Upcoming eBook: Creative Landscape Photography
My upcoming class workbook titled “Creative Landscape Photography” is taking shape nicely and due for release later this month. This will be the first volume in a series of instructional texts for advanced landscape photographers. More than just a collection of images, this 80+ page workbook will walk you through the creative process, from initial concept to the final image, with emphasis on composition, visualization, and capture. Watch these pages for the formal announcement in the next couple of weeks.
In the meantime, here’s a short teaser from the current draft:
Personal Style
To many advanced photographers, finding and developing a distinct and recognizable personal style is the pinnacle of creative expression. Many, however, fall into the trap of placing more emphasis on a recognizable style rather than a personal one.
A personal style is one that represents the unique and subjective sensibilities of the artist. It seems many spend their time in vain in pursuit of a style rather than realizing the one already within them. By virtue of us all being unique and complex beings, a simple reflection of the self in one’s work is really all it takes to have a personal style. Likewise, the more interesting, adventurous, knowledgeable, and open an individual is, the more distinct their style will be.
Therefore, rather than trying to force a contrived style onto your work, the better approach is to simply pare away the instinctive desire to conform and, instead, to allow your inner voice to guide your work. Embrace who you are as an individual, and your work will be as unique, as interesting, and as recognizable as you are.
The most important thing your work will communicate to the world is not that you happened to be in a certain place at a certain time to see certain things. Rather, it is the way these things impacted you, how they made you feel and how they shaped your perception of them, of the moment, and of yourself. Be grateful for the gifts you are given and repay your gratitude in what you share.
For your work to be meaningful, make a conscious effort to rise above cynicism, pettiness, and temporary discomfort. These will all be long forgotten as the beauty and power of your creative efforts continue to persist for as long as there are eyes to see them. Be yourself, and your personal style will follow.
Heart of the Dune
Category: Books and eBooks
About the Author (Author Profile)
Guy Tal is a published author and photographic artist. He resides in a remote part of Utah, in a high desert region known as the Colorado Plateau – a place that inspired him deeply for much of his life and that continues to feature in his images and writing. In his photographic work, Guy seeks to articulate a reverence for the wild. He writes about, and teaches, the values of living a creative life and finding fulfillment through one’s art.Subscribe
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I would love to buy a copy!
I’m looking forward to this, Guy! This seems to be the topic for the weekend – p johnson has a blog post on it at http://photomontana.net/?p=905. It’s certainly a subject I think about a fair amount, and I look forward to reading this & the rest of your book!
- Jack
Can’t wait to see it!
Let me know as soon as it’s available
Count me in, Guy! I’ll be watching for the order link.
Guy — Anxious to see this book! Frank
Sign me up for a copy. Most books on the market today stop a long way short of dealing with more advanced photographers and their struggles or lapses. I’m looking forward to seeing what this e-book has to offer.
Well said, Guy. Style in some ways is a myth, a necessary evil, perpetuated by magazines and other editors to make it easier to type-cast your work, much as Hollywood does with actors. The idea that a photographer’s work cannot range widely in looks and genre has been successfully trampled by a number of famous examples. Can you imagine people saying to Man Ray that he had no consistency to his style? They did and he doesn’t.