So, Surprise Yourself Sometimes

a beautiful dancer

Any artist would know that it takes time and effort to improve in the area of art they are involved in. It could be a sport, a hobby or a profession. One of my passions is obviously photography. Those close to me know that I don't manipulate my photos other than the usual RAW workflow. (and nah, I am not riding on the high horse of the "no image manupliation" stuff) It's just not want I want to do at this stage of my photography. I blogged on this subject once but it's not the topic of the day. Moving on...

In every art, every artist eventually develops their likes and dislikes. They tend to develop their habits and style eventually. I don't think I quite have my "the style" yet but I do love macro and landscape photography and decided that I am not into lifestyle photography - people, places etc, especially people. Not sure why though, just perhaps I am not as interested in them as subjects as compared to say flowers.

Recently, in one of my learning projects about flash photography, I decided to cover a dance rehearsal of which my brother was a part of. I knew that they will be official photographers around on the actual event. I wouldn't like to intrude on another photographer's space, so the rehearsals were perfect!

And so, I set myself up, not knowing how I'll do (remember I don't shoot people) and shot away. When I came home, I loaded the pictures immediately, wanting to know how I faired in applying some of the techniques that day. I was pleasantly surprised - when I did manage to catch people at moments that is simply just beautiful to behold, the satisfaction is just electric. And when they go 'wow' at the photos later, I could just feed on it for months.

I had set myself up for a difficult assignment. I had no control over lighting except for my single flash gun. The models were obviously not stationary. I had no control over location and position of the subjects. And remember, I don't shoot people. My satisfaction was even higher as a result.

So, go surprise yourself sometimes. Go do something out of your style and norm. You might even enjoy yourself and I am sure it'll help in your usual style of art too! Now I understand why people are such good subjects! It has given me another perspective that is hard to describe... go, surprise yourself.