One of my most successful shots of 2020 was also one of the easiest I made during that year. Living by the sea on the south coast of Spain is very peaceful and beautiful, but being on the edge of the sea also brings tempestuous weather. Like most southern European houses, mine has roll-down steel shutters.
On the morning of November 26th I was woken up by my shutters rattling in the frame; just another day on the coast I thought. The shutters were down in the living room overlooking the sea (I had put them down due to the storm warning the previous day) so I pulled them up and was greeted by a dark sky and rolling sea only illuminated by multiple lightning strikes.
My heart jumped! Camera! Camera I need a….Oh, here it is, all setup already from the still life I was shooting the day before. (Zero effort before coffee is always a good thing in my book.)
So here I am still in my pyjamas going onto the balcony with my camera and tripod. It was still 30 minutes before blue hour, leaving astronomical twilight (when the sun is 12 degrees below horizon) and coming into nautical twilight (when the sun is 6 degrees below the horizon).
It wasn’t easy framing with barely any light, so I mostly just filled the frame with sky and put it on a timer to take continuous shots. I set the aperture at f/6.3 for 10 seconds as a test shot. This is what I got:
This is NOT sunlight but light from the lightning!
10sec @f/6.3 ISO640
When shooting lightning you don’t want to use small apertures. Why? Because apertures control the INTENSITY of light. And you want the lightning to be intense yes? If you shoot, say at, F/16 then you get thinner, weaker looking lightning. Apertures between 2.8- 8 work best.
This image is actually f/10. But still too skinny and dull.
Once my camera was on the tripod with the 50mm I attached the remote release that I use mostly for timelapses, and set the exposure time for 13 seconds @ f/6.3. Then I went to go make coffee.
After about 3 minutes of exposing, I reviewed (chimped) the images to see what I’d caught. There were loads of good lightning strikes! I made another 2 minutes of exposures adjusting as I went along.
50mm 20sec@ f/5.6 ISO50
The 50mm was working well but as I was shooting the lightning strikes kept getting closer. I mean really close, right overhead – if I had been on the open beach I would have left, that close! But since I was safe on my balcony undercover on the side of a building, I felt secure in my now cold pyjamas… So I switched to a 17mm to achieve more coverage and distort the angle-up perspective a bit.
Now that I could see better I reframed to include the top of a tree and the horizon for added perspective. I think without the tree the size and magnitude of the lighting is lost. Now it was just a matter of luck and patience.
2.5sec @f/6.3 ISO50
At this point in time it was blue hour and the sun had just started to warm up the Eastern sky, which you can see in the final shot. I started the remote again with 2.5 second exposures. I was sipping my coffee transfixed by how awesome nature is when bang! A strike so close and so bright.
I was looking right at the space it happened and it burned itself into my retina as I heard my camera shutter go click and I thought: ” Yeah, I got that!” – followed by the instant rumble of deep thunder. Amazing I tell you!
Soon after, the storm moved away and the sunrise came up and I was done.
I reviewed the camera images again and there it was – the perfect strike right on top of me. And I hadn’t even finished my whole cup of coffee yet. A second cup of coffee later and I was sitting at my computer uploading.
A few people have asked me how I processed this image so I will start by showing you the out-of-camera file:
Doesn’t appear so colourful, in fact, it looks rather flat and dull. But don’t judge a file until you have a good look at the histogram. What do you see here?:
Out-of-camera histogram
Low contrast, yes, to be expected by looking at the file itself. But what I want you to notice are the colour channels of yellow and blue.
That is a lot of yellow towards the darker tones and a lot of blue towards the lighter tones. What this tells me is that I can push these channels and really make the image colourful without making it seem over-processed and fake. I am taking the inherent qualities and enhancing them with saturation and contrast.
And when I do I get a histogram that looks like this:
After processing histogram
I have spread all the tones out, increasing contrast. I also upped the vibrance and saturation which you can see in the colour channels.
This is my best processing result but not my first. When I first worked on this image I was into my 2nd cup of coffee the same morning, still hadn’t eaten and was “over-excited”, and when I am “over-excited” I tend to push sliders too far to the right, especially Clarity and sometimes Dehaze (ouch!).
This is what that looks like:
For me this did not reflect my personal experience as it feels too dark and brooding when it was actually highly energetic and intense. This feeling is also mostly due to over using the Dehaze slider. It is a cool look but later I felt I wanted it to be more natural.
I could shoot lighting everyday for the rest of my life and still love it. I love zooming in at 200% and looking super close at lightning. It is awe-inspiring for me. And so, so beautiful. I did 263 frames over 45 minutes. Maybe 30 with strikes!
I now have weather apps that forewarn me of lightning in my area so next time I will be ready to go…as long as I can stay safely on my balcony drinking coffee 8).
A couple of the last strikes of the morning. It was amazing how the colour dramatically cooled at sunrise. Strange, strange weather but I live for it.
I’d love to know what you think of this, or if you have questions ask them here on my blog and I’ll answer them.
Today I’m sharing some interesting ideas that I think will help you leap into a good photo practice if you are stuck in a rut or struggling to get inspired.
1. Photography should always bring you joy
A few days ago, we were having lunch with some friends and one of them mentioned how his photography education had been quite a joyless experience. There was such a focus on what wasn’t working with the students’ work, and what needed to work better, that it sucked all the enjoyment out of taking photos.
I can see that too in some of the emails we get – people worried about their lack of skill or experience, worried they haven’t got far enough or berating themselves for not using their camera more.
To all of this I want to say – Stop. Just stop.
Photography – and the act of creating anything – should not a be negative or endlessly difficult experience. No way. If we are weaving this beautiful practice into our lives, don’t we want it to be fun?
Of course, there is challenge and difficulty in any creative practice, and there are hurdles to overcome. There are the forces of boredom, the procrastination to deal with. Naturally, there is the need to put in effort and learn things you find difficult.
But ultimately, it should bring something wonderful into your life.
Ideas & resources:
This is a brilliant book exploring in-depth where creativity comes from. Fun and inspiring. Imagine – How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer
2. Find your good photos – and hang them on your wall
When you want to get good at something, it’s important to build positive momentum. Which means you have to recognise your progress and all the good photos you are taking – not just those which need to be improved.
We wrote about why you should print your photos a few years ago – and we encourage you to start printing your work if you haven’t.
Photos should be living, breathing things – adorning your house, given as gifts, made into books, posters, prints – whatever you desire for them. Don’t let the images that you work so hard to take languish on your memory cards or hard drives.
We love the joy and fun of Self Publish, Be Happy – the photo organisation dedicated to you taking control of your work and putting it out there.
Why not enter your best photos into the Sony World Photo Awards. It’s one of the few comps you can enter free – so risk-free. Just go!
3. Look for people whose ideas and work fascinate you
I was reading about Tina Modotti recently, admiring her famous photo of a worker’s hands.I love to explore the lives of artists who are lesser known or whose work has fallen out of fashion.
In reading about her, I then came to Edward Weston, from whom Modotti learnt much of her craft. Modotti was actually only one of two female photographers who were very significant in Weston’s life.
Edward Weston is considered one of the masters of twentieth century photography. He made his still lives of cabbage leaves, peppers and shells incredibly emotive and sensual.
Margrethe Mather, was once the most famous female photographer in America but appears to have been almost forgotten. She played an important role in Weston’s life, teaching him and developing his interest in photographing still lives of shells, flowers and everyday objects.
After Mather, Modotti came into Weston’s life, and he taught her much of the craft of photography. They moved to Mexico together in the 1920’s and she became increasingly interested in documenting the social and political world of Mexico City.
Her short career (she died aged 45) was prolific. In her work she was innovative, and she mixed her fine art sensibilities with her strong social conscience. Tina Modotti Photos
Ideas & resources:
I loved this incredible collection of images Of Love & War from photojournalist Lynsey Addario, where the stories of unbearable human tragedy are weaved interchangeably through images of resilience of the human spirit.
I am rarely a fan of contemporary street photography. The abundance of comedic images often feel empty. To me, photos need to give me something more substantive – a little idea about being human, a glimpse of a story, a feeling. But I do love cities, and I love to explore them. So to expand my awareness of the possibilities of this genre, I have ordered the updated edition of Bystander – A History of Street Photography by Colin Westerbeck and Joel Meyerowitz, a collection of some of the most interesting street photography going back to the 19th century.
