As photographers we often forget that the answer is inside each of us when it comes to improving our craft, and finding personal creativity.
Category Archives: Essays
Selfishness
The concept of selfishness is something that we can interpret in different ways depending on our conditioning and belief system. Often selfishness is judged negatively. One of the ways we can view selfishness is as a course of behaviour that occurs when someone is acting for their own benefit to the disadvantage of all others.
Web Deception
Unfortunately for readers who value transparency with the online content that they consume, web deception is continuing unabated. This article shares wording from a solicitation that I recently received via email. I have highlighted in bold face an egregious attempt at web deception contained in this most recent solicitation.
Inverter Heat Pump
My wife and I recently had an inverter heat pump/gas furnace back-up system installed in our home. Like many people we captured some images of the installation process for posterity. This article discusses some of the factors we considered before making our purchase decision.
Life’s Bread Crumbs
Life’s bread crumbs are events, people, personal experiences, intuition, messages, information, and creative expressions that bring understanding and meaning to our lives.
None of us knows when our actions may become life’s bread crumbs for someone else. Even the smallest act can have meaning beyond ourselves.
Specs Aren’t Everything
As photographers it is good for us to remember that specs aren’t everything when it comes to buying and effectively using camera gear. Like other folks I’ve learned some lessons the hard way. Fortunately those lessons didn’t cost me a huge amount of money. It is critical that each of us buy and use whatever format and brand of camera gear best meets our individual needs.
Making a Difference
When it comes to making a difference we often think about famous people who are in the news, or individuals who hold positions of power in society. Sometimes making a difference can be negative if the differences that are created are steeped in selfishness, hate, racism, misogyny, or xenophobia. When we truly are making a difference it results in increasing understanding, empathy and love.
Enough
The concept of enough tends to be undervalued in an era rife with consumerism, and deficit advertising that tells us that we are somehow lacking as human beings. Buying something more is promoted as the solution for our feelings of inadequacy.
Joy of Creating
The joy of creating is resident inside each of us to some extent, and manifests itself in a variety of different ways. Some of us express ourselves through designing and building physical structures. Inventing recipes and cooking. Painting. Sculpting. Storytelling. Writing. Composing photographs… and a host of other pursuits.
Gear Purchase Decisions
Gear purchase decisions can be complex, and can have significant financial impacts if we don’t take the time to think things through. Taking a longer term view, like 10 year purchase decisions, are actions that we seldom do as photographers. Like many folks I typically had a 3-5 year perspective when buying camera gear. I had fallen into the ‘incrementalism’ trap by thinking that if a sufficient number of incremental improvements in specifications occurred it would make upgrading equipment every 3 to 5 years logical and worthwhile.