On Producing Your Best Work

There’s work, there’s good work, and there’s your best work. I believe the idea of always putting your best into something you love is hard to argue with. When it comes to anything you love doing, most times we put more effort in than we would normal tasks - I believe that’s just the way it goes. Time is not much of an issue when doing something you love; some people forget to eat, and sleep, and that says a lot. The results are shown in the work they produce.

Photography is different from the other arts in that you actually have to go looking for subjects. You cannot create something through your own imagination and record it in the camera (obviously), but you do need to search for what you want - whether it’s an artistic venture, or to document something. I’ll expound on my interests in photography (landscapes/nature, and street photography): both require you to travel and immerse yourself in the environment to get good results. There is a whole process I go through before a shoot that I really want to get great results from, and it starts with visualisation (even if I’ve never been to the location before); I visualise what I want in different scenarios so as to have a goal in mind. The second thing I do is review the photos of great photographers whose work I enjoy and find meaning in, and store away techniques in composition and style. Thirdly, I look back at photos I’ve captured, picking apart what I could do better.

After that comes the effort.

As an amateur photographer, I’m continuously learning, and I believe you learn the most about photography by actual practice, by making mistakes, and by experiencing new scenarios that force you to adapt, or highlight where you can become better. You need to be consistent in that practice, like any exercise, or any skill, to maintain and improve your standards.