of their most favorite. We're over 130 artists featured since the project started. Click on the link above and you can scroll through all of the episodes to date.
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed
© 2019 Skip Cohen University