It’s time! Time to head back to Tremont for the Autumn Brilliance workshop. As I set forth this morning, it’s more about getting a break from the house-selling insanity than the photography but I’m hopeful by the time I get there, I’ll be in the proper mindset to focus on improving my skills and not just getting away from suburbia.
In the end what I’m hoping to channel this weekend is artistry. I’ve got to step out of blogger mode in which I’m trying to capture the essence of a trip or place through a series of images and push myself to take composition to new heights in a single image.
This idea takes me back a couple of years to a National Geographic seminar I took with one of my idols, Jim Richardson. Jim has been known to rent planes, trucks, etc. to fulfill the vision of an image he wants to capture. During the seminar he shared a dramatic image he shot from a moving truck he had to finagle in some way in order to get the shot. It’s a captivating image of course, but it seems some amateur once told him “I could have done that.” To which he replied “Yes, but did you?”
I’ve taken that anecdote to heart, knowing that you have to go to greater lengths to capture truly compelling images because there’s a world of difference between could have and did. With that in mind, what I’ll be mentally exercising this weekend is the idea of going all in to achieve true artistry.
And since it I’ll be spending the weekend with the fabulous Will Clay, I thought it would be appropriate to share one of my favorite Willism’s that is a nice companion for the Richardson anecdote…
Photograph like you mean it.
Yes, sir!
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