5. Or, is Creativity a
Skill?
If so, It Follows that To Be
Creative, You Have to Know How
to Be Creative.
If So, Creative Thinking Can be
Learned and Enhanced.
6. Creativity
We Can Learn How to Increase
the Odds of Performing
Creatively on Any Given Day -
Under Any Circumstances.
7. The Big Picture
Creativity, the Kind That Leads to
Meaningful Breakthroughs in
the Way We See or Perform on
Demand, Involves a Three-Part
System.
The Domain
The Field
The Creative
8. 1) The Domain
The Domain is the Totality of the
Accumulated Knowledge, History,
Culture, Rules, Icons and
Current State of the Discipline
in Which We Work.
9.
10.
11.
12. 2) The Field
The Field is the summation of the
Institutions and Individuals Who
Judge Our Work and Control
Our Creative Destiny
30. What Can You Do
to Increase the Odds, on Any
Given Day, of Performing at a
Higher Level of Creativity?
31. Build a Foundation
1) Acquire a Knowledge of Your
Domain - The Ability to Draw on
Its History and Culture Will
Serve You Well
Study The Visual Arts and Read
Widely, With Intent
32. Build a Foundation
Take Workshops and Classes
Join a Camera club, ASMP, PPA
Visit Museums & Galleries
Develop Interests In Other
Disciplines to Broaden the Range
of Possibilities
33. Appropriate
“I am a thief - and I am
not ashamed. I steal
from the best wherever
it happens to be - plato,
Picasso, Bertram Ross. I
am a thief and I glory in
it. I think I know the
value of what I steal and
I treasure it - not as a
possession but as a
heritage and a legacy.”
Martha Graham
53. Grow by Doing
“The function of the majority of
your work is simply to teach you
how to make the small fraction
of your work that soars. The
point is, you learn how to make
your work by making your work.
The rest is largely a matter of
perseverance.” Bayless & Orland
54. Grow by Doing
“Look at what Rodin did.
Broken casts and
sculptures were on the
floor of every studio.
For everybody else, they
were a way of getting
from point “a” to point
“b”. But Rodin stopped at
point “C” or point “d” and
said, this is something
else. I can make this into
something.”
55. Grow by Doing
“He had a quality of
knowing, by doing. there
was a process of
discovering in practice.”
Keith Varnedo
56. Demand Excellence
“Nobody has devoted
so much time and
thought to
composition as I.”
Mozart
57. Commit to the Work
“I was 58 years old
when I finally felt
like a “master
choreographer.”
the Occasion was my
128th Ballet. For
the 1st time in my
life I was in control
of the components
that go into making a
dance.” Twyla Tharp
58. The Next Step
Living a Creative Life Requires
an Accumulation of Data.
Creativity Requires Raw Material
to Contemplate, Kick Around,
Tear Apart, Rearrange, Process
and Re-order in Your Sub-
Conscious Mind.
59. Experience Deeply
“The average man
looks without seeing,
listens without
hearing, touches
without feeling,
moves without
physical awareness,
inhales without
smelling and talks
without thinking.”
Leonardo da Vinci
60. The Next Big Step
The magic happens when ideas
from different fields collide
and then fuse together, creating
new ways of thinking, seeing and
doing.
61. Learn to Think
You Can Encourage This Cross-
Pollination by Learning How to
Think Like Da Vinci or DuChamp.
Creative People Tend to Think
Visually, They Create Analogies,
Employ Empathy or Think With
Their Entire Bodies
62. Take It Up a Notch
Inform Your Photographic Vision
With Moving Pictures, Sound,
Story Telling, Subject Motion,
Passage of Time and Good Post-
Production Skills.
Illustrate Metaphors and
Concepts With Your Images
63. Non-Linear Thinking
Visualization - Einstein Riding on
His Beam of Light
Tesla Was Said to be Able to
Build the Machines in His Minds
Eye
71. Wo Woo Psychology
If Creativity is a Mental Exercise,
and Our Goal is to Increase the
Odds of Performing at a Higher
Level on Any Given Day, Then
Psychology Must Fit in Here
Somewhere.
72. Wo Woo Psychology
Because There Are Many Mental
and Emotional Similarities
Between Athletes and Artists in
Training, We Can Look to Sports
Psychology for Insight.
