More On 'Cruzin Fer Snaps'

Perhaps it's just me but sometimes I don't go out photographing because I'm convinced I won't find any good images. Of course this is self defeating as the one sure way not to get any good images is to not take any. One of the ways to anticipate failure is to go looking for images that are similar to those you have already shot, only different, and while you are at it, better.

this preconceived idea of what successful images look like completely blinds us to all the wonderful images which are completely different and are just waiting to be taken. That's not to discourage assignments, only that having chosen an assignment, you should be open to whatever comes along. Do you really think that Edward Weston was on an assignment to photograph dead birds when he came across his Pelican, that Ansel was on a trip to photograph grave yards when he shot 'Moonrise over Hernandez'. Of course not, they were open to whatever subject matter came up. They didn't let preconceived ideas limit their options. No wonder they took great photographs.

When I went out shooting yesterday, I stopped at an industrial site, dirty, rusty, old, but what I ended up photographing was new rebar, with brightly painted ends, and labels, I had absolutely no conception that I would find this. Later in the day, I simply happened on a hill overlooking a large yard full of concrete piping. I realized that this was a location I could photograph into the yard without the trees and fence getting in the way. The picture I got though didn't feature the concrete at all, it was after trying to find an image amongst the stacked concrete that I started wandering down the road and discovered all the wire forms stacked up, and got excited, and spent a wonderful hour excitedly creating images.

I think the message here is to not be afraid to go out photographing no matter how unlikely you think the chances of an interesting image. If you look, you will find. Maybe not every time, but more often than not.