4. Commit to your progress
I remember when Anthony bought his first digital camera and started to practise using it alongside his film cameras. I was shocked by the results – they were dreadful.
Possibly it was the new world of digital cameras as they weren’t as good as now – but it was also that it was a whole new system for him to learn. I admired that he jumped in head first and spent hours and hours learning and perfecting.
Even now I often find him watching YouTube videos or reading articles about different techniques. I remember when he started really getting into HDR he’d be reading and practising, unswayed by his initial mediocre results.
While it’s obviously necessary to keep up with technology as a professional photographer, one thing that I have learnt from Anthony that I try to remember in my own work is to not get impatient with the learning journey.
Anthony starts learning something and keeps going. He starts out with no skill, keeps practising over time, is never in a great rush, and eventually gets to the proficiency he seeks.
He accomplished exactly this when learning about editing for our new video course, and he did it with time lapses and little videos that he wanted to make of his travels.
He is patient with himself – and this is what I’d like to share with you. So many people get frustrated with their progress, expecting to make massive leaps immediately. I do. Always. I am impatient, I am in a rush.
But learning is an every day, every year, lifetime experience.
Take pleasure in the learning journey. Recognise that you will get to where you want to go. Consistent incremental progress will get you everywhere.
“Leisure, is not the same as the absence of activity… or even as an inner quiet. It is rather like the stillness in the conversation of lovers, which is fed by their oneness.” Josef Pieper
If I were to have a goal right now, it would be to bring more space and silence into my life. Because I know when I am not working or distracted or doing, then I will naturally turn to the act of creating.
You have to create the environment around you that will help you do the things you love to do.
For me, it’s – turn off my phone, log off my laptop and be alone. That’s all I need.
For Anthony, it’s often having enough energy and time to get up before dawn and go out. So exercising, and early nights.
It is different for everyone – the point is to know about what environment you need to create to take photos, and to make sure you have that in your life on a regular basis.
Everything that is within us comes out in our photography, or writing, or creative practice.
When we are in deep creative flow, we are untethered from what others think of us: lying on the ground taking that shot, or asking that stranger for a portrait, or spending months photographing beautiful feathers because they are just so interesting to us.
But when we are showing people our images, all that is unique about ourselves can suddenly feel vulnerable. And let’s be honest, for all the yes, that’s great, we are so much more sensitive to criticism.
I have developed more of a thick skin over the years, but what made me filter criticism more vigorously was when Brene Brown said she won’t listen to criticism from people who aren’t putting themselves out there and doing something themselves.
It’s easy to just sit there and critique. But to say – this is who I am and this is what I’ve made is actually pretty brave. Even if it’s just putting your photos on social media or getting them printed to show to friends, it’s a brave act to reveal your work.
If you want to truly be creative, you have to unhook yourself from the judgements of others – and commit to that.
Ideas & resources:
A recent favourite photo project of Anthony’s was The Last Testament by Jonas Bendiksen. Anthony saw the exhibition during our Arles workshop in the summer, and brought home the book. It’s an in-depth exploration into the lives of men who think they are the reincarnation of Jesus Christ.
The photography is stunning, but made much more poignant accompanied by the men’s stories and teachings. Bendiksen’s approach is very respectful – as this could have turned into a giant comedy project. Instead, he gained the trust of his subjects and brought their lives and worlds vividly to life.
7. Drop the self criticism
Strangely, though, it’s often not what others think that is so destructive to our creativity. It is our own personal inner voice that scuppers our work.
“Were we to meet this figure socially, as it were, this accusatory character, this internal critic, we would think there was something wrong with him. He would just be boring and cruel. We might think that something terrible had happened to him. That he was living in the aftermath, in the fallout of some catastrophe. And we would be right.”
And yet…
“Nothing makes us more critical, more confounded — more suspicious, or appalled, or even mildly amused — than the suggestion that we should drop all this relentless criticism; that we should be less impressed by it. Or at least that self-criticism should cease to have the hold over us that it does.”
How about doing something radical in 2019 and just completely and totally dropping the self-criticism? Instead of beration – think celebration. Instead of worrying about where you need to go, celebrate where you are at.
Print the photos. Enjoy your photography. Let it take you places you had no idea you wanted to go.
8. The power of surrendering to the world
Let’s be honest, so much of our lives are lived on the surface. It’s looking at things in the same way, doing the same things – not questioning the status quo. Our own personal status quo, our families or our cultures, how we work and what we do with our free time.
Travelling has given me a new perspective on habit and routine. I see now, truly see, that the maxim ‘wherever you go, there you are’ is 100% true.
So travel won’t take you out of habits, out of your routines of thinking and doing, and help you experience the world anew unless you allow it to.
If your thoughts are – things should be like this and like that, which I most certainly suffer from, you will have a similar experience whether you travel or stay at home.
You have to surrender that certainty and those thoughts about who you are and how things should be.
Nothing is certain, nothing is 100%. You have to allow travel and new experiences to change you. You have to unhook your habit and see what emerges.
Surrender to the new experience – allowing all of the new sensations to be alive in your body, even if this involves fear. Especially if it involves fear.
Trying to hold on to habits or preformed ideas you have about yourself and the world because you feel fear will block the potential for so many new enlivening experiences that could be dancing around in your life.
As Anthony and I are in mid-life, we are attempting to buck the trend – to consciously go in the opposite direction to where we are expected to be, in order to open up more possibilities.
It takes a lot of effort and overcoming of fears to become more of who we can be. But it’s an exhilarating experience of what life can become – and when you do it can elevate your creativity beyond your wildest imagination.
9. Find ways to be amazingly inspired on a regular basis
There is a sensation that I feel when I know I am deep in a creative flow state. I realise that somehow my worries or things I have been going over and over in my mind – although still there – seem to have shrunk.
I also notice that there is a beautiful, light feeling within me.
This is not an everyday state for me – yet. But it is a state that I’m trying to bring more into my life. One way I do this is meditating regularly which helps to ‘declutter’ my busy mind from excessive thoughts – and that’s the best way I can describe the benefits.
Meditating gives me space to be more thoughtful and creative, rather than obsessing over how we are getting to the airport tomorrow or wondering if Anthony called the accountant like I asked him to.
Another way is to fill my life with things that are deeply inspiring.
When I was in London I would take regular trips to the woods near us on the outer edges of West London. It’s scientifically proven that seeing trees every day (I think seeing at least 14 trees is the magic number) improves your mental health.
I can attest that whenever I found life too stressful, spending time in the woods would alleviate so much anxiety.
It’s what the Japanese call forest bathing – or Shinrin-yoku.
“It is simply being in nature, connecting with it through our senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. Shinrin-yoku is like a bridge. By opening our senses, it bridges the gap between us and the natural world.”Dr. Qing Li – who wrote the book Forest Bathing: How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness.
(And did you know that trees have feelings, families and communities that they communicate with? The Hidden Life of Trees is a fascinating book proposing this new understanding of tree life.)
Anthony and I have found being by the sea intensely inspiring this year.
The vast expanse of it is so hypnotic. Some days it’s beautifully calm and still, translucent so you can see the sea floor. And then it’s wild and angry. Deep green with big waves, telling us all to keep away.
As Lord Byron said “There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more.”
Incidentally, trees and the sea are both subjects Anthony has done photo projects on. A decade ago it was his project on trees, Arboreal Dreams, and this year his ongoing work on the sea where we live, which has the working title of Meditations.
10. Give up what binds your creativity
I am addicted to Facebook. There I said it. I admitted it to the world. Why do I need to say this out loud? Because it angers me that it almost seems like an unconscious act that, having put my daughter to bed, I fire up Facebook and suddenly realise an hour has disappeared from my life.
If I came off Facebook full of joy and ideas and inspiration then, hey, it’d be an hour well spent. But really, no-one expects to say that it makes me happy, right?
I don’t want to get into should’s though. I should be doing something else, I should be being productive, I should be better in every way. That to me just leads to the above point of intense self-criticism.
I would, however, like to give myself the time to potentially pick up my pen, to commit to what I love to do, to make progress on another book I have been writing for over a year now. That would be awesome.
So I am going to become Facebook-free.
I am going to remove just one thing from my life as the new year gets under way, and that’s the thing that binds me the most, and keeps me away from creating.
We all have things that impinge on taking photos or being creative. What is yours?
I hope you have enjoyed those ideas and they ignite something within you that will help your photography. Let us know in the comments below.
