To Create your Photos in a Methodical Way Think of the Message

To create this photograph, we dove several times to capture the ideal reflection of this coral reef.

To create this photograph, I dove several times to capture the ideal reflection of this coral reef.

All Photographs Have Been Made

During my workshops, I often repeat that all the photographs have already been discovered. All disciplines and subjects have been thoroughly explored. This is even truer since the advent of digital era and the explosion of the number of cameras sold or smartphones available.

Moreover, the availability of the knowledge of photo techniques via the internet or the publication of numerous popular books has enabled much of the population to learn the basic techniques of photography. The number of photographs made during the last decade is gigantic. The progression of the number of shots realized each day is exponential. All subjects have been exploited. There is nothing more to discover.

Yet, the field of photography is more exciting than ever due to the creativity of some photographers. Even if a subject has been treated many times, it is always possible to find a new creative axis to highlight it. This is the case in wildlife photography, underwater photography, or landscape photography.

Everything will depend on the style of the photographer. Although everyone knows words, grammar, and syntactic rules, many exciting and interesting novels continue to be published each day. For example, the most widely read police/detective genre has become the subject of thousands of books in many languages. In aligning sentences, writers manage to create new stories each day and continue to arouse the interest of their readers.

While all subjects and photographic themes have been addressed, creativity, and the perfect technical knowledge will produce motivating photos, thus surprising new audiences. In photography, everything is invented or reinvented. It is a discipline of expression that, like writing, has no creative limits.

I often state that creativity in photography is limited only by the imagination of the photographer.

Thinking of Creation When Shooting

Creating photographs is a response to similar scenarios.

These points evoke the beginning of the method because they are constantly present in the mind of the photographer. Each of them must be detailed as much as possible, according to the goals set in the photographic approach. I often advise photographers to write a detailed document and a summary document that can be reviewed regularly so that the above points become natural, almost automatic. I often compare this process to writing. When writing a text, each photographer has syntactic, grammatical or orthographic rules inscribed deep within. I do not think much about it when I write. The words flow naturally.

Exceptional Subjects do not Make Interesting Photos

Today, society tends to focus on the extraordinary moments, whether in photography, current events, or other artistic fields.

In recent years, social networks and the instantaneous distribution of information have caused many people to conclude that something is interesting because it is exceptional or unique.

Few people think about the long term and depth of a work approach. These people seem to only count the instantaneous, the superfluous, and the immediacy of the subject.

This way of looking at things also applies to photography. Whether artistic or illustrative, many people have made it a habit of judging an interesting photograph according to uniqueness of the subject alone. In nature photography, for example, it may be a portrait of a rare animal or a lesser-common animal behavior. Or perhaps the object of the photo may be a meteorological event that shows a landscape from a different perspective.

But these photographs, even if they can be described as exceptional, are not necessarily interesting, especially if I go back to the various points that I have mentioned previously in this document.

On the other hand, an exceptional subject, correctly photographed with creativity, can become an interesting photo. It is the creativity of the author that will make a photo interesting and not the subject.

For me, photography requires solid foundations on which a photographer will build his photographic approach to produce interesting content and long-term construction. Time is a necessary input to develop creativity.

My Method for Creating Interesting Photos

Without going into the technical detail of my own method, I will simply explain that when photographing, I always try to create a series of photographs by focusing on content, design, message, and creativity.

It would be impossible for me to detail these general points because I would need more than 100 pages. Indeed, since I am methodical, all the stages and ideas are recorded in a document that I continually reread so that I might avoid losing myself. This memento, essential to my work as artists, allows me to frame my creativity while remaining loyal to my personal style. my photographic vision has been defined once and for all. Thus, I must remain faithful to it.

Usually, I say that the more methodology equates to more intense creativity. Indeed, with a detailed method, an artist consistently focuses on the essential, thus reducing wasted time.

This method allows me to create collections of fine art prints of lights and colors or collections of fine art prints in shades of blacks and whites. Even if the themes are completely different, the method remains the same. In the field for my photo sessions with clients or photo projects, I apply the principles of my method by following each step in order. Because I do not question myself, once the eye is riveted on the viewfinder of the camera, I can focus on the creativity of my photographs.

Finally

Creating interesting nature photographs with a specific approach (whether artistic or illustrative) is difficult. Photography is identical to all areas of creativity. Indeed, many photographers get lost in the technique, thinking that it is essential. Others do not know enough about it. Some photographers have not defined a clear and precise photographic vision. However, normally it is the lack of rigorous methodology which places a brake on creativity. Although it is rather paradoxical, experience has shown me that in a creative field, the more that methodology is present, the more intense creativity there is. Why is this so? I find that when an artist avoids getting lost in detail already analyzed or errors already encountered, the photographer experiences the most creativity.

Be humble, patient, constant, persevering, and persistent because the road to excellence is long.

7 Tips to Create your Photos in a Methodical Way

When I create a series of photographs for clients or photographic projects, I leave little room for chance. Over the years, I have developed a process that I strictly adhere to. If the chance comes in, it's only for creativity. I believe that a good working methodology promotes better creativity.

We waited a week before creating this photograph. We wanted the sun at this particular place. We proceeded by method.

