When I called Paul Bacher to get an update on the snowboarding conditions yesterday he said they were just about ready to light the christmas tree. I wasn’t quite sure what he meant, but soon there I was climbing around in this little tree stringing lights as Paul and Aaron packed out the runway, poured water on the jump to firm it up, and got the generator ready for lights, camera, action.
To succeed as a photographer you gotta have talent they tell me. Ok, talent, what are you and where do I go for a second helping? I turned to the dictionary and here is what I found: Talent is a natural aptitude for a thing. Aptitude is a natural ability. Natural is something that exists or is caused by nature, not made by human kind. Read– out of reach, unattainable by human kind.
This search for talent looks like it might be a short one that already ended. But, I’m still curious how talent is defined in a photographer and where this natural ability makes its appearance.
Some have told me that I have talent for photography. I believe that they say this because they find a photograph I created engaging, beautiful, or surprising in some way. When I look for the mysterious talent amongst the process of creating those images I’m hoping that there will be an ‘ah hah’ discovery that will unlock the floodgates of talent in my future image making. I’m also hoping to find proof that little me is actually Mr. Big Time the bearer of great talent. Instead I see that these examples of talent are merely the product of countless unimpressive little details all coinciding in a moment that I looked through an electronic gadget and pushed a button. Surely there must be more to this! There are two areas within this process that I suspect talent may be hiding.
1. In the previsualization of an image. In order to be considered talented, I believe it’s necessary for an image maker to have images flash through his mind. These are ideas that are later created as photographs. I would define these visualizations as something that naturally exists beyond our control. As an artist I think we can make room for them, but really they come in from outside our minds. Think about food . . .did an image of pizza appear? If so you might have a talent there!
2. The visualized images is just that, nothing more, without the production process. These are the countless little things that must happen for a photo to be created – organizing logistics, finding a location, arranging the subjects etc..These things are important no doubt, but I don’t think such individual feats as remembering to bring the camera battery is what we consider talent. However, the collection of all these things with the required focus, motivation, and dedication to bring them together into a photograph might be.
The way I see it today – Talent is something that others say we have and something that we say others say we have. Really, in my humble opinion I think talent is a perceived and mysterious possession of an artist. The artist himself also finds this natural ability somewhat mysterious, but knows that if he does his work and sets the table, talent might just show up again.
Unfortunately I couldn’t find any unquestionable examples of talent in my archive, so I’ve settled for a few aerial photos of a sunset over Kachemak Bay and the Kenai Mountains that I enjoy. Many things came together for these photos, actually ‘taking’ the photo was just another one of the countless required details. I could just as readily claim that I have a talent for living in a beautiful place as I do for photography. They are both things I thoroughly enjoy, but don’t claim ownership or title to.
PS if you were hoping for the secret to success, I can show you where to find it. It’s here in a 3 minute video from TED.
I remember walking out of the post office and looking up to catch just a glimpse of the small yellow helicopter zipping by overhead. For the months since, anytime I’ve heard the beating of helicopter rotors I jump up and scurry to the windows with binoculars. This little fixation started before the MD 530 came to town, and it’s not just limited to helicopters. I love flying, and not surprisingly, some of this passion for flight splashed onto the machines that make it possible. I think it’s well understood that I’m always very excited by the opportunity to create aerial photographs. This particular shoot was a real treat being able to watch and photograph this incredible helicopter in flight. Special thanks to George and Charlie Mandes for working with me to make this a reality. As an aerial photographer I’m very dependent on the pilots to help bring all the pieces together into a photograph. As you can see, they both did a great job.
Ingredient list for a big smile and some exciting aerial photos:
Toss the ingredients for approximately 45 minutes. More results displayed below.
Great, ok, now say cheese, smile and look into the camera. Umm, not quite, how about a real smile? Can you show me a real smile? hmm, how about I throw a snowball in your face that should help.
Trying to talk a smile out of a model isn’t much fun and doesn’t usually work anyhow. That’s one more reason why I love to photograph people in the outdoors doing things they really enjoy. The smiles that you see on a good sledding hill, after a great surf session, while kitesurfing, after a sick snowboard jump, etc., these are the priceless grins. Surfers often call this stoke. When viewing these real smiling moments I find a grin forming on my face too. It’s only natural to smile back at them, you can feel the pleasure, the thrill, the good times.
Here’s a little collection of photos with those smiles that come naturally in the great outdoors.
In my last post, part 1, I went on about how it can be difficult to actually separate your passions from the many things you like in life. Some signs of NOT following your passions reveal themselves in obvious ways. If you are working on something (a career, towards a goal, a project) and the work feels like a drudgery, mustering the enthusiasm or energy for the work is difficult, or the work is the means to the goal only. I’d venture to suggest that you are probably not pursuing something you are truly passionate about.
Q: How do you know if you are passionate about a thing?
A 1: The energy, commitment, enthusiasm, and desire to pursue the passion wells up within you spontaneously without effort on your part. In other words, it’s easier to follow this thing than it would be to ignore or avoid it. When you turn away it gnaws at your insides. In the morning when you are laying comfortably in bed the desire for it makes you throw the covers off. I don’t have to try and get excited about photography, I just am. I don’t try to muster the enthusiasm to do a photo shoot, instead there seems to be a boundless supply of motivating desire for it.
A 2: The pursuit of a passion is satisfying and rewarding in the present moment. According to my definition a passion can not be solely embodied in the future. I think it’s possible to be passionate about reaching a goal, but if you find that the process is not a pleasure then I think it’s time to reconsider. The best way I can explain this is a surfing analogy. For about 10 years I’ve had a vague goal of becoming a skilled surfer, but the first wave I caught was just as fun as the wave yesterday, and if I ever reach this nebulous goal of being ‘skilled’ I don’t expect that I’ll enjoy surfing anymore than I did 10 years ago. That’s because my passion for surfing is not contained solely in the goal of being skilled, my passion is for surfing period. The process, the means towards the goal, is satisfying and rewarding in the present moment.
There is much more that could be said on this, so let’s look at some photos. The photos in this post are of a friend and kayak surfer with real passion, Randy Keller. The image at the top shows Randy trying to take his frozen hand out of a frozen glove after a surfing session during a winter storm. Notice the ice covering everything, including his one remaining lens in his glasses. The photos below tell the rest of the story that lead up to the top photo.
Randy makes it pretty obvious that when a person is following a true passion the endurance or commitment required to overcoming great obstacles is provided. He does not suffer through a session like this, he loves it. I don’t think he particularly enjoys throbbing cold hands and breaking his glasses, but he certainly has a passion for kayak surfing, and lives out a very obvious example of how a passion provides the energy and enthusiasm required for its wholehearted pursuit. The air temp was probably around 10F, it was snowing hard and blowing roughly 30mph. If you are curious about this Randy Keller guy, check out his adventure guiding business – Isuma Guideworks.
