After reading the book ‘So good they can’t ignore you’ by Cal Newport I found that I personally have plateaued in my photography practice. I’m too comfortable, I find my composition natural and it comes to me like second nature when framing an image inside the viewfinder. After reading Newport’s book I found that I was no longer practising in the sense of training, or stretching my creative mussels. Cal Newport coined the phrase ‘deliberate practice’, which is exactly what I need to do.
When you think of school or high school, you think grades, assignments or tests. If you don’t complete them to a high standard you fail. This is a great drive to push and drive learning into an area of discomfort and struggle. according to Newport’s research, this is how we achieve deliberate practice. We need to push ourselves beyond what were comfortable doing.
I also stumbled across a lecture online about becoming a more effective artist. And the traits and daily routines are obvious, but at the same time not easy. If something is not easy, it’s a sign you are pushing yourself beyond what your comfortable doing. This is exactly what we should be striving for when learning our craft. So here are the traits.
Daily work.
Volume, not perfection.
Steal/learn from other great artists.
Deliberate practice.
Rest.
Feedback.
You will notice that love and passion aren’t a part of becoming great because this is a false drive. But I’ll touch on this in a later post. So, photographers, we need to try things that are hard, challenging and do it on a consistent basis. Make deliberate practice part of your goal to better yourself and your photography.
Other articles
Top 10 posts
- Why I got rid of my photography gear (revisited)
- Can better photography gear make you a better photographer?
- Why I only use one lens
- The internet is killing your photography
- 10 ways to develop your photographic style
- Find your Zen camera
- Film vs Digital, lets put it to the test
- How do I find my photography style?
- Camera fundamentals
- Are you a photographer or just a camera operator
- The only camera I need
Featured posts
- The Zen Photographer – Leica.com
- Can better gear make you a better photographer? – PetaPixel.com
- Why I got rid of my photography gear (revisited) – PetaPixel.com
- How to Find Your Photographic Style – PetaPixel.com
- Limiting your gear makes your photography better – DIYPhotography.net
- The ways of Zen photography – PetaPixel.com
- How to shoot minimalist photos – PetaPixel.com
- Internet addiction is killing your photography – DigitalRev.com
- Have I finally found the perfect camera? – DIYPhotography.net
- Are you a photographer or, just a camera operator – PetaPixel.com
- Why I got rid of my photography gear – PetaPixel.com
- Finding style and voice in photography – Leica.com
- Use deliberate practice to find your photographic style – PetaPixel.com
- Why I only use one lens – PetaPixel.com
- Your camera already has the most important – PetaPixel.com