Ed Schlotzhauer

An artists journey

Tag: fear

  • Choose Your Style

    Choose Your Style

    Many photographers wonder if they have a style, especially if they are fairly new to the game. Do you ever look at the wonderful work other photographers are publishing and think it would best to choose your style to be like them? Don’t.

    What is considered a style?

    There is no hard and fast rule that defines what a “style” is. To some, it is the type of subjects you shoot. That is, they see little or no difference between style and genre. Here is another list, longer almost to the point of being absurd, but still talking mostly about what the subject is.

    Others refer to photographic style as the effects you use to make your final picture. Our phones have an abundance of them. You can find many sets of “styles” available to purchase for use in LIghtroom Classic or Photoshop. They are mostly shortcuts for making your picture look a lot like another artist’s work.

    More advanced authors extend the concept to include not only what you shoot, but how you shoot it..This is starting to get to the point.

    Refelctions over airport operations©Ed Schlotzhauer

    My view

    When you look at some famous photographer’s work, can you make a good guess who made the image? That is because they have an established and recognizable style.

    In my view, style is not as much about what you shoot as it is about what the final image looks like. This final image is not only a function of what the subject is and how you “treat” it to get the look you want, but how you were thinking about it, and the lens you choose and how you frame and compose and expose it. In other words, your own viewpoint on it.

    You have a point of view, the way you see the world around you that is different from anyone else. This determines your style. It comes naturally.

    That is why, when you see a print of a grand landscape with superb detail and the blue sky printed almost to black, there is a good chance that is Ansel Adams. When you see another black & white image, but blurred in a long time exposure and overall very dark, it may well be a Cole Thompson. Those things are not certain, but they have a defined style.

    Can you copy one?

    One of the ways we learn is to copy. It is instructive, and can be fun, to try on the style of famous artists to see if it “fits” us. We may find bits and pieces that we adopt.

    But most of the time we will decide soon that that was instructive, but I’m done with it. Maybe we’ll go off to copy someone else for a while.

    Ask yourself why you are copying someone else’s style. Is it because you admire their work and want to explore it in more depth? Are you really searching and trying to figure out what your style is? Is it because one is “popular” and you think it will help you to sell more?

    I can’t question your motives, but I can predict that you will eventually give up trying to copy a style and settle down to doing your own work. It is hard to just copy. You are faking it. Besides, in a new situation, how would you copy someone if you haven’t seen any similar work they have done?

    Stylish airport lighting©Ed Schlotzhauer

    How do you develop yours?

    In most cases, you don’t. What you do is shoot a lot. Cartier-Bresson said your first 10,000 photos are the worst. I think one of the things he was telling us is that we have to experiment a lot to find out who we are.

    Yes, we can copy other people’s styles to see if we can learn anything from them. If we are lucky, we might have good mentor to give us honest feedback. But ultimately, it is up to each of us to figure out who we are as artists.

    I believe a style is something we look back on and discover. It is not something we plan to get to someday.

    Look in your image catalog

    How do we know if we have a style and understand what it is? A good start is examining your image catalog. I am using Lightroom terminology, but it applies to whatever sorting and filing system you use.

    I assume you have a system for grading your images. You know which you consider your best. Have you put together portfolios? Small collections of your very best work organized by subject or project or location, for instance. If not, pick out, say, your 50 best images. Be brutal. This is important and you do not have to show them to anyone else.

    Now go through them carefully and examine them from the point of view of what they can tell you about your artistic likes and beliefs. Are most of them landscapes? Are they predominantly square cropped or black & white or low key? Can you see that your favorite pictures are typically shot with a certain lens?

    What about the subject matter? Are your favorites more likely to be a rusty truck than a portrait? Do you favor highly detailed or very simple? Sharp or intentional camera movement (ICM)? Travel locations or mostly close to home?

    There are too many questions to enumerate. The idea is to look at this body of work and figure out who you are as an artist. This is you. This is your style. It certainly does not mean this is all you can do. It is just what you naturally gravitate to.

    Now you can stop trying to be someone else and concentrate on developing yourself.

    Giant flamingos©Ed Schlotzhauer

    Be who you are

    This is a very enlightening exercise. You will probably come away thinking “wow, I have a style!” It can be very hard for us to think about and accept our style. That is just something that other people have. People who are real artists.

