I have not been as motivated for the past 4 weeks to get out early for morning sunrise shots. I may wake up early but laying there has been dominating my time. This sunrise was taken last month on one of those mornings when I was able to get up early. When I see images like this, I sometimes wonder just what I may have missed when I sleep in or talked myself out of driving to a natural area or walking the streets of Old Town or whatever excuse I may come up with.
Here is a quote from a blog post by Guy Tal that I wanted to share with you. He’s talking about things we may be missing. “To click on a preset for a canned effect is not an act of creation, it is an act of surrender. It is admitting that doing it yourself is too hard; it is taking the easy way, settling for good enough, choosing the drive-thru window over a pleasant evening preparing your own specialties and unique flavoring in your own well-stocked kitchen. Both will fill your belly, but differ greatly in satisfaction, value, sense of accomplishment, and accolades from others. Worse yet, if you don’t invest the time to learn the skills and apply them yourself, you may not even know how much you are missing.”
4 Comments
Steve Skinner
Monte, I’m glad that you made it for this one!
Monte Stevens
So am I! Thanks, Steve!
Cedric Canard
I kind of went along with Tal’s quote and then he lost me with the last sentence. It’s only when we know what we’re missing out on that feelings of angst, guilt or regret can set in. In your case Monte you may not know exactly what you’re missing out on but you have a fair idea. What’s more, in the back of your head you are probably thinking: I might have just missed a perfect shot. The only reason you can think that is because you’ve taken shots like the one here. If you had never been out at that time of day you wold be none the wiser. Ignorance is bliss as they say. And as for using presets being an act of surrender, really? So what do we call digital photography and software like LR or PS? Compared to film and dark rooms, is going digital an act of surrender?
Monte Stevens
You bring up two good points. I do have those feelings of angst, guilt and regret in my life and especially for those things I never tried. Not trying has been an act of surrender for me. An going digital has opened up a whole new world for me. The opportunities it has offered me in creativity have been just what I needed in life. I’m going to reflect on your words as they really cause me to think, as does Guy’s words. That’s what this blogging world does for me. Thanks!