Do The Work is the newest title by Steven Pressfield, a writer who should need no introduction to regulars at this blog. If you don’t remember, I featured a mini-interview with him back in 2009 talking about a couple of questions related to his famed work The War Of Art. Do The Work continues where The War of Art left off, giving you ideas and tools to assist you in whatever endeavor you choose. Although Pressfield is a writer, this book is not aimed only at writers. Photographers, dieters, business owners, language students, entrepreneurs and indeed anyone seeking to head down a new or at least different path in some aspect of their life will do well to read this.

The central theme of this book is once again the force described as Resistance. It’s not lack of preparation, it’s not lack of finances, it’s not the complexity of the project, it’s resistance. Whether you’re trying to write a screenplay, shoot a National Geographic cover or fit into the jeans you wore at high school, your enemy is resistance. It affects everyone, from the most successful people to the apparent failures. There are a number of different Resistance Points on the path to completion of any project and each of them is looked at here.

Do The Work is the second release by the Domino Project, a new publishing model that is the brainchild of Seth Godin. It serves to create a direct connection between publisher and reader, organized around new avenues of distribution.

For the photographer, Do The Work offers plenty of inspiration and encouragement. It can spur you to go ahead and create something new. Are you an editorial photographer waiting for the phone to ring before you photograph a particular story? Stop waiting – go out and create the story yourself. Advertising photographer with a creative idea that is not being done anywhere? Do it yourself and make it happen.

Do the Work is available from Amazon as a hardvover, as MP3, as an Audible book or on Kindle format. And for the time being, the Kindle version is free, so there’s no excuse not to get a copy. Do it today.

Different white balance settings for a different look. L>R Fluorescent, Auto, Shade + Tint 114

Here’s the first Daily Phototip for 2010. The aim is to post one a day for the whole year, essentially my version of a photo 365 project. Hope you enjoy them.

White balance can be used as a creative option in your photography. Your camera will typically have a choice of a few different white balance settings, most likely Auto, Flash, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Tungsten and Fluorescent. Now you could set the white balance on your camera to the “proper” setting and go with that. On a cloudy day, set it to cloudy, or under tungsten lights set it to tungsten. Sometimes this is all you need to do to get a great shot, but all too often it lacks creativity.

Almost all the time, I’ll choose the Auto white balance setting and adjust it in post-processing to achieve the look I want. There are times when I’ll make a creative choice to set it elsewhere in camera but for general, everyday shooting, auto it is.

I can then take it into my RAW processing software of choice – Adobe Lightroom – and adjust to taste. The photograph above is an example of this. The only difference between the three photos is a different white balance setting. The photo on the left is set to Fluorescent, the one in the middle is the as-shot Auto and the one on the right is Shade plus an adjustment to the tint pushing it up to +114.

So next time you’re faced with a picture that doesn’t excite you, try adjusting the white balance.

Garlic in a wholesale market, Dihua St, Dadaocheng, Taipei

One of the distinguishing facets of the digital age of photography has been the technological advances and innovations. Unlike in the film era, where a camera body might be used for decades, these days it seems we’re upgrading and replacing bodies at a frequency never imagined a decade ago. While these advances are undoubtedly opening new frontiers in photography, all too often we find ourselves caught up in an endless cycle of more megapixels where the equipment specifications are more important than the actual photographs.

I’ve previously expressed some of my thoughts about creativity in a two part series entitled Musings on Creativity and Seeing. You might like to read part 1 and part 2 in conjunction with today’s post. There’s also a giveaway associated with this post so leave a comment to have a chance at winning. More on that at the end of the post.

To my mind, there does seem to be a turning of the tide away from equipment and back towards creativity and artistic vision. Photographers such as Chase Jarvis, David DuChemin, Chris Orwig and many others are at the forefront of this movement back to the soul of photography. In many ways, this is a breath of fresh air. Photography, as with any artistic pursuit, should be more about taking the artist’s vision and allowing it to be expressed than it should be about the tools.

For that’s all the cameras, lens, software and so forth really are. Tools. They are the means to bring forth the creativity that exists in ones mind and put it into some kind of tangible form. All the pixel peeping in the world doesn’t matter if the vision is lacking. Conversely, when the vision is there, a way will be found to express that regardless of the tools available.

