Lately I've been thinking about where we are on our photographic journeys, and wondering if we ever really come out of beta. They say it takes 10,000 hours to really master something, but does that mean that you have to hide in a closet until you've done your time? Hell...
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Martin Bailey has been releasing weekly podcasts and blog posts since 2005! Almost all of the 760+ posts here contain a full text article with photographs and illustations, and take at least one day, sometimes three to four days to produce.
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10 Comments
Murray Foote
Posted at 19:50h, 07 JulyWhat comes after Beta, you ask?
Gamma, that’s the answer, surely. Perhaps that means that if we progress past Beta our photography becomes radioactive and we’re not really getting somewhere until we get to Delta and live with constant change. And then that leaves room for another twenty different stages of photography before we need to use another alphabet.
Hugh Walker
Posted at 23:20h, 08 JulyHi Martin, I have been enjoying your podcast for about 2 years and have never found the courage to actually write something on your blog. However today’s podcast seemed to have provided me with a bit of ‘dutch courage’ i found your discussion on the topic of being in beta resonated with me and made me think about where I am and how I use the tools at my disposal .
Martin Bailey
Posted at 20:43h, 09 JulyI’m really pleased to hear that Hugh. Thanks for taking the time to comment, and please don’t be a stranger moving forward! 🙂
Adam Birnbaum
Posted at 06:53h, 09 JulyGreat article, Martin. I just tweeted this – I think it is really good to remember that we are all forever in beta, yet need to have the courage and presence of mind to know when to ship. We just launched v2.0 of our photography app and a lot of this resonated with me.
Martin Bailey
Posted at 20:50h, 09 JulyThanks for the tweet and for taking the time to comment Adam! And the best of luck with v2!
Justin Lee
Posted at 23:11h, 10 JulyGreat post Martin! Spot on with the relativity and beta stuff. I definitely share the feeling of being happy about my work one day and having a completely different feeling the next day. Perhaps its the excitement of the capture or the new edit that sparks our pride, or maybe its just the mood we are caught in sometimes that changes how we feel…
Also, this is a bit off-topic, but do you know of any communities (either online or in-person) for wildlife photographers in Tokyo? I just moved here a few months ago and have joined a few photography groups, but haven’t really met any wildlife shooters and would really like to start shooting with some others who share my interests 🙂
Martin Bailey
Posted at 10:37h, 12 JulyThanks Justin!
The change in mood is probably more what it’s about. The attachment to the shoot wears off after a few days, and generally doesn’t come back. 🙂
I don’t know of any Tokyo Wildlife photography groups unfortunately. I’m a bit of a lone wolf in many respects, so I don’t look out for this sort of stuff. Sorry!
Cheers,
Martin.
Justin Lee
Posted at 22:49h, 13 JulyNo worries, just thought I’d ask 🙂
If you ever feel like joining a pack, however, lemme know and maybe we can go shoot around Tokyo some time. I haven’t been to Tokyo’s birding spots yet (like yacho koen and Yatsu-higata), but I plan on heading over there come migration season 🙂
Larry Martin
Posted at 00:03h, 15 AugustMartin. How did you create the totally black background in the lotus photograph? Very inspirational podcast.
Martin Bailey
Posted at 09:07h, 15 AugustThanks Larry! This was just a few clicks in Silver Efex Pro, then if I recall a slight vignette added in Lightroom to finish it off. I’ll do a video to show you at some point if that will help.