Read more of our articles …
One of my favourite articles was about Ara Guler. He was a phenomenal photographer – as you can see in the documentary about him – The Eye of Istanbul. I also deeply, deeply love Istanbul. It might be my favourite city in the world. Or how about these:
I wanted to share some of the best articles we have written over the years that we have been told have created the biggest impact on people’s photography.
These are articles that will help you expand your perception of photography, help you awaken your inner artist and give you techniques and skills so you can shoot with confidence.
If you want bring more creativity and feeling into your photography – you will find something marvellous on our list of our best articles & videos.
(Do we care about) Kit & technique?
Answer: yes and no
Tripod as Zen Master – Using a tripod regularly in my photography has created a huge impact on my photos – not just technically but in how I shoot. It has slowed me down and given me the opportunity to become even more connected with my environment.
My most controversial photography article – ever – Even with my regular smartphone use I am still a massive fan of shooting on manual. No computer makes better creative choices than us. Hands down. Until that changes, this is what I discuss in an article I wrote for Digital Photography School which people loved or hated!
19 Photos to Show You Why Your Camera Doesn’t Matter – Because I also embrace my smartphone as a tool, I share my favourite photos in this article to show you it’s YOU not your CAMERA that matters, regardless of what you are shooting with.
(It’s really all about) Developing the artistic mindset
“There is only you and your camera. The limitations in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is what we are.” Ernst Haas
This is where I start with people in my workshops and courses – your mindset! Because we are what we shoot!
Photography starts with preparing yourself and how to connect with your creative energy, becoming present and connected to your environment and bringing your imagination into your photography.
Here are some great ideas to help you:
You are an artist (even if you don’t think you are) – So many people say to me – I’m not a creative person! Well, you are. Every single human being is creative. It is how our brains are made. All that happens to our creativity is that it atrophies from under-use.
Two essential things you need to be a great photographer – If you haven’t downloaded and read our Creative Photographers Manifesto – I urge you to do this right now! This is a wonderful eBook which is the very heart of my teaching and artistic process as a photographer.
How you live your life is how you take photos – Working out how your personality and habits affect how you shoot – and how to overcome the ones that are inhibiting your creativity.
Letting go of judging your photography – We all judge out photos, it’s natural. But excessive judging can inhibit your ability to be free and connected when we go out and shoot. Some ideas to help!
What kind of photographer are you? – We are all on our path, our own journey as creative people. So there will never be a one-size-fits-all learning journey. That’s why I personalise everything I teach, so that it connects to who you are as a photographer, as a human being and what excites you creatively the most.
Fear is prevalent in almost everybody’s photography practise. It’s a normal reaction to new experiences and new learning situations. I am not immune to it either. Here are two articles about how I deal with fear – How fear holds us back from being better photographers and
Creativity and Age – There is such a misconception about aging and being creative. I say – let’s get more creative as we get older, not less. Use our incredible life experiences to blossom in our photography.
(Not the normal) Composition techniques
Photography is all about what you leave out – Photography is a process of construction AND reduction. In this article we talk about how to bring this idea into your photos so that you are able to consciously construct your composition.
Video: The Problem of Subject Fixation – This 5 minute video introduces one of the biggest issues we see with amateur photographers. And, of course, how to solve it!
Capturing the feeling of light – George Eastman summed it up for me when he said – “Light makes photography. Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography.”
How I Got the Shot – I’ve done a bunch of these articles, dissecting how I created some of my favourite images. This is cool one giving a behind-the-scenes tour almost of my images.
5 advanced composition techniques – I love to teach all of the core compositional techniques like leading lines, as they have helped my photography tremendously. But here are some more unusual techniques that are super-helpful to create better compositions.
My ultimate guide to travel photography – Immediately I am going to say I am not a traditional travel photographer, but really a photographer who happens to travel a lot. But what I have to share is fascinating and it’s a lot of in-depth teaching in this guide.
One thing that comes up a lot with people who want to develop their photography is a word that many people don’t want to hear – and that is practice.
If you want to improve at anything, it’s about practice – consistent practice. Even if it’s just one photo a day, or shooting for a few hours a week.
But of course when you are working, living, looking after family and involved in many, many other things in life, photography isn’t always the priority and it can be hard to practise.
And so photography challenges can provide a wonderful way to focus your attention and bring photography more into your life.
Videos: How to Sell Your Photography – If you want to sell your photos, this interview that I did last year in Arles with Crista Cloutier from The Working Artist is very helpful.
13 things Ernst Haas taught me about photography – The photographer who has inspired me the most! I discovered Haas in college, and he showed me the potential and possibility of photography. He is a true master.
In keeping myself motivated as a photographer, I love to look for inspiration from all across the creative spectrum. I like to take the advice of my favourite photographer Ernst Haas in this, when he recommended to: “refine your senses through the great masters of music, painting, and poetry. In short, try indirect inspirations, and everything will come by itself.”
Photos of the Full Moon + 11 Mary Oliver quotes to inspire bold creativity – Mary Oliver was an extraordinary poet. She had the most exquisite ability to capture some of the beautiful truths about recognising the very best of this life and being creative. This was a lovely collaboration between Di and myself.
What John Berger can teach us about photography – I photographed the writer John Berger before he died a few years ago and he inspired me so much with his love of photography and art. He has a wealth of excellent ideas for us photographers.
Some pure and beautiful photography inspiration
Here are a couple of videos I made about my love of travelling, shooting and light!
How are you doing right now? I hope things are good wherever you are.
This is Diana today, hello!
The more we are in lockdown the more Anthony and I are asking ourselves, what are we learning from this experience? What can we do with this time to help us live and create things in a deeper, more fulfilling way?
How can we draw something from it that makes us more aware and more in touch with the vast spectrum of human experience?
Being human means that of course we naturally get to see and feel so many different types of experiences – incredible joyous moments, times laced with sadness and fear, long hours of boredom.
Everything is available to us.
“Let everything happen to you
Beauty and terror
Just keep going
No feeling is final.”
Rainer Maria Rilke
But I think so many of these experiences that we have, we throw away. We discard as unimportant or insignificant.
Because we are so used to thinking of our lives in terms of being either productive or pleasurable.
But when we are creative people, everything can feed our imaginations.
We escape the long moments of daily domesticity in our minds by thinking of other things – work, pleasure, dreams of travel and wild riches, perhaps.
We discard the gentle poignant moments of quiet at night to escape into our phones or into a book or the latest sensational news.
I read an article on Brain Pickings about the writer Rainer Maria Rilke, that brought the spectrum of human experience into the ideas and the awareness of life that we can use as creative people.
He wrote that in order to be a writer (but let’s substitute photographer or any creative pursuit) we must allow all of the different experiences that life can be.
“For the sake of a few lines one must see many cities, men and things. One must know the animals, one must feel how the birds fly and know the gesture with which the small flowers open in the morning.
One must be able to think back to roads in unknown regions, to unexpected meetings and to partings which one has long seen coming…
To childhood illness that so strangely began with a number of profound and grave transformations, to days in rooms withdrawn and quiet and to mornings by the sea, to the sea itself, to seas, to nights of travel that rushed along on high and flew with all the stars — and it is not yet enough if one may think of all of this.
One must have memories of many nights of love, none of which was like the others, of the screams of women in labor…
But one must also have been beside the dying, one must have sat beside the dead in the room with the open window and the fitful noises.”
To me this awareness and connection with the big and small moments of life is so very essential to our exploration as creative people.
Both “the gesture with which the small flowers open in the morning” and “to days in rooms withdrawn and quiet”.
And to know “mornings by the sea” and “to nights of travel that rushed along on high and flew with all the stars”.
As creative people we can use everything, every single thing that we experience to see what ideas, what thoughts, what things our imaginations and our minds do with this plethora of things.
We can soak it all in.
Let us choose to live in our life, not push it away from us – let us embrace everything that our life is and what we choose to do with it, or whatever is thrust upon us.
And now we are having a collective time of isolation – that perhaps feels terribly lonely, or wonderful in it’s solitude or strange in the time-emptying-out of activities. This can spur us deeper into ourselves to find new realms of imagination and thoughts.
It’s perhaps obvious to say, and too simplistic really, that to create something, anything, you must have experienced both the good and the bad in life.
The light and the darkness of life feeds our minds and creates ideas.
