AYWMC: Part 4 Creativity: Lesson 3 Nothing is Original

 This post is part of a series entitled A Year With My Camera.

Lesson 4.3 in my own words

• Unique versus original
• The goal to take an original photograph is a stumbling block
• Everything and every place have been photographed
• Every technique has been tried
• Advancements in technology are only briefly original
• Color film
• Digital photography
• Drones
• The goal should be to take unique photographs

This week's project

 

Permission to be unoriginal

• Remember why you are different from everyone else. Write it down.
• How would a close friend describe you in three words?
• Think about subjects and styles you're drawn to.
• Viewpoint - do you prefer dramatic, unusual, safe, static?
• Composition - do you prefer neatness, order, chaos, random order, symmetry, asymmetry, full frame, or minimalist?
• Aperture - Do you prefer shooting wide open or with front to back depth of field?
• Lens choice - which lens do you prefer? which do you reach for first?
• Go with what you like, and try to take photographs bringing something of yourself to each one. 

 

How am I different from everyone else? How would I describe myself? I liked the three words approach, so here's what I came up with:

• analytical
  
• contemplative
• atypical 

Dan's three words to describe me were:

• industrious
• practical
• frugal

Subjects and styles I'm drawn to:

• I like natural subjects (as sky, plants, animals)
• I like contrast
• I like images that fill the frame
  
• I like interesting detail
  
• I like asymmetry
• I like simple/minimalist images
• I like close-ups with short depth of field
• I like action shots (goats running, birds in flight, etc.)
• I like photos that document our homestead
  

 

With those things in mind, here are the photographs I took for this assignment.

What I learned

Initially, this was a difficult assignment for me. I procrastinated doing it. In fact, I considered skipping it! I've always considered myself creative in the realms of crafts, needlework, knitting, weaving, and writing, but photography serves a different purpose in my life. I tend to think of it as a technical skill rather than a creative one. However, when I went out with those lists in mind plus the photography techniques I've learned in this course, I found that they gave me focus with a sense of freedom. The bottom line is photographing what I like. I realized is that there's no reason why I can't use photography record keeping in my own unique way.