The Courage to Create

Nikon D4, 28-300mm ƒ/3.5-5.6, 300mm, ƒ/5.6, ISO 1250, 1/2000

The first step into the creative process according to Rollo May is the encounter. I think a good example of this would be something similar to this eight point deer that was in our backyard.

Seeing the buck out our back window was engaging to say the least for me.

For me these are not all that creative in the photography, but the encounter is what ignited the creative process of me. I went got my camera and was out the door shortly for a more close encounter of my own.

To be creative one must be intense. Just as the intensity of the encounter of the deer with me gave it "flight-fight" response so too must I be where my heart too is pumping and I feel the intensity of the encounter.

The more absorbed you become on the subject then the more you are able to think of ways to portray the subject. Now instead of you feeling anxiety and fear light the deer and have a "flight-fight" response Rollo May says the creative finds the "joy." Robert Maslow would say we are self actualized.

For me this creativity comes when I have truly emersed myself into a subject to where all this information is firing the synapsis in my brain making correlations that were not given to me but by my thoughts on the subject.

I believe before the truly creative act can be performed one must have engaged all their being to the point that now the unconscious is as much at work as the conscious which allows for those eureka moments.

However, when you start thinking like this you then must be courageous enough to start acting on these thoughts. They are new thoughts and by just acting on them you are prone to failure. You may try something only to find out that your thoughts were not complete.

One of the main reasons for tenure for professors is for them to be creative they must be allowed to try crazy thoughts and be allowed to fail occasionally for the possibility of the scientific break throughs.

World-renowned viola player Pam Goldsmith works with my daughter helping her fine tune her playing skills.

You may get help along the way to help you engage more on a subject. My daughter spent most of the day with world-renowned viola player Pam Goldsmith and picked up a few pointers to improve her viola skills.

Stages of the Creativity

1. Encounter
2. Emersion into the subject
3. Incubation
4. Eureka moments
5. Execution
6. Verification

Some people never move all the way through the stages. They may just get excited about taking photos for example. They are in love with the process more than the results. These people have a hard time understanding why no one hires them for jobs.  They lack creativity. The creativity can be in the form of ideas or new ways of thinking, but they are not bringing anything new to the table.

Malcolm Gladwell says that from his research it is about 10,000 hours before the artist has masted the craft enough to be creative.  While this maybe true for a bell curve I believe for many folks it comes much later.

The best way to know if you are getting close is your time commitment. Do you have the courage and fortitude to commit yourself to what is needed. How much do you know about the subject you want to photograph. 

Become an expert on the topics you want to photograph and I can pretty much guarantee that you are very close to seeing new possibilities and ideas on how to photograph this subject in a way others cannot.

Some people are amazed out how some photographers are just always getting incredible photos. What I notice is these people are able to anticipate where they need to be to get the best possible moment with the best possible light and composition.