But it is also saying that there are many other experiences between those highs and lows. The hundreds of train journeys we’ve taken, the nights we’ve held our sleepless baby and looked out onto the street, the darkness punctuated by warm globes of light; the endless washing up and cleaning of our dwellings.
All of our experiences are nourishment for the creative spirit, because:
“If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself, tell yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches; for to the creator there is no poverty and no poor indifferent place.” Rainer Maria Rilke
Those are the thoughts and ideas I wanted to share with you today. I hope they provide something interesting to mull over.
We’d love to know what you think of these ideas, let us know in the comments below.
We have heard from many of you over these past few weeks, telling us how you are getting on in the places that you are in. And we love hearing from you.
For us it’s incredibly special to us that we have met so many of you – either in person or online on one of our many live sessions, webinars or classes.
We are always here – so if you feel like saying Hi we’d love to hear from you and see how you are doing at this strange and interesting time.
We are hoping you are all safe and well, and managing to use creativity for a way to explore all that this experience is bringing to our lives.
Sending our very best from our family to yours,
Diana and Anthony
8 ideas to rejuvenate your photography & stir your imagination
I hope you are all well and fine in this holiday season, if indeed it’s a holiday for you where you are.
Maybe during the holiday season you don’t have the time or inclination to take photos. But we can still spend time developing our imaginations and our creative mindset whatever we are doing, so that when you find time you are excited and full of ideas for your photography.
It’s nice to remember when we are busy that when we are being creative we inhabit a totally different world to the one that we are usually in – the one of work and busyness and looking after people.
Today I wanted to offer you some beautiful ideas that I hope will stir your imagination, to stoke the embers of your creativity.
1) “Take notes. Everything is copy” Nora Ephron
I recently watched the Netflix documentary The Creative Brain, which gave a really interesting take on the creative process – looking at it from a neuroscience perspective.
What fascinated me the most was learning that – and I am distilling some more complex ideas into a very basic form here – from a scientific point of view creativity is made from the unique way that the human brain works: that it starts with the act of having multiple diverse ‘inputs’ coming into your brain.
These ‘inputs’ are everything in the world around us that mixes with our ideas, experiences, feelings, moods, thoughts, memories, visual stimuli etc.
Because our brains are bigger than other animals’, we have the opportunity to analyse these inputs, to not just react to them.
And it is this multitude of inputs coming into our brains, smashing against each other, that we take in and contemplate, look and analyse in a way that is totally unique to each person, that creates the ideas and vision that form the foundation of creativity.
Thus, when the writer Nora Ephron wrote that ‘everything is copy’, meaning everything she did, saw and experienced could end up as material for her writing – it means that we do have the same ability to use what happens around us to feed our ideas for photography.
We can use everything in our world as subjects, and everything in our world for inspiration.
2) We are all innately creative – you just might have forgotten that
The human mind is built for creativity because of our how our brains are built.
We have millions of ‘inputs’ – and the ability to reflect, digest and contemplate these inputs is what gives us the material for creativity.
If our brains are intrinsically able to be creative, it then means that there isn’t anyone on this planet who does not have this exquisite ability to make things.
So anytime you are thinking: I am just not a creative person! Remember that the science tells us that just by having a human brain, you have the ability to be creative.
3) We need the mystery and beauty of making things
There is something in being creative and immersing ourselves in the creativity of others that nourishes a part of ourselves that nothing else seems to.
Perhaps because our brains are built to question, explore, ruminate and generate ideas, we need to use that part of ourselves in order to feel whole and complete.
To be having a creative practice is as essential for me as taking long walks, having fun with my kids or having deep conversations with friends. It brings something wondrous that is impossible to quantify, but easy to feel when I am doing it.
I agree with Pablo Picasso when he said:
“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”
4) “Inspiration exists but it has to find you working.” Pablo Picasso
Building a strong creative practice is like using a muscle; we need to do it regularly because it just gets easier and easier when we keep that part of ourselves alive and working.
When we move our ‘creativity muscle’ every day it gets stronger and more limber.
But we also do it because if we want to feel that magnetic and exhilarating sensation of inspiration, we have to be doing something creative to allow it to strike.
5) When we are creative we explore the extraordinary beauty of the ordinary
When I read or see or hear things that focus not on the most exotic things in our worlds, but instead celebrate what is here with us in the everyday, it helps me to stop and pay attention:
“Within the mystery of life there is the infinite darkness of the night sky lit by distant orbs of fire, the cobbled skin of an orange that releases its fragrance to our touch, the unfathomable depths of the eyes of our lover. No creation story, no religious system can fully describe or explain this richness and depth. Mystery is so every-present that no one can know for certain what will happen one hour from now. ” Jack Kornfield
6) Untether yourself from the idea of doing
“So you see, imagination needs moodling – long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and sputtering.” Brenda Ueland
There is I think such a misconception that being creative is a similar process to working or doing the other things us adults are required to do.
But creativity comes from a very different place – and requires your mind to have freedom from that achievement-based way of thinking.
Whilst having a regular habit of being creative is important, so too should our life include the rejuvenating and inspiring activities of drifting, day-dreaming and getting lost in whatever ways that feed our imagination.
7) Photography is magic
Even though I am not a photographer, I find photography to be a magical medium. I think in all honesty I married Anthony partly for his ability to create such beautiful photographs.
(I know this to be true because when he first showed me some of his photos, and I didn’t like that particular project, I wondered to myself – Can I continue to go out with you, even though I don’t like your photos? Thankfully he showed me more of his work, which I loved, and I gave myself permission to continue to date him.)
I spend hours with Anthony’s photos, and looking at other people’s photos. In a way that music can take you to places emotionally and in your imagination and you are not sure where that is, or why, that’s what photography does for me.
“I believe in the photographer’s magic — the ability to stir the soul with light and shape and colour. To create grand visual moments out of small and simple things, and to infuse big and complicated subjects with unpretentious elegance. He respects classic disciplines, while at the same time insists on being fast, modern and wild.” Amyn Nasser
8) Creativity brings new dimensions to the world
When we are being creative we are working in a realm away from the 24-hour news cycle, the fractious emotions of politics, the exhaustion of life.
This is rejuvenating for the mind and soul in and of itself.
With our creative practices we can move and inspire people, we can show them new places and new ideas. It’s an exciting time to be creative because nowadays we have so many ways to share what we have made.
It’s an honour and a joy to be creative.
But also because…
“The painter has the universe in his mind and hands.” Leonardo da Vinci
I hope some of these ideas and have sparked something interesting for you. If you have any thoughts please let me know in the comments below.
Have a wonderful day,
Diana
11 creative ideas from Henry Miller (to help you become a better photographer)
Today I want to bring you some very relevant and useful pieces of creative wisdom from the late, great writer Henry Miller.
In these days of 24 hour news, in these days of stress about the planet and politics, of uprisings and obstructions, of frustrations and injustices.
(And that’s before we’ve even thought about our own lives.)
It is important to not lose our minds to stress and overwhelm.
Photography, creativity, art can help.
I use my photography to revive my spirit as much as I use it to learn and notice and create.
I use my photography to show me what’s possible in the world, not what isn’t.
And I use my photography to guide me towards all that is beautiful and fascinating – to help my mind remember that the world isn’t just challenging.
I use photography to bring me exhilarating experiences so that I can remain connected to the good in the world.
Recently I was reading about the writer Henry Miller, and it struck me that some of his ideas were so relevant in our journey as photographers.
He wasn’t writing about photography – but about what it is to be human, a writer and a creative person.
But some of his ideas are so powerful that I think they will help you see your photography in a whole new way.
Let’s get started…
All the following quotes are from Henry Miller.
“Strange as it may seem today to say, the aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.
In this state of god-like awareness one sings; in this realm the world exists as a poem. No why or wherefore, no direction, no goal, no striving, no evolving.”
This is everything we need as photographers – being in a state of awareness. Not lost at sea in our minds, but here. Living. Paying attention to this life that we’ve been given.
And we can take that awareness to incredible heights. We can drink madly on the beauty of the world, we can deeply relish the gift of life.
With our photography we can set our minds (and our lives free) as we have no end point to focus on. No goal to reach. Nothing to achieve.
Being in a state of awareness is enough.
“For the artist there is nothing but the present, the eternal here and now, the expanding infinite moment which is flame and song.”
Isn’t this beautiful? To think that within the present moment, within our attention, there lives every element that we need for our photography, for our creative spirit to be nourished.
