I’m No Pro

If you came here looking for advice on how to make the long climb from the amateur/hobbyist photographer that you are now to that of a professional who is well paid and living the good life while he hobnobs with the likes of David DuChemin and Scott Kelby, then you’re at the wrong place because I’m no pro.  I’m not even a semi-pro.  What I am is an artist who figured out she was an artist fairly late in life and who, now – for all intents and purposes – has lived, breathed, and dreamed photography for the past six years.

I don’t have any corporate sponsors who let me try out their hot new equipment before it hits the marketplace and I don’t write fancy product reviews telling you that you absolutely positively have to have this latest gizmo/gadget.  I read.  I shoot. I process. Occasionally, I print.  In between all that I walk the dogs, buy groceries, do the laundry and work a full-time job as an administrative assistant.  I dream in color and stop myself at least once a day to wonder what the world would be like if the clone tool could be used on people.  I want to photograph food while I eat, nature while I walk, buildings while I drive, and people while I socialize.  There’s not always a camera in my hand but there’s always the wish of holding a camera in my heart.

Once I realized I had to photograph things or die I sold an old life insurance policy so I could purchase a DSLR and a few choice lenses to get me on my way; that was January 2007.  I remember it so well because all of the packages arrived on my birthday even though they were scheduled to arrive a few days later.  I took that as a sign from God that I had finally found my true calling – my birth as an artist began on the same day as my physical birth some 47 years earlier.

So I guess the question for the day is…why hang out here?  Well, because photography is, above all else, a form of art – of self-expression.  Photography is not supposed to be primarily about gear and software and awards and publishers.  Ever hear a painter tell another painter they better get a certain kind of new paint that just hit the market or their work will never be taken seriously?  Of course not…but that’s what photography is coming to in many circles.  Let’s face it – there’s a lot of money to be made off of people like us who feel they have to shoot or die – and the marketing companies all know it.

In reality, though, photography is about seeking your true vision, finding the best light, composing a great scene within the confines of the camera’s frame and, ultimately, fulfilling as many of the image’s possibilities as you can.  The image – the art – could care less if you used a Canon or a Nikon or a Sony to capture the scene and it doesn’t have an opinion about whether you are going to process the image with an enlarger in a darkroom or Photoshop on your home computer.  The image – like all of us – simply wants to be the fulfillment of a dream for its Creator.  It should be noticed, contemplated, and studied.  It should open the viewer’s mind or heart or eyes.  It should evoke emotion and, thus, be sustained in the viewer’s memory.  It (again – like us) simply wants the world to be better for its having been here.  That is the illusion I currently chase – the goal I seek to fulfill before I die.  If you, like me, wish to get past what photography IS and look, instead, at what it could be, then welcome to my little corner of the Internet.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be talking about the “other side” of photography – the side we, as artists, come to know only if – and when – we allow ourselves to fully engage in it.  There will be technical help for beginners, thought provoking ideas for intermediates, and essays for anyone who has ten minutes to kill on a quiet Friday afternoon.  What you won’t get much of here is the commercial side of photography because I’ve found that nothing kills art faster than worrying about what to buy next.  So join me if you care to; I’d love to get to know you all and hope to learn as much from you as you learn from me.