Get out and experiment and enjoy your photography; Don't get caught up with the numbers of "likes" on Social media.

Not my usual style of photography but sometimes it's good to step out of your comfort zone and try something different.
 


One of the things that I love about photography is the fact that different people will see and portray the same scene in a multitude of different ways.

I generally have an image in my head when I go to a location but I feel that it’s also important to not get disheartened if conditions don't allow you to create the scene that you had in your head. That's when I like to look at things and go. ...OK, so what can I create with the conditions that I have in front of me?

So on this day I went to a beach looking to get some waves action shots. The weather forecast was wrong (stunned that this could happen in Ireland!) so I started to look at the seaweed and rocks on the beach and began to see shapes and "stories" in them. To me this looked like a mother and child with their hair blowing in the wind!

 


I COMPLETELY accept that this is somewhat of a marmite image but I liked it as the light was flat and the scene that I had come to take wasn't going to make a great image. It may not be to everyone's taste. But that's the point. You have to go out and take photos that you wouldn't normally take. See if you can find something that grabs your interest. In today's digital world taking photos is cheap, so avail of this and just experiment.

When I run workshops this is the message that I like to pass on. One of the benefits of workshops is if someone has an image in their head or a type of technique that they would like to try but they don't know how to, then workshops are a great way of gaining that knowledge.

This brings me onto me second point;

If you are new to photography then putting your images on social media can be daunting and I often get asked by clients about this, saying that they had put an image that they liked on social media only for it to get little reaction. The client then comes to me very disheartened.

The message that I like to pass on in those circumstances is that if they are happy with the image then it's a success. Shoot for yourself. Shoot what makes you happy. That's what will give you the greatest motivation to improve and achieve and make the images that are in your head.

It's always lovely to get positive feedback and likes and comments and every photographer appreciates them.

However, my advice to new photographers is to not get caught up in the numbers......they can't go into their local supermarket and say “can I have this basket of shopping; my recent image got x number of likes? :) In fact, they may be politely escorted to the nearest exit!

So just get out and shoot. Experiment, let your creativity come out. ....try different things to see what it is that you like. ....but above all....enjoy yourself.

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