I waited a week before creating this photograph. I wanted the sun at this particular place. I proceeded by method.

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Creating Interesting Photos is Difficult

As I wrote in the article about the difficulty of creating interesting photos, millions of photos are created every day and very few are interesting. The photographs presented are often discovered through a simple click of a camera or smartphone. Indeed, photographers do not think of creating a picture while thinking about the construction of the scene. They are often content to apply the rule of thirds when they know it will balance the compositions.

For many photographers, photography is a way to memorize moments and memories. For them, photography is just a medium for sharing through social networks. For a small number of photographers, photography has become a true medium of artistic expression as I have discussed in this article.

For me, photography is a way to express myself, to show my vision of the world and how I live each day. That is why I have defined my own artistic approach.

When I use the word “difficult” to create pictures of nature, I suggest that it takes a lot of effort. It can even be an ordeal.

The Definition of an Interesting Photo

For me, an interesting photograph must possess several of the following qualities:

It must arouse interest at first glance.
It is technically well-constructed.
It delivers a message, a feeling or an emotion that will hold the attention of an audience.
It arouses curiosity for more.
The audience desires to dwell on it further, by contemplating its meaning.
The audience desires to know how the photographer discovered the shot.
Through the photographer’s creativity, the viewer can imagine that he made the photograph himself.
It can cause excitement in an audience.
It must be exciting enough for the audience to decipher its construction or its message. The audience must take the time to study it.
It can captivate through its individuality.

The opposite of an interesting photograph is a boring, insignificant, insipid photo that has no interest in creativity. It can also be poor, that is, technically speaking.

In the rest of the article, I shall suggest by the word "interesting" all these points which I have just mentioned, even if they are only binding on me. Indeed, other people could give a definition of an interesting photograph. But I chose this framework because it is sufficiently formal for my approach.

Descriptive Photos and Artistic Photos

Photography can be divided into two main approaches: descriptive photography and artistic photography.

Descriptive photography is a report, for example, descriptive facts, wildlife naturalism. It is intended to provide factual evidence. I often call this type of photography, “illustrative photography”.

Artistic photography is the photography of emotion. Through emotional photography, the photographer reveals his hidden feelings. Artistic photography also has many disciplines. I will come back to this topic in a future article.

A photographer must be able to locate his photographic approach in one of the two approaches. It is a very important introspection that must be carried out either by a personal analysis or by an outside person. For example, I organize analytical photography courses that allow photographers to accurately define their vision of photography. It takes very specific tools to perform this analysis in the best conditions and not to be mistaken. Indeed, all the characterization of the photographic approach depends on this analysis.

The two photographic approaches are interesting. However, a photographer can find himself in both according to his activities. For my part, I practiced illustrative photography when I worked for magazines or photo agencies. After ten years, I chose artistic photography with a passion because it corresponded exactly to my deepest aspirations.

Having a Clear Vision of Photographic Style

The first step to making interesting photographs is to define a very clear photographic style. This is also called the “photographic approach” or “the photographic vision”.

Following the photographic analysis, which will culminate in the well-defined development of a style, the photographer will have all the elements to create photographs that connect his character and passion to the messages he wants to transmit to his audience.

The photographic style is what one can call “personal photographic writing”.

For a photographer, the photographic technique can be considered as the “spelling and grammar rules” of a spoken or written language. One can also make this analogy with music. The musician has notes and rules for writing a score, just like a photographer has rules when shooting photos.

The photographic style is how a photographer will use all the technical elements at his disposal to create his own photographs. The techniques are all well-known and well-defined. But just like a written language, it is the way of using these elements which makes the number of possibilities infinite. It is through this process that the creativity of the photographer will be expressed.

Thinking Only of Technique is a Serious Error

I often say during my training sessions that although technique is essential, it is not what it makes pictures interesting. By choosing elements to assemble, the photographer alone can make the photos beautiful and interesting. He alone provides the magical touch.

I often meet excellent photography technicians who know all the techniques like HDR, zooming, panning, time-lapse, bokeh. They also know the best software for editing, correction or photo editing. But their pictures can be banal and provide the viewers with little interest. The reason is simple. These photographers do not have a photographic signature. They did not complete an analysis. They did not take the time to ask how all their tools could help them.

Photographic tools are not an end in themselves. They are only present to help a photographer develop his creativity and unique style. A photographer must learn to put photographic tools at the service of his personal expression.

I also meet photographers who make illusions during a series or a few pictures. These people have a very strong personal creativity. Naturally, they have the qualities to express certain messages or certain emotions. But might not know technique. Quickly and consistently, they produce identical content without refreshing themselves. They become annoying. The series follow one another and resemble each other without generating the novelty as one would expect from a creative person. But the most serious thing is that after a few months, or years perhaps, photography tires them because they cannot renew themselves. They eventually abandon the field of photography by moving to another area where they will repeat the same mistake. For me, it is certainly a most tragic defeat, because I see genuine talents disappearing into the limbo of ignorance.

The technique is a necessary condition to discover long-term interesting photos while developing its creativity through photographic style. Yet, it is not enough. A working method is also needed. When photography techniques and a method of working based on creativity are met, a photographer becomes interesting because he produces long-term projects that are constantly renewed, fully expressing his emotions, feelings, and soul.