Last night I was delighted to attend the National Geographic LIVE! event with photographer Sam Abell, and came away with something I didn’t expect about professional photography in today’s internet age. More on that in a bit, but first a story on how I came to attend this talk and some impressions.
I’ve been clear while on this new adventure Connecting the Dots and fulfilling my intention as a management consultant in all things internet, web and social media, that I had to be attuned to "the signs" pointing me along my path. These signs are usually tiny and insignificant unto themselves — and therefore most of us miss seeing them — but I’ve been hyperaware and on the lookout for over two years.
As an amateur photographer, I’m always seeking ways to improve my photography through making my lens clearer and ensure I’m using the right filters. This isn’t the camera lens or filters I slap on to them, but rather is the lens through which I view the world (my perceptions, prejudices, curiosities) and the mental filters I apply to a photograph’s outcome (knowledge, ego, and my inner drive to show technical competence) and strive to convey in a photo what I’m feeling inside.
Last week I scanned my bookshelf and grabbed an early 1990′s book on photography (from National Geographic (NG)) to re-read it. Flipping through this nicely done smallish paperback, I settled on a sidebar about the techniques of this guy, Sam Abell, and how he’d almost been fired by his first editor for his dark and non-use of the tricks-of-the-trade (e.g., fill-in flash for underexposed subjects on a bright background). There was something about his approach that resonated with me and caused me to go back and look at his photos and dwell on them awhile.
Two days later I’m on my way to an appointment and Minnesota Public Radio has an interview running with him that I listened to for 45 minutes. Then I read a newspaper article about him. Later that day I come across the event linked to above and broke into a smile…
…."OK, I get it and see the signs," I thought, and bought tickets to last nights event.
Steve’s Social Stuff