    But yes, you do have a style. It is unique to you, so there is no need to try to copy someone else’s. Your point of view and values will come through in your images, if you are being honest with yourself.

    Here is a recent personal example. I was watching a video by a photographer talking about his style. It wasn’t very interesting to me and I was about to turn it off when he said something that caught me. He said he understands his style to be very simple. He is a portrait photographer and he uses simple lighting, plain backgrounds, and basic head shot poses.

    That lit up something in me. I hadn’t considered something like simplicity a dimension of style.

    I did the exercise I recommended above and saw clearly for the first time that I like complexity, detail, extremes of color and contrast and action. That is a common thread through many of my favorite images.

    What does it mean? Nothing in itself. It is just some insight on my work. But I understand myself a little better now. I will be less surprised when I see I am being drawn to these.

    Steam locomotive traction wheels©Ed Schlotzhauer

    Choose your style

    I started with the notion of whether or not we should choose our style. I hope I have established that you don’t really choose your style. Your style chooses you. You can imitate someone else’s style for a while for the education and experience, but ultimately we find ourselves drawn back to what comes naturally to us.

    Don’t fight it. Don’t worry about it. Relax. Be yourself.

    But to be yourself, you have to continually learn and practice and improve. It is a lifelong quest.

  • Staying Creative

    Staying Creative

    Since you are reading this, you probably call yourself a “creative”. That is great. But creativity seems to be cyclic. Staying creative is a continuous process. Some would say a struggle.

    Cycles

    Creativity is not a constant level. We experience creative peaks where exciting new work seems to burst from us. But we also have low points. In those troughs we don’t feel like we can generate any creative ideas. It is depressing and scary.

    The encouraging reality is that this is normal. We do not and cannot operate at a peak of creative output all the time. We empty the tank. The reserve has to be refilled. It can’t be predicted or planned, but at some point it seems to dry up. But keep in mind that we really do not know what creativity is.

    We know it is cyclic. And we know it will come back at some point. But when we are in that valley it can seem like a time of doom and gloom. Will it ever come back? Have I used up all the creativity I had and now I will never have any again?

    You have thought these things. Admit it. I’m not the only one with these fears.

    Tennessee Stream©Ed Schlotzhauer

    Forcing creativity

    So what do we do? At some point we often resort to forcing it. We are determined to regain our creative highs, so we try to make our self create.

    How does that work for you? Probably as poorly as it does for me. Sure, we can do some good work, even very good work. But we can’t kid ourselves that it is up to the level of our best.

    Whatever it is in us that generates creativity operates on its own schedule. It is not sympathetic with our wishes. We can be welcoming and encouraging to it, but it does not operate at our command.

    Do something

    Now I will seem to contradict what I just said, but I do not believe it is a conflict. We will get through a creative valley easier and probably faster if we work through it. I used the idea of “emptying the tank” of our creativity. I believe practicing our craft and following our curiosity are very good behaviors to help refill it.

    You may not be inspired with amazing new creative ideas, but go out and see what you can find. Explore. Do not expect to do your best portfolio work. Taking that pressure off will help you relax and lean into it. But doing something is better than sitting around moping.

    It is a wonderful time to learn new skills, take some courses or watch some videos. Pick out some new technique you have been curious about and learn it. Practicing it now without all those creative bursts getting in the way is a good time to learn. It is a great time to explore some of those dark, scary corners of Photoshop that have intimidated you for a long time.

    Like most of life, doing something is better than doing nothing. Don’t sit feeling sorry for yourself, thinking you are useless and have no more creativity. Fill. your time with learning, exploring, practicing, experimenting, even catching up with cataloging your images. And always follow your curiosity.

    The word “create” is a verb. Be active. Go make things. Make dinner, make a drawing, make a fire, make some noise, but make. If all your attempts at being creative consist of passively consuming, no matter how brilliant what you consume is, you’ll always be a consumer, not a creator.

    Scott Berkun, in The Myths of Innovation

    An un-pre-visualized shot taken from a moving boat on the Seine River.©Ed Schlotzhauer

    Relax

    When creativity seems to slip away, when the muse no longer is with us, relax. It does not mean it is gone forever. Like waves, there are highs and lows. It will come back.

