Summer in London
I am fortunate enough that I get to travel internationally for work. And that includes some pretty wonderful places, Sydney, Paris, London, Dubai. When I can, I try and go in a day before my meetings start to get acclimated and to enjoy the city.
In London I typically stay up around St. Paul's and captured this image on a trip last summer. Not bad for an IPhone 5 image.
Painted Wall Personal Project-Stanislaw Lem Krakow
Stanislaw Lem Krkaow Painted Wall in Jewish Ghetto Krakow Poland
On my last visit to Krakow Poland I took one of the many cart tours of the Jewish Ghetto area. I captured this image as part of my personal project to capture painted walls. As you can imagine these tours are both somber and interested. The atrocities that took place are almost unimaginable, and being right where it happened is interesting and sobering. Something we never should forget.
What Everyone is Saying About Constraints
Constraints are a good thing. Having constraints forces you to be creative, dig deeper to find a solution and to execute. To must do something can be a more powerful motivator than wanting to do something.
Constraints help you focus and keep your willpower high. Limiting choices or eliminating options all together helps conserve your willpower. We all the know the Steve jobs story about eliminating the need to make decisions about what clothes he wore. This is something you can put in place immediately. Try limiting your clothing selection this week to 3 shirts and pants.
There have been studies done that show people are much happier when their options are reduced. The fewer options they have, the happier they are. This relates back to second guessing or rethinking decisions. If you only had 2 choices you will probably have a lot less second guessing in your life. I think you look to make better selections, and are more committed to your selection when you only have a limited options or even time.
I put the constraint on myself to spend a full hour on photography and I couldn't go beyond my backyard. I took 189 images in that hour and created a beautiful detail image on a water spigot handle that I think looks wonderful.
If you don't have a lot of disposable income than you are really focused on spending your money the right way. I think having less fun money causes you to make better decisions because the risk of a bad decision is greater and it isn't easy to overcome by making another purchase. Interesting thought. Can people with less money be happier? Are they happier if they focus on spending money on experiences that provide a lifetime of memories vs. things that can provide limited benefits and joy?
Constrain yourself on the golf course to only using your 7 iron and see how good you get with the club. By the end of the 18 holes I guarantee you will know exactly how far you can hit the club, how you can bend the shot. I think you will have mastered the club.
Same way with camera gear. Take out your camera with one lens and really work it. You'll understand how the focus works, how the lens works at different apertures, it will become second nature to you. You will be able to look beyond the lens and the camera and focus on your vision what you really see. The camera will truly become a tool to capture your vision not the focus.
If you sit down at night and find yourself paralyzed with options and not doing anything, give yourself only two options of things to do and see how that improves you getting things done. Less is more.
What other kinds of constraints can you think of that truly improve your life? For a week set up real situations where you have constraints.
Be it what you order for lunch, what you do when you are home from work. I truly believe that giving yourself or having constraints will improve your trajectory towards what you want. Constraints are a good thing.
Introducing Photography to a Child
For those of us who love photography, this risk is that we are overzealous in trying to get our children to like it as much as we do.
I consider myself extremely lucky in that all of my children have an interest in photography; and with my older son it started with film. What I want to share with you here are the techniques I have used to make sure my youngest son enjoys the experience and doesn't' feel the least bit pressured. My goal is to make everything about photography positive for him.
Gear
Camera
Luckily my wife has an old Nikon D60 that she doesn't use much so I was able to give this camera to my son. With the two kit lenses he is able to cover anything that he might want to photograph. Now he feels it is his, takes care of it, and most importantly stores it in HIS room! This camera is more than a point and shoot and in his eyes is "just like dad's".
Camera Settings
Just like "P" is for professional, in the hands of a child I consider "P" to mean Perfect. I set his camera up on program mode, and bump the ISO up to 800. For now we keep these settings in tact. I feel this gives him the best chance of producing sharp images.
Tripod
I have him use one of my tripods and I think this is a great idea. Not only does it force him to slow down a bit and have to adjust the tripod, compose the image, and then shoot; it also provides a little bit more security against the camera getting dropped. I have a small travel tripod that is just the perfect size and weight for him.
A small thing I do that I think makes a difference, is that I always carry my tripod when he has his.
Outings / Photowalk
ust has important as providing him with reasonable gear is the approach.
The weekends are when I do the majority of my photography so that is when I suggest we head out for a photowalk. It is entirely up to him as to whether he goes or not. I never force it. For me if he goes half the time, I consider that a success.
Never Force it / They are In Charge
When he does go with me, this is how I approach it.
For each outing we go on I make sure that I don't set any expectations on what I am going to accomplish or achieve. I make sure the outing is all about my son's experience, and as soon as he says he's had enough or wants to go home, then we immediately head home. Of course making sure we stop for a doughnut or bagel! I want to make sure that he doesn't feel like he needs to stay out or feels trapped by the outing. He is in charge and when he wants to head home we do.
I also make sure that I am photographing as well. I never hover over his shoulder and "help" him. I always make sure that I am capturing images and allowing him to freely explore and capture. I think this also helps reduce or eliminate any pressure. Obviously I am right there if he has any questions.
Print It
Depending on how he feels there are some days when we get home and immediately import his images into Lightroom together and some days he just goes off and does something different. For each outing after we get his images imported I always try to have him pick one that he likes and I print it out for him. Doesn't matter what it is we always make a print.
n the end the way I view it, if he likes photography or not we have spend some excellent time together, he is creating something and spending less time with the Xbox. All of these, I consider to be successes.
I hope you can you some of these ideas and maybe successfully introduce photography to a child you know.
Fall Colors in Springboro Ohio
Here is an image I captured in my backyard. Fall is in full swing here in Ohio.
