{"id":6176,"date":"2012-08-28T13:30:17","date_gmt":"2012-08-28T13:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=6176"},"modified":"2012-08-28T13:40:37","modified_gmt":"2012-08-28T13:40:37","slug":"why-bother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=6176","title":{"rendered":"Why bother?!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I was having an very interesting conversation with a photographer several days ago and something he said has continued to ring in my ears. He said, ” I see so much good work, I just wonder why bother, I will never be that good!” \u00a0I know how he feels, but I’ve got and answer to “why bother!” \u00a0First let me set the stage by saying that he is certainly right about the wealth of great work today. \u00a0I have favorite photographers just like everyone else, let me share the work of some of my “photographic” heroes and then let me continue this train of thought.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

You’ve just been exposed to the work of \u00a0five photographers whose work I love and try to emulate. \u00a0Will I ever be as good as any of them at these kinds of work? \u00a0Truthfully, that is not the relevant question. \u00a0The relevant question is, “am I enjoying working hard to get better?” \u00a0If your hobby or passion makes you miserable, stop doing it, pick a new hobby! \u00a0Let me share five ways to get better at photography and enjoy it more in the process!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(1.) \u00a0Remember this is a journey, not a destination. \u00a0Instead of worrying about how good others are, think about what you can learn from them and how you can work to improve your own images. \u00a0Take full advantage of the people, places and conditions you can enjoy. \u00a0Soak in the joy of just holding a camera in your hand, and attempting capturing all the beauty God has made!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(2.) \u00a0Celebrate the success of others. \u00a0It does not make you any better to down grade them or their work.. \u00a0Nothing kills creativity and vision worse than being blinded by envy for what others have accomplished. \u00a0True joy is when you appreciate what others have done, and aspire to do so well yourself! \u00a0Be thankful for those that inspire you. \u00a0In all honesty, they have probably earned it with hard work, are you following that example?<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(3.) \u00a0Find your passion and then work it. \u00a0If you love flowers, shoot flowers, if you love airplanes, photograph airplanes! \u00a0You will never find real photographic succes trying to photograph things that simply do not interest you. \u00a0An understanding of your subject will open your eyes to see \u00a0much more deeply, and find the most creative ways to capture your subjects.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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(4.) \u00a0Don’t be afraid to experiment! \u00a0The great advantage to the digital age is we can shoot, look at what we’ve captured, and still have the chance to try it again in a different way, all while standing right in front of the subject! \u00a0 That’s a luxury we never had with film. \u00a0We learn by trying, observing, and trying again. Keep working the scene! \u00a0There are no short cuts to experience!<\/span><\/p>\n

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(5.) \u00a0Have fun! \u00a0I’ve reached and age that if it’s not fun, I’m not all that interested in it! \u00a0The love of photography should be a time of great joy for you. \u00a0The people and places, the experiences, and the joy of learning should make you happy, if it doesn’t, maybe this is not the hobby for you.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I’m celebrating my 44th year of being a working photographer, and at this point in my life, \u00a0I have only one photographic goal; “to be better tomorrow than I am today, and love every minute of the journey!” \u00a0If I can do that it won’t matter how many great photographers there are in the world!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Blessings,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

the pilgrim<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

P.S. \u00a0Did you notice how many times I used the word “work”, \u00a0that might be a tip!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was having an very interesting conversation with a photographer several days ago and something he said has continued to ring in my ears. He said, ” I see so much good work, I just wonder why bother, I will never be that good!” \u00a0I know how he feels, but I’ve got and answer to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronicles","category-learning"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6176","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=6176"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6186,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6176\/revisions\/6186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}