Luka Esenko, one of tour leaders (along with Jeremy Woodhouse) shoots a sunrise on Socotra Island.
The Importance of Attitude
On my recent trip to Yemen and Socotra with Jeremy Woodhouse
and Luka Esenko, I was reminded again of the importance of attitude. While
travel can be great at exposing bad attitudes, and emphasizing the importance
of a positive attitude, what was really brought to my attention on this trip was
the importance of attitude in photography.
Believing You Can
They say that if you believe you can, or if you believe you
cannot, you are probably right, and that is what I experience on this
“adventure/travel” journey. A number of times we would find ourselves in a
given place or situation and I would look around and think “nothing here to
shoot” (don’t get me wrong, those times when I didn’t see the opportunities were
the exception on a fabulous trip for photography). Then Jeremy and Luka would
be shooting like crazy. Sometimes watching them would help me realize that
there was indeed something worth shooting and I would dive in. Other times I
would just shrug and stick with my assumption that any effort expended on my
part would be a waste.
Impressive Photographs
Later, when I saw the results of what both Jeremy and Luka
were getting I realized that they had indeed gotten some pretty impressive
photographs…even to the point where I was a tad envious and kicking myself just
a bit. Granted, I have a very mercenary outlook and often these beautiful
images wouldn’t seem particularly saleable…but beauty for beauty’s own sake is
still worthwhile, and I have also come to realize that pretty much anything can
sell and that figuring out what will sell, or more accurately what won’t sell,
is almost impossible!
Bad Attitudes And Failure
I remember once when shooting an annual report with a
designer we arrived at the location and no sooner had we stepped out of our car
than he began to moan that we were screwed, that there wasn’t anything worth
shooting. Now I had been to worse
locations than that, shooting by myself for that very same designer, and he had
always loved what I came back with. But that was not the case on this day. We
did not get a single image that he like during the whole day’s shoot! I don’t really know the intricacies of
that whole dynamic, but I do believe that his bad attitude was a major part of
why we failed to get our shot that day.
Taking On The Challenge
The next time I find myself camera in hand and thinking
“nothing worth shooting here” I hope I remember to kick myself in the butt,
change my attitude, and take on the challenge of finding or creating something
beautiful no matter the circumstance.
