{"id":11646,"date":"2014-10-08T18:46:01","date_gmt":"2014-10-08T18:46:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=11646"},"modified":"2014-10-09T02:01:14","modified_gmt":"2014-10-09T02:01:14","slug":"getting-your-head-on-straight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=11646","title":{"rendered":"Getting Your Head on Straight……"},"content":{"rendered":"

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For some time now I’ve been obsessed with the new push to get out the eBooks!\u00a0 It’s really a great thing because secretly, (well not anymore), my greatest love after the Lord, my family and photography is writing!\u00a0 I truly love to try and express myself in the written word, emphasis on “try”!\u00a0 Some activities make us happy and writing is one of those for me.\u00a0 So I got an email yesterday from a good friend who was concerned because of my “push” to get these eBooks done, she was afraid I had a terminal illness!\u00a0 I do have a terminal health issue, it’s called life!\u00a0 I’m 68 and will be 69 in February so the clock is ticking!\u00a0 Now I may live another decade or more, but I really want to share a whole lot of stuff, so I’m dedicating myself to getting it done now….<\/p>\n

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One book I’m planning is the title of this blog post, “Getting Your Head On Straight!”<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0 I meet people all the time that express to me that they have a very deep desire to get really good at photography, and they want my advice.\u00a0 I also have a great desire to help them, but truthfully it’s not just about aperture, shutter speeds, which camera body and how sharp is your lens!\u00a0 No, I think it all starts with getting your head on straight.\u00a0 Let me give you the brief outline of that book, which of course, will get fleshed out a great deal more.<\/p>\n

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Step One:\u00a0 What is your goal?\u00a0<\/strong><\/span> Now you can’t just say become a great photographer, you have to quantify what you mean by GREAT!\u00a0 By great do you mean highly respected by others, widely published, the author of many best selling books, having one man shows in prestigious galleries?\u00a0 You have to have a more reasonable goal than that.\u00a0 Keep in mind that Joe McNally, a truly great photographer, is having his first<\/span> one man show in Santa Fe right now!\u00a0 Joe is well up in his fifties and has worked hard as photographer his entire life.\u00a0 Joe is considered by many, me included, as one of the greatest photojournalists in the history of photography!\u00a0 Do you really want to saddle your passion with such a lofty goal.\u00a0 Why not just have the goal of just getting better each day?<\/p>\n

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Step Two:\u00a0 Be realistic and set a goal that is attainable<\/span>.<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0 Instead of 6 best selling books, why don’t you decide that you are going to try to really get the fundamentals of photography down pat, and see where that takes you!\u00a0 It may not shock you to find out that Joe started where you are, and he worked very hard for along time to get to that gallery in Santa Fe!\u00a0 Make several short term goals, that when added up get you to that book or a gallery show!\u00a0 It can be done, but it is a process!<\/p>\n

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Step Three:\u00a0 Get used to the idea that this journey you are on, is a long one, and it is going to take time<\/strong><\/span>!<\/strong><\/span><\/span>\u00a0 Even more important, determine that you are going to enjoy the journey!\u00a0\u00a0 Somewhere down the road of this journey you are going to realize the great joy that comes from learning, why not start enjoying it now. i treasure my great experiences, friends, and laughter to any of my personal achievements!<\/p>\n

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Step Four:\u00a0 Get used to disappointment.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/span>\u00a0 I love that line from a Princess Bride, because folks, in life, you will have disappointments, and failures.\u00a0 Keep in mind that failure is an opportunity to learn how not to do something.\u00a0 In the end, your progress as a photographer will be determined by how much you fail, and how much you’ve learned from your failures.\u00a0 Sometimes it hurts, but it is for your own good!\u00a0 No one ever gets better without some failure along the way!<\/p>\n

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Step Five:\u00a0 Relax and have fun.<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0 Photography can bring you many great treasures, experiences, and wonderful friends.\u00a0 Enjoy the ride, the destination is just up ahead, have fun getting there!\u00a0 When you do arrive at the destination, you will realize that it was the journey, after all, that was the greatest joy!\u00a0 The more you relax, the better your vision will be, and of course, the better your images will be too!<\/p>\n

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Now the book will go further and have a lot of suggestions on how to implement these ideas, but you get the idea.\u00a0 Don’t fail to enjoy this great craft!<\/p>\n

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Blessings,<\/p>\n

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the pilgrim<\/p>\n

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* Photo Note:\u00a0 Roof of wooden beams\u00a0 in a pavilion in Chicago.\u00a0 Fuji XT-1 – Fujinon 10-24 zoom<\/p>\n

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  For some time now I’ve been obsessed with the new push to get out the eBooks!\u00a0 It’s really a great thing because secretly, (well not anymore), my greatest love after the Lord, my family and photography is writing!\u00a0 I truly love to try and express myself in the written word, emphasis on “try”!\u00a0 Some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronicles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11646"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11656,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11646\/revisions\/11656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}