So now it’s over to you. What does creativity mean to you? How do you express your vision and what inspires you? I welcome your comments, thoughts and ideas – let’s start some discussion on this. To give you a little more incentive, I have a couple of things to give away. A few weeks ago, I asked Steven Pressfield some questions based on his book The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles. I have a prize package containing a copy of this book as well as my 2010 calendar Renegade Beauty | Taiwan 2010 to give away to a random commenter. This giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere in the world. So leave your comments and thoughts on creativity and be in with a chance to win. If you need some more inspiration, why don’t you take a look over my whole Musings series where I share thoughts and tips on how you can further your creative goals.

This week on 5 we journey outside the photographic sphere in order to explore creativity. Creativity exists in all walks of life and artistic pursuits. The following five videos enter the worlds of music, sport and writing to take a look at the creative process in other fields and offer lessons that apply as much to photography as they do to any other creative endeavor.

The videos below feature composer Moby, singer/songwriter/author Nick Cave, basketball legend Michael Jordan, skateboarder Rodney Mullen and bestselling writer Zoë Heller.

I hope you enjoy and gain something from these. There’ll be a follow up of sorts next week along with a giveaway, so make sure you check back. As always, your comments and thoughts are highly appreciated. Videos are after the jump.

Path to Creation

Have you created anything today? What have you done that furthers your art, your calling? If the answer is “nothing”, why?

Excuses. That’s why. They’re something we all make at some time or other. How many have you made today? When we make excuses we are ultimately cheating ourselves, our loved ones and others around us. This may apply even more to those of us who like to think of ourselves as creatives or artists or whatever. We have a duty, a responsibility to create. It’s ingrained in us, it’s who we are. When we are not creating, we are not fully alive.

Steven Pressfield, in his excellent book “The War of Art” calls it Resistance. He says

Have you ever brought home a treadmill and let it gather dust in the attic? Ever resolved on a diet, a course of yoga, a meditation practice? Have you ever felt a call to embark upon a spiritual practice, dedicate yourself to a humanitarian calling, commit your life to the service of others? Have you ever wanted to be a mother, a doctor, an advocate for the weak and helpless; to run for office, crusade for the planet, campaign for world peace or to preserve the environment? Late at night have you experienced a vision of the person you might become, the work you could accomplish, the realized being you were meant to be? Are you a writer who doesn’t write, a painter who doesn’t paint, an entrepreneur who never starts a venture? Then you know what Resistance is.

So how do we overcome it? As I see it, the answer is quite simple. Pick up your camera, pen or guitar; lace up your running shoes; go down to the homeless shelter; whatever it is you need to do for yourself and just do it. Start.

Now.

Today.

Finding excuses for not doing things is easy. It’s raining, got to be in the office, sore knee, no time. And then there’s the biggest copout of them all.

I’ll do it tomorrow.

No you won’t. If you won’t do it now, you won’t do it tomorrow. Or the next day. Chances are you won’t do it at all. You’ll continue to find excuses, continue to let resistance beat you down, continue to live a life unfulfilled. Photos will go untaken, songs unwritten, miles unrun.

I think I can still hear you making excuses. Part of your mind is thinking of creating, but I bet a greater part is thinking of reasons why you can’t. Well, use that. Take the energy you’re using to create excuses, the inertia and the resistance and harness it. Use it as a creative aid.

All you need to do is start.

All you need to do is begin.

So what are you waiting for?

Last week, in the post Musings on Creativity and Seeing, we looked at some different ways to get you thinking creatively. Today, we’ll delve into that some more by looking at simplicity, six elements of design and touch a little on composition. More after the jump.

Simplicity and Design.

Think simple. With so much going on at any one time, and so many things competing for our attention, a photograph that is composed around a single theme and free of clutter can really make us pause. Its simplicity makes it stand out from everything else and causes it to be more noticeable. A photo with too much going on and too many points of interest often fails to captivate the viewer due to its confusion. Less is more and simplicity carries a great power. Too much leaves the viewer with nothing to focus their attention on and the resulting chaos ensures that the photograph is quickly passed over and forgotten. Think of Steve McCurry’s photograph, “Afghan Girl” that graced the cover of the June 1985 issue of National Geographic. The piercing green eyes staring into the camera, and hence at the viewer, carry a power that may have been lost if the surrounding environment had been included. Instead, McCurry gives the viewer one thing to put their attention on, and in doing so, the photograph became the most recognized photograph in the history of National Geographic.

