"Thank you very much, +Lauri Novak , for this mentorship - it's been an awesome, invaluable experience!
"Thank you very much, +Lauri Novak , for this mentorship - it's been an awesome, invaluable experience! " Gernot Glaeser
What a great post to read, Gernot! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and work from your time in Lauri Novak's "How Do You See?" mentorship!
–––
For anyone who has read this far, consider mentoring someone else here (or more) ... some people don't even know where to start with their cameras and you could be the change they need in their lives. Even the smallest bit of knowledge can be passed on and you can create your mentorship in many different ways. Imagine the feeling of taking someone to their next level, paying forward the knowledge you've received and watching someone blossom with enthusiasm and accomplishment!
Originally shared by Gernot Glaeser
PLUS Post #PLUSpost
Week 6 - the last week! - in the #HowDoYouSee mentorship offered by Lauri Novak in the G+ Mentorship Program for Photographers #HowDoYouSee6
Over the last 6 weeks, Lauri Novak kept an amazing group of photographers busy with one simple question: How do you see? Sounds trivial? Trust me, it is not!
We weren't into physics, not dealing with details of perceiving and processing visual stimuli. The topic was rather somewhere in between psychology and philosophy: How can you get yourself into a mindset that enables you to recognize the extraordinary and beautiful, or meaningful, amidst the dullest, most ordinary everyday stuff?
First thing we had to do to get there was: Slow down! Lauri made us slow down, she made us literally stop and stand still in one place. No more busy moving around, no nervous index finger on the shutter release button, no burst mode shooting. No, sir. Slow down, stand still, look. And think!
The first week had been a little reminder of basic compositional rules. To be true, I've always been struggling with those compositional rules. When I had to do "leading lines" I went to shoot a country road or railway tracks. But that didn't help me with anything else I wanted to shoot - no leading lines where I needed them. I'm sure now, they were there - I just didn't see them! Now, here I was, standing still in a familiar place where I often go to shoot, with the task to see - and shoot! - this place like it was the first time. See it anew. See it through someone else's eyes. First, I hated that assignment. And then, I just loved it - it was so eye opening, it even was mind-blowing!
What Lauri made me understand is this: If I learn to see a picture in the middle of my everyday living, if I can frame the shot without even lifting the camera to my eye, then I basically have the ability to make my vision come true in a photograph! I have learned to look at places in different ways, and to "occupy" places in a different way: Instead of thinking, "This might have been a nice scene to shoot, if only that chimney wasn't in the way.", now I move to one side, to the other side to find an angle where the chimney won't be in the way. Or where the chimney can be an essential part of the composition!
And another important insight was this: In order to create photographs that I like, that I can be proud of, that I can be satisfied with, I need to dedicate quality time to my photography. Photography is an art. And after all, Michelangelo didn't paint the Sistine Chapel in between his daytime job and an appointment to his dentist! So, lesson learned: I need to take my time! I've said it before, these exercises had a kind of zen spirit to them, and I think it's a good idea to apply this spirit to photography: If you want to see what there is to see in a certain place, then be in that place! Let it reveal its secrets to you. And if you do so, you will see!
Thank you very much, Lauri Novak , for this mentorship - it's been an awesome, invaluable experience! Thanks as well to everyone who assisted Lauri as a helper or cheerleader! And of course, thank you very much to all my fellow mentees - the exchange of insights, the discussions and the feedback within the mentorship community are priceless! And finally, a big "Thank you!" to Robin Griggs Wood Ron Clifford and Alex Lapidus for organizing and keeping alive the G+ Mentorship Program for Photographers !
Here below, I've added a selection of my favourite photos taken during this mentorship - I hope you'll like them!
https://goo.gl/photos/xM5PV8JThnBtBNhv7
What a great post to read, Gernot! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and work from your time in Lauri Novak's "How Do You See?" mentorship!
–––
For anyone who has read this far, consider mentoring someone else here (or more) ... some people don't even know where to start with their cameras and you could be the change they need in their lives. Even the smallest bit of knowledge can be passed on and you can create your mentorship in many different ways. Imagine the feeling of taking someone to their next level, paying forward the knowledge you've received and watching someone blossom with enthusiasm and accomplishment!
Originally shared by Gernot Glaeser
PLUS Post #PLUSpost
Week 6 - the last week! - in the #HowDoYouSee mentorship offered by Lauri Novak in the G+ Mentorship Program for Photographers #HowDoYouSee6
Over the last 6 weeks, Lauri Novak kept an amazing group of photographers busy with one simple question: How do you see? Sounds trivial? Trust me, it is not!
We weren't into physics, not dealing with details of perceiving and processing visual stimuli. The topic was rather somewhere in between psychology and philosophy: How can you get yourself into a mindset that enables you to recognize the extraordinary and beautiful, or meaningful, amidst the dullest, most ordinary everyday stuff?
First thing we had to do to get there was: Slow down! Lauri made us slow down, she made us literally stop and stand still in one place. No more busy moving around, no nervous index finger on the shutter release button, no burst mode shooting. No, sir. Slow down, stand still, look. And think!
The first week had been a little reminder of basic compositional rules. To be true, I've always been struggling with those compositional rules. When I had to do "leading lines" I went to shoot a country road or railway tracks. But that didn't help me with anything else I wanted to shoot - no leading lines where I needed them. I'm sure now, they were there - I just didn't see them! Now, here I was, standing still in a familiar place where I often go to shoot, with the task to see - and shoot! - this place like it was the first time. See it anew. See it through someone else's eyes. First, I hated that assignment. And then, I just loved it - it was so eye opening, it even was mind-blowing!
What Lauri made me understand is this: If I learn to see a picture in the middle of my everyday living, if I can frame the shot without even lifting the camera to my eye, then I basically have the ability to make my vision come true in a photograph! I have learned to look at places in different ways, and to "occupy" places in a different way: Instead of thinking, "This might have been a nice scene to shoot, if only that chimney wasn't in the way.", now I move to one side, to the other side to find an angle where the chimney won't be in the way. Or where the chimney can be an essential part of the composition!
And another important insight was this: In order to create photographs that I like, that I can be proud of, that I can be satisfied with, I need to dedicate quality time to my photography. Photography is an art. And after all, Michelangelo didn't paint the Sistine Chapel in between his daytime job and an appointment to his dentist! So, lesson learned: I need to take my time! I've said it before, these exercises had a kind of zen spirit to them, and I think it's a good idea to apply this spirit to photography: If you want to see what there is to see in a certain place, then be in that place! Let it reveal its secrets to you. And if you do so, you will see!
Thank you very much, Lauri Novak , for this mentorship - it's been an awesome, invaluable experience! Thanks as well to everyone who assisted Lauri as a helper or cheerleader! And of course, thank you very much to all my fellow mentees - the exchange of insights, the discussions and the feedback within the mentorship community are priceless! And finally, a big "Thank you!" to Robin Griggs Wood Ron Clifford and Alex Lapidus for organizing and keeping alive the G+ Mentorship Program for Photographers !
Here below, I've added a selection of my favourite photos taken during this mentorship - I hope you'll like them!
https://goo.gl/photos/xM5PV8JThnBtBNhv7
Congratulations Gernot Glaeser on a beautiful album. You really know how to take the "everyday" and turn it into something wonderous!!
ReplyDeleteAww, thank you so much, Carmen Mandich! :-)
ReplyDeleteOh... Thank YOU Gernot Glaeser !! :-)
ReplyDelete