73. Wo Woo Psychology
Sports Psychology is Designed
to Help Athletes Get Into “The
Zone”, That Magical Place of
Peak Mental and Physical
Performance.
74. Wo Woo Psychology
Artists and Others Might Call
This State of Grace “Flow”, The
Place Where Creativity Seems to
Flow like water.
Whatever You Call It, It is Not
Only the Happy Place of Peak
Performance but also of Great
Pleasure and Enjoyment.
76. First
find a good mentor (coach) to
teach you, to hold you
accountable, to encourage you
and to critique your work
77. Step Two
Design Your Practice Sessions to
Build Skills - the Exercises
Should be Just Beyond Your
Current Abilities.
The Idea is to Stretch Without
Getting so Frustrated That You
Throw in the Towel.
80. Step Four
Pre-Visualize the Shoot - Think
About What Can Go Wrong and
How You’ll React. This Exercise
is a Great Planning Tool and, it
Gets The Nerves Out of the Way.
81. Step Five
Imagine Yourself on Location, in
Complete Control of the
Production, Collaborating With
the Entire Crew, Making all the
Right Decisions and Knocking
Back Great Images.
82. Step Six
Replay the Shoot in Your Head,
Not to Beat Yourself Up but to
Learn from What Your Mistakes
and to be Able to Reproduce
What Went Well.
Do This Right Away and Make a
Movie of It in Your Head. You’ll
be Amazed at How Much Sticks.
83. Step Seven
Review the Resulting Images
Dispassionately. Remember What
You Were Thinking at the Time
You Snapped the Shutter.
You’re a Performer - Review
Your Performance.
84. Make a Plan
Create a Plan Designed to Get
Results and Execute That Plan -
Above All, Make Sure That You
Enjoy the Journey & the Process
Take a Page from Tony Robbins -
Develop Constant, Never Ending
Improvement in Your Creative
Life
85. “Action”
Get Grounded in the Domain
Get Mentally Fit
Get Physically Fit
Build Your Skills
Make Connections in the Field
Build Your Skills
Create A Body of Work
Make Connections in the Field
Sell Your Work, Get Better Work
86. “Action”
Create a Mantra That You Employ
Before Every Shoot
Affirmation of Skills
Deep Breathing Routine
Physical Routine (Gear Checking)
Working Habits (You Are In
Charge!)
Checklist of Ideas That Reach
Beyond What’s Expected
87. Exercises
1 One Shot A Day for ten Days
(commit to an Hour a Day)
2 One Lens for an entire Day
3 One Small Environment for an
Entire Day - Your Bedroom, Yard
4 100 Images of an inanimate
Object
88. Exercises
5 Develop Specific Skills - Focus,
Panning, Backlight, Gestures
6 Master New Tools - Radio
Slaves, Lens, Gorilla Pods, Light
Modifiers
7 Expand Your Mind - Shoot to a
Soundtrack, a Word or Phrase, a
Concept, A Story or Illustrate a
Poem
89. Exercises
8 Shoot to a Color Pallet
9 Shoot with A Post-Production
Treatment in Mind
10 Shoot the Same Scene in
Different Light, in Different
Weather, With Different Tools,
With a different Aesthetic
90. Exercises
11 Portray Motion - Motion Blur,
Stop Action, Mixed Ambient and
Strobe, Camera Shake, Multiple
Exposure etc.
91.
92.
93.
94. Exercises
12 Shoot what terrifies you -
hard midday light, back light,
studio strobes, rotweillers
95. Rules of
Engagement
Pre-Visualize the Image and Think
About All the Camera Controls
That Are Required to Achieve The
Desired Result
96. Rules of
Engagement
Do Not Chimp. Do Not Delete in
Camera - There’s Gold in Mistakes
Instead, Study the Entire Take.
Compare Your Expectations to
Your Results.
Deconstruct the Results, Learn
from the Garbage (But just Once)
97. Work Smart
Learn to work smart - both
behind the camera and in front
of the computer
98. Get Noticed
Get Integrated into the Photo
Community and Get Your Work
Out There.
Good Work, When it is Seen And
Recognized, Leads to More Good
Work.
99.
100.
101. Books
tywla Tharp - The Creative Habit
Michael Gelb - How to Think Like
Leonardo Da Vinci
David Bayles & Ted Orland - Art and
Fear
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - Creativity:
Flow & the Psychology of Discovery &
Invention
