Kim, such deep insights into the "limitations" we place on ourselves in all walks of life but especially so in Photography. Well done on summarising them so succinctly. You are a true guru.
Hi Kim, it was a fine day today (Friday, 3rd February) and I was so positive about getting out into Derbyshire. I had been in the house for a week and only been out back to scatter some seeds for the squirrels and birds; I put squirrels in because they always eat all the back sunflower seeds and leave the rest for the birds. I've been on Citalopram for about two and half years and once retired I wanted to get my life back and start weaning myself off the things. They helped at the time, kept me going through challenging times but I knew that my life wasn't my own, the medication owned part of me and at times impacted on my photography - well, actually, many times. I'm getting my life back bit by bit but I've lost some of my confidence so I stay at home a lot and edit and re-edit older photographs of my own. My wife and I go out into Derbyshire at weekends and I photograph and I look around and I breath in the fresh air and feel the silence. Without this I don't know what would have happened to my photography because it is something I dearly love and it is a part of me; and to lose it? Today when we got into the car and began heading out to Owler Bar and then on to Baslow, the rain came on, not heavy, but it was there and the cloud began misting the ground in the distance. My wife said that it would probably clear and it did, and it was one of those days when the weather can't decide whether to rain or not; so it did both. We stayed out, sat outside the Edensor Cafe and had a wee bit of lunch. The air was still moist and the sky remained different shades of grey, but we went up the hill behind the village and I felt that good feeling for just being there. We saw two groups of deer and they saw us but didn't mind us being there. It was a wonderful afternoon, it drizzled, tried to rain and then drizzled some more, but the tripod was out and the camera was out and for a couple of hours I felt it was just me and the landscape in front of me, and it was wonderful. Sometimes a landscape can be even more beautiful when the weather doesn't seem to be on your side. And there is that sense of reward that you didn't let your feelings keep you trapped in your own home and you went out and gulped some fresh air and the sky for a while was your roof. It doesn't matter how your photographs turn out, it's the fact that you were there, and the feeling you got was all your own, and it felt great. I think my own photography feels more from such occasions. Happy photography everyone and good mental health; they go together very well.
Thank you Kim. Profound words, full of meaning. Our daily lives can be tough at times and often we take it to heart and let our minds finish the job. Our thoughts can be our own worst enemy, often when there is something you really care about, something you want to do well and in your mind's eye, it doesn't seem to be going anywhere. But how do you know that you are not doing well? You will always be your strictest critic. We are all different, we don't have a shared conscience, our thoughts, wishes, hopes, creativities are our own, nobody else's; each and everyone is unique and what each of us sees, and feels is uniquely our own. Every photograph you take is an important part of you, because you have made all the decisions before 'click', and it's yours, your own work. I have all my life loved to listen to classical music and that love has always been all my own. But I can't even chopsticks right, but it doesn't diminish how I feel about it and never will. I love my photography just as much and thankfully I don't have to learn chopsticks. In early days I used to beat myself up because I couldn't make my photographs look like the ones I saw in magazines and on RU-vid. And, for a while, a long while I stopped taking photographs because I felt there was no point in continuing. But I had got it wrong, I missed the point and I lost some valuable years not picking up my camera. But I learned from that experience and I picked up my camera again, and it was wonderful. I'm still critical about my own work, but only in comparison with earlier photographs and I'm learning by the experience. It needs to be about you, because the best equipment you will ever have is the one sitting on your shoulders, and you know it better than anyone else.
Excellent video and excellent advice. I would like to add one more that is always a struggle for me. I often only look but I don't see. I know that this causes me to possibly miss out on a wonderful image because I just look at what is in front of me and I don't see the beautiful things within the scene I am looking at. So, I walk further or I turn around and look in a different direction. The concept of learning to see and not just looking is important in every type of photography. In portrait photography, you need to get to know the person. Spend time talking with them and learn who they are on the inside. Then you can see who they are and will have a better connection with them and probably get better, more natural expressions that represent the beauty in that person. So, in nature and landscape photography, I try to force myself to slow down...stop...and see what is in front of me. To become more connected with the subject in front of me and normally I will see something I didn't recognize when I was only looking.
I take a lot of garbage photos around my local area. I'm in boring flat terrain with no light most of the time. I have little hope of getting anything good but the point of being out there in the first place is 1) practice 2) to make my mistakes there so I don't make them when I'm at a nice place 3) because I'm outdoors enjoying life. Even with that, I still have to remind myself why i was there and not to get discouraged when I end up deleting all the photos I took that day.
I know all of these limiting beliefs, Kim. The more i practice, the less I'm bothered by the limitations of my entry-level gear, because I'm still learning just how far I can push it (and myself) with the things it WILL do, and I'm loving this challenge. Thankfully, I've not fallen prey (too much) to GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) because high-end gear isn't absolutely necessary for my niche (flowers, mostly) - and I'm a student, so I can't afford to go in that space...
Well I’ve fell into everyone of those traps at some point or other but no more. Now I’m fortunate in that I can get out before most people in the mornings and the same during the evenings and now thanks to you I’ve invested in filters and I’m beginning to try ICM photography and also trying hard to improve my composition.