“[The artist] opens himself to all influences — everything nourishes him. Everything is gravy to him, including what he does not understand — particularly what he does not understand.”
There is fodder for our photos everywhere we go, everything we are and everything we do.
Be open, notice, look, see and be curious.
Look at light on your walk to the shop. Examine the textures of the food as you are putting things away in your kitchen. Notice the nighttime sounds in the world outside as you lay in bed waiting for sleep.
It’s not just an image based world we need to notice as photographers – fine tune all of your senses.
“One’s destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.”
Our day to day contains so many rich opportunities for photography that we just don’t see.
Always challenge yourself to see more.
“The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself.”
I love this, and use this idea all the time in my photography – to pay close attention to not just the obviously interesting – but to all of the things that we often ignore – the textures of walls, the lines of rubbish by the river, the mossy graffitied walls. Reality comes in different scales, from the micro to the grand.
Include everything in your curiosity.
“Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind.
Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such.”
The world is full of the full spectrum of experience. We can as photographers, as artists, use it all.
Every single moment holds something for us if we decide to choose to see the world as a series of ‘golden moments.’
“All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous unpremeditated act without the benefit of experience”
To learn is to experience that discomfort of not knowing. To have a new experience you first have to step into the unknown. Discomfort is part and parcel of growth.
“Develop an interest in life as you see it; the people, things, literature, music – the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself.”
I don’t wake up every day inspired. Far from it. We don’t all have to be bundles of enthusiasm and excitement for life in order to create.
This is when I use my awareness to discover things that will pull me out of whatever mood I find myself in. I look for inspiration, I awaken my passions and curiosity by noticing the beauty of the rain, not just the inconvenience of it. Or the strange beauty of a steely grey sky, not the bleakness it creates.
“Every day we slaughter our finest impulses. That is why we get a heartache when we read those lines written by the hand of a master and recognise them as our own, as the tender shoots which we stifled because we lacked the faith to believe in our own power, our own criterion of truth and beauty.
Every man, when he gets quiet, when he becomes desperately honest with himself, is capable of uttering profound truths. We all derive from the same source. there is no mystery about the origin of things.
We are all part of creation, all kings, all poets, all musicians; we have only to open up, only to discover what is already there.”
If you are moved by art, photography, music – anything creative, then you have the soul of an artist.
We can all be artists. It’s just that simple.
I think there is this idea that only certain people can be artists, that we have to be born that way (and stay that way) and if we aren’t artistic now, then we won’t be ever.
I have worked with hundreds of people who have said they aren’t creative, and so I know, and you can therefore trust me on this, that every single person on this planet is creative.
Everyone has the capability to dig into that inner creative spirit, that well of creative ideas.
It’s not something that is only gifted to people who are professional artists.
If we want to connect with our inner artist – we can. The only thing we have to do is believe that we can.
“No matter what you touch and you wish to know about, you end up in a sea of mystery.
You see there’s no beginning or end, you can go back as far as you want, forward as far as you want, but you never got to it, it’s like the essence, it’s that right, it remains.
This is the greatest damn thing about the universe. That we can know so much, recognise so much, dissect, do everything, and we can’t grasp it.”
I love that photography is a place in our lives where things don’t have to make sense. That we can use it to explore the mysteries of the universe.
Exploring the mystery of the world is the most exciting part of my life.
“It is the creative nature of man which has refused to let him lapse back into that unconscious unity with life which characterises the animal world from which he made his escape.”
Sometimes all the things going on in the world – and our lives – can make us want to retreat into that animal like unconscious. I know I feel that way sometimes – but look at this wondrous mind, our perception and then gifts we have been given.
Let us use them.
Let us use them to connect ourselves to the world, and to share beauty, wonder and curiosity with the world.
So – there are 11 ideas, that are overlapping in many ways, but so relevant I think to our journeys.
I hope you enjoyed them – and would love to hear what you thought – let us know in the comments!
A few days ago my son and I went on the famous Caminito del Rey walk in Andalusia.
It was once the world’s most dangerous walk, tiny walkways clinging to the hills with 100-metre drops, but after the renovations, it now offers stunning views across beautiful gorges and valleys. It was fun walking over the moving walkways and feeling the deep stillness of nature.
Of course, I want to record the beauty we experienced, so most of the photos today are from this walk.
Di and I are working on a post about the colour blue (coming hot on the heels of our blog about the colour purple.)
I am a great lover of colour. I talk about it all the time. Almost as much as I talk about how much I love light (and we’ve had great discussions over on our online course about colour these past few weeks.)
In our explorations around the colour blue, we’ve been reading about the artist Yves Klein.
Klein was obsessed with creating the purest blue that had ever existed, so he created his own – called ‘International Klein Blue’. This blue doesn’t absorb green or red light, and so keeps an intensity of blue that he felt hadn’t existed before.
Talking about blue – this was our beach this morning after a storm last night. It was beautiful.
It’s a super fascinating story – and there have been many other artists and people who have wanted to bring the purest colour into fruition in the world.
People get very passionate about colour.
Anish Kapoor, for example, received a lot of flack for buying the exclusive rights to the technology of the ‘blackest black’ called Vantablack. A fellow artist retaliated by producing Pinkest Pink, which he said anyone could buy, except Anish Kapoor.
I discovered the art-fight issue and Yves Klein’s obsession in a very interesting essay by Simon Schama, which includes the story of the Forbes Pigment Collection. I had no idea that there was such obsessiveness about pursuing the potential of colour.
So while we were reading these cool, interesting stories on our journey to learn more about the colour blue, Di came across this quote from Yves Klein:
“May all that emerges from me be beautiful.”
She said – That sounds like something you would say.
And I thought it is. Beauty for me seems to be my primary motivation in taking photos.
We all have a vision of what we want to do with our photography. I have always, always simply wanted to show the world the beautiful things I see.
Of course, beauty for me is my perception of beauty. Other people will have a totally different perception.
It got me thinking about how we when we write about other photographers – Richard Avedon or Ernst Haas, for example – they have seemed to have an overriding purpose to express something quite specific. There seems to be a singular vision that weaves its way into all of their work.
We all see ourselves and our journeys differently as photographers.
This is one of the things we love about writing about other photographers. So I wanted to pick out some of my favourite photographers and tell you what they themselves said was their motivation for taking photos.
Let’s start withAra Güler, whom we wrote about recently: “They call me a photographer, imagine that! Son, I am a historian. I record history.”
And then, for me, Ernst Haasshows how photographers can be poets:
“Bored with obvious reality, I find my fascination in transforming it into a subjective point of view.
Without touching my subject I want to come to the moment when, through pure concentration of seeing, the composed picture becomes more made than taken.
Without a descriptive caption to justify its existence, it will speak for itself – less descriptive, more creative; less informative, more suggestive; less prose, more poetry.”
If I am to align myself to any one vision – it would be that of Haas. Because, for me, the world is so much about light, colour, shape, motion, feeling and texture. That is what I experience when I step out into the world.
With Elliott Erwitt it becomes about noticing the strange and wonderful things we humans do…
“You can find pictures anywhere. It’s simply a matter of noticing things and organizing them. You just have to care about what’s around you and have a concern with humanity and the human comedy.” Elliott Erwitt
Even though he is famous for being a war photographer, Don McCullin wants now to be remembered as a landscape photographer. What I like is his philosophy that:
“Every day to me is an opportunity is to discover something new, not just about myself but about the planet that I live on.” Don McCullin
The power of remembering, that we can all be explorers, discovering things even if it’s in our own backyard.
Gordon Parks captured powerful images that carry messages about social justice and humanity. I think photography can often be a more impactful medium than writing in many ways:
“I saw that the camera could be a weapon against poverty, against racism, against all sorts of social wrongs. I knew at that point I had to have a camera.” Gordon Parks
We can also use photography as a way to bring life into complete focus:
“Does not the very word ‘creative’ mean to build, to initiate, to give out, to act – rather than to be acted upon, to be subjective? Living photography is positive in its approach, it sings a song of life – not death.”Berenice Abbott
Or to tell stories….
Sebastião Salgado said: “I’m not an artist. An artist makes an object. Me, it’s not an object, I work in history, I’m a storyteller.”
