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!
Love to see this topic addressing passion and curiosity.
ReplyDeleteTwo ingredients that are absolute must for any photographer! Great post!