Keeping It Fresh

I had a beer the other night with a dear friend and fellow photographer. One of the things we touched on was personal work, the importance of it and how much it has helped both of us grow as artists. Check out this posting for more on the Importance of Personal Work. Expanding on the theme of personal work I want to talk about something that I struggle with as a photographer - The idea of constantly keeping my work fresh.

I go crazy if I don't have personal projects in the pipeline. And I panic at the idea of not constantly producing new work. As a photographer I think it is essential to consistently be producing new work, not least for ones own sense of creative well-being but to demonstrate, as I have said before, that you are a thriving artist. I get nervous when I look at my images and they have been on my website for too long. In response to those nerves I grab a piece of paper and start listing out all the shoots I want to do in the next two months. It makes me feel better....for a while. But it can be a struggle turning the list of ideas in to actual productions. One has to find the right location. Then there's the models or athletes. Scheduling dates. Monitoring the weather. The list goes on and on.

When I voiced these concerns to my friend over beer, he said "That's important. You should write about those concerns and frustrations." So in an attempt to provide some useful information I want to share four tips and a little insight into how I create my personal projects.



1. PEN & PAPER:
I've just about fallen asleep, conscious only of my coming rest and slumber when BAM! An idea comes out of no where and its amazing, I love it. I say to my self "Ok thats awesome, I'll deal with the details in the morning." If only. I spend the next hour trying to sleep but the idea is like a wet eel, slipping between all of my tired attempts to shut down my brain. I rise and I put pen to paper. I never forget a good idea, but I sure as hell can't get a winks sleep when my brain is on fire. So I write it down. And so should you. Make a list and keep it safe. I read once that if you write down your goals, hand write that is not tapping into a computer, that you are far more likely to achieve them. Seems stupid but deep down you know its true!

GEEKERY: I keep a spreadsheet of my ideas with categories like 'Creative Concept', 'Potential Talent', 'Locations' etc. It allows me to keep adding details and notes to the ideas as they evolve and it keeps my ideas organised so my brain can be freed of such administrative tasks. More room for being creative.

2. TIMING & SCHEDULES:
A lot of the projects I come up with are seasonal and require certain weather/climatic conditions to achieve. I can't shoot an endurance runner up in the alpine in May (even though it feels like spring at sea-level) because the snowpack is still solid. I can however shoot that cyclist video project. Timing is everything. But the ideas must be written down save forgetting them come July and the snow has melted!

Once you have your ideas you need to find your talent and more importantly find dates and schedules that align. This can be a nightmare. We are all busy people and personal work often relies upon those who are generous enough to donate their time. Patience, persistence and praise goes a long way. It is the little things in life that make a difference. Always treating your team with the utmost respect and consideration is so important.

It can be tough to keep on top of, especially when balancing personal projects with work, but I have a pretty consistent stream of personal projects in the pipeline. I keep the ideas on simmer so that when the time comes or the opportunity rises I turn up the heat and I can can quickly get them into production mode. This requires constantly ticking over on admin tasks like location scouting, monitoring schedules, developing the creative concepts so that you are ready to roll when conditions are right.

GEEKERY: I have a big, BIG calendar on my desk. It never closes and the sections for each day are big enough for me to make plenty of notes. It also shows me an entire month at a time. Seeing a month's worth of weeks is so helpful and again this is great for my brain.



3. PRE-, PRE- and PRE-

a). PRECONCEPTING
I dedicate a lot of time, pencil power and recycled paper to sketches and doodles. I like to preconceptualise a variety of images that I want from a shoot. I might not shoot all of them, circumstances during the shoot will certainly change them and others will end up looking shit once they move from my head to my sensor. But, having a series of sketches and doodles gives me a really solid frame work to enter any shoot with. I have mile markers I can check off and I have a sense of accomplishment as I move through the shoot.

b). PRESCOUTING
I am always looking for potential shoot locations. The old, cliche that photographers see the world with a nice little frame around the edges. Well take that idea and every time your out think about the locations you find yourself in and how you could us that location for a shoot. Maybe its a heist shoot in an alley behind a bank, a great forest location for a child/parent moment or a gorgeous landscape. Keep a list!

c). PREPRODUCTION
It is really easy to get complacent with your preproduction and preparation for personal shoots. There is no client and you are the master of your shoot's destiny. Thing is, personal shoots are a great way to refine your craft and that also means refining your production skills. Being organised is not easy for many of us, practice makes perfect, so I use these shoots to nail down my skills and stay in good production-shape.

GEEKERY: Personal work is hands down the most important part of my creative process. PRE-, is so important for the success of any project. I'm sinking my own money, sometimes large sums of it, into these shoots and I can't afford to throw it away because I wasn't prepared.

4. BITE THE BULLET
Sometimes I procrastinate over the execution of my ideas because I am scared to death that after investing in all of the above it is going to hail stones the size of hedgehogs or rain all over my lighting gear. So I wait, and wait, and wait until the conditions are "perfect". Someone once said to me that there is never a perfect time to have a child. But once you do you wondered what an earth you were waiting for. There is never a perfect moment for anything in life, and even if there was such a thing most likely it would have been down to things way beyond our control.

GEEKERY: If you have a problem biting the bullet, find someone who you can be accountable to. A friend, a marketing consultant, a fellow photographer, your mum. Make yourself accountable to someone and stop the excuses.

Bite the bullet! You won't regret it, I promise.

