Every Day

The concept of a daily practice stretches across many disciplines. Practice is the central focus of this post as I believe time and effort translates to better results. More specifically, there is a creative and technical aspect to photography and both are equally important. For example, the more you use your camera, the more you intuitively know how to use it, no matter what the situation. Whether it is pitch black, raining, snowing, or you have wet hands, knowing your camera by touch alone has been an important part of my photography journey. Secondly, and most importantly, making photographs requires “seeing” photographs. What I mean by this is the ability to recognize elements that when aligned, will be visually interesting. Most of the time, when I press the shutter, I’ve seen the photo in my mind already, and the photographic process is me positioning myself and my camera to properly capture what I envisioned.

“The building blocks of a daily practice is finding a multitude of subjects that interest you. ”

Carrying your camera on a daily basis, making photographs every day, and looking constantly for photos requires discipline. The central building block of a daily practice is finding a multitude of subjects that interest you. Personally, I enjoy photographing my own life and nearly everything in it, which is most likely an outcome of focusing on photography as a daily practice. This allows me to think creatively, a tremendous benefit when it is time to “perform” as a photographer. By perform, I am referring to situations when making the photograph matters. When does it matter? When someone is paying you to photograph a subject or assignment, when you’re in a unique environment and situation that may be a once in a lifetime experience, or you’re focused on your own personal projects and your time is limited so when you’re able to work on it, you have to make it count… these are all examples of when it really matters. I find it difficult to think creatively if I haven’t been in that frame of mind for a while. When I am working the creative muscles often, I find it second nature when it matters most.

99% of the photos I take per year are not great. Statistically speaking, since I photograph daily, I aim to achieve 1 or 2 “great” photos per year. I define great as a photograph that will stand the test of time, has depth and emotion, and is representative of my visual style. My goal is to create 50 great photos in my lifetime, which requires honest and tight editing. This doesn’t mean I don’t take good photos that myself and others like, but one has to shoot often to capture great photos. Having a daily practice is my way of chipping away at this 50 great photos goal, which I know will take a lifetime. Below are a few daily recent photos.

Follow along!