Small Steps in Street Photography

Habits

I have recently purchased a book on habits. How to make habits, and how to break them. What grabbed my attention was the focus on goal setting. We live in a time where we are consistently told to set goals. Ideas grounded in common sense theory trickle down to become engraved in stone; ‘write down your goals, and you will achieve them.’ Yeah right! What has this got to do with Street Photography? Well, this post is about where my thoughts are taking me. Maybe it will ring true with some of you.

2017 and Big Dreams

As 2017 draws to a close, I look at goals I have achieved and am  pretty happy with the way things are going. However, there are goals I have failed to meet. I have not managed to create a Vlog. I created recordings, but the footage remains unedited. A failure to Vlog is probably not surprising, as I rarely enjoy watching photography shows. A goal not met, but I am not too bothered (which is another sign it was not a goal worth setting).

I still have a goal to become a commercially viable Street Photographer. Making money from my passion is a big dream, and it may not ever happen. There are so many photographers whose work I admire, and whom will never make a penny through their art. However, there are also photographers who succeed, but whose work fails to inspire. Should I feel embarrassed stating that I want to make money from my pictures? I think not, and I don’t buy into the starving artist mentality. So how is this goal going? For now, I am am leaving the goal alone and just focusing on the small steps.

Successful Small Steps Made

1. I have finished my Sphere 3 learning cohort with Glenn Guy. I can now cancel my Arcanum membership fee and put the cash into another area of my life.
2. Yesterday I learned a new PhotoShop technique, using a 50% grey adjustment layer for dodging and burning. Dodge and burn is a technique that darkens some areas of a photo and lightens others. I think it is an essential skill for processing Street Photos. I used the technique on the pic below.
   

   Processed using a 50% Grey Layer

3. I have opened a Google Community with the idea of creating a collective. I think this is what this post is really about, and it has just taken a while to say it. I’m a little nervous, but I am hoping it will be a vehicle to build connections. It is a small step and one of many I need to make. If you are interested, then let me know. I would like to form a group of 12 photographers. To be honest, not much will happen until after Christmas, but I have created something, and that is what we do as artists. If you are interested in joining a collective and your Street Photography is of a high standard then let me know. Check it out here. I will probably delete the link fairly quickly.

My next Small Steps.

1. Try and find areas where Street Photography can be published or displayed.
2. Learn how to use layers for selectively sharpening areas of a photo. Secondly to create my own Lightroom presets.
3. Replace my broken Ricoh Gr.
4. Build the collective (we can be the next Magnum. Maybe…)

The Street Photography Collective and Happy Holidays.

I know there are some very talented artist out there that follow this blog. If anyone is interested in a Street Collective, please do let me know.  This post may be my last until 2017, as I am heading to New Zealand on Friday. If you are around Wellington in the New Year and fancy a photo shoot, drop me a line. Happy Holidays all, and think small steps, not just big dreams!

Keep Clicking, Chris