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“WOW, YOU’VE MADE IT!”
Sounds good, doesn’t it? Just say it to yourself out loud right now: “I finally made it!” Whatever it means to you, it carries a sense of achievement and positivity. But how do you “make it” in photography? Do you have to live comfortably off your photos to say it? Is it all about making that one photo that you always dreamed about? Or do you have to wait for others to tell you that you’ve made it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScyDtwsaNmQ
Photography is so complex that there are a million approaches behind it. However, there is one thing that almost every photographer can agree on: you have to focus right! Otherwise it ends up blurry and the photo doesn’t clearly portray what you wanted to present. Blur isn’t necessarily bad though. If you want to convey a sense of abstraction, it works very well. Even if you didn’t nail the focus, an otherwise incredible photo remains great despite that flaw. Sometimes it even makes it seem more real and vivid.
I always say the Universes’ No. 1 hiding place for the most awesome shit is right behind fear. Isn’t that a little unfair? Why does the Universe not place it right before fear so everyone can enjoy pure bliss? Although there are a million laws in the Universe, you only need to know one for your photography right now: it expands. Always. But what does that have to do with fear, being dumb and your photos?
Don’t you have the feeling that nowadays almost everyone is taking photos? Not even that long ago, photography was much more exclusive. Despite the wide-spread use of point-and-shoot cameras, very few people were able to properly take photographs. That’s why photography was and still is a profession in demand. However, if you are interested in selling your photographs, how can you convince someone to buy yours or simply “follow” you as a photographer? It almost seems impossible given that 2.6 Billion people worldwide use a smartphone by now. Almost all of them take snapshots of their life, food, hobbies and basically anything that touches their hearts. Some take it for themselves and their family and friends, others share it with the world.
A drunk guy in a bar in Amsterdam said the following to me after I told him I work as a fine-art photographer: “So man, you love that photo stuff, right? Do you have to pray to the photo gods for good shots or how do you get them?” Although he spit all over me, it really made me think. On the ride home I asked myself: “If your photography was a church, what would you believe in?” This article focuses on my strongest beliefs to create great photos and my personal deadly sins that prevent me from doing so. I can’t wait to hear your sermons, sins and “shaaaame” shouts in the comments! This is my personal answer that merely serves as food for thought to confirm, re-evaluate or expand your beliefs.
THE MOMENT OF HORROR
No. No. Please, no. A moment of terror for every photographer out there. I opened my photo bag, took out my cam to take a picture of the street filled with warm sunset light and then it happened. Imagine this moment in slow-motion. While listening to music with my noise-cancelling headphones I raised my cam in order to look through the viewfinder. Surprised by the incredibly bad auto-focus I realized with cheery music in my ears how the lens had suddenly unhooked from the cam and fallen all the way down to the ground in the worst way possible. BAM!
Overwhelmed by the moment I slowly looked down while holding the 5D Mark II body in my hands. I looked over to my friend who was making a phone call next to me on the bench with question marks in my eyes. That just didn’t happen. The exclamation marks in her wide-open eyes begged to differ. It did happen. I had just smashed my brand new $1600 L-lens, which is the only one I own: a Canon EF 24mm 1.4.
After going through all sorts of psychological troubles the last years, all the ups and downs and the rocky way up the fearful mountain of self-employment, after only 10 seconds my Dutch “bright side enzyme” kicked in to turn this negativity-ridden moment into something positive. “Het komt wel goed” (it’s gonna be fine) is what we always say when something bad happens. Challenge accepted!
One of the biggest obstacles in street photography is the fear of capturing strangers. I mean, it makes sense. You are taking photos of people without asking them for their permission first. Although it is completely legal in a lot of countries, it still takes guts to pull it off.
Jack Canfield once said: “Everything you want is on the other side of fear.” It’s so true, because once you overcome your fear, a whole new world opens up for you. Incredible Moments and subjects that would’ve never ended up in your portfolio before.
This is the story of how I wrestled with death twice to live for photography. Before I wrote this article, I told a couple of people about it since it means so much to me. Although some didn’t understand how I could talk so openly about this topic, I decided that it’s my duty to generate awareness and help others even if it means that I’m revealing my biggest struggle in front of the world.
My name is Spyros Papaspyropoulos and I am one of the co-founders of www.streethunters.net, a complete and free online street photography resource. I was asked by Udi the chief editor of DIYPhotography.net to share with you the results of a little project we did a month and a bit ago. A project that resulted in the first ever crowdsourced list of the 20 most influential Street Photographers.
In my early teenage years I loved nothing more than gaming and going to LAN parties every weekend. Unreal Tournament, Battlefield 1942 and Counter-Strike were my favorites back then. Although I also liked strategy games like Warcraft 3, I spent most of my time playing Counter-Strike with my friends till 2AM. Although I’m not that much of a gamer anymore besides the occasional SNES nights, a crazy thought crossed my mind. If street photography were a game, it would definitely be a first-person shooter.
Udi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.
Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe
Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.
John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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