Reading Reflections - Broccoli, KFKD, and Jealousy

BROCCOLI

The idea that broccoli tells you how it wants to be written reminds me of my first MPW. I was having my portfolio reviewed by Scott Sines and we were talking about how to crop images. I asked him when he crops if he tries to keep the photo to, relatively, the original proportions. He said, “A photo will tell you what size it wants to be.” I think this fits perfectly with the idea of broccoli telling someone how it wants to be eaten. However, I don’t like broccoli so I will use the photo cropping reference in the future.

There are times while photographing that people can overthink what they are trying to do. Rule of thirds! No cliché silhouettes. DON’T CROP HEADS! If we are beholden to the rules we will miss so many opportunities to make great photos. This also reminds me of a quote from Alan Watts. The quote was originally about faith but I think it still applies here. “…Trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don't grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float.” Photography can be simple and it can be super complex at the same time. Before anything can be constructed, framed, shot – we must first see, and then let the rest fall into place.

KFKD

This section was accurate and also not at all. The idea of self-doubt is as universal as life itself. There are the proverbial angel and demon on the shoulders. The little voices that say either “Turn back immediately” or “You totally got this!” The challenge is trying to balance the two voices and making sure one doesn’t get more attention than the other. You are not invincible, but you aren’t made of glass either. It is important to take risks from time to time. But they should be calculated risks. This applies to creative endeavors as well. If you shoot the same thing every time, you won’t grow as a photographer or as a storyteller.

What was wrong with this section was how she said metal music is a distraction. NEGATIVE! It might be a distraction to her, but instead of generalizing it to “a music you dislike” she picked heavy metal. Everyone has there one style of music that they can’t stand, however, metal seems to be the one that is picked on the most. That’s fine; we are just fine without you!

“Inside of me there are two dogs. One is mean and evil and the other is good and they fight each other all the time. When asked which one wins I answer, the one I feed the most.” – Sitting Bull

JEALOUSY

I think this one fits photography and photographers like a glove. We are often critical of other’s work simply because we didn’t get the shot or didn’t find that assignment. Instead of raising each other up in a time where we are getting laid off left and right, we make negative comments and slam one another to other photographers. Jealousy is ugly. However, it can be used as a motivating factor to be better than you were the day before. If it is used to increase the desire to be better then, by all means, be jealous! But if it only makes you complain and tear down, please check the attitude at the door (or we’ll confiscate your camera!).