Or to comment or express what we are seeing in the world, and reformulate it with our own ideas…
“We’re all products of what we want to project to the world. Even people who don’t spend any time, or think they don’t, on preparing themselves for the world out there – I think that ultimately they have for their whole lives groomed themselves to be a certain way, to present a face to the world.” Cindy Sherman
Personally, I feel I am an artist. That is the ‘label’ I identify with the most. I think because it feels then like I have more licence to just create with my imagination. To not be confined. But really, labels are not significant. It’s your passion that counts.
I can find beauty in nature, in people, in buildings but also in the trash on the street or in broken and peeling walls – I often find it in grafetti.
I don’t see beauty everywhere – but there is the possibility to see it in anything.
I want to ask you now: what do you want to speak about in your photography? What is motivating and inspiring you?
I’d love to know if you’ve thought about what moves you. What gets you excited to take photos?
Is it something you are conscious of?
I’d love to know – tell us below.
We’ll be back in a few days with our exploration into the colour blue.
Now – I’ll leave you with one last quote, which made us quite happy:
“Enthusiasm is the electricity of life. How do you get it? You act enthusiastic until you make it a habit.” Gordon Parks
I spend a lot of time shooting at dawn. I have created several projects around the cities at dawn theme. I love the light, the emptiness and the serenity of the hours around sunrise.
People often say to me about my dawn escapades – Oh I could never do that. I’m too much of a night owl! Or I really really need my sleep. I could never get up before dawn!
What I know about myself is that I am both of these things – a night owl who intensely dislikes going to bed. And a cat-like person who relishes sleep like, well, a cat.
But what I also know is that all of this, and most of what I am, is habit. And habit can be broken if you want something enough.
“As long as habit and routine dictate the pattern of living, new dimensions of the soul will not emerge” Henry van Dyke
Did you know that something like 70-80% of the thoughts you will have today you also had yesterday? How crazy is that? And that 95% of who you are – your habits, beliefs, personality etc. is set by the age of 35 (unless you make an effort to change). That’s even crazier than crazy. That’s plain scary.
But.
And this is a big but. Science has discovered recently that actually your mind has the ability to totally reinvent itself – if you so desire.
And the reason I LOVE this idea is that we find out how it can affect us creatively. So I thought it would be cool to tell you some of the ideas that have totally blown my mind and inspired me (and none of them are about photography directly. But you can find inspiration anywhere.)
Remember – we don’t have to buy into our ideas about ourselves which limit our creativity.
So here are some ideas that are all about unleashing the creativity that’s deep inside us:
1. Life is long (if you know how to use it)
“The part of life we really live is small. For all the rest of existence is not life, but merely time.”
Seneca’s essay ‘On the Shortness of Life: Life is Long if You Know How to Use it’ is fascinating.
The concept is in the title, but you can also read the text which offers up more wisdom. Tim Ferriss has the full text on his website, and very helpfully he has also bolded out certain bits of the text if you only have a few minutes and want a quick read.
2. Curate your own life
There is nothing like one of Jason’s Silva’s shot in the arm two-minute videos to electrify you with inspiration. This talk I particularly love because he talks about how you don’t have to let life happen to you – you can instead curate your own life exactly how you want it to be.
3. Your mind is made of playdoh (well, almost)
When I grew up, the prevailing scientific thought was that our brain was fixed at a certain age and brains couldn’t be repaired or changed. That theory has now been blown to pieces and the concept of neuroplasticity is now gaining widespread acceptance.
“New research shows many aspects of the brain remain changeable (or “plastic”) even into adulthood.” Wikipedia
That is an amazing thought. So instead of being hardwired and unchangeable, our brains can still develop new neural pathways, we can still change how we think and what we believe, we can still learn new things – all the way into old age.
Lucky us right?
Have a look at this article, highly interesting stuff!: Neuroplasticity: You Can Teach An Old Brain New Tricks.
4. Start from where you are
A little while ago we received a comment on our site which to me was very touching:
“I had put away my camera 2 years ago because of my own pressure to achieve great pictures. With all the technology that’s to hand now I often feel over saturated with images, and don’t think that my photos are any good.”
And it made me realise that so many people get stuck (including me) because we get overwhelmed and our expectations of ourselves are not high enough to overcome them (or we get stuck in perfectionism, which if it has you in its embrace is a crushing vice to creativity).
To counter this, as well as to help you jet-fuel your search for your own passion, I fully advocate the ideas of Sir Ken Robinson, who is a very funny, brilliant guy and his talks about education are awe-inspiring (and changed the trajectory of my family’s life). He has a brilliant talk about passion aimed at all ages.
“Do you have the courage? Do you have the courage to bring forth this work? The treasures that hidden inside you are hoping you will say yes.” – Jack Gilbert quoted in Big Magic a great book about ‘creative living beyond fear’.
5. What fear does to your life when you avoid doing what you want
Ok, I am slightly going to step into the morbid here, only to inspire you though, promise! This article about the book – The Five Top Regrets of the Dying – is incredibly moving. But it also clarifies how much we need to pay attention to the time we have on this earth – relishing, enjoying and experiencing as much as we can. Carpe Diem! When I’m getting weighed down with irritation about stupid, irrelevant stuff I read this.
On a lighter note, this article about John Gardner’s book ‘Self-Renewal’, on the chronically interesting site Brainpickings about What Children Can Teach Us About Risk, Failure, and Personal Growth – is super inspiring. We could all learn a lot from kids about being brave with our creativity (as I do daily with my kids).
6. We are all creative geniuses
For a long time most cultures (and some still do believe this) believed that creativity and genius came not from you but some other source (god, your subconscious, your higher self, the universe etc.) I like this theory because it takes the pressure off, doesn’t it?
So the theory works like this – all you need to do is get out of the way and allow this force that’s within you to do the creating. Awesome huh? Elizabeth Gilbert did a cool Ted talk on this.
7. And I will leave you with something both funny and beautiful
This is not directly related to creativity, but it is a wonderful, funny and powerful short film. Anything that can spread joy and put you in a good mood is always good for your creative juices right!?
It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen all year. Please watch it, it’s only 7 minutes long: Merci.
So – the guy in the video is a bodhisattva and he uses the power that is within all of us to affect everyone around him. It wasn’t magic, he realised his innate power, a power that everyone has, and brought joy to people’s lives.
I will leave you there. I hope those are some cool ideas for you. I would LOVE to know what you think – and if you have some mind-blowing inspiring ideas of your own.
Let us know below.
Anthony & Diana
To be a good photographer you need to live the vast spectrum of human experience
“Your days pass like rainbows, like a flash of lightning, like a star at dawn. Your life is short. How can you quarrel?” Buddha
Last night I arrived in Istanbul. I was greeted by a sultry, warm city. As we drove through the dark streets, illuminated by the many cafes and little shops, and into the ancient part of the city, Sultanahmet, I had to pinch myself. What a feeling of aliveness this city has.
Whilst I am in Istanbul my family has moved back to our little base in Spain. We have all felt the sting of displacement as we wave goodbye to my children’s sacred grandmother, and the large extended family and friends’ circle in England.
We weighed up the ups and downs of moving. Displacement is hard for children, hard too for us. But ultimately we pick Spain to be a base for us because of the incredible freedom we find here.
We know, too, that being human involves a whole spectrum of experiences – that sometimes the most incredible ones are also laced with sadness or the feeling of challenge.
In our little town by the beach, with good weather and friendly people, we find the chance to have the kind of family life we only dreamed about in London.
A life where we are in nature every day, where we can smell fresh air, where we can let the children run free. And for ourselves we are not in the thick of the dizzying pace of life of London.
We work hard wherever we are – but here it feels that we have time for life. We are not waiting for life to give us time, we have it right here.
I read an article recently on Brain Pickings about the writer Rainer Maria Rilke, that to me seemed to fit the spirit of where we are all at as a family, but also gave a wonderful insight into what we need as creative people.
He wrote that in order to be a writer (but let’s substitute photographer or any creative pursuit):
“For the sake of a few lines one must see many cities, men and things. One must know the animals, one must feel how the birds fly and know the gesture with which the small flowers open in the morning.
One must be able to think back to roads in unknown regions, to unexpected meetings and to partings which one has long seen coming…
To childhood illness that so strangely began with a number of profound and grave transformations, to days in rooms withdrawn and quiet and to mornings by the sea, to the sea itself, to seas, to nights of travel that rushed along on high and flew with all the stars — and it is not yet enough if one may think of all of this.
One must have memories of many nights of love, none of which was like the others, of the screams of women in labor…
But one must also have been beside the dying, one must have sat beside the dead in the room with the open window and the fitful noises.”