Simplicity also implies order. Line, shape, form, texture, pattern and color are the elements of design that bring order to a photo. All images have at least one of these elements in them. Lines can lead the viewer into the photo as well as taking the viewer out of the frame. They can be curved, as in the paths of rivers and hills, jagged like a mountain range or straight like a building. Curved lines convey a softness, jagged often a sense of danger or force and straight lines, particularly diagonals, a sense of motion and speed. Line brings about shape. Shape is a fundamental means of identification. Photographically, it’s best defined when backlit or frontlit, and when there’s a sharp contrast between the shape and the surroundings. Think of a definable silhouette against a sunrise or sunset and you have pure shape.

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Moving into three dimensions, we have form. Form gives depth to shape, and here, we want to see light and shadow. Sidelit subjects are the easiest for conveying form, with the contrast between light and shadow under a sunny sky giving definition. The fourth crucial element is texture. Not so readily identifiable as the previous three, texture is highly dependent on lighting. Low sidelight, typically found in the early morning or late afternoon is perfect for bringing out texture in an image. Whether it’s peeling paint on an old wooden door or ripples in a stream, seeking out texture can convey great emotion.

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The final elements of design are pattern and color. Pattern often denotes order and stability which is emotionally comforting due to its predictability. Patterns can help us understand new things and see old things in new ways. Photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand, famous for his aerial images of the world, makes great use of pattern in his work and invariably takes the viewers breath away. Looking for patterns is a great exercise as it’s as simple as dumping the contents of a drawer onto a table and then moving things around. Then, move on to other parts of your house and outside. You’ll soon start seeing patterns everywhere and they can help take your images to a higher level.

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Finally we come to color. Face it – the world is a colorful place. Whether it’s the warm colors of a sunset, the cool colors of ice or anything in between, color is all around us and understanding it will make you a better photographer. A basic knowledge of complementary (contrasting) colors will go a long to way helping you produce aesthetically pleasing images. Briefly, complimentary colors are those that when mixed together in equal proportions produce a neutral color (black, white or gray). At its simplest, blue complements orange (formed by primary red + primary yellow), red complements green (primary blue + primary yellow) and yellow complements purple (primary red + primary blue). These colors always go well with each other, and each works to make the opposite seem brighter and more vivid. Included in a photograph, complementary colors can liven up a scene.

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Composition

I’m not going to spend too much time talking about basic rules of composition. Concepts such as the rule of thirds, landscape vs portrait orientation, fill the frame, placement of the horizon, frame within a frame, diagonals, reflections and so forth are better suited to an article (book) on basic photography. That said, ensuring you are at least familiar with these concepts will make it easier for you to step outside the box.

As a simple exercise in creativity, pick up a camera and choose a subject to photograph. It doesn’t matter what – could be your desk, a plant, the local park, whatever. For the first frame, shoot it in whatever way is most natural. Then, turn the camera 90 degrees and take another picture. Move in close and photograph a small detail. Move (or zoom) out and take in the surroundings. Place the subject dead center. Place it on the thirds. At the very top and bottom. In the corners. Tilted. If you do this, taking both horizontal and vertical shots, you should have 30+ images. Instead of just having the usual view that you chose for your first frame, you’ve now got options. Lots of them. As you become more used to these different ways of composing images, you’ll often intuitively know which methods will work and which won’t before you make the photos.

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Final Thoughts

As I mentioned at the beginning, creativity cannot be taught. It’s an inherently subjective phenomena that will have different meanings to different people. You may choose to do the exercises I’ve outlined above or you may not. They may spur you to think in different ways or you may find them a waste of them. It really doesn’t matter to me because it’s your vision, your imagination and your creativity that we’re concerned with. Some of what I’ve said will resonate with some of you and some won’t. Really, the only one who can teach you to think outside the box is yourself. How you approach that is ultimately up to you. For some, setting aside time on a weekend to shoot something new may prove fruitful. For others, spending five minutes taking photos with your cellphone on your way to work everyday may be what’s needed.

Your feedback is most welcome on these posts. I have some more ideas in mind for a further post on this topic so stay tuned. Photo critique will be back in a couple of days as well.