“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." ~ George Benard Shaw
Freedom
April, 2019
Trust your training and technique; your gift for sharing and your vision… And just play.
I share the same message with creative photographers as I have for over a decade with creative writers and authors I’ve coached.
YES, being good at your craft is about technique and the right equipment for the right environment and knowing how you’ll process the image once its captured. I talk a good bit about that, too, when I speak to groups hoping to better engage their creativity.
But “creating” is about connecting the heart with the mind; the soul with the skills.
We must feed our longing for beauty and wonder and magic, too. And when the moment arises, we must quench that thirst, drown in our own unique vision, and create a fantasy for others to share.
Moment
April, 2019
What will you create, bottling an eternal moment in time for others to experience forever?
Creativity is not so much about what “can” you do. It’s what WILL you do.
The captures shared in this post were shot in full sun. Working with the over-exposed light, rather than giving up because of it, I set my soft-focus lens up on a tripod (typically, I’m shooting handheld with my Lensbaby Velvet 85) and took 5-frame brackets, varying exposure. I wanted the bright light and color, the over-exposed glow, AND the shadow. And I knew exactly what I could do with them in post.
The result is a combination of Lightroom and Photoshop CC work, NIK Colorefex Pro, and finally some custom TOPAZ adjustments I’ve developed for just this sort of image.
And to me, they illustrate child’s play better than anything I could have more traditionally captured, if my attention had been merely on documenting such a lovely, sunny, early spring day. Instead, I set my heart to dreaming…
All because I’ve been working on children’s book ideas for a while now, and stretching my soft-focus skills, and accelerating my post-processing creativity…knowing, hoping, for the gift of a creative moment like this one… I had the technical skills and perfect lens in my arsenal to tackle such a challenging setting.