Photography has become one of the most popular hobbies in the world.  This isn’t news.  It’s been gaining ground ever since daguerreotypes became easily accessible in 1839.  In 1901 Kodak came out with the Brownie and a surge of new photographers was born.  There have been many advancements from then to today.  With each advancement a new generation of photographers would come to love the format and the medium for it’s ease of use, and it’s application as a creative outlet.

FLASH MODEL

Photography has permeated every part of life, from daily bombardments of advertisement to computer gazing photo enthusiasts, as an instrument of both science and enjoyment, and an influence on other art forms and our perceptions of the world.  It keeps us connected.  Connected in an intimate way to people on the other side of the planet.  Remote events come to bear on us instantly.

Yet photography as most of us know it, as a hobby or vocation, is a private endeavor.  Or at least it used to be.  We make personal statements with our photographs, whether we realize it or not.  It’s in the subjects we choose.  It’s in the techniques we use to capture the scene.  It’s in the post processing extras we choose to use when finalizing our visions.  All of these things work together to say a great deal about who we are as people, as photographers, and as artists.

This is all because photography has the power to do more than just reproduce what we (or the camera) sees before us.  Photography can be used to change the mundane to the poetic.  The real to the surreal.  It’s when we add our real passion and our personal vision to the photographic process that we cross the line from reproduction (taking a photograph) to transformation (making a photograph).

This is the shift from science to art.

744- The stomping grounds.

When we make that shift we begin speaking in a vocabulary of aesthetics.  It’s more than just technology.  With this shift we thrust ourselves into the world of creative photography.  We become artists.

There are no rules here.

No real rules exist in the creative space of photography.   That is not to say, that technique and skill do not matter.  It is important to have a command of those technical skills required for photography.  But these skills, in reality, are essentially simple skills.  They do need to be learned.  They do need to be practiced.  Once they have been learned and practiced enough, they become automatic.  This is your goal as a creative photographer.  To be able to pick up your camera and intuitively match your settings to your scene and your vision.

Drop of water

These skills and techniques can serve as the basis for experimentation and exploration in your craft.  They will allow you the freedom to express yourself in more creative ways.

Photography tips and tutorials that are present in this blog, as well as many other photography blogs around the Internet,  should serve as a foundation and as a reminder of some of the technical skills that can enhance our creative endeavors as photographers.   Learn those skills.  Master those skills.  Only then can you forget about the technical part and truly embark on a complete and creative adventure in photography.

Photographs:

FLASH MODEL by poppaj

744- The stomping grounds. by Just Slip Away

Drop of water by nautsvik

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