© 2-Consider | July 19

Welcome to, 2-Consider. This section usually features 3 great articles that have contributed to my photography and vision during the past week. Here you will find links and comments about them.

1. Photography is about WHY not HOW

I think the most important advantage that you get out of Social Media, is creating networks, contacts. I don’t care if I don’t get any business out of it, as long as I keep meeting photographers such as the ones I’ve been meeting in the last couple of months. It has been a fantastic experience all around! In Social Media, I look forward to meeting new artists that have something to inspire me and give to my own photography. Last week I happened to meet a couple of new “friends” that are really good at what they do. They are great photographers that have a lot to share and a lot 2-Consider for all of us. One of them is Sephi Bergerson or otherwise known as “FotoWala“. He commented in one of my blog posts here, and had the brilliant idea to leave a link in his comment to one of his own blog posts. Give it a read.

This article was a big help to me by confirming certain things that I have been thinking about lately. You see, I’ve been considering ways to make my photography more interesting, with a deeper meaning, so to say. So, I’ve been wondering about the WHY of my photography, about myself as a person, but also, as what I want to impregnate my photography with. I think, as I said last week, sometimes when you start working on photography, you focus too much on the “tangible” part of it, as if photography would be a scientific science, a mathematic formula, with no “spirit/soul” at all. That’s what Sephi has called the HOW.

Read this article. I think it can really change the approach of your photography in the long run. Among other things, Sephi writes: “Being a photographer is not about the camera or the technique, it is about what you have inside your mind. It is the sum of all your life experiences and your point of view…” This is also something that I learned while listening to Chris Orwig, in an interview for Depth of Field (By Matt Brandon). He said that one day in his career, he realized that his photography/vision was learned not in a classroom, but during a time that he volunteered at a hospital for people with terminal cancer. He said he understood the value of life through that time, and that’s one of the things that is clear in his photography. If you see his work, you will see this vividly, as most of his photographs are an enjoyable moment in life, highlighting the importance of being alive.

2. When you are sure about your work, you are ready to be found

This is a rather short article (maybe because of the length of next one ). It doesn’t make you read between the lines, it’s just plain that, a question mark, a challenge, to our current estate of photography. How sure we are about our photography? How confident are we in our work? If you are holding onto doubts about your work, you’d better find a professional photographer that can help you to go throughout your portfolio. Ask questions; try to find your weaknesses. Ask why it doesn’t work or why it worked in certain photographs, define and refine your vision. Once you are confident on your work, then go and show it to the world! They will be ready for it.

As a starting photographer, with only few months in business, I’m seriously thinking of finding a pro to revise my coming portfolio before the end of this year. I really want to be challenged in what I do before it goes online. What about you? Any thoughts on this?

3. Focus on your Passion: Tim Mantoani

Tim is here again. Photoshelter understood the value of what Tim is saying about passion, and so they put together this 86 minutes webinar for us to enjoy! I don’t want to comment any more on this, as I have done it here before. Make time this week if you haven’t seen this already, and be ready to fuel your passion for this craft!

Focus On Your Passion: Finding Yourself in Your Photography from PhotoShelter.com on Vimeo.

BONUS:

This video is not totally related to photography, but was so powerful and inspirational for my photography and vision, that I couldn’t NOT post it here. This is the video about Nate Henn, the volunteer from Invisible Children that got killed a few days ago in Uganda. In my opinion, things like this are building my photographic vision. I don’t know what inspired your vision, but examples like those such as Nate are a big thing for mine.