    Even when we are not feeling inspired, we can keep on working and learning. Do not be passive and waste your time. Be preparing for the rush of creativity when it comes.

    We are not a failure when it seems we cannot create astounding new things on command. We are recharging. Accept it. Go do your work anyway.

    Have you done creative work you are proud of? Then you should be able to do it again when you are ready. Creativity is not a limited resource that is used up. When you are feeling it, pour it out on everything you do.

    Let it flow

    Being in a flow state is a great feeling. But it is not exclusive to feeling creative. Anytime you are immersed in applying your skill to a difficult and challenging problem you can be in flow.

    Flow and creativity, then, are not synonymous. We can do great work even when we are not riding the crest of creativity. Don’t stop working.

    Curiosity is the thing that pulls us along through life and through our art. It does not come and go like creativity. In that way, it is more powerful than creativity.

    The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. – Dorothy Parker

    I like that idea that there is no cure for curiosity. I don’t want to be cured of it.

    We can develop our curiosity by asking questions and wondering about things. Give yourself permission to follow your questions. Find the answers. Try things. See what happens. This healthy attitude will carry us through the ups and downs. Creativity may come and go, but our curiosity goes on and gets stronger.

    So, even if you feel that your creativity has evaporated, trust that it will return again, just like it has in the past. While you are waiting, keep photographing, learn, practice, experiment, and especially, feed your curiosity. You might find that the extra kick of creativity is actually just an incremental boost to the power of your curiosity.

    The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work. – Emile Zola

    An unexpected travel shot. It came from taking the time to stop and watch and wait.©Ed Schlotzhauer

    Staying creative

    So, as far as staying creative. You won’t always be at your peak. Sometimes you may feel way down in the valley. Don’t panic. It will come back. In the meantime, there are things you can do to improve yourself as an artist and a person and to entice the creativity back. Work on your curiosity. Explore new ideas and techniques. When you feel the creativity flowing again, you will be even more ready to use it.

    But no matter what, keep working.

    Today’s image

    Sunset downtown. I turned my view down to the parking lot instead of out at the glowing buildings. Is this creative? Or is it just following my curiosity? I don’t know. I will leave that for greater minds to decide. Either way, I was letting it flow.

  • The Hardest Part

    The Hardest Part

    I have figured out what I consider the hardest part of photography. Excluding Marketing. It is selecting a portfolio.

    Pick a few

    It’s a common situation. Perhaps I am entering a selection for a gallery competition. Maybe a client has requested a few choices for a job. It could be just needing to pick some images for this blog post. Whatever the reason, I am faced with the problem of selecting a small set of images for a certain use.

    Oh sure, I have the images that would work. It’s not like I”m not happy with my choices. The problem is selecting only a few.

    I’m calling what I am doing here making a portfolio. That is not precisely correct. Formally, a portfolio is a collection of images designed for presentation to an audience. Often one-on-one. However, the process is substantially the same for that and the situations I described. So I will not distinguish them.

    Embarrassment of riches

    Please don’t take it as bragging, but I have lots of images that I like. I have been at it a long time. Lots as in many thousands. That’s just the ones I promote to my top level selection category. A lot of others in my catalog would be useful for certain applications.

    Yes, I have a disciplined filing system. Everything is culled through multiple levels of selection. I find it is hard to pick the ones I like best from a shoot, so my process is oriented around rejecting the ones that are not as good. I don’t know why, but it is easier for me to say “I don’t like that one as well” than to say “I like that one best.” That is repeated through multiple levels. I apply more stringent criteria at each level.

    Giant bear peeking into an urban building©Ed Schlotzhauer

    Most of my images are filed geographically and I have an extensive keyword system for tagging all sorts of information. And I use it.

    All this should make it easy to find just what I want. You would think, but no. It is easier in that I am only wading through thousands, not hundreds of thousands of images to pick. But that’s not even the most difficult part.

    No guidance

    We are awash in training material to help us become better photographers. Some if it is actually good. There are thousands of hours of videos on camera operation and composition and visual design. Many more on techniques in the field and techniques for post processing. And gear guides are limitless. As are books to supplement the videos. All of this can help boost our knowledge and improve our technique.

    But when it comes to pulling together a portfolio, the advice is: it’s hard, keep editing, get it down to a few great images.