It’s perhaps obvious to say, and too simple really, that to create something, anything, you must have experienced both the good and the bad in life. The light and the darkness of life feeds our minds and creates ideas.
But it is also saying that there are many other experiences between those highs and lows. The hundreds of train journeys we’ve taken, the nights we’ve held our sleepless baby and looked out onto the street, the darkness punctuated by warm globes of light; the endless washing up and cleaning of our dwellings.
All of our experiences are nourishment for the creative spirit, because:
“If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches; for the Creator, there is no poverty.” Rainer Maria Rilke
So to have a vast spectrum of experiences to draw from is what a rich creative life needs. Who knows what happens when it all gets mixed together in our minds, our histories and thoughts, our ideas and the places we go; what we will pick out of that unique mix, to create the things that we do.
The most important thing, of course, is that we do. We create. We say yes to our creativity.
Those are the thoughts and ideas I wanted to share with you today. I hope they provide something interesting to mull over as you contemplate what you could do with your photography today, tomorrow or in the days ahead.
This past spring I turned 50. It was part of a momentous year for our family as Di turned 40 last winter, and last month our son became a teenager. We each entered a new era.
Of course, if that’s what you believe. My mother-in-law said: It’s only because we dictate that it is a new era. Why doesn’t a new era start when you’re 46 ½?
I do actually agree with her. And intellectually I distance myself from the idea that I am any different from last year or even ten years ago. It’s a societal concept, right?
But I can’t deny my body feels a little different, and deep down there has been a shift in how I think about life. I know there isn’t a big clock ticking my life away, but you know, it can feel a little like that sometimes.
Which is probably why I found myself jogging up steep hills at 5am and seriously amping up my workouts.
But it’s still good, right, to keep fit, even if you are being driven a little by a fear of the clock.
(Maybe I shouldn’t say that too loud, I don’t want the fear to hear. Lol!)
What has this got to do with photography might you ask? Everything! Because I think my deep down fear could drive me in two ways – it could make me feel worried and anxious about ageing. Or it can drive me into being braver with my life right now.
Being more honest, not worrying so much about little things, allowing the journey to just take me where I need to go.
And so I continue to seek new ways to live and be creative.
I’ve been watching some of Jason Silva’s videos this – and some of his ideas really stood out. They make me think that these are relevant to me as a photographer and person trying to stay on the right side of brave.
The first idea that inspired me was from a video Why are we all so unhappy? Silva talks about how some of us have more resources than we historically thought humanly possible – and yet we are at our least happy, most stressed and actually most dissatisfied with our lives. Is it because humans are innate seekers? Always looking to conquer that next mountain? Never happy with enough?
Or is it because we find it almost impossible to live in the moment? My vote is with the latter because I know in my life, if I am always living in the future or past, my experience of the world is so much more shallow. I am not in the present moment if I am thinking about next week or that time three years ago when I made a tremendous mistake that was super-embarrassing.
Di and I often question the fact that we are so busy planning and organising our business and our lives that we aren’t left with many moments where we are actually feeling like we are experiencing life as it happens.
Beautiful evening light in London this week
And I tell you – even when you’re really conscious of it, life is constantly drawing you away into other moments, other times that are not here. Now.
His second idea is: There is no point of arrival, stop trying to get somewhere. Silva makes a beautiful case for reframing your life not a series of tasks to complete – but as an incredible undulating journey. Then the joy of life is to ask the questions and go on journeys of discovery, the joy is rarely found in the finding of answers.
It begs the question – do we ever need to totally arrive? I find this a very liberating idea.
Winter light in Spain – gorgeous
The third idea is: Why do we look at the infinite ocean and feel a sense of reverence and awe? Silva says: We look at it as it beckons us into the unknown, to the mystery of living.
I think we can all use more mystery in our lives. We can all shake ourselves out of the dust settling on our lives and experiences – and step into the unknown at any point. Even right now.
The fourth idea is: We need space to create art – a protected space. Essentially the journey to create art is an inward journey and you need to have someone looking after the outside world, the practical things, so you can take that journey and explore with abandon whilst experiencing a feeling of safety.
I couldn’t agree more. You may be in some far-flung country, but you are creating from a space within. You are drawing on everything that has come before in your life – and it feels like a mystical inner well that you need to connect with. Otherwise, you just end up floating on the surface of life, and not creating anything that means much to you.
Silva’s fifth idea is that when we see the beauty of the world – in nature, in the epicness of man’s creations – it is simply a way to remind us to fully inhabit this life that we are living. To not get lost in the details all the time, to take some time out, totally and completely.
So there we are. Some philosophy. Some thoughts on ageing. Some ideas. I’d love to know what you think, comment on my blog here.
Here are the videos I took these ideas from; they are all short, 2 – 5 minutes – and they are useful for a little kick of inspiration. I don’t always agree with his pronouncements, but I love Silva’s enthusiasm for exploring and making our lives an exciting, creative journey.
Today I want to share some cool articles I’ve written, along with things I’ve read/seen/listened to that have inspired me this week. Hopefully there are some ideas in here that are inspiring for you.
I shared one of the posts we wrote for Digital Photography School all about shooting on manual. It sparked a fun debate and some pretty awesome comments on my blog (and in response I wrote a fun little story of how I shoot on manual).
I was really interested to read people’s ideas and philosophies on how they choose to shoot and why.
I, of course, have my passionate opinion, that manual is a essential to gain full creative control – but I also think you should shoot the exact way you feel comfortable and happy with. It doesn’t matter what and how you do it – as long as you do it!
As that was a popular post, I thought I’d share the latest two articles we’ve written for Digital Photography School:
Artistic Versus Technical Photography Skills – What is Holding You Back?: On my workshops I constantly notice patterns of how people learn about photography and then process the information. In this article I am sharing the most common natural tendencies that inhibit creativity, that I see in people – and how to overcome them.
Tips for Working the Scene to Take Your Image from Good to Great: I’ve written a couple of articles for my blog about ‘How I got the shot’, where I where I illustrate the progress of the shots to my best one. These have been very popular posts – although I still don’t massively enjoy sharing the rubbish shots I take before I get a good one 🙂
Di and I are also going to share a couple of other things we have been enjoying this week, all fuel for our photography and creative practices, but not necessarily related to photography:
1. Iranian photographer Abbas died recently. Famous for photographing the Iranian revolution, he was a Magnum photographer, who spent much of his career documenting conflicts between religion and politics around the world. Gallery of his photos.
4. Meditative photos and videos from free diver Ocean Ramsey who dives with sharks.
5. The Defiant Ones: I love music and being a musician was something I was considering before I took the road into photography. I loved the recent Netflix series The Defiant Ones, documenting the careers of musician/producer Dr Dre and producer/record label owned Jimmy Iovine. Really fascinating to get into the minds of people who have achieved remarkable things with their creativity.
That’s it for today. Have a stupendous day.
And remember to take that camera out – don’t let it gather dust! It needs you to bring interesting ideas into the world.
Happy photographing,
Anthony and Diana
That’s me shooting in Venice a few years ago.
All the shots in today’s article are from my Venice at Dawn photo project. I love this city! I run a photo workshop there most years, check out my workshop pages for details.
Simple ideas for your photography: the power of silence
“Create, artist, do not talk” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Hola Amigos,
How are you all? I hope life is good and things are all well and happy in your household.
I am back in our little beach town in Spain after a 3 week trip to Italy – a wonderful time filled with great adventures and awesome people in Venice and Palermo.
I’m glad to be getting back to my simple life here: going kayaking with my son; continuing my photographic exploration of this beautiful part of Spain; renewing my energy and taking on new challenges with our business.
One thing I often see in my teaching is people struggling to be present. To allow themselves to be fully in the moment. I see people as they try very hard to capture the moment – but more often that not, they are not actually inhabiting the moment.
For me the magic of photography happens when you are fully present, fully awake to the aliveness all around you. Not lost in your thoughts, wondering where to go next or thinking about your aching feet.
If I were to give you one way to be more present and more engaged with your photography, it would be to start with being quiet, to start exploring silence.
Silence can be thought of as neutral energy. But I actually believe it is incredibly powerful, incredibly rich with possibility and helps us to start awakening creativity.
Being quiet, being silent, is an intensely nourishing experience.
Silence can take us inside of ourselves, unlocking our imaginations, thoughts and ideas.
