Denver Public Library. Denver, Colorado, 2013
What do I mean by that? Well, what I mean is don’t pay so much attention to improving your Photoshop (i.e. post-processing) skills that you neglect what is really important: developing your vision as a photographer.
This idea hit me over the head (yet again!) yesterday as I was perusing Craig Tanner’s wonderful website, The Mindful Eye (update: unfortunately, no longer maintained). I was reading through a post-Daily Critique “Comments” section when I happened upon these two gems:
“For the inner world of your life to come forward you have to believe you already
have everything you need. You have to believe that creativity comes from within
you and is you.” (No mention of a Hasselblad or Photoshop CS6 here!)
And:
“Most photographers would benefit deeply and greatly from taking a fast
from learning any more post processing techniques and go to work on understanding who they are as artists and understanding what it is they are trying to communicate.” (Bingo!)
Well said…and I find I am quite guilty of this myself. Exactly as Craig points out in that second quote, I get wrapped up in learning the latest and greatest new and spicy Photoshop “tip” and I forget that I should actually be spending my time excavating deeper into who I am and what I want my message to be as a photographer. Photoshop should not be an end in and of itself; it should be a tool (nothing more) to further your artistic vision and bring it out as effectively as possible to your viewers.
A NOTE before you read on: To do the following, I suspect you will have to register at Craig’s site, The Mindful Eye. It’s free and a great information source, so I recommend you do. If you don’t, I can’t guarantee you can get to these links–but give it a try anyway. [Update: The first link below appears to be accessible without registration, the second requires the free registration.]
–To read Craig’s comments in their entirety, go HERE and scroll down to the reply dated October 6, 2011 @ 12:44p.m. (Update 01/20/2015: website no longer available.)
–You can find the 15-minute video Daily Critique that led to these comments HERE. (Update 01/20/2015: website no longer available. You can still see some of his critique videos on YouTube, for example HERE.)
It is precisely because of this philosophy that I have Craig Tanner high on my list of mentors with whom I want to take a future photography workshop. Maybe this year!?
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