    Thanks, but that is not really helpful. Well, it is helpful to find out that I should expect it to be hard and I have to do it myself. But where is the video that shows me to pick this image instead of that one?

    Should a choose a tight theme with carefully coordinated image selections, as for a project? Or would it be best to present a range of subjects and styles to show the breadth of my work? Would it help to research the curator of the exhibit to try to guess what they would like? Why would this image work better than that one?

    I feel kind of left hanging out there.

    I’m on my own

    That’s the point and the conclusion. We are on our own. We have to be grown ups and make responsible decisions. That is no fun. It is downright hard. That’s why, to me, this is the hardest part.

    Very abstract created image. Representa the evolution of an image.©Ed Schlotzhauer

    So a typical scenario is that I have to select, say, 4 images for a gallery. Open theme. I’m on my own. No guidance. It is very easy to go through my catalog and pull 50 images that I would like to submit. Another pass or two might get it down to 30 images. Then it gets harder and harder as I push on. I love every one of these images. Eliminating one seems like I am abandoning it. I know that’s not the case, but the feeling is there.

    It is sometimes easier if I set it aside for a few days to let the emotions settle down. Then I do my best imitation of being coldly realistic to screen out some more. But what seems to happen is that I get down to, say, 8 images. I can only have 4. That final cut is extremely painful.

    i envy people who have a colleague or mentor they can work with to advise the process. I don’t. The decisions have to be made by me with no help. I have an awesome wife, but she isn’t an artist and cannot help with this.

    Well, I get there. It is painful. I come away with sadness because I had to eliminate some of my favorites in the final mix. That disappears with time, though. After a few days I can look at the final set and be proud of them.

    Overthinking it

    A reality is that I tend to overthink it. What I know is that the images I pull are all very good. And I know, and have demonstrated to myself often, that, with a set of excellent images, every time you eliminate one, you make the overall set stronger. That is, if you make intelligent choices. I try to remind myself of great advice I got one time that you will be judged by the worst image you show.

    So why do I agonize over it so much? It’s not like I throw a great image away if I remove it from the set.

    I think there are two problems. First is that I love these images and feel bad about taking one out, because I’m emotionally attached to it. I can live with that. But the second and bigger problem is, how do I know I have made the best choice?

    Self doubt

    That is the core of the problem. There is no guidance. I am on my own. There are much bigger and more important choices in life that are like this. Who to marry, what career to pursue, where to live, what investments to make, etc. We must use our judgment to make the decision. It hurts. We want someone to look over our shoulder and tell us we did the right thing. Unfortunately, being an adult doesn’t work like that.

    Picking some images for a use is way down in importance from those big life events. Why is it so painful then? I think it is the same fear of failure and the consequences. But I try to be realistic.

    So I try to convince myself that the final set I choose will be excellent. Even though I feel like I am in the spotlight and I am being examined to see if I am worthy, I know that if I do the best I can, that will be good enough. And if not, well, nobody dies.

    I tell myself that, but it doesn’t feel like it when I am in the pain of the process.

    All parts of the photographic process are interesting and challenging. All are subjective, But there seems to be a lot of help to be had in all phases of it up until the final image selection.

    Resources

    There actually are a couple of resources I have found to help give some education in this. Unfortunately they are not freely available. Peter Eastway, editor of Better Photography magazine, has written an excellent ebook on creating a portfolio. As it says, it is specifically oriented to putting together a portfolio or exhibit. But it still gives a lot of good insights.

    Creating a Portfolio might be available at www.betterphotographyeducation.com without a subscription. If not, it is an excellent publication and you will enjoy it. 🙂

    Another option that I have found out is not paywalled is a three part series of newsletters in the Paper Arts Collective newsletter. This is a hidden gem of a publication. The series I’m referring to was titled Evolution of a Small Project, and it traced the decisions and selection process he went through to put together an exhibit. If you do prints then you should check out Paper Arts Collective.

    But I come back to my original problem. It is hard, no one can really help you, you have to make hard choices yourself based on your judgment and artistic vision. And you have to have confidence in your decisions. To me, it is the hardest part.

  • It Looks Like a Painting

    It Looks Like a Painting

    This comment used to make me angry. But I have now rationalized that most people mean it as a compliment. If it looks like a painting then it must be art.

    Is painting the standard?