The Importance of Personal Work

A year ago I started a personal project called Seasons of Subsistence after visiting a Yup'ik summer fishing camp up here in Bristol Bay, Alaska. After a year of shooting for this project I want to take a moment to reflect on the importance of personal work.



I don't know about you but I'm constantly making up long term projects in my head, whether its a story about the lives of my backyard chickens or the solitary existence of Indonesian raft fishermen. But making these projects become a reality requires a lot more determination, commitment, time, resources and planning than simply dreaming about them. Being able to filter out the crazy ideas from the realistic ones is key to your success and involves being totally honest with yourself. I'm all about dreaming big, don't get me wrong, but executing a long-term, or short term, personal project requires that you get your all of your eggs in just the right baskets.

THE IDEA
Coming up with an idea can often be a real challenge, especially if you haven't quite decided what kind of photographer you are yet and the focus you want to take. I spent many dark hours mulling over a multitude of ideas as I began my photographic journey, many of them completely overambitious. Being realistic with yourself is critical.

So make a list. Put it into three sections: Dream Projects, Realistic Projects, Backyard Projects. Work out what you are really passionate about and what you can realistically achieve within a given time frame, 1 month, 6 months, 1 year. Your backyard projects are ones that you can be working on all the time. Hopefully they don't require huge amounts of resources and they allow you to begin right away. For example at the beginning of the this year I began a project photographing adventure athletes in Seattle. Its a project that I work on all the time, I shoot every month or so and it doesn't require huge amounts of time and money. Your Dream Projects are at the opposite end of the scale. They are big, ambitious, and support your overarching vision as a photographer. Whether they are realistic or not, feasible or something you hope to do "one day" it doesn't matter. More importantly they give you a focus point and set the bar for your creative endeavours. While your Realistic Projects are the ones you start to put into the research phase.




THE RESEARCH
So you have a backyard project or two that you are rolling with and your Dream Projects are providing you with inspiration and a guiding force. Now you have to be really realistic with your self and begin researching for a project that you can pull off, your Realistic Project. Your research needs to be thorough. It is essential that you know as much as possible about the people, issue, location etc of your chosen project. Whenever I get an assignment I begin a very careful research process that involves gathering as much information on the geography, economics, culture, language, climate, current affairs, ecology and infrastructure of where I'm going. Of course my research process for editorial assignments differs from my commercial assignments and your research process will differ from mine. You need to find a process that fits your style. But find a process and take a systematic approach to it so that you cover all the essentials. Careful planning will save you time, money and ensure you do the best job you can.

FUNDRAISING
Fundraising is really important, really difficult and really beyond the scope of this posting. Fortunately there are some great resources out there and the Blue Earth Alliance is the best place to start: www.blueearth.org and a great handbook all about getting projects off the ground: http://www.blueearth.org/downloads/SFTH-Web-Jan08.pdf



EXECUTION
The way you actually end up shooting your project will vary widely depending on the type of photographer you are and the nature of your project. Regardless of these variables, however, are a few things that are universal to executing your project.

Access
Whether you are heading out to document great white shark attack victims or shooting a project on Parisian barristers getting access to the right subject matter is vital to the success of your project. It takes time and commitment to forge these necessary relationships so you'll need to draw upon all of your resources, friends, and contacts.

Resources
Money. Whether you are planning a small backyard shoot or a longterm international project you are going to need money to cover your expenses. Think about all of your possible expenses ranging from rent and office supplies to airplane tickets and special equipment. Then make a budget so you know how much your ideas are going to cost and how much fundraising you have to do. There is lots of great information on budgeting in the Blue Earth Alliance handbook, link above.

Collaborate
Collaboration is one of your most important skills and assets. There will often be other organisations and non-profits working on similar issues to your work. Sharing your ideas with these groups and letting them know what you are trying to achieve can be instrumental in helping your project become a reality. After working with Trout Unlimited Alaska (TU Alaska) in 2008 I came to them with my Seasons of Subsistence project. TU is now one of the fiscal sponsors for the project helping me to fundraise. They also support the project by producing gallery exhibitions and promoting the project through their marketing outlets.

KEEP DOING IT
At first personal projects can seem daunting. Lack of money, lack of focus, making contacts, where to start...? The list goes on. But if you are passionate you will stick at it and while getting a project off the ground can be challenging, the benefits far outweigh the hard graft. Get creative and follow your crazy dreams, as Goethe said, "Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.”

Here are a few reasons to persevere, stick with it and produce thoughtful and innovative personal work.

Refine your vision
You have complete creative control over your personal projects. No one telling you they want it done a certain way. You can do whatever you want. And this is why personal work is so important, because it is your own personal expression as an artist. When people look at your personal work they peer directly into your creative vision and bear witness to your purest form. Doing personal work then is essential for your personal growth as an artist and a space for you to experiment, make mistakes, grow, evolve and refine your vision.

Hone your skills
Experimenting, making mistakes and evolving are all ways in which we craft new skills. Every time I shoot personal work I discover new ways of shooting, develop new skill sets and make big leaps in my creative thinking. Its just like exercising and training for a sport. We have to flex our creativity!



Prove your worth
Personal work demonstrates artistic initiative and a thirst for creativity. People who hire photographers like to see that the person they are going to hire does more than just fulfill a creative brief and instead brings a unique set of ideas to the table. Your personal work is an important part of your creative toolbox and critical to demonstrating that you are a thriving artist.