July 7, 2021

Good photographers spend their whole lives making images through their own unique, personal vision receiving the attention of others that admire their hard work.

These photographers are focused individuals that invest their time and efforts in traveling and making pictures of the world.

Photography once gave the image creator a great income, a 50/50 split with your photo agency. The owners of the agency respected their photographers and the efforts they went through to capture the perfect lighting and composition of their chosen subject. And they paid the photographers their fare share.

The agency demanded a decent price for each image submitted and made sure that the companies paid on time. All the image creators had to do was travel and make iconic imagery. Believe me when I say it was the best of times making lifelong friendships with your fellow stock shooters, learning about their techniques in creating beautiful images and enjoying stories of their travels and mishaps.It was really a feeling of family and our photo agency made it so.

In this new era of photography where everyone is a photographer and images are a dime a dozen it is very hard to make a living from something you love to do.

Photography was once assignments, until editors realized the bursting need for all sorts of unique individual imagery.

But if we jump to todays photographer I am amazed that anyone of them could make a decent living shooting something they enjoy.

Once upon a time when you were out traveling, most of the time alone, you were energized to seek out the best landscape, people, city images both in morning light and sunset light.

Your ability to sense a possible classic image in the scenes before you allowed you to slow down and use your intuitive perceptions to find the time of day to be present with your camera.

The freedom you experienced seeking your personal image revelations made you more aware of mother nature and people.

Now everything is shot with an I-Phone and the overwhelming amount of subject being taken literally damages the photographers ability to be noticed.

The unbelievable saturation of all subjects limits the photographers ability to compete especially if he is asking a decent price for his efforts.

Photography now has been reduced to a run and gun formula of snap, snap, snap hoping one of the images will expose a decent light on the subject easily forgotten.

If a photographer has the guts to stop and take in the beauty of mother earth, I mean really see your subject before you that has the potential to give you a reward for hiking up a steep mountain trail then you shouldn’t worry about whether your image creation will be noticed by the Royalty Free agency just be yourself and do what you love to do!

When I begin to feel natures real presence, a scene beginning to shape my visual senses that are present, aware of a subject beginning to evolve before me, angles begin to build a sensory purpose trying to move me closer or further away, patterns beginning to mold a landscape that has depth and beauty if you don’t turn away in these anxious moments of awareness, you feel your need to begin building a scene placing necessary objects and light into your vision of your final image creation. And by taking your time to really see the landscape before you, you decide to stay where you are for the potential subject is just starting to be revealed and you begin to see with open eyes. 

When we ignore the distractions in us and around us and focus our energy to grasp the essence of the scene presented and control your wondering eye that wants to move on trying to keep pace with your inner clock that sets time limits at work and now wants to limit your freedom in a valley of magnificent beauty just waiting before you to be revealed if you look hard enough.

Listen to your intuitive perception that is seeking beauty in the reality we live in, one of confusion, one of a disruptive force of greedy wars that exploit the citizens of the world for profits over human beings.

When you are in tune with your environment you can shed the politics of lies, shed your inner desire to move on beyond the landscape demanding your attention.

Where is your steady need to express your inner self through creating images that reflect your own personal vision?

The subjects are there right in front of you if you can just pause from this hectic pace of monied interest and just be precent before nature’s beauty.

The more images you make the more your visual senses will rev up your photographic eye. Do not allow yourself to be taken over by the imposition of time.

The feeling that you must move on, keep moving without a purpose. You have the talent to make good images. You must accept the fact that not all your images will be great but they will lead you further down the path of knowledge and through experience you will see your subjects on a personal level with details adding to the brilliance of your creations.

Image creation is studying your objective and using your unique inner perspective to compose your photograph with details that enhance the image but also reveal your unique inner talent.