Are you a robot or a ballhead?
What are your composing habits?
I want to point you to an older article I wrote in 2022. It is about visual strategy. Not many readers back then, so I guess most of you missed it. It is still relevant and has something to do with today's newsletter.
Read the article Do you have a visual strategy?
In my pursuit of understanding the inner workings of photographers, I've conducted polls and interviews to peel back the layers of their creative processes. In a recent poll, I delved into the age-old debate of viewfinder versus screen shooting. An impressive 84% voted for the viewfinder experience.
Let's extend this curiosity to another aspect:
"How do you compose?"
Imagine: your eye is fixed on the viewfinder, but the magic lies in the way you handle the camera.
Is it a smooth dance, circling until the perfect shot is revealed?
Or perhaps a more staccato rhythm, jerking the camera up, down, left and right in a robotic compositional burst?
Share your preferred way of working on this photographic choreography.
Please let us know why you prefer one or the other.
Social Media Detox Update
At the end of last year I started a social media detox. I deleted all the photos in my Instagram feed and started fresh and clean. Now, almost three months later, I've only uploaded 7 photos and I spend less than 10 minutes a day on Instagram. Twitter? I've deleted it from my phone and haven't signed in on my laptop. Don't miss it at all. You could say it was a pretty good decision to do this detox. I gained so much time that I now spend reading books and other Substack newsletters or talking to my family and friends.
…or writing a haiku on a photo I made last week
Shoreline whispers tales
Sands embrace nature's secrets
Tide's dance reveals all.
That’s it for this week.
Till next time,
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I’m a bald head, so my strategy changes from day to day. Mostly it’s a strategy to have no strategy. Things are more exciting that way, methinks. But I do envy those who have a strategy.
I have a ritual that more or less puts me in a zone in which I empty my mind of all pre-conceived ideas. Then I wander around in zen cloud making pictures. After about three hours I'm exhausted.