I have ideas. I have a lot of ideas. Sometimes I lack focus. This morning I saw a quote on an Instagram page that read, "You get what you focus on so focus on what you want." Immediately, I grabbed a pen and sketched the quote in my sketchbook. The past few months, I have realized the importance of keeping perspective and keeping focus. Here are a few things I have learned that may be of help to you in your journey.
- Broaden your focus and then narrow it. Maybe that sounds odd, but it really isn't. Look out on the horizon of goals you have for yourself, the big picture. What is the focal point that they center on? Where do the lines of perspective point? I'm not very good at picturing myself in the future. What happens if I don't make it to that goal? Well, the alternative is no goal, no focus, shooting aimlessly into the unknown. I assure you, that's a worse place to be. A dream without a focus is like being stuck in the blurry fog of the foreground. It's disorienting. It's confusing. It's a time waster.
- Advance your film. Remember when cameras used film? I remember standing at the photo counter with my dad almost every weekend waiting to pick up photos. There were few greater frustrations to my dad than finding that his film hadn't advanced and several great shots were ruined. There are times I forget to advance my film. I get stuck into the rut of doing the same thing, expecting different results. My efforts keep overlapping but I'm not getting anywhere, there's no clear picture at the end. Keep checking to see that the film is advancing, that what you're doing is moving you ahead onto the clearer, perfectly focused goal.
- Don't give up until you have the money shot. I post a lot of pictures of my work on social media. When I post them I am trying to tell a story. I see the shot in my head but sometimes the lighting isn't just right, the background is too busy, or the detail isn't coming through. There are times I get a great image on the first shot and there are times I might take thirty pictures before I say, "Yes! That's the one." If I am going to put that effort into photographing my work, I should also be putting that effort into bettering my work and reaching my goals. A ho-hum effort will not lead to your best results. The fine details matter. It's worth taking time on those extra steps to get that "money shot," or to reach that focused goal set before you.
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