Sometimes I just sits and thinks and sometimes I just sits – #2

This is the second in what will be an irregular series of random musings by this ol’ photographer/artist.

Sometimes I find myself just sitting back and wondering… wondering how many of you have a bag of tricks like I have a bag of tricks? My bag of tricks is an old Domke bag that I have loaded up with things like two infrared (IR)-converted cameras; Lensbaby Composer and Scout lenses with a variety of optics and various accoutrement for my trusty iPhone.

Yes, my bag of tricks is rather full. But I don’t see myself as an iPhoneographer like TeriLou or an IR photographer like Mark or a Lensbaby photographer like Kathleen – all of whom, I must admit, are absolutely brilliant at what they do. I will admit though that I sometimes wonder how you can put all (or most) of your eggs into a single creative basket, so to speak. But I am also open-minded enough to allow everyone to follow their own creative path. In fact, I openly encourage it.

But me? Well I am just a plain ol’ photographer with a couple of cameras and a couple of lens and my bag of tricks – a bag full of my toys, my specialty tools that I may not use as often as some but I will happily use when the situation calls or the mood just strikes me.

Don’t get me wrong. I love being able to express my creative vision with a wide variety of tools – traditional and non-traditional. My job as just a plain ol’ photographer is to capture what I see in a way that fulfills my creative vision. I don’t know if you see what I see or that we share the same creative vision. In some respects, that’s not even important. I do my thing and you do yours. That’s what is so great about the creative process.

So yes, I love making IR images like this.

And I also thoroughly enjoy working with my Lensbaby when the situation seems right to create images like this.

And it is always fun to play with iPhone images like this.

But at the end of the day, the IR cameras, the Lensbaby lenses, the iPhone are all just just tools (just like my Canon 5D Mark II, 50D and assortment of Canon and Sigma lens are just tools). They are toys in my personal bag of tricks. They are not the end. They are means to an end. My creative goal is not to create an IR or a Lensbaby or an iPhone image. My creative goal is to capture what I see before me using any and all of the tools I have at my disposal. And so I wonder…

(If you think you would like to work on your personal bag of tricks, keep in mind that I will be devoting a half-day in all my 2012 multi-day workshops to developing your skills with the tools in YOUR bag of tricks.)