Ayup! Do you ever get incredibly frustrated with your progress in photography? If so, good! It’s a clear sign you’re passionate about what you do. Not that this makes it any less frustrating, but reframing the situation might help.
It happens to me all the time. Usually because of unsuccessful outings, slow headway, or a complete derailment of focus and vision. When irritation rocks up, I pause, then I walk, then I pause again, repeating the process until I remember that nothing really matters.
Except it does. Not in the sense that paying my bills and mortgage depend on it. More so in that photography keeps me (almost) sane. Therefore, I keep three simple disciplines in check: patience, practice and perseverance.
The word ‘patient’ comes from the Latin ‘to suffer,’ which is why it’s also used as a noun to describe the clients of a doctor. While nobody is suggesting you should suffer while taking photographs, you do need to take knocks and disappointments in your stride, and be prepared to hang around until you get what you need.
The Devotion of Time
Any artist or creative trades their time for their craft. It’s a simple exchange, and one that doesn’t take any thought or consideration. It will just happen naturally. We gravitate towards our interests, happily working away the hours. The flow state is induced, leading to a calming, tranquil energy.
This serenity can often become interrupted, though. When things aren’t working out, or your attention is elsewhere, it’s time to down tools. It’s near on impossible to work through the frustration, which leads nicely to our first discipline.
When you’re giving your fullest attention to an activity or task that you are incredibly passionate about, singularly focused on, and totally immersed in, you may find yourself creating the conditions necessary to experience a flow state of mind.
Patience
Folks occasionally talk about the art of patience in photography. Honestly, I think it’s massively underrated. If you think about it, our entire lives are a waiting game. Waiting in a queue, waiting for a meal, waiting to pay off a loan, waiting for a promotion, waiting for a train (what’s up, Inception fans).
Photography is no different. We wait, and we do so patiently if we’re to make real progress. But what exactly are we waiting for?
- To improve our skills
- To increase our knowledge
- To develop and refine our style
- For our focus to return
- To nail that tricky edit
- To find time to get out with the camera
- The right weather conditions
- The right water levels
- To visit another location on the list
All of this waiting around might seem counterproductive, but it’s actually pretty darn important. It gives the mind space to breathe and ponder. It lets you consider ideas and techniques or plan projects.
Thinking about photography is almost as vital as the photography itself. In this regard, when used correctly, our time spent waiting is never wasted. It simply needs to be accepted as part of the overall process.
Photography is about time and light. We often don’t have the time and the light is rarely right when we do. That’s where patience comes in. Making time yields benefits for photography, slowing down, observing and being more considered.
Practice
Of course, a photographer can only wait so long before they’re bursting to get out again. The Cambridge Dictionary describes practice as action rather than thought or ideas. Perfect! We’ve covered the thinking part; now it’s time to put it all into action.
Referring to photography as a practice means it’s continually evolving and developing. Our work is never finished, nor is it ever quite the best it can possibly be. The more we do, the better we get.
Technically, this should be the fun part. You’re out and about, doing what you love. Fresh air, adrenaline and exhilaration. Yes please!
Most photographers take a while to get into the swing of things. Once you’re at your location, it can take some time to loosen up and adapt to your surroundings. Personally, if I can, I try to go round twice. Or, at least, visit the main areas I want to shoot twice. The second time round nearly always produces the keepers.
Of course, there will be many occasions when you come back with nothing. Ouch! If you’ve experienced this as a photographer, you’ll know how disheartening it can be. At the same time, though, your ongoing motivation will be working away in the background. Maybe it’s better planning or a different location. Next time…
Practice not only gives us a chance to make our shooting techniques more automatic, it gives us a chance to try new techniques. Practice gives us an opportunity to learn new poses, try a new lenses, or try a new post-processing technique to enhance our photographs before we use them in a client shoot. As a photographer, learning never stops; practice is a good way to try out things with no pressure or fear of failure.
Perseverance
To keep heading out with the camera (even when setbacks occur), we require a healthy dose of perseverance. This ultimately sustains the cycle of patience and practice. But what sustains our perseverance? That’ll be our passion. If you’re passionate enough about your craft, everything falls into place, no matter how frustrating things get along the way.
Passion, perseverance, purpose, persistence, whatever you want to call it, this is what keeps you going. Deeply creative and artistic folks don’t always have it easy. We put immense pressure on ourselves to churn out our best work. Sometimes it happens effortlessly; other times it feels impossible.
The latter becomes a gazillion times easier to deal with when, despite difficulty or delays, you know you’ll find your way through. Try, fail, try again, succeed, repeat.
Perseverance is one of the key mindsets of creative thinkers and innovators. Since creativity pushes us out into the unknown where outcomes are uncertain and risks need to be taken, it is likely there will be failures before success. Perseverance gears up the creative thinker to keep pushing through and not to give up.