For the last 30 days, I been doing the Canon Take the Leap challenge, 30 challenges one new brief per day, which was interesting because it made you think, but more importantly to think differently and once you do you see differently.

How does one think differently and see differently, this is something all great photographers do every day and that is the reason that they are good at what they do, our brains process the things around us and we see things in a certain way, we learn to see things in the world by our life experiences.

But when you retrain your brain to see differently, then as a photographer you can capture the world differently, but how can I retrain my brain you might say, well like many things in life with your body with exercises and practice.

You will be surprised how you can change the way you think and see, I challenge you to try for the next thirty days to give it ago, what have you got to lose, who knows in thirty days from now you could be on your way to becoming a great photographer.

Your first challenge is “Hands” try and see then differently, to help I send you the next 29 briefs by email each day, sent me an email to join in at stephen@photomission.com.au

Hope to get to know some photographers who are on their way to becoming great photographers

Best Regards

Stephen

Been a little while since my last post, but I been shooting lots of images around Brisbane and spending a couple of weeks in South Korea capturing life on the street.

This post I calling take the leap, Canon Australia are setting a brief each day the month of September and are asking photographers to take the leap, as a photographer you need to keep challenging yourself so you can grow and continue to be creative.

I believe the more you shoot and experiment with your photography the better you become as a photographer and the more creative and confident at the craft, I love the fact with photography you never stop learning, there always some new to master.

Getting good feedback from other photographers helps you refine your style , so posting some of your work is both helpful to yourself and may inspire others the expand their photography , but choose your forums with a little thought , sometimes posting publicly can attract negative feedback, which can be very damaging to a one’s confident.

Closed forums are good place to start posting some of your work, its gives a degree of safety, so get out look around , challenge yourself shoot different subjects, you don’t have to show anyone the things that didn’t work out.

So take the leap, remember the next the photo you take could be your best yet

Happy exploring the world ,with camera in hand

Stephen

About the image 1/200sec /f4 ISO800 lit with Canon speedlites at a Daniel Linnet Speedlite Workshop in Brisbane Qld

The digital world is wonderful you can copy and send your images you have created anywhere in the world, how great is the for the owner of the image, but it’s a doubled edge sword anyone can copy that file also and send or paste anywhere in the digital world.

It’s now easier than ever to steal someone’s work, yes from time to time in the good old days of film images sometimes where stolen but it was much more difficult, as you need direct access to copy those images.

But now the moment you email or post an image on social media you have no control where it might turn up or be used, copyright laws exist in different countries and are mostly relate to copyright breaches in that country but once it goes out of the country it’s difficult to police.

The law has been slow to keep up with all things digital, cybercrime is taking over from the traditional types of crime, and we are all at risk, so much information is now in a digital format and is designed to be copied and shared for legal purposes, but so much can be gained if used illegality.

So what does this mean for us photographers, who are creating images and vision in the digital world, its already difficult to make a living as a photographer, and people can easily steal your work and profit from it.

Governments have a poor track record in protecting industries, its basely up to the photographers of the world to police and look for solutions to this problem and lobby the government to protect peoples work.

Maybe timely with a federal election coming up to ask your federal member what are doing to protect photographers and their work.

Copyright it’s something we all should be thinking about

Best regards

Stephen Finkel

Living life behind the lens you develop a new view on the world, but something grows, the need for more out of the images you’re making, some might say it becomes an obsession.

But for me its Passion putting a little bit of yourself in every image, and trying to be different, one hopes the style you develop is like a signature and people recognise the photographer from just looking at the image.

What’s needed to get this point, well its practice, practice and some more practice, followed by a lot more practice, to get better as a photographer it’s a case of keeping your finger on the button.

To be a good photographer you need to commit to the art, with it never too far from your thoughts, mentally taking photos in your head of the things around you, don’t under estimate the value of your camera phone, use when you see interesting shapes patterns or light, its great learning tool.

Behind the lens be yourself, break the rules of photography, be bold and experiment, push out side of your comfort zone, not too many people have achieved greatest by staying in their own backyard.

Mix with people who have similar passion for photography, a lot of people around you will not get you and your feeling’s and passion, but that ok.

Photography is one of those pursuits where you can live in the moment a couple of quotes from Buddha

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

The mind is everything. What you think you become.

A jug fills drop by drop.

Happy captures

Stephen

Lend me your eyes; I promise to use them wisely, when a photographer creates an image its for the viewer to tell them something as photographers we had a duty of care to deliver on that promise.

Like the photographer the viewer is investing something in the process, their time emotions and feelings, it’s starting to sound like the photographer has to reward the viewer and deliver something that is pleasing, or entertaining or educational or all of the above and more.

Great photographer’s reward their viewers with stories that are told thought a lens and imprints that image to the viewer’s memory, sometimes it’s not what the photographer shows in the image, but what isn’t shown that why composition is one of a photographers most powerful tools.

It’s a case of less is more, to lead the viewer to a certain point, each viewer may get to a different point in the image each taking away something different, so the appeal for a photographer is being able connect at many levels with many people.

The age of the viewer will determine the how deep that connection is, are you getting a feeling there is a certain reasonability on the photographer, when they ask ”Lend Me Your Eyes” study some of your favorite images what are they telling you as the viewer.

So next time you ask someone to lend me your eyes, what are you going to say to them, the image I am posting with this piece I created with something relevant to the event surrounding this image, do you see it.

So until the next time you lend me your eyes, happy story telling

Regards Stephen Finkel