I break rules
Ralph Waldo Emerson was someone I studied in my English Literature class in college. I wasn’t a fan of poetry, so most of what we read was a tad on the boring side. He did write some interesting essays, and was considered an “American Transendentalist”. In a couple of words, they believed that each individual could transcend or move beyond the physical world; I was a hippie wannabe back then so I sorta dug it!!!
I digress.
I’ve pretty much been someone that always ‘colored outside the lines’, and have always promoted this thought process to my online students with the BPSOP, and to those that have signed up for my “Stretching Your Frame of Mind” workshops.
That’s the reason I specifically remember this quote that Emerson once said, “Do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
How I can relate this quote to photography is relatively easy, especially when you’ve had to defend it countless times to those that prefer to travel the safe road; the road most traveled.
These are the photographic naysayers that resist anything that deviates from what they learn at camera club meetings, while shooting with friends, or what they read in photography magazines.
More broken rules
I’m talking about those pesky rules that are the shackles that hinder creativity. You all know them in one form or another: The Rule Of Thirds, The Leaning in Rule, shooting into the sun, The Rule of Odds, The left to Right Rule, and here’s a couple a student told me: Avoid the color red, and never shoot a building straight on…YIKES!!!!!
In my opinion these rules can only do one thing, and that is to take you down a one way road to mediocrity. Ansel Adams once said, “There are no rules for good pictures, there’s only good pictures.
So my fellow photographers, the next time you grab your camera and head out, give yourself an assignment. Study up on all the rules (just in case they haven’t already been hammered into your brain) and do exactly the opposite of what you read.
You just might be surprised with what you comeback with. I for one would love to see the results. Take the road less traveled and leave a trail for others to follow.
Visit my website at: www.joebaraban.com, and check out my workshop schedule at the top of this blog. Come shoot with me sometime.
JoeB