Thanks for this Kim, I think you covered some good points about limiting beliefs and I also think that this is a useful way to help people progress. The two that I identified with are 1 & 4. I go through periods where I think my pictures are fantastic then have a fallow time where I struggle to get good ones. My way of dealing with this is simply to continue taking pictures until the inspiration returns and it usually does. For item 4 - practice I agree wholeheartedly with your idea that we give time to the things that matter. Planning to include them is the key. I try to identify at least one & possibly two occasions every week to get out and take pictures, some are local others are trips away and this has really helped me maintain my interest, particularly over the last few difficult years. Thanks for the video.
I am happy with my images. I just haven't been motivated to do any videos. I have been expanding my photography by doing events and things other than my normal wildlife photography that I so enjoy. Thanks for your inspiration! You are such a wonderful soul!
Thank you Kim Grant for this fantastic program, so inspiring and encouraging. Your channel is one of my absolute favorite photographic channels. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and comments!
Thanks Kim for sharing your thoughts and comments....very true with all that you shared....I can put myself in those situations even though I am only a hobbyist.... cheers from Australia 😀❤️
Good video Kim. I can certainly relate to some of these beliefs. You've made some really good points and ones that I need to take to heart and fix. Cheers
Hello Kim. You have read my mind. Your first point covers all the emotions I went through on Friday. I went out to shoot street photography and when I viewed my images I realised I had a rubbish day with not one image I was happy with. I will indeed take back the power and try again. Really appreciate your channel. Cheers John
Just watched this on my partners account. Superb ! I’d love it, if only he would watch this again, listen to it & actually take it in x everything about your video rings true about his current photography journey. Kim, I love the direction your journey is taking you ♥️ & love how you continue to share said journey. Your strength inspires x keep living you’re wonderful life, if we are lucky, you will continue share x life needs people like you xxx much love Kim stay well ❤
I've managed to stop looking at gear. I've got a good camera, I just need to do more days out looking for the available compositions. I keep telling myself that photography is too fun to stop. Not sure I've convinced my brain yet.
Thanks for the food for thought Kim! I think I can boil all five down into one word…excuses. Quit making excuses and one’s photography will surely improve. Cheers!
Kim that it is a true big like a house. Me a photographer with 50 years behind passioned by the images, have time to time at my 78 years, some blackout, but I always repeat, that it is only a little hole in the path, and keep going and then a rainbow cross My way and the light shine in my eyes again...regards from the chilean patagonia..!!
These ruminations on the psychology of photography are always my favourite ones of yours. If I find that I have a shot that I am not happy with when I get home, even if I have gone through all of the tried and tested composition techniques when I shot it, that if I Ieave it for a month or two and revisit it once I'm not so emotionally attached to the picture, then I can often see what attracted me to the shot in the first place and edit accordingly. I think it helps to try and see the shot as others see it. That was a long sentence - I hope it makes sense!
Being a fully paid up member of the "All the gear, and no idea" Team, I can confirm that no amount of expensive kit can make up for the skill and experience of a professional photographer with a Kit Camera knowing when and where to take the award winning shot.😀 Does not stop my trying though. 😀
Photography is a two edge sword. Some people are chosen by photography and take images by instinct, while other people chose photography and take images by the book. The first ones, upgrade their vision and the second ones upgrade their gear. By the way, in my case, I took much better images by instinct and luck long before I learned the rules and technical staff about photography. I miss my old, I don't know anything just seen the unseen by anyone and click the shutter.
Its funny, I am hugely susceptible to the first one. I come back and my pictures are so far from what I want them to be. However I do find that if I leave them alone and come back to them later, like months later even, they are better than I had thought and just need some editing and such. Gotta be nicer to ourselves :)
Sometimes you get stuck in a mindset and you see Photography as a "chore" - best take a step back and re enter it after a break. Be flexible in your pictures and how they come out - today it might seem like a bad photo but tomo.......
Another awesome video Kim! I'm learning so much from you through your mentorship and can't wait to start my next mentorship with you. I plan on getting out more and taking more pictures. 📸
Cameras, lenses and accessories simply are tools. As with any craft, certain tasks may need a specific tool or at least become a lot easier with the right kit (which doesn't necessarily means the newest, most flashy or expensive gear). But also as with other crafts, skill, dedication and an open mind will beat the heavy toolbox anytime.
me, the thing that could stop me to do photos is Dall-E 2 (or others artistic AI) which create superb results just with few words and that in few "seconds".. ok, we need to learn how to specify what we want, but it's genius.. why to spend time with expensive gears with the need of to travel if your imagination can be printed from words?!? ..don't know if i will stay in photo, seriously..
These things miss the point of photography though. For me at least, the end product is just that - the end product, there to sell or publish or print or lurk forever on a hard drive. But the fun bit, where you go out and take a shot, getting into the moment, slowing down and focussing - no amount of IT jiggery-pokery is ever going to replace that (and I say that as someone with a degree in IT and more than 30 years in the industry). Us photographers were practicing mindfulness long before anyone thought about sticking a label on it
I think people who are concerned about camera settings are right to be concerned. Camera settings are what determine the resulting image. Images can succeed or fail, depending on your settings. Why wouldn't you worry?
@@ThePurpleHarpoon Yes of course settings are important, but they are something you need to sort out for yourself, starting with the exposure triange. Then experiment. It's no good asking someone else what settings they use. Unless you have the same camera and lens as they have, and are standing in the same place with the same light.