    For most people, painting means art. It is what they were taught. Photographs are those low value things they do on their phone. They’re mostly for memories and bragging rights on social media.

    I believe most people view painting as “high art”. Like they might view classical music. After all, both are remote and fairly difficult to understand. Removed from their daily lives. High art is something they have been taught that they should value, but they seldom partake of it.

    And paintings are viewed as difficult, labor intensive works requiring lots of training and “suffering”. That instills them with high value in many people’s estimation. It is not unusual for painters to encourage an aura of this being something so great and high that we cannot understand it. We viewers are lucky the artist will share a glimpse of such truth with us.

    And on a practical note, a painting is one of a kind. The artist paints one original. This increases the value of the work in some markets.

    Some people, looking at one of my images, describe it as “painterly”. To them, this is a compliment. Even photo reviewers occasionally use the term. Internally, I usually cringe, unless it was actually my goal to look like a painting.

    So for my peace of mind I have decided to accept “it looks like a painting” as a sincere compliment. It may be alien to my goals and values as a photographer, but is probably the best way a lot of people know of to say “it is art”.

    What does a painting look like?

    I will consider that a “painting” is some type of color medium applied to a substrate like paper or canvas by hand. I will stretch the definition to include pouring or throwing paint. Typical color mediums are oil, acrylic, watercolor, or pastel.

    The “by hand” seems to be important. Until print reproductions are made, all paintings are originals. Many people consider a “mechanically created” print inferior to a painting because it was too easy to make.

    Brushes are most often used to apply the color. Although they come in a wide range of sizes, and it is possible to create very detailed paintings, generally paintings are a somewhat coarse expression of a scene. That expression is considered part of the artistry.

    This is what people think of as a painting. It is an Albert Bierstadt painting titled “Rocky Mountain Landscape”. As someone who lives in the Rockies, I can attest this is purely fictional:

    Albert Bierstadt painting, 1870From the White House Collection. Image from Google Art Project

    An artist typically paints a scene they can observe (or make up). This means the scene is fairly static. Unless, of course, they take a picture of it and paint from a photographic print. Is that allowed? Does that make the painting something else? 🙂

    So paintings are generally relatively large, static scenes, less detailed than a photograph, and created by hand.

    Do I want my image to look like a painting?

    Do I want my image to look like a painting? Great question. Sometimes yes. Usually no.

    This is a fairly typical image I do that screams PHOTORGRAPH. It could be painted, but then that would be a painter trying to make his work look like a photograph. 🙂

    Classic B&W photograph.© Ed Schlotzhauer

    Why would I want an image to look like a painting? I do occasionally enjoy creating abstract images. Sometimes they work best done as a dreamy, blurry, hand drawn look. I love that photography can achieve a wide variety of effects. I enjoy pushing the boundary and creating an unexpected look.

    But in these cases, I have chosen to create the image with this look. My goal was not to “make it look like a painting”. Sometimes an image tells me what it wants to look like. Sometimes what it wants to look like is what most people consider “painterly”. If that is what is right for the image, then OK.

    Don’t feel inferior

    I think photography is an amazing art form. Its versatility is unsurpassed. Being technology based allows it to operate somewhat outside the limits of the artist’s mind. We can explore time and scale and space and even non-visual realms in ways that other artistic mediums can only copy.

    With photography, we can make one print and stop or we can make 1000 prints. We can re-scale a file to make a print very small to fit into a locket or up to wall-sized for a gallery or to decorate a large room. Or even billboards or the sides of buildings.

    Never let the intelligentsia convince you you are somehow inferior to painters or other “real” arts. They are just trying to protect their self interests. Photography is as real as any art. Be proud of your art.

    So when someone tells you your image looks like a painting, be gracious. Don’t launch into a lecture about why they are wrong and how they do not understand. This would be rude and even insulting. Accept it as a compliment. They are using terms they know to tell you they like your work and consider it good art. Be happy. But also be confident that it does not have to look like a painting to be great art.

    Today’s featured image

    The image at the top would be considered “painterly” by many people. Did I want it to look like a painting? No. I was exploring possibilities of long shutter speeds with flowing water and reflections in a river. I knew from experience that I could often get abstract results I like. This is an example.

