I’d like to extend my gratitude to everyone who commented on last week’s blog post and sent me numerous emails in response to the newsletter; it feels good to send a message out there that rejects the status quo and allows me to take back my creativity and passion for education.
I just want to clarify further what the new face of Expressive Photography will look like:
- For Members of the Paid Expressive Photographers YouTube Channel (not the Tip Jar) – We will continue to make a weekly video and aim to address significant topics that are the most likely to promote paradigm shifts in viewers’ own development.
- The Free YouTube Channel – The Vision & Light interviews will continue, but not on a set schedule. I get so much from the conversations and we will continue to make them. We will also make occasional videos focussing on real photography, not on me going out trying to make photographs while making a video!
- I will write blog posts to accompany the Free YouTube Videos and will publish those at the same time as the video goes live on YouTube. Again, we are moving away from the Sunday at 4pm (UK) slot. We’ll post them when they are ready.
- I will write other blog posts and articles as and when the mood strikes. I imagine these will be fairly frequent, and I get ideas for short articles all the time when I am out walking near home.
The aim with this is to make better free content, better paid content, and actually useful content!
Other than that, it’s been a funny week really! We made great strides with the new format, launching the blog and notifying our audience. Unfortunately our inept web hosting company decided to crash our website overnight and I had an agonising day of fruitless interaction with a Live Chat app that had the stability of a house of cards on a beach as the tide comes in.
Let’s just say I’m not the biggest fan of admin and I always feel caged, frustrated and out of control when I have to deal with the inevitable problems that crop up regularly when you run your own business.
Before all that kicked off though, I had been out with the camera a couple of times last week, just locally along the loch and in the surrounding woods. I’d weaned myself back into it by just carrying my iPhone on my morning walks, but on two occasions shouldered my Nikon D850 and the trusted 80-400. Even in low light I am happy to handhold this combo, and although it is a bit cumbersome, I felt it worth it.
I am very much of the opinion that pure, raw, therapeutic creativity works when we just switch off the world. I had been worrying quite a bit last week, yet as the first light of dawn skimmed over the trees across the loch, I immediately felt myself engage and release. During these moments locked with the scene through the viewfinder I was completely free from worry, or thought. I could just drift off and be. This sense of pure existence is what I have missed; not thinking about making a product, external validation, or even the act of making a photograph. Autopilot for me feels like a very free way to exist, and I find it addictive.
I am very interested to hear from you as to whether this makes sense to you. Have you experienced these feelings of freedom, distancing from stress and worry?
Great read, Alister!
For a long time my photography has had me drifting off, without me even taking note of it. Once I realized how I entered, what you call the autopilot mode, I became aware of how big of a role it actually played in my fascination with photography. I have been chasing light and landscapes for many years believing that the joy I felt came from the chase, but nowadays I’m sure that it rather are those moments of peace of mind – and total absence of distraction – that I’m after. My mind needs those moments, and so does my soul.
Cheers,
Joerg
Thanks man, and I agree 100%. It is so true, we get so focused on product and output, we forget why we are out there in the first place. I really appreciate your comment. I hope you are well.
Alister, i’ve so much appreciated and enjoyed your self-disclosure, as much as i appreciate and enjoy your photography. while our chosen subjects differ, i feel kinship with your letting yourself be the sensor, rather than letting the hardware become a burden, and the photograph being purely commercial. we have all had to redefine ourselves, or our photography, in the past year+, and the world is not likely to return to status quo ante as much as the politicians pretend.
keep letting the inner self define your art, continue to be scrupulously honest with yourself, and it will all work out.
I really enjoy your thoughtful approach to photography, Alister, and I look forward to reading more blog posts.
The light in those tree photos is lovely – I keep scrolling back up to look at them. The shape of the roots on the tree stump really caught my eye – it has such a great flow – as did the fuzzy patchwork of colour in the photo next to it, like dabs of paints on an artist’s palette. Such calm, peaceful images!
That’s great to hear, and I really appreciate it.
