Showing posts with label brainstorming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brainstorming. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Wide-Angle Wednesday- Keeping on task!


Greetings from the frozen Midwest!

I’m really starting to think the Arctic misses me and wants me back. I lived three years in beautiful central Alaska, and you would think I was used to the frigid temperatures. With that said, it’s been so cold I have not been out to shoot for a long time.  Additionally if I braved the frozen wind, I don’t have an idea to where or what I would like to shoot.

This mindset leads me to talk about being on task. I know that in order to keep the fire burning and to hone the skills, I need to keep shooting.  This is especially a challenge when not in a photography focused course, the landscape is just blah, and of course the weather. The last photog course I had ended in November and since then I have been focused on math and currently I’m working on color theory for web and multimedia.

So where do I go from here?

I recently found out that this time of the year is a great time to photograph bald eagles migrating down from the North. Sounds like an awesome field trip to the areas they are known to flock. After consulting a few local photog friends, it doesn’t appear I will have a lens with enough focal length to capture the eagles from the area in which people are allowed to show up and observe the flocks. The subject is there but not an option if I can’t get close enough. Though this gives a goal for next season.

Not all is lost, I just had to find the focus and get on task. Remember what Confucius is quoted to have said, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”

Now to turn the page, I have taken sometime to brainstorm some ideas that sound interesting and of course is do able. I figured a great start is finding a theme that can be revisited in times like this. For a previous course I developed a photo series focused on a local historic park in which I titled “Discovering Maramec”. Granted the course has come to an end, but I could always revisit Maramec. Nah I think something new is needed. I looked at maybe a theme based on forced or odd perspectives. Another idea is a scavenger hunt of objects or locations. I’m thinking something similar to the vacation car ride A-Z game we played with our son in our travels across the country. I figured I could come up with a list of random objects and or locations using the alphabet. Figured the theme would be a unique series of 26 images.

Now that I have a focus, I’m going to look at completing this series in one week!
I look forward to sharing what I plan to call “The Alphabet Series” next week.

Last week I wrote about resources, and today I wrote about staying on task with a side of creativity. Feel free to share your ideas by commenting below anytime, any day.

May your Wide-Angle Wednesday be spent someplace tropical!

From My Camera to Yours,
Wednesday's Student Ambassador


Sunday, October 6, 2013

Thoughts on Creating a Series and Presentation.

Good Morning and Happy Sunday... I have had a busy week with my current class and life in general. This Sunday I just wanted to touch base on a subject that I am currently dealing with, the subject is a photographic series. Im sure that many of you have seen these before. I know I have some are very interesting and others.. well, others not so much. Now the questions is why were they not so successful, I don't really have an answer, but the one thing that has been weighing on my mind is how the series is presented to the viewing audience. Does that series have that "WOW or SHOCK VALUE" factor. If they do then I would assume that they would be rather successful vs. the series that doesn't give the viewing audience something to think about or draw them in.

I have been working on my own series. Its the Post-Apocalyptic Gas Mask Series. Over the past few weeks I have photographed for this series, it part of my final project for class,but they will all fall into place when the project is done. The one thing I have noticed is that all the subjects I have photographed have one thing in common... The Gas Mask, they all have some "Shock Value", but Its missing something.. This weekend I figured out what it is, so I am on a quest to fulfill the missing aspect of my series. Until I get that done, I still have the task of figuring out how to present it. I thought of it as if it were a book. You have the title then all the chapters. I am in the process of working out the details, but if any reader has any suggestions or comments please feel free to comment,leave suggestions or opinions.. I love opinions. Again its been a busy week, sorry for a short blog today. Below are a few of the photographs from my current series.

 All Photos Taken by Wayne Salat
 All Photos Taken by Wayne Salat
 All Photos Taken by Wayne Salat
 All Photos Taken by Wayne Salat
 All Photos Taken by Wayne Salat
 All Photos Taken by Wayne Salat
All Photos Taken by Wayne Salat

Again if you have any comments or questions please feel free to ask.


Enjoy Your Sunday and Photograph Something Everyday!


Sunday Ambassador~ Wayne

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Brainstorming is Useful!

Hello everyone and welcome to another Terrific Tuesday!

So, here is the situation: you have started class and during the first week you are asked to submit a proposal on a final project for the class, the parameters and the requirements are set, however, you have no idea what to do.  Hurry, you have to post that proposal for review before the end of the week!  What do you do, what topic you choose, how are you going to develop it?

Answer: start brainstorming as soon as possible!


We all have brainstormed at one time or another, trying to make decisions of where to go, what movie to watch, where to go to eat, how to manage the budget, etc…  Brainstorming for photography is not too different, you have the knowledge and you have studied hard, it is just a matter to put it all together in a way that you do what you like, meet the requirements and learn about the concepts that you are expressing or photographing.

By the way, brainstorming and research are not the same, you brainstorm before you research, otherwise you might be going in circles with no goal in sight (or mind)!

So when do you perform a brainstorming session? For me, it is almost a daily thing, when I am driving I see something that gives me an idea and instantly try to fit it to my upcoming project.  I am at work and someone says something interesting, I instantly find an angle to use with photography.  For you, it might have happened in any place, sleeping, eating, playing, watching TV or just while you take pictures.

One of my professors gave us some tips about brainstorming, I will share them with you all.  This is what she wrote to the students in our current class of Photo Essay:

“Having trouble coming up with the perfect idea?
Why not take a bit of time to brainstorm some ideas before you begin your research?

Take 20 minutes or so grab a cup of good coffee or a nice cold beer or class or wine and just have fun with it.
 

Often I don’t think we spend enough time on the creative process of our work.

Choosing the right story for you is imperative for your success.

Think about what you are curious about. What are you passionate about?

On the practical side- what do you have time for? What do you have access for?”

It sounds simple ah?  It is simple, the best thing you can do before jumping in the water is to see how deep it is, how cold it might be, and then figure out what are you going to do when you are in the deep end (the analogy sounded better in my head)!

Want to read some more about brainstorming and photography?  Take a look at this link that provides some information about brainstorming with Lightroom.


Writing a paper instead?  Then check out this page:



Hope you all have fun brainstorming and let me tell you, once you start it will almost become second nature.
Drop me a line if you have different brainstorming techniques, lets share with everyone else out there!


Until later, this is your Tuesday Ambassador!