out there in the wilds is simply a projection of our state of mind on
the screen of whatever we are looking at.
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We might think that photography is all about technique (how we
manipulate our equipment) or about having the best camera
bodies, lenses, filters, and tripods – things like that. And it is true
that good equipment and proper technique is important and worth
having. But using equipment depends on the mind and motivation
behind it. In some area of our life most of us know that having the
best equipment does not guarantee that we know (or care) how to
use it, much less get good results. So while we can talk lenses,
techniques, and all of that, this alone will not promise us good
photos. What then will?
Good photo technique will never be acquired unless we have the
proper motivation, the intense interest and drive to keep at it long
enough to build solid technique that will work for us. We can’t just
fake it or wish it so. The practice or habit forming part of any
discipline (like photography) is a great desert that can only be
crossed with an intense interest, love, and passion for the subject.
You will never get across the habit-forming practice needed to take
good photos just because you “want to” or because it would be nice
for others if you could do this or that. It will never happen. So what
is proper motivation?
Proper motivation differs for each of us. What it takes to inspire us
to do enough photography to master some part of it is where we
can agree to differ and also where we find our differences. There
are many roads to Rome but we have to follow one of them to the
end to get there, so it can be important to pick an approach that will
work for us and not assume that what works for others will also
work for us.
Wanting to take good pictures is IMO not enough of a reason to
bring forth the inspiration to actually acquire the necessary
technique. Taking good photos has to be more personal than that.
It has to fulfill or complete something inside us, to stand between
our self today and what we will become - our own future self. We
need to do photography as part of learning to know ourselves.
There probably are as many reasons as there are people, but the
path to good photography (so that we are satisfied) involves