Who’s Looking Over Your Shoulder
I’m not trying to increase anyone’s paranoia in this blog. I do want to talk about something that affects all of us as photographers, and often badly.
First, I have to tell a story that explains the idea. My son played baseball in high school. A friend of his was a very good pitcher. He was consistent and evidently had a wicked curve ball that was hard to hit. One day my wife and I went to a game when this friend was pitching. He was terrible. We had never seen him do so badly. The coach kept him in for a bit, obviously hoping he would settle down, but he didn’t. It had to be one of the worst games he had pitched.
So what changed? Did he just face a tough team? No. He had done very well against them before. Was he having problems in his life? No. He was came from a terrific family and was a solid kid. The difference was … there was a new girlfriend and she was in the stands that day. He had quit pitching with focus and attention on the game and was pitching with part of him paying attention to what the girlfriend was thinking.
We all do this. Instead of focusing on the work at hand, we start worrying about someone else and what they might think about what we are doing. That someone could be a spouse, a boss, a competitor, and so forth.
This gets really bad for photographers. What will a client think? What will camera club members think? What will my spouse think (especially since I just bought this new camera supposedly to get better photos)? What will the workshop instructor or other students think? I do it to myself at times. I have been shooting for a project and I start thinking too much about what this person or that person with the client will think? Will they like this photo? Will they dislike it? Should I waste my time shooting something if they aren’t going to like it?
Let me tell you that this can freeze you and keep you from getting good photos. Now I have to qualify this by saying that when you shoot for a client of any kind, of course you need photos that will make them happy. However, just like my son’s pitcher friend, you will not do your best work if you are letting them “look over your shoulder” in your mind.
I believe it is so very important to find what pleases you and work with that. Sure, you can modify what things you are taking based on how your photos might be used, whether that is in a camera club competition or for a client, but you have to find what excites you about the world and about photography.
It is very difficult to do good work when you keep focusing on someone else’s possible ideas about your photographs before you have even taken the photo. Tell that person in your head to shut up and go away. You have more important things to do than listen to them, such as actually responding to the beautiful world in front of you. Whatever subject matter turns you on, be excited about that and respond to the subject and your photography from your own perspective, not the skewed perspective of someone looking over your shoulder. Look at the playback of your image on the LCD and think about what it is that you like about the photo, or you dislike about the photo, and what that means to you. Later, you can pay attention to a real person looking at your work, whether that is a spouse, a boss, or a camera club person doing a critique, but you will do it from your perspective and what your photo means to you. Your strongest work will come when you care about the subject and the photography enough to honor your vision and strive to express that.
