W.G. Rowland wrote:
Well, if you don't see anything new from me for a while, it's because I'm learning how to suck in all new ways..

im right there with ya! i learn how to suck in new ways everyday! i think im a glass half empty kind of guy..

oldguysrule wrote:
every day

Amen, brother.

Gerrit du Toit wrote:
My biggest problem is everytime I learn something new, I go back look at my older work realize how much I still have to learn, and then I have to stop myself from deleteing everything. Hope someday the things I learn will be small things, that make small diferences, sothat I can still look at my old work and not get upset at how bad it was. I somehow think thats still a way to go. But everything I learn, takes me one step closer. Damn nobody said there where so many steps.

I want to learn.. I want to get better..

I also want to do it in a vacuum..

A year ago I didn't know who Ansel Adams was.. (I still couldn't pull his work out of a lineup..) 

Richard Avedon was a name I'd never have heard of if not for MM and Black Ricco's need to piss on cigars..

Not saying I've never seen any of their work.. It's impossible to live in a media rich world and not see portions of what's out there..

But I like having influences and not knowing what they are.  I like to be able to look at something and like it or not like it based on the work and not the name, or the reputation, or the checkbook.. 

My work is still eventually going to end up looking a bit like someone else's..  But it doesn't have to be on purpose..

Downside..  If you're not trying to copy anyone specifically, or follow a school, or work within a set of guidelines..  When you fuckup..  You fuckup big..  And usually you don't know it..

But tonight..  I fucked up.. And I know it..

W.G. Rowland wrote:
Do this stuff long enough and you eventually start getting comfortable with the idea you know something..

Then you keep doing it and you realize you're in a rut..

Then you try to expand.. Learn new things.. Experiment.. And head in new directions..

And the results can be....... Really humbling..

Are we talking about photography, relationships or life in general?

Dean Solo wrote:

Are we talking about photography, relationships or life in general?

Does it matter.. I'm equally capable of messing up all 3.. Aren't you?

W.G. Rowland wrote:

Does it matter.. I'm equally capable of messing up all 3.. Aren't you?

True, true..

W.G. Rowland wrote:
I want to learn.. I want to get better..

I also want to do it in a vacuum..

A year ago I didn't know who Ansel Adams was.. (I still couldn't pull his work out of a lineup..) 

Richard Avedon was a name I'd never have heard of if not for MM and Black Ricco's need to piss on cigars..

Not saying I've never seen any of their work.. It's impossible to live in a media rich world and not see portions of what's out there..

But I like having influences and not knowing what they are.  I like to be able to look at something and like it or not like it based on the work and not the name, or the reputation, or the checkbook.. 

My work is still eventually going to end up looking a bit like someone else's..  But it doesn't have to be on purpose..

Downside..  If you're not trying to copy anyone specifically, or follow a school, or work within a set of guidelines..  When you fuckup..  You fuckup big..  And usually you don't know it..

But tonight..  I fucked up.. And I know it..

Well with me I exspect that, the upside of it though is once in a while I suprize myself and get something right. And that makes it all worth while. And I use to pull my nose up at the silly golfers on a saturday who would not stop raving at that one great shot. I think I have more in commen with them than I would like to admit. Someone said its all about luck, but the more you practice the better your luck gets.

Black Ricco wrote:
Black Ricco's need to piss on cigars..

Excuse me...???

My term for the self congratulatory set..

What you mean you can't understand me just because I make up phrases that have never been used in all of english?

Get with it dude..

W.G. Rowland wrote:

I want to learn.. I want to get better..

I also want to do it in a vacuum..

A year ago I didn't know who Ansel Adams was.. (I still couldn't pull his work out of a lineup..) 

Richard Avedon was a name I'd never have heard of if not for MM and Black Ricco's need to piss on cigars..

Not saying I've never seen any of their work.. It's impossible to live in a media rich world and not see portions of what's out there..

But I like having influences and not knowing what they are.  I like to be able to look at something and like it or not like it based on the work and not the name, or the reputation, or the checkbook.. 

My work is still eventually going to end up looking a bit like someone else's..  But it doesn't have to be on purpose..

Downside..  If you're not trying to copy anyone specifically, or follow a school, or work within a set of guidelines..  When you fuckup..  You fuckup big..  And usually you don't know it..

But tonight..  I fucked up.. And I know it..

I think it's important to educate yourself about the history of photography. To me it's part of the thought process that goes on before you pick up the camera, in a way it's also helping you (me) to refine or hone my vision. I also feel that when I read about the trials and tribulations of other photographers, I am part of a great lineage or brotherhood.

Fucking up is also crucial to success (however you define it). I am pretty manic about all things I am either way up here or way down there. One of the few good things about getting older is learning to temper those extreme feelings and not acting off your gut (nods to Ricco).

Mostly I am learning to be consistent in my inconsistentcies.

Click Hamilton wrote:
Does that mean the smarter we get the dumber we get?

So what happens when we get dumber? Do we get smarter, or twice as dumb?

The more we study the more we learn.
The more we learn the more we know.
The more we know the more we can forget.
The more we can forget the more we do forget.
The more we do forget the less we know.
So don't study.

Click Hamilton wrote:
Does that mean the smarter we get the dumber we get?

So what happens when we get dumber? Do we get smarter, or twice as dumb?

The more we learn, the more we understand what we don't yet know. A child who knows only his/her own town, knows that he/she doesn't know what is inside a particular building. When that child learns more of the world, they realise how many buildings they have yet to see inside

W.G. Rowland wrote:
Do this stuff long enough and you eventually start getting comfortable with the idea you know something..

Then you keep doing it and you realize you're in a rut..

Then you try to expand.. Learn new things.. Experiment.. And head in new directions..

And the results can be....... Really humbling..

but thats what makes it fun and worth doing.

W.G. Rowland wrote:

Does it matter.. I'm equally capable of messing up all 3.. Aren't you?

Amen... You betya....  I am fully capable of messing up all three... been shooting since the early 80's [professionally] and still have the bad days.   In a long term rlationship....[married in 83] and she will tell you!?!?!?!
Keep learning...keep Laughing...Keep Loving!!!!

If you stop learning as a photographer....you will become stale and bored!

Charlie

Brian Diaz wrote:
My photography has totally gone downhill once the knowledge of what shutter speed and aperture do have gotten in the way of my creativity.  I wish I didn't know about those.  Then I'd see all the boobies!

Rotten bastard.. You had Katie to yourself all day.. Chopping up clothes.. And YOU CHOP HER OFF AT THE KNEES!

Damn Boob fiends..

I need to find a model website with a leg/butt fetish..

Brian Diaz wrote:
Mosley in black fled across the desert, and Pucky followed.

Good. I hope the little fuck never finds him..  Because he keeps knocking over my new phone every time I leave the house..!

Blaine the train is really a pain..

And so is the cliche'd god damned ending of those damn books..