How to Become a More Innovative Photographer

Dear friend,

The turbo thought:

Perhaps the goal for us as photographer visual artists is to become more visually innovative.

Simple thoughts:

What does it mean to ‘innovate’? Simple —

Make new things.

To innovate means to ‘breathe new life into’. Therefore what you are seeking is ‘inspiration’ (breathing inwards) to create something new (exhale).

1. Speed is king

One innovation idea is regarding speed:

Speed kills, but speed wins.

Consider the new Tesla Model S Plaid — 1.99 seconds for 0-60. There is no faster production car in the market. And as long as TESLA is king of speed, Tesla (and Elon Musk) will remain on top.

How can you speed up your photography?

Simplify your workflow: Use Apple Photos instead of Lightroom (Apple Photos is faaaar faster than Lightroom to process and sync photos).
Shoot small JPEG: Faster buffer speeds when you’re shooting, and also faster transfer speeds from your SD card to your laptop, and also faster upload speeds.
Shoot autofocus: Ditch the manual focusing, get RICOH GR III for the great autofocus.

2. Cross pollinate your artistic passions

You’re not a photographer, you’re a visual artist. This means:

Photography is simply a means towards your artistic creation, not the end in itself.

To become a more creative visual artist, you must practice. And you must also renounce your devotion to a certain ‘genre’ of photography. The best genre in photography is no genre.

3. The tools and equipment

I say experiment. iPhone and Provoke Camera app. Experiment with all the filters on your JPEG settings on your camera.

I also am a big fan of iPad– using the Procreate app and doing experimental ‘glitching‘ of your photos.

This means also renouncing the notion that the photograph is ‘sacred’. Every photograph is just another way to create visual artwork.

4. Innovative ways to share and publish your work.

Don’t just share your photos to social media (this is too basic). Publish them as free open source PDF E-books. I like Affinity Publisher.

Also make iMovie slideshows with your photos. You can also publish them to YouTube and disable comments and views; you’re doing this to get the work out there, not to maximize your numbers.

Also your own platform is king. Rather than seeking to be the king of Instagram, better to be the independent self-owner of your own platform (ARSBETA.COM).