Silence also allows us to truly be aware of what is outside of ourselves, without the chatter and distraction of what we are usually doing – reading, writing, talking etc.
It is a gateway to inhabiting the present moment.
“Silence is the sleep that nourishes wisdom.” Francis Bacon
Not all silence is created equal
When you are quiet what often happens is that your thoughts become louder. Having a time of quiet can just lead to opening the door to a noisy cacophony of worries, distractions and remembering more things for your to-do lists.
But the trick is to get beyond that river of thoughts – and into the vast, nourishing beautiful silence behind it.
Your thoughts are never going to stop, but you can choose to ignore them, for a little while at least.
For me the easiest way is to just start paying attention to the world around me – looking at the light, the colours around me, the people, the trees.
Whatever is there in your surroundings can help you become present simply by observing.
And by nourishing that habit of paying attention to what is happening here and now in the world will bring you more into the present moment.
Putting down the technology
We have a lot of discussions about technology in our household. We have a 12 year old boy who, if we let him, would live on his computer. And I can relate. I love my technology a lot. I am a computer nerd (says Di; I don’t say that of course).
But I also think that technology can be too distracting, and eat up all of that ‘in-between’ time we used to have – the train ride to work, the time before bed, the hour at the park watching your child play – when we could be day-dreaming, wandering, looking or being creative.
I didn’t realise quite how much technology had weaved its way into my life until I had a month of almost no-technology last year in Cuba.
The internet in Cuba is extremely sparse. Most of the access I found involved sitting on the side of the road in the beautiful early morning sunshine, along with a bunch of people, sending emails, uploading photos and checking on business.
Even though it felt frustrating at times not being able to do anything quickly – uploading photos was painful – it was also intensely refreshing to be removed from the internet, and most of my technological activity. To be taken away from the steady drip of bad-news, of unnecessary emails, of the time-suck of social media.
Of course there are lots of great purposes of the internet – I couldn’t live the life I am now without it. I appreciate it. But I know it sometimes overtakes me – it distracts me from what I actually really want to do – which is be creative.
I think Cuba is beyond magical for many reasons – but the fact that I couldn’t do much work except take photos, made it a more intensely creative experience for me. There were no distractions to my creativity. That may be one of the reasons that my Cuba portfolio is the best work I’ve ever done on the streets of a city, I think.
So the simple ideas I am recommending today are:
Use the quiet and silence around you to bring you to presence
Be careful with technology and things that take you away from a present state of being
So with that I am finishing for today. I’m off for a long walk with my son.
I am really fired up at the moment. I had an amazing trip to the Amalfi Coast earlier this month; that place is out of this world beautiful. On Tuesday I went out for a very fun photo walk with my Light Monkeys group – plus I am pitching for a cool new art project and life just seems so awesome in so many ways. It’s even getting a bit warm here in London, lol!
I want to share some of that fired up, inspired energy with you.
Let us begin with the genius that was John Lennon.
You probably know that I love getting inspiration from all kinds of places. Recently I have been thinking about, and listening to, a lot of John Lennon. I have loved his music for years and years – since I was a teenager really. He is one of the few musicians whose words I actually listen to – usually I am one of those people who get absorbed by the rhythm and gheetars!
Not only is Lennon’s music amazing – Tomorrow Never Knows , In My Life, Jealous Guy,Woman are all awesome songs – but I really liked his philosophy on life. His later ideas feel very similar to my own, so I’ve picked 7 thoughts of his and I am putting them with some photos I took in Naples and along the Amalfi Coast last week.
I hope you find it a little espresso-shot of inspiration!
All the quotes below are from John Lennon.
“Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted.”
I am a big fan of a bit of mooching around, daydreaming, getting lost. It’s often at those times when we have our best ideas. And it seems many great scientists have been the same way! See Darwin Was a Slacker, and You Should Be Too.
2. “Creativity is a gift. It doesn’t come through if the air is cluttered.”
I harp on about this all the time – you can’t be in the zone, the flow, when you are preoccupied with your to-do list. Here is a 2 min film from the amazing Jason Silva on Finding Your Creative Flow State that will help.
3. “Music is everybody’s possession. It’s only publishers who think that people own it.”
I photograph a lot of street art and what always strikes me about street art is how it feels like a very generous act. It’s such a temporary medium but it’s a creation – sometimes of epic quality and skill – that might be removed within hours or days.
Art for me is to be shared and taken on in the eyes and hearts and minds of anyone who enjoys it. Creating with this idea of letting out into the world, and not possessing it, for me is very inspiring.
4. “When you do something noble and beautiful and nobody noticed, do not be sad. For the sun every morning is a beautiful spectacle and yet most of the audience still sleeps.”
Don’t create for anyone but yourself!!! When you are thinking about creating with an audience in mind, in my experience it’s never as good as when you are just doing it because you love it and just have that itch to create.
Please yourself, not your audience.
5. “My role in society, or any artist’s or poet’s role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all.”
6. “There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance.
We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.”
This is everything I feel about life right now. No need to add my thoughts, perhaps except to say that meditation really helps me with my whole creativity / free mind / openness. And Lennon meditated too! Great article on Brainpickings about just that.
7. “Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans.”
I’m ending on Lennon’s very famous quote, because this is what I like to say to remind myself to (as they say in Shawshank Redemption) “Get busy living or get busy dying.”
Bang – there we go. Hope that short-ish post was fun.
Please let us know what you thought of this post by commenting here on our blog. Sharing it with friends is also very helpful!
If you want to join me on an Italian Photography adventure – take a look at:
Venice for me is an incredible place to photograph, because not only do you have this wonderfully surreal city, set in the lagoons, with its ancient crumbling beauty – but the light is stunning. How the marine layer affects the sunrise is awesome to photograph (see my 2 min film on light & Venice here)
I get incredible reviews from this workshop – which I have run for several years now. Join me and I’ll show you all of my favourite places to shoot the city, how to escape the crowds, how to create a stunning portfolio – as well as getting your tech and creative photo skills well exercised. You will learn tonnes!
“Tony knew exactly where to go to get the best interaction of light and scenery and gave impromptu tutorials on capturing light and shadows, framing the scene, relevant shutter speed etc during our walks. This was an ideal environment to keep the adrenaline flowing and encourage the “Eureka moments”. Breakfast stops, group lunches and the final feedback session oiled the wheels. A thoroughly enjoyable, unforgettable experience.”
Happy photographing,
Anthony and Diana
5 interesting things (to feed your creative spirit)
Today I’d like to offer up some things I’ve been enjoying this week. I particularly search out creative ideas, projects or people when I am feeling too busy, or perhaps overwhelmed. I need to be reminded of all the amazing, fun, interesting and beautiful things being created in the wild world. It tears me out of my must-do, must-do mind, and instead of just reacting to life, I start thinking more about creating.
Here are 5 things I am enjoying this week:
Film: Loving Vincent –You might have heard of this film that is made entirely with hand-painted pictures, done in the style of Vincent van Gogh. It took over 60,000 paintings to create this film, a fictional account of a man retracing van Gogh’s last steps.
It’s a mesmerising film. I love the hand-crafted nature of it, because for me what is often so wonderful about things that are hand made is the imperfections. I don’t tend to like anything that looks too perfect, and shiny. I like the human oddities.
2. Sage advice: via Austin Kleon. Every morning Leonardo da Vinci woke up and made a list of what he wanted to learn. What an amazing way to start the day. Replacing What shall I do today? With What shall I learn? I think that certainly creates a more interesting day.
3. Quote: “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.”Vincent van Gogh– I loved this. It cuts to the heart of feelings of overwhelm and a desire for perfectionism that can strike any creative or entrepreneurial endeavour. (We were entertained to read that a tiny grasshopper has been found in one of Van Gogh’s painting.)
4. Photography exhibition: Illuminating India: Photography 1857 – 2017 at the Science Museum, London. I won’t here to make this sadly, but it looks like an amazing collection of photography.
5. Photography talk: Stephen Wilkes’s TED talk about the creation of his ‘day to night’ photographs, which blend 100 photos taken from a single spot taken over the period of a day. It’s pretty cool concept and show the ‘best moments’ and contrasts of a location at different points in the day’s journey.
I hope there was some interesting things in there for you! Please let me know what you are seeing/listening to/enjoying and getting your creative kicks from this week. Comment below.
Beautiful evening light in London this week
Winter light in Spain – gorgeous
That’s me shooting in Venice a few years ago.
