There have been a few things rolling around in my partially empty skull recently.
One thing I have been giving a lot of thought to is what does it mean to be a creative person?

I guess it would be helpful to define creativity.

Merrimack-Webster defines it.
cre·a·tiv·i·ty  noun \ˌkrē-(ˌ)ā-ˈti-və-tē, ˌkrē-ə-\: the ability to make new things or think of new ideas.

Ok so who can be considered a creative person? The artist, photographer or musician? What about people involved in dance, theater, the sciences  even engineering, or the building trades?

To me by looking at a project in a way that is different or new, you are being creative.
Thinking about something in a way others don't, makes what you do your own.
It can be something that's been done before but you need to put your slant on it.

When people first start out learning a skill or a craft there is a tendency to copy the work of others. This is fine to help with the learning process but I think hinders the goal to be truly a creative person.

I know scores of photographers who emulate the work of other photographers, not saying it's a bad thing, but I think it sometimes can get in the way of progressing to that creative place.

Get creative think about things in a different way

As a working studio photographer it is easy to get in a rut photographically. My friend Kelly and I had been talking about participating in some kind of workshop for some time. I have attended a number of half and one day events but this is the first time I attended a photo workshop that was longer than a day. It is something that I have wanted to do for some time.

The workshop we decided to attend was a wild horse workshop put on by Rocky Mountain Photo Adventures. We stayed in the small the town of Eagle Butte South Dakota, and it was just a short drive to the location of our horse friends.
 http://www.rockymountainphotoadventures.com/

We had access to three different herds, one of them the Gila heard are genetic descendants of horses brought here by the Spanish. Our workshop leaders were Weldon Lee and Lori Huff. Lori is a friend of both Kelley and I. She was originally from our area and we've have known her a number of years.

For three days we got out and start shooting before the sun was up  until a bit before lunch time, then went and got something to eat. We went back to the hotel downloaded our images and had a critique session and maybe a nap. Later on we went back out and shot until after sunset.

It was a great experience and I met a number a great folks from different parts of the country. Well worth the price.

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It has been way too long since I posted anything. I have no excuse, I have just been lazy I guess.

Saturday I leave for South Dakota to photograh wild horses. It is a workshop and it the first time I have gone to a workshop that was more than a few hours or a single day long.

I am looking forward to it. If I get anything reasonably good I post some of the images when I get back.

The Prime Mover

I have been using more prime lenses rather than zooms lately. I am getting very nice results using them.
Even with their limitations they are sharp and in most cases faster and most prime lenses are smaller and lighter.
With my first 35mm camera all I used with it was prime lenses, I had a 28,50, and a 135mm for it. This set of lenses did a fine  job for me for years. The first zoom lenses I bought was 80- 200mm and it was one of the worst lens I have ever seen in my life. Later zooms I owned were much better, but I still think prime lenses have the advantage in sharpness and contrast.

This past weekend I went out on a day trip with a group of some photographer friends and used only prime lenses.
Here are some of my results.

Out Shooting Again (finally)

It has been a while since I have had a chance to shoot any personal photography.

 Last month my friend Chris and another photographer had their latest exhibit open at a gallery in Lansing, so I went to the shows opening and we got a bit of a chance to catch up.  We decided to make a shooting trip out to the lake shore in Muskegon Mi.

I worked with Chris for a number of years before he left the company and started a studio of his own. Now he spends a great deal of his time teaching photography at a community college in Lansing.

For the Birds

Here are 2 examples of shots I took this past weekend. At the "Birds of Prey" shoot at the SWMCCC Summer Weekend of Photography.

SOFOBOMO 2010

I just recently finished and upload my 2010 SOFOBOMO PDF book project. If you are unfamiliar with is it's an annual event that gives participants a 30 day window to shoot, produce and upload a PDF phototbook. Here is a link to the project SOFOBOMO HomePage

This is my second year of participation. Here's a link to this year's effort 2010 and this is a link to my 2009 effort.

Check them out and let me know what you think. Also go to the project home page and check out some of the other books there.

Improvement

Not to long ago someone asked me what was the best way they could improve as photographer. I think that my answer caught them by surprise judging by the look on their face. I simply told them to go out and shoot.

In order to learn the craft of photography you do need to read, take a class or seminar, take part in workshops and utilize any educational opportunity you can. But it does no good to learn about something and not put it in to practice. The doing is where the greatest learning takes place. You learn from making mistakes and correcting them, but you need to participate in order for that to happen.