Your mindset is just as important as your camera settings. Yes really.
When we start off in life, we feel free to express our creativity. We finger paint (sometimes on the walls), try new things, create sculptures with our mashed potatoes...But then at some point adults around us give us feedback. Something like “drawing on the walls isn’t cool”, or “eat your food, don’t make things with it”. Sure some of it’s completely appropriate. But some of it is kind of stifling too.
I remember when I was in grade school, I dreamt of being a writer. And then in 6th grade, I entered a writing contest. I was SO excited! Then the feedback from my teacher arrived. I’m paraphrasing here, but she basically told me that my writing sucked and it wasn’t something I should spend a lot of time doing. Done with writing.
After my trip to Peru, it was one of the first times I got feedback that my photos were good, and that I had such an “interesting perspective”. It was the first time I really started to feel supported as a creative. (although I didn’t really know it was happening quite yet)
According to Julia Cameron in The Artist’s Way, “all too often the artistic urges of the artist child are ignored or suppressed.” We are told our artistic endeavors aren’t good, or even if they are good, our adults tell us it’s not a viable career path. I mean, they’re trying to save us from ourselves, right? They don’t want us to grow up with an overinflated ego, or be living in their basement as a “struggling artist” when we’re 34. Or at least they THINK they are saving us.
But what ends up happening, is that even if we’re artistic as children we often suppress it. And move on with more “productive” endeavors like science and math. Which are darn good skills to have, don’t get me wrong.
I personally did not grow up in an artistic environment. It wasn’t something encouraged or rewarded at home, at school, in our community...It took me until well into my 20’s (and some therapy) to realize that I actually WAS creative!
Just when I was feeling more confident in my photo creation, I came back from a trip to Japan with a whole lot of bad photos. Goodbye confidence, hello self-criticism.
Why am I telling you all of this? Because I hear a lot of people say “I’m not creative”. “I’m not a...photographer, writer, musician”. Well guess what? Nobody was born that way. Being a photographer is something you become from hard work, from practice, and from desire. It’s not something that you are just born as.
Learning a new skill, becoming good at something is as much mindset as it is talent. Maybe more. I sometimes wonder how many people out there could be really amazing photographers, painters, even athletes, if they just believed in themselves enough to really try. I mean REALLY try.
Not just take a painting class (me) and then deciding they can’t paint because the teacher didn’t rave about their results (me).
When I did find support and started believing in myself, that’s when I started trying some new things and actually having more fun with my camera…
Back to Julia Cameron (she’s pretty darn phenomenal, I highly recommend you run out and get her book right now). She says one of the first steps to nurturing our inner creativity is to recover a sense of safety. Which means finding a supportive community. Luckily in this day and age, that is one Facebook group away from reality.
I’m not kidding here. I’ve met some fantastic people and gotten some great support artistically and personally in Facebook Groups. If you’re not sure where to start, try our private Facebook Group, Be PhotoFluent.
Another key element in moving into our creative mojo, is battling the core negative beliefs that we hold onto so tightly. Why do we hold onto something that’s so limiting to our happiness, to our success? Well the psychological professionals have books on the subject, so I couldn’t possibly do this topic justice here. Suffice to say, we all have them, and we all have to figure out how to make them less powerful. Less destructive.
Core negative beliefs are things like “I’m not creative”, “I’m not good at this”, “What if nobody likes my stuff?” And then the excuses start to kick in to protect us...from failure, from criticism, from whatever crazy story your mind is conjuring up. Things like “I don’t have time” or “I’ll get to it later...after my kids move out, I lose weight, I retire…” I think you get the picture. There is a plethora of negative thoughts and excuses swirling around in our brains that hold us back from...well a lot of things.
When did I finally start really liking my own results? When I finally believed I could do it. And that’s when it all started coming together with the camera settings too…interesting.
The first step? Recognizing they’re in there. And then? Send them on their merry way. And no it’s not at all that simple. If it were, we’d all be trim, talented, successful, and happy. BUT that is what has to happen. Recognize the thoughts. Realize they aren’t actually true. They are just thoughts. And then send them away.
Some practical tips on making that happen are meditation (I love the Insight Timer app to help with that), journaling (go ahead and jot those thoughts down when you start to recognize them), and even just mindful walking. Whatever way you find that helps you a) quiet your mind, and b) listen to and actually be aware of your thoughts...that’s the key.
Sure it takes practice. But it’s the only way you’ll make progress. True progress.
And the more I believed in myself, the more I created. But the self-doubt didn’t all just stop. It was still in there, But I finally recognized it.
You also have to truly believe that you can do something before you’ll actually do it. Julia (I refer to her by her first name like we’re friends now) says that “affirmation will help you allow yourself to do it”. And affirmations are simply positive self-talk.
For some of us, the term “positive affirmations” brings us back to the SNL skit with Stuart Smalley looking into a mirror and saying “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough and doggonit people like me.” Which makes me laugh every time I think about it.
But doggonit they really work! The first step to believing in yourself...to believing you can do something...is to say it. Go ahead, give it a try.
Working to strengthen your mindset isn’t a linear path. Say you start to recognize the negative beliefs. You start sending them away. You find a supportive group of creatives to hang with (yes even virtually). You believe that you really truly can do whatever you set our mind to. And then your creativity starts to flourish.
You try new things, you like the results you see...and then BAM! You get a big fat dose of criticism. Or self-doubt. Or some of those negative thoughts of “everybody else is SO much better than me!” (that’s one of my favorites) start to make their way back in. Or new ones find us!
It’s a never ending battle. Not just for creativity, but for becoming...well, anything other than what we are right now. But the good news? It definitely gets easier. The path becomes smoother and more direct, and we develop skills to know how to keep moving forward. And by now, we might even have some support to help us over the rocky parts.
And I still have lots of photos that don’t turn out the way I want. Like the series on the “chicken man” at our French market. Not a single one turned out that was focused, composed well, and that I liked. I did mention this is a never-ending journey…didn’t I?
And what the heck does ANY of this have to do with photography?? Well because photography is an art form. And a particularly complex one at that. Because it’s the marriage of technology and creativity.
First, you have to understand the camera settings and how your camera works. Oh yeah, and also what the heck digital file management is and how to do that. And THEN you figure out how to compose your images, and play with light, and make pretty photos.
So I see it a lot. Students (and me in the old days) get frustrated. They think they’re not “getting it” or they’re not “good at it”. So I say to them what I’m saying to you. Have patience, and be kind to yourself. You have to learn a language before you speak it. And camera language is a hard one. Not impossible, but it takes some work. You’ll get there.
And once it starts to make more sense? And then you start to make photos that are pretty freaking awesome? Don’t forget, self-doubt and criticism are still in there, waiting for this moment. Be ready. Relish your accomplishments, give yourself a pat on the back, and tell those thoughts to take a hike. You deserve to celebrate for a bit before you move onto the next accomplishment.
When I stumble, I pull myself back together, believe in myself, try new things, and then I get an image like this one that makes me know it’s all worth the work.