Looking forward to your upcoming ebook this coming summer. Whatever the subjectmatter this time, I know you will have good words and good reason to share them. I have enjoyed a number of them (the words and the ebooks) before already. And ever since being introduced to it I have been very happy restricting my workflow to two layers and many history-states to take my brushstrokes from (with proper selections to govern my moves).
Thank you so much, really appreciated.
Alister. I 100% agree with your philosophy and perspective with regards to what I call “dysfunctional media”. Its the primary reason I support and invest in your products. I’m a non-member and will miss your usually outstanding content however I understand your reasoning. I’d very much like to purchase a membership however one must draw a line with respect to expenses especially due to the many impacts of Covid. I will look forward with anticipation to when you provide content and anxiously await more of your content in print (e-Book) and video instructional/philosophical series. Keep up the great work and be well.
Thanks so very much, and I understand fully that not everyone can subscribe to the members channel. I will still produce content for the main channel when the mood hits and I feel I have something to contribute with sincerity and passion. A new eBook planned for the summer 🙂
When your creative endeavors or hobby become a financial enterprise the passions you had soon dissipates for the sake of keeping the business going. I am amazed at the amount of content you have produced in a relatively short time and although your presentations are very natural and relaxed I’m sure there must have been some angst in their production. Yes, I’m behind you with your new direction and look forward to the joyous outcomes.
Yeah, we enjoyed it for the most part, and we had to make a living. We still do, but I have found a happier balance between the wheel and the passion.
It is a wise move to turn away from Youtube and get back control over your creativity, your pace and rhythm. Instead of being dominated by algorithms.
For me as an amateur, photography is a way to get better in contact both with me and my environment.
It is a 20 minuten drive to one of the beautiful lakes near Munich, Germany. It might not be as remote as a loch in Scotland but there Arena plenty of opportunities to be clone to nature. Sometimes I come home with decent photographies, sometimes not. In both cases I had a got time outside. That is what counts most for me.
I agree with Stephen, your last paragraph says it all. For me it’s the beach on the wild west coast, it’s only a 30-minute drive away. I park the car. With my camera over my shoulder, I walk over the dune to the deserted beach, then the sound of the waves and the breeze takes over, I switch off the world, sometimes creativity arrives sometimes it doesn’t.
As I feel that I have benefited immensely from your video output Alister, I feel somehow wrong in denying others the benefit of your wisdom when saying that I fully understand the need for you to step back from producing so many and so regularly. (However I assuage my conscience by reminding myself that all the videos I have found so much of an education are still there for others to see and learn from.)
Becoming a slave to the product and crushing the artistic flame is such a waste and I commend you for turning your back on the treadmill, or at least slowing it down. You and and those who can appreciate your sentiments will only benefit as your experience this week testifies. Your output maybe modified but rest assured we who know what you are talking about will continue to enjoy a benefit fully from your quality writing and images.
Well, yes, those “autopilot” opportunities are essential to living. Not that they’ll pay the bills or get things fixed around the house, but a necessary reset. And the camera phone is nice gear to have to freely capture a moment–though of course a beautiful bird will land on a great perch, and I’ll wish for a long lens–and then just say, “My that’s a beautiful bird to grace the day.” I hope you find the blog posts an opportunity to be an expressive, freeing experience, too, without a need to share a lesson. Sharing life experiences is good enough!
I have absolutely felt that freedom when distancing myself from worldly worries. I can’t focus on being creative when I’m upset or anxious about something. That’s why I haven’t even attempted a single YouTube video, despite feeling I have a lot to say about photography. I don’t want to worry about producing video content while I’m trying to create photographs! I just don’t have enough mental bandwidth for it. I’ve been really impressed with what you’ve been able to do business- and video-wise while still remaining creatively productive, but I totally understand taking a step back and portioning off time for yourself and your photography without worrying about those things.
Thanks Alex, I know, it’s all about balance. I have had to pull back rather than ruin the whole relationship I have with the landscape and expression. Sadly, with the COVID situation we had to replace a lot of lost income and the online model was all that we could do. I feel there is a brighter light at the end of that tunnel now and we can see a broader, more balanced life.
Your last paragraph hit it on the nail, so to speak, for me. I’m in complete agreement!
Excellent, very happy to hear that, and thanks for the comment.