Like most photographers I have received more tips than PG throughout my life but todays photo tip is the daddy !
I know you’ve heard it all before , more click bait from BARRETT , no , no , no …
I’m not going to ask you to sign up to a online course , read loads of ads or buy a book , today I just want to share the one lesson that it has taken me a lifetime to learn …
Before I cut to the chase let me try to explain how I got to where I am and the mistakes I made along the way , I know I sound like a born again snake oil salesman but trust me , we’ll get there …
Let me be clear ,there is nothing wrong with having more tricks up your sleeve than Paul Daniels or whoever the current media magician is but sometimes you have to realise that tricks are just that , tricks !
The only person your deceiving with a camera bag full of tricks is you , as I write this I have memories of wanting to be the best exposed , correctly developed , sharpest focused and technically accomplished , creative well composed photographer on the planet , to be fair I trod this road for many a year and achieved competence in many of the areas identified above , along the way I messed with purple Cokin filters on stormy skies , thought print solarisation was trendy and abused photoshop within a inch of its life , I’ve used and abused every technique in the book at one time or another to earn a crust or to satisfy my endless curiosity , truth be told the results of all these “Tricks” are long gone , thankfully …
The thing with “good” technique is that you can choose to use it should you wish but its no substitute for good photography , they are not the same …
Back in the day when I was just kicking off, my ignorance was my strength , my personal photography possessed a sense of honesty , simplicity and integrity , admittedly I didn’t know any better , the purity of my approach was enforced , my income was my pocket money , I did not own all the kit , I did not ask myself lots of questions , I did not know what questions to ask , it was me a camera and my everyday …
That is more or less where I am now , my LIMBOLAND project is so stripped back that it is naked , what you see is what was there , I’ve even banished the colour …
It can be easy once you realise how easy it is …
Let the natural light and your emotions do the heavy lifting …
Stop mucking about …
MORE…
If your blessed with a bit more time feel free to visit highlights from LIMBOLAND , my Another Day Off project , The State Of Britain series or The Testing Times pictures , they represent the most turbulent years in modern British history and ten years of my life…
Forty of my Foto What I Took Blogs are still available too …