What I’ve learned from Zach Arias

I knew about Zack when a I got a copy of his DVD about one light set up, it was really cool. But I’m not a fan of flash photography back then and even today. This guys is really great in doing one light setup and other studio lighting setups. Recently I’ve just read an interview about him and it’s very inspiring and you can learn a lot of things about his experience in life. So here are the things I’ve learned.

1. Never let your schooling interfere with your education

This is a quotation from Mark Twain which is one of my favorite.  Schooling may suck most of the time because of the pressure, the financial problems that may come or the failing grades or the brutal exams. What ever happened never stop learning. Life is the real school; A perfect school, were we are all the student and life is always giving us hard test and practical exams that may sometimes breaks us, but if we surpass that challenge or test we are assured that we learned something new and makes us more stronger than before.

2.Never spend too much on the camera and lenses but on your skills as a photographer

New photographers may be trap on this; That getting the latest and greatest gears or equipment can really be a boost to make you a great and professional looking photographer. Ney, it will not. A photographer is not measured by his gears or equipment but his skills to create that one of a kind photograph, that no other photographer can copy.

3. Focus on only one

Make up your mind and find yourself where you want to be and who you want to be. Coz if you find out, you’ll finally know where to stand in photography. It’s like religion; You must only choose one principle that can will answers you questions. Having many religion at once is a chaos. The father of Pi (from the movie The life of Pi) said: Believing in everything is like believing in nothing at all.

4. Take risk in everything

It may be a hard thing to do but, you must make risk, life is an adventure; Taking the risk can put you to adventures that may have a positive effect on you or gives you experiences that is one of a kind. It’s a gamble, you will not know what will be the result, whether you win or lose. But win or lose there is the feeling of accomplishment in your mind and heart that there is no guilt of regret in the end. Be a risk taker. Let life itself guide you, just trust life.

5. Be motivated by friends and family

It’s your charger into a world that sucks you every day. The motivational support of the people of who are special to you will spark your purpose to live more and be more creative. To be more competitive in this life.

6. Leave a good picture of you.

Leaving a legacy can inspire others to leave a legacy; It’s like domino effect. Being a photographer is a gift to share with others; new photographers, your clients, your friends, your family, the people of the streets. They need your help, your advices and especially your photographs. It is the lease thing you can do to contribute to the future generation to have picture of the past to be remembered.

7.Never get satisfied creatively.

Be satisfied if you have a decent gears, decent car, decent house and a loving family and friends but never ever get satisfied on your creativity. It must be unsatisfied, it’s the thing that will make you grow, it is your sunlight, your water and your air. You always need it, you always want it to be fresh, to be new. Never let it satisfy you. Never!

You can read the the article about Zack here: http://thegreatdiscontent.com/zack-arias

Your personality is your style.

In photography, developing your own style in shooting is a key in being a good or great photographer. Uniqueness in doing your own style will make you stand out to others, it will be your trademark when they heard or read your name. But how to develop your own style?

First is to your personality, it is the fundamentals of building your own style in photography. When i was starting out I really love to put heavy vignetting, increase the noise removal slider and put a lovely watermark at the end. I shoot landscapes, portraits and other genre to really find where i belong, until I slowly find my personality on shooting street and black and white. Being a shy type person is a challenge that i need to abolish, so I challenge myself to do street and helps me a lot on socializing with others, then i’ve fallen in love on doing street photography with it’s simplicity, careless play of movements, expression and emotions and its complexity. So genuine. I’m just a simple person, sometimes childish, careless in my behaviour and my emotions and lastly complex, especially on thinking possibilities that are higher than the sky.

“What makes a good photographer is, you photograph who you are”. (Bruce Gilden n.d.) Your style is you. That’s it. If you want to photograph children then photograph them, maybe because you see yourself in them, or maybe photograph surreal coz your imagination sees beyond your eyes can see. Some like to do it rough, some fast and some slow and sure. The universe is the limit in here, just be who you are when photographing something, put your self into the subject. There is right or wrong to this, because it’s your way of seeing things as you see yourself. If you don’t like his work then don’t, that’s his personality; if you like his work then there is a common connection with the two of you, you both may like birds or trees that look weird or you both loves drinking coffee.

The point here is just to be yourself not to imitate others or be like others, you can learn for each others style but don’t take it coz it’s not you.

 

here is the original post, read it on petapixel: http://petapixel.com/2013/08/22/your-style-your-personality

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What I’ve learned on Project Point and Shoot.

You must have seen my Point in shoot project at the site’s front page. It’s a personal project of mine that change my perspective on things and help me understand somethings that make some difficulties before. It brings me back on being a amateur which is noble thing to become coz your doing it of the love of your craft or passion. Here are somethings that i’ve learned from my current project.

1. Leave all your fear behind.
Fear is just an imagination of your thoughts. In doing street photography, you don’t need it, leave it behind and never carry one.2. Get closer.
Getting close can be difficult at first, but once you get it will be a second nature to you. You can get closer if you abandon all your fears.

3. Slow Down.
Patience is the key to getting a good photo, waiting for the right moment can be hard, but it’s worthy.

4. Failure is always present.
99.9% when shooting in the street can be all failure. You must not get upset, there is a remedy and it’s called practice.

5. A small and handy camera can be an advantage.
Of course any camera can be use, it’s up to you what to use, but use as small or minimal gear to minimized your load so you can move easily. Remember that it’s not about the camera it’s you.

6.Shooting at night can be a good opportunity to get some great photographs.
Shooting at night can be hard, especially for those camera with low ISO range and tends to be noisy even at low ISO, I say just pump it up, get the shoot, grains can be good sometimes.

7. Don’t find / look for the shoot. It will find its way into you.
At first it was pissing because after the walk I browse my shoots and sees nothing but crap. But I saw the pattern that the shot will revel  itself when it is ready to be captured. You must be patient for it coz it’s a worthy wait.

Doing such project can help you discover or learn something that will make you a better person or photographer. Life is wonder, be creative in every moment, remember that there is always new things to be learn, grab it and make it as a part of you.

“A warrior does not give up what he loves, he finds the love in what he does”
― Dan Millman, Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives

A walk with John Free

John Free is a L.A. base street photographer who is pioneer in this genre. This video is an educational/instructional  video for those who are engaged into street photography. John emphasis to new and amatuer street photographer to shoot from their heart, also to get closer to your subject  and other things to make your shooting in the street more comfortable and fun.

Visit John’s website here:

http://www.johnfreephotography.com/