    I like it. It is abstract, and it flows and has a lot of subtle details of interest. Does it look like a painting? That is for you to decide. If you think that, great. But it is not a label I try for when I am creating. I would not market my work as “looks like a painting”.

  • Sustainability

    Sustainability

    Sustainability is a common buzz word these days. It is applied to everything. Every company and product claims it. For this, I’m going to redefine sustainability from an artistic point of view.

    Creative sustainability

    As artists, we live on our creativity. Do you worry that the well may dry up? What if your creativity goes away?

    If we produce hard, do we use it up? Or is the engine somehow fed by using more? Is creativity a “sustainable” resource or does it get used up?

    Since this is the core of what we do as artists, it is natural to worry about it. Probably all of us at some point have concerns that we may use it up. What would we do then?

    So, an ongoing concern for many of us is, should we ration and conserve our creativity so we don’t use it up? Is it even possible to conserve it?

    Sustainable creativity

    I don’t believe creativity actually gets used up. It is like a good well that always seems to be full when we need it. If anything, creativity thrives on being challenged and used. It seems like the more we call on it, the more there is.

    But is it sustainable? I think so, but we can be our own worst enemies. If we keep doing the same stuff over and over we get less creative. When we try to stay in a safe rut, there is less need to exercise creative. We’ve done it all. Many times. It is a major challenge to apply new creativity to repeating the same things.

    Unless we are following the lead of where our creativity wants to take us, we risk getting stale. When that happens, we seriously fear we are not creative any more. And we are right.

    That doesn’t mean our creativity is gone. But if we do not give it free rein to take us in new directions, it stops challenging us. For all practical purposes, our creativity is them used up.

    Creativity is like a good friend. It will be there for us, but we have a responsibility to nurture the relationship. If we ignore it, if we do not make time for it, it will eventually give up on us.

    Burnout

    Everyone goes through cycles. Creativity, and everything else in life, can ebb and flow. That is natural. But burnout is an extreme. It is a depressed state where it can seem impossible to ever again do the quality of work we want to do. It can persist for months or years if we let it.

    I know. I have been there. There was a time in my career when I worked long hours for years in a job that was not fulfilling. It caught up to me. I crashed. I pulled back, working less hours and not being as satisfied with the quality of my work. Eventually, by changing position and increasing the creativity of my role, I became productive and happy in my job again. It was probably a 3 year process.

    In burnout, it seems evident that creativity must be unsustainable. That’s not true, though. It is not creativity that lets us down, it is the other parts of our context. It is important to manage our lives and environment if we want to stay creative.

    Creative stimulus

    Like an athlete trains constantly, we must exercise our creativity to stay on top of our game. Everyone’s needs are different, so it is impossible to lay out a plan for you to follow to do it. You have to figure that out for yourself.

    I can provide some creative stimulants I have seen and used. Consider them. Try the ones that seem to fit you. Develop your own methods.

    I will just bullet point some of them. Each could be a topic on it’s own.

    Read. And not just the same old stuff. Read new things. Read things by people you disagree with. And also read some light stuff just for fun.

    Study something new. Don’t plan to get a PhD in it. Just learn something about it. If you like it, go deeper. If not, try something else.

    Write

    Go back and review your old work. Put together a new portfolio.

    Go to a museum.

    Travel to a new place that is NOT a major iconic photo location.

    Put blocks of time in your calendar to do nothing. Turn off your phone. Let your mind wander. Doodle. Look around. Intentionally be unproductive.

    Spend time with friends, just living life.

    Take your significant other out for a nice and unexpected meal.

    Find things that make you happy, but that are not just entertainment. Try to do more of them.

    Take walks, with and without your camera.

    Just do it

    The theme here is to fill your mind with new information. This connects in strange and unexpected ways, leading to who knows what. And to give yourself space and time to just think, ponder, consider, unwind. The more pressure we put ourselves under, the more it shuts down creativity.

    And like the inspired Nike tag line, “just do it”. Get out and work. Take pictures, Don’t worry so much about the results. Going through the motions is comforting and leads to results. Eventually. Creativity is not just inspiration, it is a process.

    Relax and try to de-clutter your head. Follow your instincts.

    Is creativity sustainable? I would say definitely. It is one of the most important traits we have as artists. We can consciously take actions to keep our creativity healthy and flowing. But we have to listen to ourselves and recognize what our needs are.